Disney Movie Mulan

Many children and adults love the Disney movie Mulan. It tells of a courageous and misunderstood young woman who disguises herself as a man and takes her injured father’s place in the war. She helps the imperial army win the war and brings honor to her family’s name. Although this movie tells a beautiful story all of it however isn’t true at all. What you might not know is that it’s based on a poem and tells about the real Hua Mulan. During the time the Disney movie Mulan was produced--which was after the cold war era, the movie grossed about $300 million dollars. Mulan served as a political compromise as well as economic and was a type of bargain for both China and the United States but because of the movie’s inaccuracy China was not pleased.

The misrepresentation of the movie was an insult because of the untruthfulness about the legend of Mulan.

“Many people have seen the Disney movie Mulan and do not realize that it is actually telling the story of an ancient Chinese poem titled the Ballad of Mulan.” Her real name is Hua Fa Mulan and is said to have lived during the time of the Wei dynasty The poem tells of a young woman who goes off to fight a war in her father’s place. “In the movie as well as in the poem, there was no male child. This caused problem the Emperor or Khan as he is called in the poem began to call troops to fight the invading Mongol and nomadic tribes.”

She succeeds and triumphs in victory and returns home and everything goes back to normal however, Disney’s version is not accurate at all. In Disney the villain by the name of Shan Yu was the leader of the Huns goes to the Great Wall of China and threatens to overthrow the emperor and tells them to bring their best men to fight against them. According to the poem, “a bandit known as leopard skin, who probably sounded far more menacing to audiences in 16th century China, gathers hundreds of thousands of men in rebellion against the emperor and declares himself

He doesn’t wear his shirt often and is stronger, smarter and better looking than the other soldiers. However in the Poem, “Mulan is married off to her next door neighbor.” When the movie was released and shown in theaters it didn’t do as well as China thought because the actual release date had been delayed a whole year due to protectionism. When it was shown in Hollywood box offices it was one of the best turn outs and made a substantial amount of money. “China, meanwhile, after successfully intimidating Hollywood with the threat to deny Disney’s access to a lucrative market, was waiting for Disney’s surrender.” Without a profitable market, making the movie would have been a complete waste of time. By blackmailing Hollywood Chinese government could still reach globalization and economic prosperity. “The timely production of Mulan, more than a handy tool of damage control, provided both China and Disney a perfect compromise to continue their business cooperation.” Although China didn’t like the idea of Disney’s version of Mulan the goal for profit was achieved. Despite the inaccuracies, the movie and the poem depict a strong woman who takes the place of her injured father and goes to war and comes out victorious. Mulan will always be known as a strong Chinese