Why Disney’s Live-Action Remake of Mulan Was A Disaster

 

Walt Disney’s once famously said, “We don’t make movies to make money, we make money to make movies.” Sadly, in the present context, with Disney rapidly releasing live-action remakes that are basically just nostalgia-bait cash grabs for the company, this no longer can be said to be the motto of today’s Disney. 

These films, for all intents and purposes, aren’t really made to make us remember how amazing their animated predecessors were, but rather to simply profit off of them. And for the most part, even though the popular opinion remains that the animated classics are far better than their live-action successors, the remakes do immensely well financially. 

Except for the recently released live-action remake of Mulan, that in addition to scoring negatively in reviews was also a flop at the box office. Needless to say, there were a lot of reasons leading to its complete failure. 

Instead of analyzing the political movement and controversy rumbling under the release of this film and why people all over the world, especially the demographic it was pandering to the most – Chinese, have boycotted the film (and rightfully so), this article will detail the shortcomings of the movie in terms of message and plot, and why it is such dishonor to not only the animated masterpiece Mulan but also to the legacy of Disney.   

Plot Changes

One of the many things that differentiate Mulan from other Disney live actions remakes like Beauty and The Beast and The Lion King is that, instead of strictly adhering to the original story of their animated counterparts, Mulan 2020 takes a lot of creative liberties. But unlike Maleficent, these changes add absolutely nothing to the film, instead, they only serve to subtract and strip away from the original animated classic.

One might excuse the loss of beloved characters like the sassy, funny dragon Mushu or the endearing Grandma. But this becomes problematic when these changes don’t serve any purpose for benefitting the narrative. For example, the addition of Mulan’s sister character was absolutely unneeded. For one, it significantly reduces the pressure on Mulan to upload her family’s honor and also contradicts the message of empowerment that this film delivers, which I’ll delve into deeper, later in this article.

Another example is how the 2020 remake swaps out the pole-climbing scene with Mulan carrying water-buckets uphill. This was an awful decision. The pole climbing scene is pivotal as it showcases Mulan’s ingenuity and how she even inspires other soldiers as well. She makes her way to the top using her wit and thinking outside of the box, and not using brute strength. The scene even comes into play at the end of the movie. Whereas the bucket carrying scene was shallow and had no underlying importance.

No Emotional Connect

Part of the reason Mulan 2020 becomes such a boring experience is that the film at no point tries to create an emotional tangibility that enraptures the audience. It’s still passable that Disney chose to remove the musical score in the film to create a more serious and realistic undertone of the war. But this severely handicaps the film and the writers drill in the absence even more with lack of any emotional scenes. 

For instance, while singing Reflection in the animated version, Mulan contemplates her failure to be a bride and feels lost. After that, we see a sweet father-daughter bonding moment. In the live-action remake, the moment Mulan steps out of the classroom, the soldiers are already there to summon the men. Even later in the film when Mulan returns home, instead of a heartwarming reunion with her father, the scene is cut short, with the entire village in the background watching a moment, that is supposed to be personal between Mulan and her father, unfold. 

A Misguided sense of female empowerment

One of the biggest problems with Mulan 2020 is that it gets its animated predecessor and the concept of feminism completely wrong. The animated movie showed how Mulan starts as a total amateur, but with her determination and hard training, becomes one of the greatest warriors of China. She grows along with the soldiers. It hammers in the message that females can hold their own against males in any and all aspects. 

Mulan is able to harness strength and power – traits traditionally valued by men. But she does that without engaging in the idea of hypermasculinity and instead, embraces her own femininity. She doesn’t use brute strength or aggression but still succeeds because she is resilient, intelligent, and resourceful. These are the traits that make her a strong character for boys and girls alike to look up to. The movie makes a statement that a woman is as strong and capable as any man.

The 2020 Mulan is a naturally gifted fighter. So instead of being flawed, Mulan is perfect from the start, which instantly strips her character of any uniqueness and individuality, thus creating another Mary Sue. Instead of her growing alongside her soldier friends, Mulan is already a skilled fighter, better than anyone else because she uses Qi. Instead of letting us know that women are as capable as men, the movie reinforces the idea that the only way for a woman to be as strong as a man is when she ‘mans up’. 

To Disney’s writers, to empower a female character only means to give her traits typically associated with the male gender – physical power. This makes empowerment synonymous with masculinity because the only strong female characters can be those that are more manly than men. 

Whereas the animated Mulan drilled the idea that women and men are equal and the same, the 2020 remake showed how there can only be a select few females, that are blessed by gods with superpowers, have the privilege of catching up to men. The rest “ordinary” women? Like Mulan’s unnecessary sister character that simply marries off at the end? They are the best adhering to societal norms and should be happily fitted into gender roles because not everyone is special. Frankly, that is not an empowering message, rather it’s insulting to feminism. As a female, I don’t want to see a character that’s strong because she’s a female, but a character that is strong and happens to be a female. 

All in all, Mulan 2020 is a soulless war movie that is historically inaccurate, offensive, boring, and totally pointless. It won’t be a stretch to say that it might be the worst Disney live-action adaptation. 

Written By - Radhika Rathi

Edited By - Vaibhav Sharma