It's not available in mainland China, but users with a virtual private network can bypass regional restrictions.) On one popular site for pirated content, Mulan was downloaded in China more than 250,000 times in three days, the South China Morning Post reported.
When China allowed Mulan to be distributed in Chinese theaters, it was after the Chinese Lunar New Year in 1999, which is 1 years later. The Lunar Year is usually late January to early February, that's when the most people will have free time to go to movie theaters.
Many took issue with Liu's poker-faced acting style, and suggested that Disney should have cast Zhāng Zǐyí 章子怡 as the lead instead. The movie is also under heavy fire for sidelining its best talents. Fans were not happy seeing their childhood heroes in disappointingly one-dimensional stock characters.
Mulan is a fictional folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century AD) of Chinese history. According to the legend, Mulan takes her aged father's place in the conscription for the army by disguising herself as a man.
EVERYTHING CULTURALLY WRONG WITH MULAN 2020 (And How They Could've Been Fixed)
Why was Mulan so expensive?
So, why the higher price? Well, there are a few factors. For starters, Mulan is an expensive film and cost $200 million to produce. Disney's also spent a lot on marketing (including, a pricey TV spot at the 2020 Super Bowl), so they needed to find a way to cover at least some of their investment.
Mushu was seen as trivialising the Chinese culture
USC Professor Stanley Ronsen also told The Hollywood Report that the character was seen as a trivialisation of the culture in China. “Mushu was very popular in the US, but the Chinese hated it,” he said. “This kind of miniature dragon trivialised their culture.”
Mulan's Origins - Mulan's legend started as folksong amongst non-Han Chinese - its fictional, so there is no historical accuracy to speak of. The earliest surviving record is a relatively short story/poem of less than 400 Chinese text/characters .
Mulan's surname was rendered as the Yue Chinese (aka Cantonese) "Fa", though this was to pay respect to the poem being originally written in that language.
Joan of Arc seems outwardly similar to Fa Mulan, as they both donned male guise to assist them in joining/serving in their respective royal armies at times when their homelands were threatened, however, the latter preceded the former by nearly a thousand years (albeit only as an epic poem) and thus shares no direct ...
The film also drew ire for filming in Xinjiang, a region of China where Uighur Muslims have been detained in mass internment camps. The film has also been accused of being too white behind the camera.
Upon leaving theaters, “Kung Fu Panda” had not only become the most successful American animated film in Chinese history, but the most successful animated film in China, period. This success was commercial as well as critical.
The boycott centers on two Chinese issues: The treatment of Uyghur Muslims in China's Xinjiang region -- where some of the film was shot -- and China's crackdown of freedoms in Hong Kong.
Even though Disney bent over backwards to create a live-action “Mulan” that would appeal to China, disgruntled Chinese viewers have dubbed it “the worst 'Mulan' in history,” saying that it feels “wooden” and offensively inauthentic.
"Hua" is the correct Mandarin pronunciation, and means "flower." "Hua Ping" (Mulan's fake name) means "flower vase" or just "vase." In China, an effeminate man is often called a "flower vase" or "flowerpot."
Dragons being proud and revered creatures in Chinese mythology, portraying one as comedic relief was considered insensitive. Aside from Mushu being offensive to some Chinese viewers, the original animated film performed poorly In China as a whole.
98° fans, however, will be disappointed to know that there is no new version of their "True to Your Heart." Though not mentioned by Caro in her interviews, another reason that it was decided to cut the songs is to sidestep the more problematic elements of the original soundtrack of Mulan.
Because of her meritorious service, the emperor pardoned her crime of deceiving the monarch and thought that she was capable of serving in the court. However, Hua Mulan refused because she had an old father to take care of and asked the emperor to allow him to return to his hometown to compensate and honor his parents.
"Using it as a silly sidekick didn't play very well with the traditional Chinese audience." But perhaps the most significant reason why the new Mulan film features a phoenix instead is due to the symbolism of the mythical bird for Chinese women in particular — or at least according to Caro's vision.
RELATED: Mulan: The Actual Legend Behind Disney's Warrior Princess, Explained. Mulan presents chi as a mystical energy that males are pre-dispositioned to possess. Chi can be used by warriors to augment their physical abilities. For whatever reason, Mulan possesses an extraordinary amount of chi.
In reality, the filmmakers claimed that they were influenced by the #MeToo Movement, finding it inappropriate for Mulan's love interest to be her commanding officer. Considering how poorly the animated film performed in China, Disney made an active effort to appeal to the Chinese market in its live-action film.
A clause in Eddie Murphy's contract for doing Shrek 2 (2004) forbade him from reprising the role of Mushu in this film, therefore having his other voice actor Mark Moseley (a man best known for filling in for Murphy's characters like Mushu and Donkey in their TV and Video Game appearances) fill in for this film.
Many people simply aren't watching it, especially considering the $30 extra fee to stream it on DisneyPlus. However, the high price tag isn't the only reason not to stream “Mulan.” Not only does it not compare to the original, but more importantly, the producers displayed a complete lack of moral regard while filming.
