The filmmakers were trying too hard to pander to China, but did not try hard enough to get their historical facts right. They made Mulan too westernized yet still succumbed to Orientalist stereotypes. They cast popular Chinese actors yet gave them lines in English that felt awkward in a Chinese setting.
Why was the animated Mulan movie not well received in China? It was a combination of factors, which can be summed up to three points: collateral damage for Kundun, the limited release, and the foreign-looking story.
However, while government restrictions and Disney's history of releasing films not aligned with Chinese politics didn't help, one of the main reasons "Mulan" bombed at the box office was because audiences thought Mulan was too "foreign-looking."
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.
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.
Chinese critics, both at home and abroad, said they were disappointed with the film's inaccurate and stereotypical portrayals of Chinese history and the main character, infused with nationalist tropes. Others were not as bothered.
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.
What is the controversy with Mulan on Disney plus?
Some viewers who paid to stream the movie on Disney+ last weekend found something troubling in the credits: Disney thanked eight government bodies in Xinjiang, a western province in China where around 2 million Uighur Muslims have been forced into concentration camps by the Chinese government.
Based on a Chinese folk story, the film has provoked a backlash in the Chinese-ruled city and elsewhere over its star's comments of support for Hong Kong police during protests last year and for being partly filmed in the Xinjiang region.
While the social and cultural milieu of the Northern Wei dynasty provided the context for the tale's origins, there's no corroborative evidence to confirm that Mulan was ever a real person. Over time, the story and character's nomadic and tribal origins have significantly changed from the original.
The film's mainland China debut was considered a failure not just because it missed analysts' expectations, but also because Disney had poured five years and $200 million into the film, in part, to ensure it appealed to a Chinese audience.
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. Yet, minor complaints. Overall a decent film.
Despite the mixed reviews and controversy surrounding the movie, Mulan seems to have been successful for Disney+, although it has one of the most disappointing box offices out of Disney's live-action remakes.
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.
Although the live-action movie of Mulan was a flop, at least the cartoon was one of the two Mulan movies that was a hit. The cartoon Mulan on IMDb got a star rating of 7.6, and the live-action received a star rating of only 5.4.
Disney came under fire back in 2020 due to the numerous controversies surrounding the live-action adaptation of Mulan, one of which centered on the fact parts of the film had been shot in Xinjiang, also known as East Turkestan, where the Chinese Communist Party is committing genocide against the Uyghur population, ...
Though Mulan did not have a surname in the original ballad, Hua Mulan eventually became her most commonly known name. According to Vulture, the '98 movie renamed her to Fa Mulan—a Cantonese rendering more closely related to the “Fa Mu Lan” of Chinese-American Maxine Hong Kingston's memoir, The Woman Warrior.
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.
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.
Under the idea that boys are preferred to daughters in ancient China, Mulan can join the army for her father and eventually become a heroine. Disney incorporated this idea of equality between men and women into the film, fully showing the equality of the people and strong national consciousness.
In the story, after prolonged and distinguished military service against nomadic hordes beyond the northern frontier, Mulan is honored by the emperor but declines a position of high office.
1998's. Mulan 2020 and the animated Mulan tell very different versions of the same story, based on the Chinese poem "The Ballad of Mulan." While the live-action remake is more faithful to the source material, the animated Mulan ultimately tells a better story.
Mulan premiered at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on June 5, 1998, and was released in the United States on June 19. The film was well received by critics and the public, who praised the animation, plot, characters (particularly the title character), and musical score, and grossed over $304 million.
Walt Disney's Mulan earned another $10.9 million overseas. That includes a $6.5 million second-weekend gross in China, dropping 72% from its mediocre $23.2 million opening.
