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.
A small Chinese dragon, Mushu was a guardian of Mulan's family before being demoted for failing to protect an ancestor. He plots to redeem himself by ensuring Mulan's success when she enlists herself in the army in her father's place, ultimately becoming her loyal confidant.
Shan Yu is then blasted to the New Year's fireworks tower and is killed in the explosion. Mulan is deemed China's bravest warrior, and as a reward for his assistance in restoring the Fa family honor, Mushu regains his job as a family guardian (to the reluctance of the First Fa Ancestor).
She's engaged to Shang and those two are madly in love with each other. However, Mushu isn't that thrilled about them getting married because if Mulan marries Shang, his ancestors will take care of her. Meaning that Mushu will lose his pedestal and get back to being a servant.
"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.
Mushu's Full Story - His Demotion & Redemption: Discovering Mulan
What is the new Mulan controversy?
Almost as soon as the film arrived on Disney+, social media users noticed that, nine minutes into the film's 10-minute end credits, the “Mulan” filmmakers had thanked eight government entities in Xinjiang, the region in China where Uighur Muslims have been detained in mass internment camps.
What is the controversy with the new Mulan actress?
Ahead of “Mulan's” Disney+ premiere last week in the U.S., #BoycottMulan trended on social media as activists blasted its Chinese American star Yifei Liu (a.k.a. Crystal Liu) for siding with Hong Kong police over pro-democracy protesters last year during a crackdown on demonstrations.
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.
Although Mushu and the phoenix are both guardians of the ancestors, and both are stone statues brought to life for Mulan's protection, the phoenix is never a true replacement for Mushu. Mulan and the phoenix never really interact, compared with Mushu's constant involvement in the animated film.
Mushu, at last, is restored to guardian status in the family temple. Mulan thanks him for his help in her adventurous plan, and the ancestors celebrate that the Fa family is complete again.
Scholarly consensus is that Mulan is a fictional character, probably developed in Northern China in response to the greater independence women enjoyed there, whose legend was then revised in succeeding eras to reflect the values and challenges of the times.
Though Mulan introduces Mushu to Shang at the end of the film's inferior sequel, he is oblivious to Mulan's little red dragon friend through the entirety of the first film. The fact that he, along with everyone else in the army, never saw him is hard to believe.
In the film, Li Shang falls in love with Mulan after she enters the army disguised as a male soldier named Ping. Queer fans have always claimed Li Shang as one of their own because of his close, loving relationship with both Ping and Mulan, even though Disney has never commented on the Chinese army general's sexuality.
Mushu, the wise-cracking sidekick dragon voiced by Eddie Murphy, and Li Shang, the captain of the Imperial Army and Mulan's mentor, voiced by B.D. Wong. Among those who love the original, there are sure to be some questions as to why these seemingly pivotal characters were removed.
Li Shang Jr., better known as Li'l Shang, is the son of Fa Mulan and Li Shang and the older brother of Lonnie. He appears in Rise of the Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel.
However, the character was cut from Disney's live-action remake. The producer Jason Reed cited the #MeToo movement as the reason. Cutting Li Shang, a character who means a lot to LGBTQ Disney fans around the world, was a huge missed opportunity for Disney.
This expensive live-action version from Disney has everything you remember and more. Well OK, it doesn't have singing. Forget the songs you grew up with: they didn't fit the vision of director Niki Caro from New Zealand (Whale Rider), who has now helmed the most expensive film ever made by a woman.
For better use, the animators shrunk Mushu to a smaller size. Around the time when the music of the film was to be created, the songwriters had written a piece for Mushu for him to sing to assure Mulan that he'll be there to help her.
The biggest issue is this film features way less action than it's predecessor and way less Mulan (she practically disappears in the middle of the film). Mulan's bickering with Shang is also very badly written.
Shan Yu is the main antagonist of Disney's 1998 animated feature film, Mulan. He is the ruthless leader of the Hun Army, who are responsible for mass genocide and general havoc across China.
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.
In the original, the general's son Li Shang trains the recruits and ultimately falls for Mulan. The team behind the new movie explained the change was down to the #MeToo movement - they felt Mulan's officer becoming her love interest felt a bit off given his position of power.
