Line #18 YMMV/Mulan


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9	!!Disney's Mulan
10	* AccidentalInnuendo:
11	** This line during "A Girl Worth Fighting For" as the men see some women: ''"You can guess what we have missed the most since we went out to war."''
12	** Mulan's fake name, "Fa Ping"; today, the name sounds awfully close to the slang term ''[[CaughtWithYourPantsDown fapping]]''.
13	* AdaptationDisplacement: A lot of people in the West have no idea that the legend of Mulan has been around in various forms since the 6th century AD, and think she's an original Disney character.
14	* {{Adorkable}}:
15	** Mulan herself mainly averts this, but she is definitely so when she's trying to fit in with the guys and the charm of her goofier moments.
16	** Shang spends most of the movie as a DrillSergeantNasty and a DefrostingIceKing. Then Mulan has saved his life and all of China, receiving the most honorable army discharge that the Emperor can give her with his crest and Shan Yu's sword. Shang doesn't know how to thank her, or how to react now that she's no longer his soldier and now available. The most he manages is, "You fight good." Later, it's revealed he found Mulan's helmet after the avalanche, and stammers when trying to return it to her.
17	* AlternateSelfShipping: In the Non/Disney fanvid community, it's not unheard of for people to ship Mulan with her SweetPollyOliver disguise Ping together.
18	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
19	** Mushu didn't care about bringing Mulan home safe, but making her a war hero to regain his former glory. Selfish, no? And at what point did he start gravitating towards the former? And his approval of Mulan going back to the city to warn the others -- is it motivated from the glory he could still get as a result?
20	** Given how the Great Stone Dragon didn't come to life when Mushu tried to wake it up, was it a real guardian, or did the Fa Ancestors just [[BelievingTheirOwnLies delude themselves into believing it was]] as they thought it would do a better job at protecting the family than Mushu? Or was it with Mulan in spirit the whole time, encouraging her deception?
21	** Some people see Mulan as transgender, mostly because of the lyrics of her song "Reflection" [[{{Applicability}} being unintentionally applicable to gender dysphoria]] (feeling like one gender but looking like another). The line "When will my reflection show who I am inside?" in particular gets used quite a bit for this interpretation.
22	** Some fans [[https://imgur.com/gallery/F1lWJ speculate]] that Shang developed romantic feelings for Mulan [[HoYay before discovering]] [[SweetOnPollyOliver she was a woman]].
23	** Are Khan and Cri-Kee IntelligibleUnintelligible, or does Mushu just happen to understand animal talk?
24	** Mulan staying during "Make a Man Out of You" despite being essentially discharged for her poor performance. Was it to do her duty and fight to protect her home? Was it to gain Shang's approval? Or was it her way of rebelling against what she had been told and showing she could do what she set out to do? Was it merely an issue of ego? Ultimately the film doesn't say, so you could argue any particular point for why she remained.
25	** Likewise, what is she thinking during the scene where she finds the little girl's doll in the burned-out village? Mulan takes it and hugs it to her chest with an anguished expression. The shock that they were too late to provide help? Thoughts of the little girl at home whose doll she did save? Her own memories of being that age, and feeling her InnocenceLost? Or all three?
26	** When Chi Fu is trying to make sure Shang’s troops don’t get sent to the front lines, is it because he genuinely thinks they aren’t ready? Or is he just doing it to spite Shang?
27	** During the song "A Girl Worth Fighting For", Chi Fu sings about having a [[MyGirlBackHome "A girl back home, who's unlike any other"]]. There's a popular fan theory that he isn't referring to a wife or lover, but ''[[DotingParent a daughter]]''. Another popular theory is that [[BlatantLies he's just lying]] and only said that [[IJustWantToHaveFriends to fit in]]. Yao seems to believe this interpretation, snarking to Ping that Chi Fu's mom is the only girl who could possibly love him.
28	** Did Shang intend the arrow challenge to be a test of strength, so that Mulan using the weights as a climbing tool was her thinking outside the box in a way he didn't expect? Or were the weights always ''meant'' to be used as a climbing tool, and Shang was waiting to see when someone would be clever enough to figure that out?
29	** The Emperor is portrayed as a CoolOldGuy in the movie, which makes zero sense when you remember that he was the one who condoned, enforced, and possibly even created the sexist laws that are in Mulan's society and possibly has been for decades. All this makes his sudden turnaround feel rather insincere and more of a way of saving face after Mulan publically challenged his rules. Then there's the fact this guy is kinda...sorta...you know...a ''DICTATOR?!''
30	* AluminumChristmasTrees: A lot of people noticed that Mulan's dress and makeup for the matchmaker has a resemblance to Japanese kimono (or a Korean hanbok), and assumed Disney was trying to [[InterchangeableAsianCultures pass off Japanese and Chinese culture as interchangeable]]. However, the dress is actually [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanfu Hanfu]], a traditionally Chinese style of dress. The similarities come from the fact that the kimono and hanbok were ''influenced'' by Hanfu. The make-up is also mostly accurate, except for the eyeshadow being a little too dark. And for all the misguided criticism that Mulan looks like a {{Geisha}}, the geisha did actually originate in the courts of Imperial China.
31	* AmericansHateTingle: Despite famous voice actors such as Creator/JackieChan and using a local folk tale, the movie didn't do much at the Chinese box office. Some blame piracy, some worry that the native audience took issue with [[BroadStrokes the extensive reworking]] [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks of the original ballad]], and some point to the fact that the Chinese government was in the middle of a bitter and spiteful dispute with the Walt Disney corporation thanks to Disney's Creator/TouchstonePictures label releasing ''Film/{{Kundun}}'', which prompted the Chinese to ban its helmer Creator/MartinScorsese from getting back into China and force ''Mulan'' to languish for a year before letting it out with an unfavorable release date just after the Chinese New Year's celebration stuffed the box office with other films (on top of that, ''Film/{{Kundun}}'' was a BoxOfficeBomb). More specifically, the character of Mushu got a bad reception in China (where dragons are considered sacred creatures), which is why he was removed from the [[Film/Mulan2020 live-action remake]]. Ten years later, Creator/DreamWorksAnimation's ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda1'' would prove much more to Chinese tastes.
32	* AngstWhatAngst:
33	** Mulan kills thousands of men with an avalanche and shows no remorse; she is far more upset at being discovered and cast out of the army soon afterward. However, there is a great deal of angst to discovering a village that had burned to the ground. Of course the villagers were innocent and the Huns were enemy soldiers who were inches from slaughtering everyone. Not to mention the Huns were the ones who burned that village in the first place, so Mulan was avenging those villagers' deaths as well as winning the battle and protecting the rest of China.
34	** Shang gets this as well; he has a TraumaCongaLine of a day. He finds his father killed, his men caught in an ambush, and an avalanche nearly burying everyone alive. Then the soldier who saved him turns out to be a woman, and he's ordered to kill her per the law; though he spares her, he's not happy. After ''that'', the Huns storm the palace and seize the Emperor; Shang nearly dies fighting Shan Yu and goes OhCrap when the Hun goes after Mulan. He escapes a burning palace. Yet, despite all that, rather than being traumatized, he becomes EndearinglyDorky towards Mulan and shy on realizing she saved his life twice and he likes her. By the end, he's smiling when Mulan invites him to dinner.
35	* {{Anvilicious}}: Sexism is bad. It's ever-present throughout the film.
36	* {{Applicability}}: Fa Mulan doesn't adapt a male persona as a result of gender dysphoria; she does so because she has to pretend to be male in order to save her father's life and serve China's war effort, all as a result of the oppressive gender roles of the time. Even so, Mulan's "Reflection" song has been heavily embraced by the transgender community, and LGBTQ+ persons in general, as being rather applicable to their plight of feeling like "my reflection (is) someone I don't know".
37	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
38	** "I'll Make a Man out of You", easily the most iconic song from the movie (and one of the more iconic songs from UsefulNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation in general), this song is widely considered awesome.
39	** Likewise, the film's IWantSong [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcC3rYEZv9o "Reflection"]] gives Creator/LeaSalonga a chance to shine in a Disney film solo and, despite the song's brevity in the film, she does not disappoint.
40	*** In July 2019, in anticipation of the [[Film/Mulan2020 live-action remake]], composer Alexander Juhan arranged an instrumental version of the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upyShPwgUuw using all Chinese instruments]].
41	** The covers by the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra are phenomenal, to the point of sounding like they are for a stage musical.
42	** Music/JerryGoldsmith's score (replacing Rachel Portman when she became pregnant) is all killer no filler (and arguably superior to his [[WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH other score for a feature animation]]). [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MilR3Z1sASY "Short Hair"]] the cue accompanying Mulan's ExpositoryHairstyleChange.[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlcheT4Q8M4 "The Huns Attack"]] for... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin well]]. Special mention also goes to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7kWRRS--YM "Avalanche"]] for the scene where Mulan uses Mushu to trigger an avalanche to take out the invaders ''en masse''. Try and listen to the first 30 seconds of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhm2ggrtBH8 "Gratitude"]] (with Mulan's theme getting an almost reverential arrangement) without being covered in goosebumps. It can't be done.
43	* BaseBreakingCharacter:
44	** Mushu, whom viewers either find funny or obnoxious.
45	** Shan Yu. He has a small fanbase due to how deliciously evil he is, but some find him an uninteresting and easily forgettable villain.
46	* BrokenBase: The "Mulan is transgender" theory gets a lot of very different reactions. Trans fans like the movie for what many of them they see as Mulan dealing with many of, or at least [[{{Applicability}} something similar to]], the issues that they go through; the song "Reflection" is often used to describe how trans people feel about body dysphoria (feeling like one gender but looking like another). On the other hand, many Chinese and Chinese-American fans argue that this interpretation misses a lot of cultural context and that the movie's themes deal heavily with Chinese notions of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filial_piety filial piety]] as well as oppressive StayInTheKitchen attitudes displayed by some parts of the culture, thus Mulan's decision to dress as a man was not because of self-identification but because [[MenAreTheExpendableGender that was the only way she could take her father's place and keep him safe]]. Some feminists believe the more literal versions of the trans interpretation are misogynistic, since it erases the impacts of patriarchal culture and undermines the film's PrejudiceAesop criticizing gender roles by attributing Mulan's achievements to truly being a man rather than a woman ShowingUpChauvinists. Regardless of one's personal interpretation of this opinion, it's indisputably caused quite a rift among the movie's fans.
47	* CatharsisFactor: After being a sexist asshole for the majority of his screentime, even [[spoiler:directly ordering Mulan to be killed because she's a woman in the army]], it will be immensely satisfying to see Chi Fu [[spoiler:lose his job to her]].
48	* CommonKnowledge:
49	** A common pop feminist hot take in the 2000s was to claim that Mulan "had to become a man" to succeed, and it's still occasionally repeated. Mulan actually fails miserably when she first tries to pass as a man, although not necessarily due to femininity, and more due to inexperience and being too quick to take shortcuts. She succeeds through training and dedication, but even still saves the day out of disguise [[KickingAssInAllHerFinery while wearing a dress to boot!]] And her attributes that save the day -- her quick thinking and cleverness -- she already had from the start and had nothing to do with her becoming a man.
50	** Shang and Mulan's romance is an abuse of authority by the former? Even Disney themselves labelled it as such, and claimed that was the reason it was left out of the 2020 remake. Except that Mulan being discovered as a woman is what leads to her being kicked out of the army, and soon after that she defeats Shan Yu and brings the war to an end -- so when Shang shows up at the end of the movie, he is no longer her captain. And it's just a MaybeEverAfter, with Mulan asking him to stay for dinner, and the two rolling their eyes at Grandma Fa's attempts to set them up. They don't even share a kiss!
51	** Similarly to a piece of CommonKnowledge around ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'', it's widely "known" that the film is a {{Disneyfication}} of the the 16th-century historical novel the Romance of Sui and Tang, where Mulan's father dies shortly after she leaves for war and the emperor demands she becomes his concubine, and she is DrivenToSuicide as a result. Except, in the original Ballad of Mulan (from the Northern Wei dynasty (386–535 CE)), none of this happens. The ending of that version is very similar to the Disney film, with the only difference being the gender reveal happens at the end of the story.
52	* CompleteMonster: [[TheDreaded Shan Yu]] views the Emperor of China having built TheGreatWall as both an insult and a challenge. As a violent BloodKnight, Shan Yu leads his [[TheHorde horde of Huns]] to invade, relishing when China knows he's there. After capturing two Imperial spies, Shan Yu releases them with a message for the Emperor -- but has one of his archers kill one anyways as you only need one man to deliver a message. Shan Yu later ambushes the armies of General Li at a village, resulting in a mass slaughter, not only of the soldiers, but every civilian as well, with no children spared either. Even after his army's downfall, Shan Yu attacks the Imperial Palace with his remaining men and takes the Emperor hostage, furiously trying to kill him when he refuses to [[KneelBeforeZod kneel to Shan Yu]].
53	* CrossesTheLineTwice
54	** The "Bathing" scene is awkward, but kind of funny in a way. Mulan walking out and saying "I never want to see a naked man again" is understandable... but what sells it however is when a ''dozen'' naked men all run in front of her, which disgusts the horse as much as it does Mulan.
55	** Fa Deng is one of the most memorable characters purely for the sight of him [[OffWithHisHead holding his head under his arm]].
56	* EvilIsCool: Shan Yu and his mini boss bunch of Huns for the general badassery throughout the movie. Ironically, and probably on purpose, their defeats are all extremely comedic.
57	* EndingFatigue: It seems that Mulan wiping out the Huns will be the final battle, and once she’s revealed to be a woman, it seems the movie will actually have a BittersweetEnding. Then it’s revealed that some of the Huns survived, and there’s a whole additional climax afterwards that leads to a proper happy ending.
58	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
59	** Grandmother Fa has more fans than her small screentime would suggest.
60	** The Emperor due to being a CoolOldGuy and quite the badass himself.
61	--->"No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it."
62	** Fa Zhou is also well liked for being a [[GoodParents caring father]] to Mulan and averting the BumblingDad trope that is common in Disney Films.
63	* {{Fanon}}: Shang being bisexual; a common interpretation is that Shang began to develop feelings for Mulan when she was still disguised as Ping although novelizations and other official material show Shang only respected Ping as a soldier rather than view him as a love interest. Others go as far to think that Shang is gay and was upset when Mulan was revealed to be a woman although canonically Shang shows attraction to Mulan as a woman and at the time a woman serving in the Chinese military was viewed as highly shameful as it meant non-conformity to gender roles. Women were expected to stay at home, look pretty, obey their husbands, give birth to sons, and not much else.
64	* FirstInstallmentWins: The second film is generally considered inferior to the first. As is the [[Film/Mulan2020 2020 live-action remake]].
65	* FoeYayShipping: While it drifts into CrackShip territory, Mulan and Shan Yu has a strange fan following.
66	* FountainOfMemes: Mushu is essentially a meme-spewing machine.
67	* FranchiseOriginalSin: Disney's [[Film/Mulan2020 2020 live-action take on the story]] was raked over the coals for its [[ArtisticLicense historical and cultural inaccuracies]]. While this movie also took significant liberties in that regard, it didn't take as much flack for doing so because it didn't [[FalselyAdvertisedAccuracy market itself as an authentic take on China]], nor did it attempt to defend [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks controversial changes]] by claiming they were done to be accurate or respectable. It also helped that expectations for fidelity to real life were different in 1998 compared to 2020.
68	* GeniusBonus:
69	** Mulan's horse is named Khan, a reference to the [[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Translation:Ballad_of_Mulan original Mulan poem]], in which the ruler she serves is a Khan.
70	** Grandma Fa gives Mulan "an apple for serenity". This is actually a pun for those who know Mandarin; the Mandarin for apple sounds similar to the term 'serene fruit'.
71	** All adult characters can be seen wearing their hair up, while the hair on the children is different. Boys in fact can be seen with short hair. Chinese people were traditionally not allowed to cut their hair, but children could with their parents' permission. An adult wouldn't cut theirs, as there would be no way to prove they got parental permission, and would only look like a criminal. This adds even more weight to Mulan's ImportantHaircut.
72	** What Chien Po recites to get Yao to calm down is a legitimate Buddhist mantra. This would also match up with Chien Po's bald head - implying he's a monk and therefore socially allowed to shave his head.
73	** Mulan uses her fan to disarm Shan Yu in the climax. This is an actual Kung Fu tactic, albeit a very obscure one, that they added into the film after witnessing a man on the production team demonstrate it.
74	** When Mulan hugs the Emperor, Yao asks "is she allowed to do that?" as a nod to the fact that touching the Emperor at all was a huge taboo (and why Chien Po says "sorry, Your Majesty" before picking the Emperor up to help escape). The filmmakers knew this but felt it made for a sweet moment anyway, hence the LampshadeHanging.
75	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff:
76	** The song "Reflection" has become a sort of LGBTQ+ pride anthem in the Philippines. Makes sense as Mulan's singing voice is provided by Filipina Creator/LeaSalonga.
77	** In an atypical inversion, Mushu has such a fan base ''outside'' of China rather than vice versa that he has had multiple appearances in ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'', frequent merchandise releases, and periodic appearances at [[Ride/{{Disneyland}} Disneyland Anaheim]] as a live actor mascot for Lunar New Year. It has gotten to the point that Mushu has transcended his source material, much like [[Franchise/LiloAndStitch Stitch]] has done for his own home series.
78	* HilariousInHindsight: For Mulan II: An extraverted girl named Mei who wears pink and is associated with pandas, an uptight character played by Sandra Oh whose name ends with "ing", and a group that includes four teen girls color coded green, pink, purple and yellow? This seems [[WesternAnimation/TurningRed all too familiar]].
79	* HoYay:
80	** The interactions [[SweetOnPollyOliver between Shang and Mulan when she was disguised as "Ping".]] Plus, Mushu encourages it as a normal part of male-to-male interaction.
81	--->'''Mushu:''' Good, now slap 'im on the behind. They like that!
82	** In "A Girl Worth Fighting For", Yao teases "Ping" that the "local girls thought you were quite the charmer." Later, Mushu wolf-whistles at a group of young women harvesting rice, making it seem like it came from "Ping." Mulan is embarrassed and hides her face as the women giggle, seemingly flattered.
83	* InferredHolocaust: Shortly before Shan Yu and his army find the Imperial scouts, you can see a village burning behind them. Implying they had just destroyed it, and probably killed everyone in it. [[spoiler:Averted with the little girl's village and the Imperial Army, which skips over the "implied" part.]]
84	* InformedWrongness:
85	** Chi Fu refuses to pass the recruits after Shang has finished training them and Mulan has earned her place to stay, hinting it's due to Shang receiving his position out of {{nepotism}}. Mushu takes offense and fakes a letter from General Li, summoning the retinue for the front to get Mulan glory. The recruits not being allowed off to war is treated as a bad thing, even though being slight of sync (which is possible since Shang's ideas are unconventional at best) with Li's soldiers could very easily prove fatal for Shang's company. Hence in an average scenario, even if [[GoodIsNotNice Chi Fu's not very nice about it]], giving them a Fail would have easily saved their lives and stopped more senseless bloodshed on China's side. Especially egregious is earlier it was treated ''equally'' wrong that Mulan's father would even be allowed to go to the camp in the first place, even though this ''very same Pass/Fail measure would have saved Fa Zhou if Mulan hadn't gone instead''.
86	*** Heck, the fact that the movie treated Chi Fu as "overreacting" to ''Nepotism''. Shang's performance or preparedness notwithstanding, the Huns are clearly a substantial threat even to prepared soldiers, and General Li smugly talking about Shang's "impressive military lineage" as part of a response to the serious question of why Shang was being given a position that would normally have been handed to someone with more experience really doesn't help his case. And, regardless of any other reasons he lists for giving Shang the position, any of the potential positive traits of Shang's are undermined by the fact alone that his interactions with his son are fairly familiar and informal, which is sweet and all, but not at all appropriate for supposedly giving him a position for strictly professional reasons. And even worse, as cool as it looks, Shang's training techniques, or at least some of them, actually ''are'' questionable: at least two of them endanger the recruit's lives, (flaming arrows & making them stand on a high clifftop), some of them are just in no way relevant to facing an armed enemy soldier, (archery - keep in mind these are foot soldiers, breaking boards with their faces) and none of them deal with learning basic swordsmanship, the main weapon the army equips them with. Being mistrustful of someone because of there is a strong chance of nepotism is NOT "petty" or "bullying", it is ''the right thing to do under any circumstance!''
87	** General Li doesn't really help his case, despite listing academic accomplishments of Shang he doesn't bring any kind of official record to confirm this. Then he immediately leaves before Chi Fu can ask any more questions which naturally looks bad.
88	** Mulan's bad time with the matchmaker was treated by the narrative and Mulan herself as if it were her own fault. It was the ''cricket'' that caused the problem. It didn't help that the Matchmaker was portrayed as highly unpleasant, including interrupting Mulan when she tried to warn her there was a cricket in her tea. To be charitable, maybe Mulan could have simply told the Matchmaker again before she drank it (rather than try to take it back), and her poor thinking causes DisasterDominoes, but Grandma Fa made her bring the cricket in the first place.
89	** In Mulan and her father's argument about whether or not the latter should go to war, it doesn't come off as black and white as they seemed to want us to see it as. While Fa Zhou was too old to be fighting, you have to remember that Mulan's initial plan was simply trying to convince her dad to ignore the conscription call and stay home. This of course is pretty obviously not as easy as Mulan appears to believe, as every recruit summoned is handed a piece of paper that they are expected to turn in, which probably in turn is noted. Fa Zhou not showing up would be noticed, especially given with how famous he is. And then that of course would have severe consequences for not only Fa Zhou, but for his beloved family as well. There's never any indication that Fa Zhou has any delusions about his age or current capabilities - he also also clearly says that he is doing is to protect his family, not necessarily from invaders but from causing trouble that might cause his family to lose their home and financial security. Mulan twisting his words and characterizing him as simply dying for honor[[note]]Especially after he was so kind to her regarding her accidentally dishonoring him over the disastrous matchmaker test[[/note]] comes off as ignorant and even a little manipulative, so Fa Zhou losing his temper right after that is understandable. That being said, later in the story it's clear that recruits that can't keep up with everyone else ARE sent home, and whole platoons can be held back if they were considered unfit for battle, so it's on Fa Zhou (and Fa Li and Granny Fa) 100% to not explain this ASAP to calm Mulan down.
90	* IronWoobie: Mulan goes through a lot of frustration just to prove her worth to her family, to her country and to herself. Despite this she never backs down. The one time she cries is very early in the film, and never again after that, even when she's confronted with a destroyed village.
91	* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Chi-Fu is such a [[StrawMisogynist misogynistic]], [[{{Jerkass}} obnoxious]], ObstructiveBureaucrat and [[DirtyCoward sniveling fraidy-cat]] that you would end up hating him more than the actual villain (who shows zero misogyny towards Mulan), who burns down several villages during his conquest of China and is heavily implied to kill the civilians he comes across (including children). Chi-Fu is so pompous and [[UngratefulBastard ungrateful]] that even in-universe, [[HatedByAll nobody can stand him.]] Even the Emperor detests him so much that after [[spoiler: Mulan saves China from the Huns,]] he offers Mulan Chi-Fu's job when the latter states there are no other positions open. His absence in the sequel would suggest the Emperor fired him anyway despite Mulan turning down his offer.
92	* LGBTFanbase:
93	** Mulan's ActionGirl character and her character arc's nature makes her resonate with LGBT people, especially queer women and trans people. Gay and bisexual men have also admitted to relating to Mulan's attempts to blend in by acting manly.
94	** Shang's attractiveness and his interest in Ping makes him popular with queer, gay and bi men.
95	** The song "Reflection" seems to have struck a small chord in the LGBT community, [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff especially in the Philippines.]]
96	* LoveToHate: Shan-Yu has a sizeable fanbase due to how deliciously evil he is.
97	* MemeticBadass:
98	** Mulan under her alias Ping, the manliest badass ever to grace cinema. Blog/UnshavedMouse turned Mulan herself into one while reviewing each film in the Disney Animated Canon.
99	** Yao will hit you so hard, it'll make your ancestors dizzy!
100	** The Emperor has this reputation, particularly from his fantastic putdown to Shan Yu ("no matter how harsh the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it"). Quite impressive for a BadassPacifist.
101	* MemeticMutation: [[Memes/{{Mulan}} Here]].
102	* MisaimedFandom:
103	** Mulan has got a reputation among some fans as a YouGoGirl girliness-hating {{Tomboy}}. This same fanbase reacts with disgust at her wearing the pink dress in most of the ''Franchise/DisneyPrincess'' merchandise, claiming it undermines her character. This is ignoring the fact that Mulan's discomfort at the beginning of the movie was over not wanting to let her family down -- and that she ''wanted'' to be a good wife. On a more superficial level she does actually like how she looks in the pink dress (although only after she loosens one lock of her hair so she looks less uptight). She seems to wear pink because so many of the ''other'' princess characters are [[TrueBlueFemininity colour-coded with blue outfits]] (Cinderella, Belle, Jasmine and Snow White) and Sleeping Beauty likewise is shown in a pink dress for this reason. Peggy Orenstein, the author of ''Cinderella Ate My Daughter'', helped popularise this misconception with her [[https://web.archive.org/web/20130515211326/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/24/magazine/24princess.t.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0&ei=5088&en=8e5a1ac1332a802c&ex=1324616400&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss 2006 New York times article "What's Wrong With Cinderella?"]].
104	** There's strong irony in the fact that a movie about a woman trying to break gender roles in the name of protecting her father produced a song ("I'll Make A Man Out of You") that ended up becoming the [[SignatureSong most popular and remembered song]] of the movie.
105	** Some trans readings of Mulan confuse {{applicability}} for {{allegory}}, interpreting Mulan as canonically trans where the text makes it clear she's comfortable with being a woman - it's the rigidness of the society around her and them being unable to see a chaotic, headstrong woman as feminine, along with the theme of filial piety, that's the issue. Some Chinese people and Chinese diaspora view the trans reading as erasing the cultural aspect of the film, such as the weight that familial expectations place on people or the need to wrestle with old-fashioned Chinese views on gender roles, which do not allow [[MenAreTheExpendableGender women to contribute to the war effort directly]], instead forcing them be [[StayInTheKitchen perfect wives who would birth more sons]].
106	* MisBlamed: Fans tend to paint Shang as a jerk for not instantly believing Mulan when she warns them about the surviving Huns. While she was right, Shang can't be blamed for being slow to trust someone who was deceiving him from the very beginning. And he does warn the soldiers to be on their guard, so he clearly believes her to some extent.
107	* MisaimedMarketing: Mulan's placement in the Franchise/DisneyPrincess franchise already counted but it reached a new low when the DVD joined the "Royal Wedding Collection". Not royalty, and not getting married to royalty.
108	* MoralEventHorizon:
109	** Shan-Yu crosses it when [[spoiler: he and his soldiers burn down the village at the Tung Shao Pass. There's an Empathy Doll Shot to indicate that even children were not spared. Plus, there's also the helmet and sword of Shang's father, indicating that he too died in the attack. In fact, the Huns butchered ''everyone'' -- no one is left to tell the tale. The scene abruptly interrupts the "A Girl Worth Fighting For" song, giving it GutPunch impact.]]
110	** At first, Chi Fu is simply an arrogant bully and, considering he's a loyal servant of the Emperor himself, can only be considered a villain because of his misogyny. But ''boy'', does he ever make the best (worst?) of that, and when Mulan's gender is outed, he crosses the line by ordering Shang to kill her as though she were a traitor (never mind that she had proven herself a valuable asset to China's army up to that point). He only drives the point home that he's thoroughly unrepentant about his misogyny later on when, after Mulan helps defeat the Huns and save the Emperor, [[spoiler:the bully ''still'' demands the death penalty in a gesture of blatant ingratitude]].
111	* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound:
112	** When Mulan first sings, and viewers are bowled over by Lea Salonga's beautiful voice -- ''Ancestors, hear my plea...''
113	** Cri-Kee, whenever he chirps.
114	* OlderThanTheyThink:
115	** The film is often said to have borrowed elements from [[InterchangeableAsianCultures Japanese and Korean culture]] as well. Most of these are in fact [[AluminumChristmasTrees Ancient Chinese traditions]]. The dress Mulan wears for the Matchmaker is mistaken for a kimono, when it is actually a [[https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/traditional-chinese-clothes-hanfu.htm hanfu]] - a traditional Chinese dress; which for the record is the predecessor of the kimono and hanbok. The make-up likewise is thought to be Geisha, but is actually based off Tang Dynasty make-up (which did influence the Geishas). Even so, the Geishas originated in the courts of Imperial China.
116	** The film not taking place in an AmbiguousTimePeriod is actually quite apt for the fact that the ballad itself doesn't belong to any particular dynasty; as Mulan is a folklore character rather than a historical figure, her story is usually placed in the Northern and Southern, Sui or Tang Dynasties.
117	** Mulan often lauded as the first ActionGirl Disney princess as well as saving her love interest instead of the other way around. The first Disney Princess to save her love interest was Ariel in 1989, (And arguably Belle as well, though she didn't save hers from physical danger) and Jasmine had been kicking copious amounts of ass in her TV series a few years earlier. And the second point is inaccurate - Mulan would have been executed if Shang had not suddenly decided to spare her, meaning Mulan did NOT break that trend.
118	* OnceOriginalNowCommon: There's a lot of combat in the movie, but for the most part it's kept off-screen, or consists of ranged combat at a distance that keeps casualties from being seen. After the outstanding success of Creator/DreamWorksAnimation's ''Franchise/KungFuPanda'' franchise established that ferociously wild, if stylized, {{Wuxia}} action with innumerable connecting kicks and punches are now acceptable family entertainment, ''Mulan'' comes off as rather timid.
119	* OneSceneWonder:
120	** The Matchmaker has more screen time than the below examples, but she still only has one major scene in which Mulan embarrasses herself in front of her. The 2020 remake even increased her role so that she got to witness Mulan's heroics.
121	** [[OffWithHisHead Fa Deng.]]
122	--->'''First Ancestor:''' ''(speaking to Mushu)'' You had your chance to protect the Fa family!\
123	'''Female Ancestor:''' Your misguidance led Fa Deng to disaster!\
124	'''Fa Deng:''' ''(carrying his head under his arm)'' Yeah. Thanks a lot.
125	** The ordinary RedShirt who lit the signal tower ''while Shan Yu was staring him down''.
126	--->"[[DefiantToTheEnd Now all of China knows you're here.]]"
127	** Shang's father, [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure General Li]], could be seen as such before riding off to join the rest of the Imperial Army at the Tung Shao Pass. It helps that he's voiced by James Shigeta, a pioneer for Asian-American performers in the 1950s and 60s, who starred in the first Hollywood film with a majority Asian cast (''Flower Drum Song'').
128	** The unnamed soldier who treats Mulan's injury and [[SmallRoleBigImpact reveals her true identity to Shang]].
129	* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: The Platform/GameBoy tie-in game was an underwhelming side-scrolling platformer. It never had much of a chance, given it was developed by Tiertex Design Studios.
130	* QuestionableCasting:
131	** The majority of the film's actors are East Asian. Why on Earth is the ''very white'' Harvey Fierstein of all people playing a short angry Chinese man? (Although to Fierstein's credit, he was reluctant to take the role at all and wanted to have an East Asian-American actor do it instead, only agreeing after seeing the cast list and being assured that the vast majority of the actors were of the proper ethnicity).
132	** By this logic, Creator/JuneForay is also an odd choice for Grandmother Fa. She's hilarious in her few scenes, but it is admittedly strange to hear the voice of a diminutive white woman voicing a Chinese grandmother.
133	** The unnamed matchmaker is this twice over, being voiced by two different Caucasian woman over the course of the two films.
134	** Mushu being voiced by African American actor Creator/EddieMurphy is also fairly questionable and noted to be out of place in the setting even by those who like him, particularly because his voice is very distinct and recognizable, making it nigh-impossible for the viewer to ''not'' just hear Eddie Murphy instead of the character.[[note]]Then again, this may explain why fans were [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks less than happy]] when Mushu was [[TheOtherDarrin recast]] for [[WesternAnimation/MulanII the sequel]], despite Creator/MarkMoseley being considered a professional Murphy impressionist.[[/note]]
135	* RainbowLens:
136	** Mulan's story of feeling confined by the gender roles and expectations of her society could be taken as a metaphor for being transgender, especially with her song "Reflection".
137	** The film is very light on romance compared to its contemporary Disney films, with Shang only being an ImpliedLoveInterest with a MaybeEverAfter. Mulan's struggles with feminine gender roles and marriage, combined with Shang's [[SweetOnPollyOliver attraction to Ping]], leads to speculation of a queer metaphor.
138	** Several gay or bisexual men have spoken about how they relate to Mulan's attempts to fit in with the men and act manly. And of course her crush on Shang has to be kept secret because it would blow her cover, which many LGBT individuals can relate to.
139	* RefrainFromAssuming: Shang's training song is called "I'll Make a Man Out of You", not "Be a Man" or "We Are Man/Men".
140	* RonTheDeathEater: A mild example with Shan Yu. Many fans and outlets (particularly those discussing the [[Film/Mulan2020 reboot]] portray him as the epitome of patriarchy and personified sexism that Mulan must overcome. Except, he is actually the only male character in the film with no sexist inclinations[[note]]Possibly in line with steppe nomads being somewhat egalitarian[[/note]], making this an extremely strange accusation when there are other flaws to point out.
141	* SignatureScene: A couple:
142	** "Mulan's decision" is one of the most remembered scenes in the movie. From Jerry Goldsmith's pumping score, to Mulan grabbing the armor and [[ImportantHaircut cutting her hair]], to the beautiful animation going along with it; if there's one scene people definitely remember, it's that one for how powerful it was.
143	** Another one was the village massacre which cuts off the soldiers singing "A Girl Worth Fighting For" in the most brutal way possible. The blood-red sky mixed with the village's remains and of course, [[spoiler:General Li's army in the distance lying dead on the snow, along with Chien-Po finding the general's helmet]], and of course, [[DeathOfAChild Mulan finding the doll that the Huns found to find said village.]] It's one of the most daunting scenes in a Disney movie still to this day since it shows one thing: WarIsHell.
144	* SignatureSong: "I'll Make a Man Out of You" was by far the film's most popular song for a long time, thanks to its badass power and the affiliated montage. However, "Reflection" has now rivaled it due to a number of factors. It's the first single of Music/ChristinaAguilera's career (she even re-recorded the song for the 2020 film's soundtrack), it struck a small chord in the LGBT community, and [[Film/Mulan2020 the 2020 live-action remake]] made a lot of work out of this song through its trailers.
145	* StrawmanHasAPoint:
146	** While Shang not believing Mulan about the Huns having infiltrated the capital city is clearly intended to be a sign that he's just not ready to accept her contributions because of her gender, there is another possible explanation -- by lying about being male, Mulan has already proven she's capable of being dishonest. It's more reasonable to believe someone if you've never known them to lie.
147	** While the Matchmaker was being a complete jerkass by calling Mulan a disgrace, she was right to give Mulan a failing grade on the test. Mulan wasn't an impressive bride-to-be (at first): she cheated by writing on her skin, she spilled tea on the table, and even set the woman on fire, (She didn't do it intentionally, and there was a cricket but she still: Set. On. Fire.) all while she was supposed to be proving her best mettle as a wife. In fact, had she simply told the Matchmaker there was a cricket in her tea, rather than trying to grab the cup off her, that part of the mess could have been avoided – although she does try to tell her, only to be cut off because the ideal bride is supposed to be silent.
148	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Despite being the main villain, Shan Yu's overall screen-time is quite low, which results in him not getting much time to leave an impression on the viewers. He doesn't even interact with other members of the main cast until the final battle at the Emperor's palace.
149	** Mulan’s mother is more or less a LivingProp, and seems to only exist to subvert the pattern of Disney female characters (such as Belle and Ariel) not having a mother.
150	* TransAudienceInterpretation: Some of the fandom sees Mulan as transgender or at least evocative of trans experiences. For example, the lyrics to Reflection can easily be read as reminiscent of gender dysphoria ("when will my reflection show who I am inside?"), and Mulan's cross-dressing being a way to express parts of herself that are considered shameful resonate similarly. Of course, textually, Mulan's journey is more about filial piety and the strict gender hierarchy within China, with Mulan being comfortable as a woman. Some Chinese feminists disagree with the trans reading, especially claims that Mulan is trans (as it prioritizes transness over Chinese identity and the realities of the culture and gender), though the intersection of transness and Chinese (and Chinese-American) identity makes it more complex.
151	* ValuesDissonance:
152	** [[https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/061998mulan-film-review.html The dehumanizing depiction of the Hun army as ash-skinned and brutish warmongers]] [[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/sep/09/mulan-disney-reel-history has only aged more poorly with time due to its xenophobic connotations]]. The Huns are acceptable targets as they no longer exist as a people today. Depicting the Huns with ash-skin may have been intended to make them ethnically ambiguous so as to not offend similar nomadic ethnic groups which do still exist. The Chinese release of Mulan identifies the Hun as the Xiongnu (also an ethnic group which no longer exists which may or may not be connected to the Huns) as China was never invaded by the Huns and Chinese audiences may not be so familiar with them whereas Western audiences are more knowledgeable of the Huns than the Xiongnu.
153	** Disney tried very hard to be respectful of the story of Mulan, and they did a pretty good job for the time, but turning Chinese culture into an honor-culture pastiche that mirrors a lot of European culture leaves a little to be desired. Using some pretty disgraced relics of Yellow Peril to portray some of the more negative characters in China (thin mustaches, buck teeth) doesn't help.
154	** Closer to home, some western critics (for example, WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick, Lindsay Ellis) dislike the fact that Mulan turns down the post as the Emperor's consul to go home to her family. They think it implies that while a woman can be a hero, she shouldn't have an actual position of power. [[DeliberateValuesDissonance However, Mulan also turns down a job from the Khan (The Emperor's counterpart) and goes home to her family in]] [[Literature/TheBalladOfMulan the original story]], which fits with a traditional Chinese message of Filial Piety. Granted, there is some AdaptationExplanationExtrication, as the gender reveal doesn't happen until Mulan has gone home in the original story.
155	* ValuesResonance:
156	** One of the reasons Mulan has been such a beloved character among Disney fans for so many years is not just for being an ActionGirl, but for being a relatable female who's allowed to be flawed and mess up while still being a virtuous character (as well as getting to be funny and subverting WomenAreWiser). Rather than being a FlawlessToken, she's shown as having to work for her success and she earns the respect of her comrades entirely because of her efforts. Sure, they still believe her to be a man at that stage, but the reveal of her true gender doesn't make them question her competency once. Mulan gets to save the day through her quick-thinking and cleverness, rather than just being impossibly powered. And while she's uncomfortable being made over to impress the Matchmaker, it's not because [[RealWomenDontWearDresses femininity is bad]], but because she feels unsuited to what's expected of her.
157	** The film also avoids making its [[StrawMisogynist main villain misogynistic to hammer in the message against sexism even more]]. Instead, [[PoliticallyCorrectVillain Shan Yu is one of the few male characters who isn't sexist]], but he's still completely evil. As several films have been criticized [[{{Anvilicious}} for making the main villain the embodiment of an ideology the creators dislike]], including the live-action remake of Mulan, Shan Yu has been praised for showing that a politically correct character can still be a bad person.
158	* ViewerGenderConfusion: Cri-Kee is officially male, but the character has a fairly ambiguous design, never talks, and is pretty much never referred to by male pronouns.
159	* {{Woolseyism}}: The Chinese dub calls the Huns the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiongnu Xiongnu]], which is more historically accurate as the Huns are best known for invading Europe under [[UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun Attila]], while China ''has'' gone to war with the Xiongnu tribes in ancient times on multiple occasions.[[note]]They gradually assimilated into Chinese culture in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, but before that, the Han Chinese and the Xiongnu had been enemies for centuries.[[/note]] It is theorized that the two groups were related. This is also supported by Shan Yu's name, which sounds a lot like ''Chanyu'', the title for the ruler of the Xiongnu.
160	* TheWoobie:
161	** Mulan really makes you feel for her after her disaster with the matchmaker, especially when she sings about her struggles in "Reflection". And when she's abandoned in the mountains and left feeling like a worthless failure, it's again very easy for the viewer to feel sad for her.
162	** Captain Li Shang sees his father's army (and presumably a lot of his friends and fellow students) butchered in the aftermath of a Hun battle. Due to TheChainsOfCommanding, he can't show his grief or accept any comfort from his men. Later, when the Chinese are victorious thanks to Mulan, he's visibly uncomfortable while the citizens praise him, since he had to discharge the real hero after her gender was revealed.

Context YMMV / Mulan