As mentioned, the Dragon is a masculine symbol which the animated movie used to emphasize Mulan's masculine energy as her story goes on in the animated movie. She showed boldness in speaking her mind and taking her father's place in the war.
While dragons do play a large part in Chinese art and culture, it's clear that the animators of the film were using these dragons as a storytelling technique. They symbolize Mulan as the protector of her family, a pillar of strength, and they foreshadow her eventual success at the end of the film.
After suffering a demotion before the events of the film and accidentally destroying the Great Stone Dragon, Mushu is bent on ensuring Mulan does well as she masquerades as a man in the Chinese army -- and in doing so, he actually saves the day.
Though the director shared that Mushu was removed to allow Mulan to better enhance her relationships with her fellow soldiers, his absence may have also been more about not offending viewers, who found Mushu to be insensitive in the 1998 animated feature.
The dragon's eyes glowing in the temple symbolizes Mulan's role as the protector of her family awakening, instead of the actual dragon. The reason Mushu couldn't wake the dragon is because the dragon was no longer there. Mulan is implied to be the Great Dragon that protects her family.
Why was Mushu not supposed to be the one to help Mulan?
It turns out that the traditional Chinese audience did not particularly think that was the best interpretation of the dragon in their culture. That the dragon is a sign of respect, and of strength and power, and sort of using it as a silly sidekick did not play well with a traditional Chinese audience.”
If any of you watched Mulan 2, for exapmle buying it on DVD, Mushu turns evil after losing his pedastol, so he tries to tear apart Mulan and Shang, which worked.
China blocked the release of Disney's animated “Mulan” for eight months in the late 1990s after the company backed Martin Scorsese's “Kundun,” a film seen as sympathetic to the Dalai Lama. The animated “Mulan” bombed in China as a result.
Even though Disney spent a lot of effort to fit the Chinese market, the reason why Mulan failed in the Chinese market is due to the stereotype and misunderstanding of the traditional Chinese culture, make-up, costumes and sceneries, and characteristics, which ultimately caused the movie to become nondescript.
Whether we interpret Mulan as a gender-bending feminist or someone who is gender-fluid, her acceptance of her identity is core to her story arc. And the message is clear: Embrace your own identity. Defy what society expects. Present your true self to the world.
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.
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.
Mulan and Shang, along with Yao, Ling and Chien-Po, set out with the princesses to Qui Gong. In order to protect his position as guardian, and believing that Mulan and Shang are incompatible due to their different behavior, Mushu tags along to sabotage their relationship, while Cri-Kee attempts to stop him.
Mushu is named after moo shu pork, a popular Chinese dish in the United States. The characters of Mushu's Chinese name "木/Mù" and "須/xū" mean "wood" and "necessary" respectively. The latter character, as a noun, also means "beard," "palpus," or "feeler."
Mulan tried to follow family tradition to honor her family but her way of showing honor was far different than what her family asked of her. She knew her value and she used her talents and passions to keep her family safe and eventually bring them honor.
USC professor Stanley Rosen said the character was seen as trivializing Chinese culture by Chinese moviegoers. "Mushu was very popular in the U.S., but the Chinese hated it," they said. "This kind of miniature dragon trivialized their culture."
The phoenix is the Hua family protector. Disney, Walt Disney Animation. In the animated film, Mushu breaks a statue of a stone dragon, which serves as the family's guardian. Mulan's father says the phoenix is the emissary of their ancestors in the new movie.
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.
Unfortunately for fans of this princess, Mulan II did terribly. Critics regarded the film as a huge disrespect to the original Mulan. This discouraged Disney from pursuing her story any further, so Mulan III was shelved and Ana Ming never made it anywhere.
People are furious with Disney's newly released "Mulan" movie, and have called for a boycott of it. The movie's credits thank government agencies in China's Xinjang region, where millions of Muslims have been detained, surveilled, and subjected to human-rights abuses for years.
Mushu was once a guardian spirit of Mulan's family, but he has been demoted to the unappreciated position of an incense burner and gong-ringer for the deceased Fa ancestors ever since he failed to protect a family member, a soldier named Fa Deng, resulting in the soldier's demise by decapitation.
In 1998's Mulan, Imperial China is invaded by Shan Yu and his Elite Hun army - who are based in part on Genghis Khan and the Mongol empire and also on Attila the Hun - and Mulan is forced to join up in the place of her aging father, disguising herself as a man to allow her conscription.
The Huns, largely painted as cruel, bloodthirsty barbarians in Disney's movie, were shown as the evil force that Mulan and her comrades had to defeat in the name of all that is good.
