Chinese People And The Military Cartoon Analysis

2.1 Chinese people and the military

The first Chinese character that appears in the cartoon is a soldier standing guard on the Great Wall of China. However, as the scene takes place at night, it is more to establish the basic approach which the audience will later employ to recognize who is a good and who might be an evil character. The first proper portrayal of an Asian man is that of the General Li having an audience with the Emperor. Interestingly, this is the only time the audience will see the General. Furthermore, he is not entirely Chinese in his appearance. Aside from his armour which resembles the plates worn by traditional soldiers in ancient times, often seen in old paintings, his physique and features are less compatible with the usual vision of China. Chinese men

As much as the Huns are relocated, their presence is explicable. On the other hand, the military camp where the Chinese soldiers train before they are ready to go to battle is much more contemporary and inaccurate. The military is not usually associated with cleanliness and health, yet the camp in the cartoon looks neat, tidy, and hygienic. Not only does the camp look unreal, it resembles a contemporary military camp rather than one two thousand years ago. It is unlikely that people back then would have used white fabric for their tents, or lined them up in neat rows. What is presented in Mulan is an aestheticized and fabricated representation of the military. It also disagrees with the idea and portrayal of the legendary Hua Mulan. By being a part of an army, Mulan had to endure the lack of propriety (as seen in the cartoon in the scene with the bath in the lake) and extreme conditions. Despite this, she not only survived but gained the respect of her fellow soldiers, and in the end went back home to resume her role as a