Mulan (1998) The GREATEST Disney Movie Ever Made?

when I think back to the glory days of Disney before it ruined both itself and the franchise as I loved by swiftly throwing them into the toilet I think of the sword in the stone a goofy movie Anastacia lilo and stitch and of course The Lion King and you know damn well which one I mean but there's one that shines above all the rest in my eyes one movie in particular that I can watch endlessly and still have a great time one with lessons morals and humor with hard-hitting emotion that sticks with me more than all of the other Disney movies Pixar or otherwise and that movie is none other than Mulan now I have seen a lot of Disney movies I'm talking dozens here so this statement is susceptible to change down the line but as it stands as of March 20 20 rule on is the greatest Disney movie I have ever seen and what I consider to be the greatest Disney movie ever made and this video is going to go in-depth reviewing the movie as well as to why I believe Mulan is the greatest quick disclaimer the traits this movie possesses that I'm going to praise I'm not saying that the other excellent Disney movies do not possess these qualities I'm simply outlining why I think Mulan executes them all the most effectively now before we begin we need to set the stage the origins of Mulan date back over a thousand years as part of Chinese folklore to what is known as The Ballad of Hua Mulan now there are several variations and pronunciations of this ancient story so I won't reiterate it here but Mulan in the ballot is a little different to how she's portrayed in the Disney adaptation in the original Ballad Milan is meant to be adept in martial arts on combat and a natural warrior so at that source material established let's move on to the Disney version this movie takes place during the early days of China where the gender roles of male and female are clearly defined the women have a duty of care for their husbands as their loving Brides and caretakers while the men in most instances work various trades and service soldiers in the Emperor's army honor is a big deal for the Chinese families in actuality honor is everything these duties their customs during this particular time period I've seen as the best way for an individual to honor their families and themselves firstly let's talk about the character is a namely the character of Milan herself this character is the poster child I always use to outline an excellent strong heroine for women of all ages to idolize we first meet her as she's preparing to meet what's called the matchmaker who one would assume is meant to match her to a husband suiting her and in the first five minutes of the movie we see that she isn't quite like what the original ballad would have you think she is an adept in combat or seeking adventure or battle she is simply a clumsy high-spirited awkward free-thinking girl who clearly doesn't seem to fit in where she is similar to the Ballad however is in two main traits the first being her devotion to her father which has made apparent very quickly despite being late for what's arguably the most important day of her life she still makes sure that her old and weary battle veteran father gets his tea that the doctor has prescribed for him and the second trait that she shares with the original ballad is that Milan can't help feeling that she does not belong where she is and what she is meant to be doing is not what she is doing she has to pretend to be someone else in order to make a family proud the first musical number demonstrates to the audience what the world expects of Milan in the film as it shows Milan being prepped as the ideal bride and while this is happening the film stops in various moments to show glimpses of what makes Milan different including showing her quick wit and intelligence and a compassion for a young girl being mistreated by the other boys perhaps observing the way she is treated was a memory trigger for her younger self but that's the speculation but these demonstrated qualities come full circle by the end of the movie this is all part of the setup now while in the first musical number it shows what is expected on Milan the second illustrates why she is struggling with fitting in that she's different but she doesn't know why and she just wants to find herself and where she fits in in the world now some consider this as being cliche but what makes it unique is how it is presented and the extraordinary circumstances Milan finds herself in during the brutal time period the story takes place within the first 10 minutes the main protagonists and her struggle is clearly established now let's move on with the story before proceeding with the other characters the Huns are invading China and the Emperor is amassing all of China soldiers and orders for new recruits from the province families to meet the threat the general and father of our second main protagonist makes it very clear that this seems like an extreme measure but the Emperor insists saying that one man can make all the difference you'll notice the use of gender terminology in that statement which is a subtle setup for the payoff at the end of the movie forgive me your majesty but I believe my troops can stop him I won't take any chances general a single grain of rice can tip the scale one man may be the difference between victory and defeat so I know one thing I adore about Milan is the intelligent metaphors that are littered throughout as a kid I understood this may be just fine but there's plenty of phrases that went over my head till I was reaching the end of my teen years and obviously as a present day in my adulthood I'll return to this point a bit later but like I was saying the Huns are invading and we are well aware based on the Emperor's extreme reduction that the stakes are high within the first three minutes the film has established a sense of urgency for the viewer and this dire situation becomes more and more apparent with the film's visual storytelling as the film progresses now the Huns are led by the very intimidating and very frightening man a few words Shawn you I've heard a few complaints about Shawn you being that he is a one-dimensional villain who was simply evil and nothing else but there's actually a little bit more to him than that in actuality Shawn Yue is a very proud warrior who enjoys the challenge of battle and the glory of victory he's not some generic evil bad guy who wants an object of some kind to rule the world he's not evil for the sake of being evil his pride is his Drive and his ultimately his downfall he is a man with something to prove one thing you'll notice about all four characters is that they all have the need to prove themselves we will discuss this briefly later on after Mulan fails with the matchmaker she's ashamed to face her father embarrassed that she brought dishonor to him but her father very clearly treasures her and can't bear to see her sad he obviously provide Milan with some optimism what beautiful blossoms who have this year look this one's late I'll bet that when it blooms the most beautiful of all like I said this movie is littered with intelligent metaphors and this is indeed a setup for a very big payoff at the end I'm sorry I don't mean to sound like a broken record here but I really feel the need to outline all this stuff for you as part of the assessment once the Chinese army arrives from Milan's father she is the only one who sticks up for him though her intentions are genuine her proud father feels emasculated and dishonored after his daughter was so blatantly disregarding tradition insinuating that he's unable to fulfill his duty despite the fact that he's clearly old feeble and suffering from a heavy limp again Milan's mother and grandmother as well as the other women in the crowd keep their mouths shut as his custom it's regrettable but they understand the way of the world but Milan simply refuses to the grimness of this situation is compounded when we see Milan's father try and use his sword again but an old injury causes him to collapse the film heavily implies that if ba zu goes off to war he is going to die later and an awkward family dinner Mulan is beside herself that everyone is remaining calm knowing this is her father's last night in the house Milan feels her rebellious nature clamouring for her to speak her mind her frustration boils to the surface and Milan breaks you shouldn't have to go it's an honor to protect my country and my family you'll die for honour I will die doing what's right I know my place it is time you learned yours so far in this movie Milan has been shamed by the matchmaker the Emperor's council and those were bad enough but to hear this come from her own father the one who supposedly treasures her for who she is more than anyone else this is devastating for her and she spends that night crying in the rain Milan watches her mother and father inside the house her eyes full of sorrow but once the candles go out her glare turns to defiance and Milan makes a shocking decision with potentially life-threatening consequences she takes her father's recruitment papers leaving behind her precious hair comb then cuts her hair fitting herself with her father's armor and sword and takes the family horse and rides off to war this revelation shocks her family basu is heartbroken and dashes off to her only to collapse once more in the mud his wife insists that he go off to her but father makes it abundantly clear that if you were to reveal her then Milan would be dead anyway you must go after her she could be killed if I reveal her and this is the part of the film that always sells me it's one of the reasons I think Milan excels above all the other Disney movies in terms of the stakes and the emotional resonance of what's happening we have an established and likeable protagonist with clearly defined character traits and her relationship to other characters has also been clearly defined the stage has been set the stakes and the consequences couldn't be more dire Milan's choice is the turning point for the movie because from here on out there's always a degree of tension if Milan goes off to battle she is likely going to die however if she is discovered or reveals herself to her own comrades in accordance with Chinese law they will kill her anyway Milan is very likely going to die from this choice and the film does a better job than most and making you think that's an actual possibility for the main protagonist and in a Disney movie no less good luck finding that nowadays anyway Milan's parents mourn for her and her grandmother awakens the family ancestors including what I'd assume would be the patriarch of the family and he and his grand wisdom sends the most powerful and mystical family Guardian to rescue her and bring her back alive but instead of that Milan is stuck with Mu Shu and lucky for us because Mu Shu is undoubtedly the best damn character in this entire movie his conniving scheming selfish ambitious deceitful charismatic and above all else he is hilarious Mu Shu is in fact a disgraced Guardian who is as much of a clumsy outcast as Milan is essentially these characters were made for each other which is why they make such an excellent dynamic duo and like her he himself has something to prove and that brings us to captain li Shang a young up-and-coming captain with an impressive military lineage shang lives by a code upholding honor but also he possesses a degree of compassion for those who earn his respect and like mulan and moo shu he has a lot to live up to and he's anxious to prove himself so now we have the four main characters each with something to prove Milan has been looked down upon her whole life as a screw-up but is anxious to prove she can excel if she's allowed to be herself Mushu a disgraced Guardian who was anxious to redeem himself by proving to the ancestors that he can truly help Milan on her journey captain Lee Sheng comes from a military family and obtains a high-ranking position through nepotism and is afraid of being judged on that account he wants to prove his worth to China and live up to his father's expectations so that others don't look down upon him and to make his father proud finally Shan Yu is a barbaric warlord driven by his pride defeat is unacceptable all that matters to him is the next battle which he gladly welcomes the whole reason for his pursuit of the Emperor is to demonstrate he is simply the mightiest power in the world he'll the Emperor's Great War was also his greatest insult to shun you that acts as the spark for his conquest the Emperor will stop you he invited me by building his wall he challenged my strength when I'm here to play his game matter of fact rather than take the stealthy approach and lead the hunt on me through the least contested path to the Emperor raiding and pillaging along the way he instead opts to take the fastest and most challenging route specifically to meet the full force of the Chinese army head-on where the Imperial Army is waiting for us we can avoid them easily the quickest way to the Emperor is through that pass besides the little girl will be missing her doll we should return it to her some might say that this makes shun you a dumb character but I disagree here's an overconfident and prideful character to be sure blinded by his ambition that ultimately leads to his defeat this doesn't make him stupid he knows he could have easily gotten to the Emperor if he wanted to matter of fact when he suffers a humiliating defeat in the tongue she'll pass he and his handful of warriors left managed to sneak into the Emperor's City and kidnapped the Emperor publicly and despite this it's Xiang Yu's pride that lets him down once more but we will touch on that towards the end Mulan links up with moo shu who gives her a quick confidence boost before starting on her monumental task and she has a rough start to her training to say the least moo shu miss reads every scene male stereotype in the book which gets me lying into hot water early and we meet some of the most lovable side characters in fiction history Yao Ling and chimpo yo is the short stocky alpha male with anger management issues Ling is the lanky comedic well-mannered charmer of the group and chimpo was the gentle giant who loves to eat and is exceptionally strong in addition to that I got to say this movie is one of the only handful off the top of my head where every side character is memorable in one way or another the hilarious grandma I should have paid to the ancestors for luck how lucky could maybe they're dead Milan Stern war veteran father I'm going to pray some more the wise benevolent Emperor no matter how the wind howls the mountain cannot bow to it the sniveling weasel Shifu you men owe me a new purse Milan's ancestors and even the lucky cricket the only side character I can't really say is particularly memorable is Milan's mother she's not a bad character she just isn't really utilized in any memorable way but then again she didn't really need to be this doesn't take anything away from the film and to sum it up this movie has an exceptionally well-rounded cost and that brings us to possibly the greatest musical montage in fiction history with the exception of maybe one obviously I can't play the actual song because of YouTube's copyright regrettably but I'll make a man out of you is one of the most motivational uplifting wholesome and just flat-out awesome songs in existence something I'm sure Disney is most certainly proud of and will treasure for years to come now because of the heat melon cause for herself the guys want nothing to do with her she's already at an athletic all disadvantage being a woman in the army but now the men are using every possible chance to sabotage her but unlike say Captain Marvel where there's a heavy political undertone of male oppression of men trying to put women down this does not exist in Milan because all of the men in the Chinese army are trading Milan as if she's their equal as if she's a male they are oblivious to the fact that Milan simply can't do the things they can do to the same extent as they can because of her biological limitations it's one of the reasons the reveal later on the movie is so impactful for them as characters because they didn't realize they were being such horrible bastards to a woman who was already struggling however despite the mountains of they pile on to Milan time after time she persevered she's the first to reach the arrow fifty feet in the air not because of her speed not because of her strength not because of a stamina but because of her determination and her intelligence and this paves the way for the other recruits the start excelling as well the latter half of this montage with music in the background is some of the most catharsis I've ever felt during a Disney movie or any movie for that matter watching Mulan succeed where she once failed and watching her gain the respect of it once hateful enemies who instead of opting to make her life difficult actually opted to help her along don't tell me you didn't feel your heart skip a beat when you saw Ling and the rest of the troops cheer Mulan to reach the arrow or how y'all shows what an absolute sweetheart he is when he catches Milan's kendo stick an OP stand it to work personally within the span of about seven minutes we've met these new characters had an escalated conflict and we've resolved the conflict and established a certain amount of depth to each one of them most particularly Mulan and Shang who was monologuing for most of this montage Shang is a tough leader he is hard on his troops but he's also fair and deep down he just wants the troops to succeed he also has what I guess you could call an affinity for compassion or pity depending on how you look at it when he offers Mulan away out of the army as you can see here and we will come back to that in addition to all that I'd like to talk about some more excellent qualities this maybe possesses as a whole before I mentioned the metaphors but there's also a bunch of clever humor I didn't grasp until I was in my teens either you can do about it my powers are beyond your imagination princess my eyes can see through your now as well as the humor it also has a lot of mature implications for the events of the movie how many members it take to deliver a message besides the little girl will be missing her doll we should return it to her all the horrific events we don't actually see they are set up excellently by the movie and we only see the aftermath of the events that take place and the rest is left for the imagination as a child I didn't really think too much about the events which would have taken place and what warfare was like back then these moments are far more impactful to me and that brings me to another thing we lion does exceptionally well and that's tone shift let's start with the opening in Milan's bridle preparation she's a clumsy mess and it's hysterical but then that tone changes to sorrowful and depressing as the next musical number enhances this but it's left on a more optimistic time when Newlands father lifts her spirits but Nonna takes a more serious grim tone when he gets conscripted to the army ostomy law leaves there's always a degree of tension throughout the middle bulk of this film but once Milan gets the boot camp this is balanced out well with healthy doses of humor for the audience so they don't take things too seriously to the point of having all the fun sucked out of the movie but when the tone does need to be serious it does that flawlessly as well the best example I can give is when the upbeat musical a girl worth fighting for is playing it's by the comedic and heartwarming pace where all the troops are talking about their ideal woman and Milan gets shut down when she describes herself who's got a brain who always speaks her mind and just when you think the song is reaching its climax silence absolute silence and nothing but desolation and for the first time in this movie we see the impact from the true horrors of war and what it leaves behind ruin and death we see Shang's struggle with the revelation of losing his father and the sorrow in Milan's expression as she mourns the little girl who likely left behind that doll most of this is done silently and it's executed in the most superb way motivated by his duty and a sense of vengeance Shang leads the last of China's troops to the tongue shall pause for a showdown with the Huns Shang and the troops get ambushed and barely escaped with their lives making an effective stance with the bulk of their artillery but it isn't until Shan Yu emerges from the smoke that they realize how truly hopeless their situation is Shang still opts to fight them conventionally more than willing to die with honor the way his father did he tells you how to aim the cannon that shown you which is a gamble if it misses if it succeeds they cut the head off the snake but they will still likely all die Mulan recognizes this she uses her wit to think outside the box and find a better solution what she has planned is crazy but effective nonetheless and so Milan makes another daring choice disobeying her commanding officer she steals their one and only hope for survival and dashes straight at the enemy once she's in range she fires the cannon at the overhead mountain and causes a colossal avalanche much to the frustration of Shan you who wounds her with a cut to the torso the avalanche nearly kills Mulan and Shang but through the efforts of the other soldiers namely chimpo the two of them are saved Shang and the others celebrate Milan's bravery championing her as more than just their equal but as their savior but so quickly as it came the moment is snatched away as Milan collapses from blood loss and after the doctor's tender her wounds her cover is blown and her identity is revealed Shifu who's been the secondary antagonist for the duration of this movie always had Enfamil on even when he was oblivious to her agenda he never really liked Shang either thinking he never deserved his captain's position he being the Emperor's Council thinks very highly of himself too highly in fact he's quick to disregard all of Milan's contributions and achieve solely on the grounds that she's a woman he beseeches shanked executors yowling and chimpo also try to step in and prevent this but chief who reminds them the law is the law and they look on helpless filled with regret shang prepares to carry out the sentence but instead throws Milan's thought at her feet sparing her a life for a life my debt is repaid shang realizes that he owes mulan his life despite his sense of duty the law of china itself and even his father's approval he's honor trumps all of that shang tells the troops to start heading to the imperial city where the emperor is hosting a celebratory parade so milan is left there in shame alone in the snow mu shu and her sit there sulking over their current predicaments being abandoned by the army and bringing more dishonor to their family and then mulan realizes something maybe i didn't go for my father maybe what i really wanted was to prove I could do things right so when I looked in the mirror I'd see someone worthwhile it started for her father but the reason she stayed in the army was to prove something to herself that she wasn't a screw up and that she could succeed if she was given a chance to be herself remember Shang officer a chance to leave mulan chose to stay but unfortunately she still left in disgrace Mushu then confesses that he's just as much of a screw-up as she is and that he's a fraud he was hoping her for his own gains but she risked her life to help people she loves for Mu Shu this started out as a selfish venture but over the past several weeks he's grown to love and care for me lon bowing to see this through with her to the end this is a moment of growth for both characters cementing their relationship as friends Mulan has matured as a person and Mu Shu has started to act like a real Guardian towards Earth then comes the twist the Hun's are alive Shan Yu lets out a battle cry that rallies are surviving hands to his side Mulan and Mu Shu watch as he enters the Imperial City knowing that they're the only ones aware of this Mulan saddles up with her father's sword and prepares for the final confrontation they catch up with Shang and Mulan tries to warn him of the coming attack Shang is now addressing her for the first time as Milan and her being a woman so openly challenging him not to mention her pride deception Chang's cultural instincts kick in and he immediately just regards anything she has to say but Mulan persists and then comes the boiling point why should i why else would I come back you said you trust ping why isn't a line any different the last plays fall on deaf ears she enters the Imperial Palace desperate to find help and now here we need to talk about something I've neglected to talk about up till now the cinematography and art style for Milan is superb I gotta say as a kid seeing Milan run towards the crowd in this shot is the first time I remember being wowed by animation and I distinctly remember this shot as it was a part of Milan's marketing prior to when I actually saw the film I remember glimpsing this and being like oh well this movie looks interesting there are so many awesome shots in this movie that I'll just show quickly here but in addition to that the art style is so unique and gorgeous the characters the environments the architecture and so on this film is a feast for the eyes and the soundtrack only the Divine's could do justice with me words so finally we come to the final confrontation the Huns kidnapped the Emperor and shan-yu wants the highest authority figure in China to bow at his feet acknowledging Xiang Yu as his better and then we can only assume he will execute him afterwards Shang him the rest of his troops attempt to use means of force to break the door down and rescue the Emperor and here is when the movie starts to come full circle Milan calls out to her former comrades and tells them she knows another way but she doesn't bother to wait for them this time she rushes off without them meaning she plans on helping whether they want her to or not and it's completely up to them if they want to follow her and then I just love this part so much the boys yelling and chimpo dropped the statue and squad up M'Lynn asked them to hand over their weapons and offers them a set of disguises as they could impersonate the Emperor's concubines which are essentially his wives and then I'll make a man out of you plays once again and Shang happily follows me along this time as they all make their way up the side of the palace the way Mulan retrieved the arrow previously Milan has taken the reins once again this time she is leading the charge but not in disguise but as herself as a woman and again she's not excelling because of her strength speed or stamina but because of her intelligence and of course her bravery once they get close enough a battle ensues with the hunt henchmen the troops use their training to disarm or render the troops unconscious there's a small callback to link breaking the solid cement with his chin that I appreciated and all this happens while shank challenges Shan you as he opts to finally execute the Emperor after this small exchange of words I tire of your arrogance old men bow to me no matter how the wind howls mounted cannot bow to it then you will kneel in pieces shame fails to stop showing you by himself after putting up an excellent fight but Xiang Yu becomes enraged after Mulan directs her friends to evacuate the Emperor and then she cuts off his only means to pursue them Shan you ops to take his anger out on Shang but then Mulan does this way my victory no I did the soldier from them it's left with mulan and moo shu to finish him off as he pursues it with savage rage cutting his way through the palace and cornering real on on the roof milan instructed moo shu to take possession of the Chinese fireworks and she's strolling until he returns Shawn you thinking Mulan is helpless lunders has sword at her but she uses a clever trick to disarm him then mu shu arrives Milan's guardian and friend keeping to his word and he launches the explosive straight to Xiang Yu who is unable to move thanks to Milan's securing him in place Milan dashes off the roof in a panic while Xiang Yu perishes in a beautiful explosion of Chinese fireworks and new shoes reaction mirrors our own Shifu UPS from Milan to be arrested for all of her misdeeds this time Shang absolutely will not stand for any disrespect towards her and her friends stand by her side as well Shang Wilmes comes to blows with Qi foo until the Emperor himself appears and commands for them to step aside from Milan as he wants a word with her the emperor appears to be furious with her reciting every law she broke not to mention the destruction she just caused but despite this unlike the previous narrow-minded figures in Milan's life the emperor's wisdom recognizes she is responsible for saving his life and the lives of all in China then the Emperor does something completely unexpected and very cathartic for us as an audience and words don't do this injustice so I'm just gonna let play what I can [Music] and the baby is all grown up and saved in China you have a tissue just before with his life on the line the Emperor did not bow to force he didn't bow in an attempt to save his own life and possibly save the lives of his people he didn't want to give up his honor he didn't want to give this murderous savage the satisfaction but in addition to that he is the Emperor he is a god figure to the Chinese people he should not have to bow to anyone ever but he happily bounced in Mulan Mulan of all people he boughs to her and the rest of China follows the Emperor offers Milan a place on his council a position suitable for our intelligence she food in an attempt to make sure Milan isn't his colleague tells the Emperor there are no council positions left so instead the Emperor does this there are no council positions open Your Majesty very well you can have his job what we hate chief ooh and the Emperor is basically giving him a giant middle finger in favor of Mulan who's had to put up with his for the entirety of the movie Milan tells him she's flattered but she simply wants to go home and face the music she thinks her father is furious with her and she needs to face him sooner rather than later the Emperor then bestows upon her two incredible gifts his very own crest and the sword of China's greatest enemy Milan embraces the Emperor with a grateful hug which is illegal but the Emperor happily lets slight she embraces her friends as well and Shang obviously taken with her doesn't know how to express himself especially publicly he gives me law in a platonic compliment and gently taps to show lo which Milan receives with mild disappointment we already know that she likes him back but they both have issues communicating it one of them has to be the bold one and we will come back to this in a moment Milan receives a hero's send-off from the Chinese citizens and rides off into the night the Emperor then gives Shang some much-needed counsel the flower that blooms and adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all which mirrors an earlier set up from Milan's father this one's late I'll bet that when it blooms the most beautiful of all when Sheng doesn't quite understand the emperor Opstal put it in layman's terms sir you don't meet a girl like that every dynasty to make honey young bee need young flower not all truth shang realizes his mistake and decides to correct it immediately and so he goes after her now we arrive at the final what's possibly the most beautiful scene in the whole movie file Xue is sitting by the pond where he spoke to Milan previously in the movie and where we can assume he has countless memories with her a blossom falls into his lap perhaps the same late bloomer he pointed out the last time he spoke to her there and then Mulan finally returns a fully bloomed and matured blossom herself she immediately seeks her father out who isn't or to see her again Milan is completely apologetic dropping to her knees and offering up the gifts the Emperor gave her to her father hoping to quell his wrath and then this happens hold on I'm gonna go grab some tissues [Music] the greatest gift in honor is having you for a daughter before her father's top priority was the family honour it's what he prized most of all it's only after his daughter puts herself in harm's way to save his life that he realizes his priorities were terribly misplaced he receives possibly the most prized gifts a Chinese family could receive but he doesn't care he actually tosses them aside disregarding them completely just so he can embrace his daughter who he treasures most above all and you can see how much this means to me lon shedding it's here which he didn't do when she received the Emperor's gifts and shortly after this Shang arrives he's anxious and slightly embarrassed showing up to Milan's home unannounced he wants to express his feelings but doesn't know how struggling to find the words and offering her the helmet she left behind and with her father's approval Milan makes him an offer would you like to stay for dinner dinner would be great seriously Milan's grandmother was head and shoulders above 99% of all side characters in fiction history then we cut some Mu Shu and the patriarch of the far family finally looking down and a job well done and he begrudgingly gives Mu Shu his guardian status back Musha was ecstatic and wakes the ancestors as they begin to rock out while the ancestors are partying in the background Mulan approaches him and offers the brave little dragon a tiny kiss of gratitude for helping her find her way back home the patriarch then calls out to moo shu for making another mess of the shrine and we cut two credits there you go one fully fledged Disney masterpiece from start to finish incredible protagonists a serviceable and certainly intimidating antagonist amazing and loveable side characters humour for both children and adults many morals that all walks of life can learn from a unique beautiful and memorable art style what's possibly the greatest soundtrack in movie history great action awesome spectacle moments of tragedy and extremely high tension setups payoffs structurally near bulletproof from a writing standpoint and one of the greatest examples of a strong female character in fiction Milan is the poster child for what a strong female character can be without it being the entire selling point of the story and jeopardizing the objective writing quality as a whole this film is near perfection there were very few murky details I glossed it appraises film they do exist but they by no means derail the movie so feel free to quote me on this Mulan is near perfection this movie is a masterpiece Mulan isn't just an example of how to write an excellent story with great character surrounding a brave heroine but Mulan 1998 is also an excellent example of how to write an objectively great fan fiction make no mistake this film is a fan fiction it's an adaptation by Disney of the original ballad of Hamelin from ancient Chinese folklore it makes certain changes of the character of Mulan which I subjectively believe to be even better than the original ballad making her less of a fighting badass and more of a free-thinking intellectual there are several side characters that were added which add something of substance to the film instead of taking away from it I often get asked can Disney make good fan fictions of Star Wars because yes the Disney trilogy as well as the spin-offs and ongoing series are fan fictions the original creator has need nothing to do with them and yes Disney can absolutely make great even God Tyr adaptations from other people's work moon lion is living proof of that to some extent they just have to leave politics and personal agendas out of the storytelling process and for the love of God hire qualified passionate individuals that have actually read the source material and respect the original creators work Disney did that with Milan Disney did not do that with Star Wars and if reports are to be believed from the upcoming live-action remake of Mulan and the people behind the production the politics are still needlessly present and I can only speculate how this is going to turn out but if history is anything to go by these are not good science but I will reserve judgment for when the time comes these troubling reports is the main reason that led me to make this review I have said it many times on this channel Mulan is my favorite Disney movie it's one of my favorite movies ever so I am nervously waiting to see what Disney will do with the live-action remake but to bring this all to a conclusion is Mulan the best Disney movie of all time and the best way that I can answer that is I'd really like to think so I've seen a lot of Disney movies classic pick saw live-action or otherwise but I have not seen them all in this statement is subject to change I am NOT denying with this video that The Lion King is exceptional that The Incredibles are incredible that Monsters Inc is brilliant that lilo and stitch is fantastic the sword in the stone is a timeless classic that Pi the Caribbean is awesome that bridge to terabithia is both beautiful and heartbreaking and that's just to name a few off the top of my head but from what I've seen Mulan incorporates all of the elements that make these films so great and execute them as a whole better than all the other Disney films I've seen and so my judgment stands for now but with time and another film may present itself at the top of the mantle and that brings this video to a close thank you all so much for watching allowing me to share my passion for this beautiful classic with you for those of you familiar with my channel I'm not usually one for praising things I'm usually busy deconstructing the bad but because I was writing about something I truly loved and talking about what makes it so good I found myself really enjoying the writing process and I'd be happy to do it again and for those of you knew this channel feel free to check out some of my other work I've linked some videos for you that you may enjoy at the end of this one now with all that said I'd like to offer a heartfelt thank you to my patrons for all of your continued support it means the world to me truly I really appreciate it if you'd like to support the channel with a monthly donation even if it's just $1 per month it goes a long way in helping creators like myself in addition to that I'd like to thank my YouTube members for all of your support as well I really appreciate it thank you thank you to the star killers the captain prices and the Master Chief's you guys are amazing the youtubes join button is below if you'd like to become a channel member now in addition to that if you'd like to contact me I have a Twitter you can reach me on or preferably you can find me quite active on the channels discord server what discord basically is an online community where fans of this channel can congregate to talk about a range of different topics whether that be Star Wars Marvel videogames Lord of the Rings and I'm happy to announce with the creation of this video that I've opened up a Disney Classics channel where people can discuss their favorite Disney movie and why so feel free to head straight there if you disagree with me on this video lastly if you would like to support the channel and Rock some fine threads in the process there's the channel merchandise store I hope you check it out and I hope you enjoy the designs and the memes quick disclaimer all the prices are in the Australian dollar and shipping is free worldwide hopefully that alleviate some concerns now with all that said thank you for staying till the end of the video you are a legend and I'll see you next time

Channel: Anomaly Inc

Views: 41,680

Rating: 4.9185605 out of 5

Keywords: mulan, mulan 1998, disney mulan, mulan disney, mulan the animated movie, ill make a man out of you, mulan reflection, mulan bring honor to us all, mulan a girl worth fighting for, mulan training scene, mulan 1998 movie, mulan and shang, mulan and mushu, li shang, mushu, disney classics, disney animation, walt disney studios, disney plus, the ballad of mulan, hua mulan, mulan live action remake, mulan live action, disney live action, disney movie, mulan ost, disney

Id: E7gJK-_VW7I

Length: 37min 54sec (2274 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 25 2020