Mulan Released by:
Buena Vista Home VideoFeatures:
1998; 88 Min; Rated G; Dolby Digital: 5.1 English, Dolby Surround: French, Spanish; THX-Certified; Widescreen (1.85) and Pan And Scan.Extras:
"Reflections" music video by Christine Aguilera; "True To Your Heart" music video by 98 Degrees and Stevie Wonder; Theatrical Teaser Trailer.Review:
When Walt Disney Pictures began production on this production, many people began to wonder how they would screw this one up. After essentially re-writing history (Pocahontas) and myth (Hercules), many people were afraid of how the legend of Mulan would become Disnified. After consulting with a few of my friends that actually knew the Chinese legend, it seems that Disney got it right. Besides no one organized a protest this time.Mulan is the story of a daughter who runs off in her father's place to fight the Huns, disguised as a soldier. Mulan is voiced by Ming-Na Wen. When she set out on her quest to restore her family's honor, her great anscestors send a protective spirit to protect her on the journey. The spirit, a small dragon named Mushu played by Eddie Murphy, is a wise cracking, demoted spirit who is attempting to regain his place with the anscetorial guardians. Murphy's clown perfomance is one of thebest since Robin Williams voiced the Genie from Aladdin.
When Mulan joins the Imperial Army, she is led by Captian Shaing (B.D. Wong), through rigerous training. While this is complecated enough, she must maintain her disguise as a man, so she adopts the name of Ping. Other soldiers met during this period are the blustery Yao (Harvey Fierstein), Ling and the timid Chien-Po, these are some of the additional comic sidekicks Disney always places in thier films.
One of the big highlght for Disney films is to bring in as much big name voice talent as they can. Other notables cast into this production include Miquel Ferrer as the Huns' leader Shan-Yul.Pat Morita is the Emporor of China. Geroge Takei plays the primary ancestor who, unknowingly, sends Mushu on his quest. And finally we have animatied voice fiend Fank Welker who plays the lucky cricket, Cri-kee, and General Li, the assitant to the Emporor, who oversees the training of China's Imperial army.
My original intention was to buy both the laser and DVD of Mulan and write a comparative review, as I have done with 101 Dalmatians and Hercules. Unfortuantely, Disney hasn't bother with a domestic release of this title on LD. This release may have become a victim of the Pioneer plant closing in the states. C'est la vie.
The picture on this disc is supurb. As with the other prviously released Disney titles, this has gone through the THX-Certification program, and it meets their nomal standards. The is no sign of bleeding or over-saturation or the colors on this disc. Unlike the other 3 Disney animated releases, this film could have been transfered anamorphically, but I can't imagine it looking much better. I did take a quick peek at the piece of shit transfer (sorry, I mean pan and scan), and it's not a complete butchery, but you loose about one-quarter of the actual film image on this version. It may only be minor background images, but it's still cropped, which I hate.
Where this disc shine even more, which seems to be a pattern with modern Disney animation, is the Dolby Digital audio mix. The music is wonderfully mixed throughout, not only the Jerry Goldsmith score, but the traditional musical number as well. In chapter 5, "Honor To Us All," the front stage of the mix is used to full effect, while the main vocals come from the center, the back-up singers are mixed into all of the remaining channels, without overwhelming the center. When it comes to the traditional sound mixing, chapter 23, "The Hun Onslaught," is awesome. The "Victory Celebration" in chapter 26 isn't too bad either.
Supplemments? Well, there aren't too many. Big shock. The original theatrical teaser is included, as well as the "Refelctions" and "True To Your Heart" music videos, which are present with pretty poor picture quality. Apparently, you have to cut the corners somewhere.
Buy this disc! Once you get over the sticker shock, you won't regret it. For people that have been collection Disney animation on LD, your not really going to be given a choice, time to buy a DVD player. Besides, Disney will be treating us properly when Tarzan arrives.
On a scale of 1 to 10, the movie ranks a 8, Disney has re-captured the magic lost over the last production (Hercules). The amzing part is they pulled this story off without offending the original legend.
From my old scale of 1 to 10, I'll give this presentation a 7, with no Bonus Biscuits.
Dan Linzmeier, FIT Productions
Fitprod@aol.com
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