In 1998, Disney came out with the animated movie Mulan, based on the Chinese legend Hua Mulan. In the story, Mulan disguises herself as a man and goes to war against the Huns, in her father’s place.
In 2020, Disney plans to release a live action film of Mulan with some revisions. This has been causing controversies from said changes. In the live action film, they plan to get rid of the original soundtrack, Mushu the dragon companion, and Li Shang the general of the army.
Let’s begin with the positive feedback. Many people in the Chinese community felt that they were represented incorrectly in the 1998 film, because Mushu and Li Shang aren’t in the Chinese legend Hua Mulan. This was upsetting because Mulan is a serious war story and Mulan didn’t have a love interest in the original version. They also found that having Mushu in the story was Disney being stereotypical and racist. They were offended that this was how the U.S viewed Chinese people. So when Disney announced that they were going to fix these problems by removing both Mushu and Li Shang, they were very content.
The negative comments fans are leaving, is that Disney isn’t staying true to the 1998 version. They consider Mushu part of the reason why the film is so entertaining. User GreenCobrasG went on Twitter to say, “Disney is remaking Mulan into a live action without Mushu and the music from the original animated classic. Why??? They are some of the best parts about the original. I can see this movie failing. The best remakes we had are just straight remakes with no change or no removal,”. Fans also complained that if Disney removed Li Shang, who fell in love with Mulan when she was disguised as a man that it would be disrespectful to the LGBTQ+ community. Fans on twitter are accusing Disney of being homophobic. User, chubilitto spoke out and said, “The removal of Li Shang from Disney’s upcoming live action movie, Mulan, pretty much confirmed that he is a bisexual person. Oh classic homophobic Disney. Doesn’t want any ye gey agenda on TV because children might catch the homophobic disease,”.
Other complaints are about the actress, Crystal Yifei Liu who stars in the 2020 version of Mulan. Some of you may know that in Hong Kong, people are fighting for their freedom and to have the same rights as in a democracy. There have been many riots caused by citizens and leading to many acts of police brutality. For instance, CNBC reported, “Protesters in Hong Kong threw gasoline bombs at government headquarters and set fires in the streets on Saturday, while police stormed a subway car and hit passengers with batons and pepper spray in scenes that seem certain to inflame tensions further in a city riven by nearly three months of pro-democracy demonstrations,”. The controversy around the actress started when she posted on her Weibo saying, “I support the Hong Kong police; you can beat me up now.” Some people on Twitter felt that this was not the type of person that should be playing Mulan. For example, user minerva_jc said, “Actress Liu Yifei supports police brutality while she herself enjoys democracy and freedom as an American,”. Another user, HK tweets stated, “Skipping the press line wouldn’t make me forget how she supports for #HongKongPolice amid of the severe police brutalities against #antiELAB protesters. She is not the one to portray Mulan,”.
No matter what, they decided to do, Disney will receive negative feedback on the upcoming 2020 live action film. As a child growing up with Mulan being my favorite movie, I can’t imagine watching it without Mushu and Li Shang. But as an Asian American, it would be nice to be represented correctly. What do you think? Should Disney stay true to the 1998 version or create a new Mulan based on the Chinese legend Hua Mulan?