- “You don't meet a girl like that every dynasty.”
- ―The Emperor to Li Shang about Fa Mulan
Fa Mulan is the titular protagonist of Disney's 1998 animated feature film Mulan. She is the strong-willed and tenacious daughter of a war veteran, who strives to uphold her family's honor. When her father is called back into battle to defend China from Shan Yu, Mulan opts to protect him by taking his place under the disguise of a male soldier named Ping.
Mulan is inspired by the legendary Hua Mulan. She is the eighth official Disney Princess, the only one not to be of royal lineage either by birth or marriage. She is the last Disney Princess to be developed during the Disney Renaissance and also the 20th century.
Quick Answers
What is the name of the male soldier disguise that Mulan uses?
Who is the war veteran in Mulan's family?
What is the legendary figure that inspired the character of Mulan?
Why is Mulan considered a Disney Princess despite not being of royal lineage?
Who is the enemy that Mulan's father is called back into battle to defend China from?
Background[]
Mulan resides in a small Chinese village with her father, her mother, and her wisecracking grandmother (after whom Mulan takes). She also has a dog named Little Brother. As the standard of the period, Mulan is urged to uphold her family honor by adhering to the status quo set for women of the time. However, she is presented as an outcast. She is clumsy and seeks to finish her household chores by inventing contraptions to do the work in her place (much to the chagrin of her father).
As a member of the Fa family, Mulan is under the protection of the Fa Family ancestors and the family guardians (which are represented by animals of the Chinese zodiac). By the end of the original Mulan, Mulan's personal guardian is that of Mushu, a diminutive dragon.
Personality[]
At the start of the film, Mulan is introduced as a free-spirited outcast. She is a clumsy girl who cannot follow rules, regulations, or traditions. Despite this, she has a warm heart and wants nothing more than to uphold her family's honor while keeping true to herself. Because of her society, however, this is difficult to accomplish and often brings chaos and embarrassment into her life.
The driving force of Mulan's journey is the love she has for her father. When her father is drafted to serve in the Emperor's army to defend China, Mulan steals his orders and reports to the camp in his place to protect him as well as to satisfy her desire to prove her own self-worth. She was seen having difficulties with self-confidence due to society's mistreatment towards her and the pressures of the society into which she was born - particularly in the lives of women. Early in the film, whenever she went against sexism and injustice or simply handled a situation in her own, unique way (such as shouting "Present!" when the matchmaker called her name), Mulan was greeted with anger or some form of annoyance from those around her, thus furthering her socially-awkward attitude.
During her time in camp, Mulan's personality shifts. She proves to be fierce, both physically and mentally, as well as self-reliant, impressionable, and persistent. As she learns the ways of strength and agility, she rises to the top of her class, setting an example for the men surrounding her, and soon earns their respect and friendship. Over time, Mulan gains more confidence, symbolizing her growth, as she becomes more of a mature woman by the film's third act. She can perform successful tactics through quick-thinking and mental observation instead of mere brute strength (something idealized in her camp), eventually saving her fellow soldiers and China on notable occasions. Nevertheless, she retained her humble nature, not once becoming overconfident and boastful, even after becoming a beloved heroine and receiving countless amounts of praise and respect from the very society that continuously opposed her. It wasn't until Mulan returned home and received a loving welcome from her father that she truly emoted her satisfaction over her previous successes, proving her goal, overall, was to uphold her family honor while being true to herself; this being visually and thematically represented by her relationship with her father.
The sequel shows that Mulan's personality, seen during the latter half of the first film, has remained. Mulan is a responsible young woman, seen as a fearless warrior, leader, and beloved role model among her people, both men, and women. Nevertheless, she is also fun-loving and optimistic, especially when seen with Shang, with whom she had developed a strong, romantic relationship by the start of the second film. The sequel also shows her to be rather laid-back, open-minded, and philosophical, believing in the practice of following one's heart.
Physical appearance[]
Mulan is a young Chinese woman. She is a natural beauty, with a slender hourglass figure, dark brown eyes, pink lips, wide nose, rosy cheeks, and straight, black hair that used to be long and waist-length. Later in the film, when she leaves to join the army in disguise, she cuts her hair with her father's sword into shoulder-length and ties it up in a bun. This helps her blend into the army so that the other soldiers don't know that she's really a woman. In the second film, her hair has noticeably grown a few inches. In promotional works, her hair is always shown as its original length, down to the waist.
During the two films, Mulan wore a range of outfits, from a beautiful Hanfus (Chinese dresses) to her soldier's getup, though her most notable outfits come from the original film; in which her promotional dress comes from, which is a simple Hanfu, which consisted of either a creamy green-yellow dress, with blue overshirt, which has green sleeves and a red band around her waist. She also sports a Kung fu-styled soldier's outfit, as well as her pink matchmaker's Hanfu and her father's armor. She always wore her black flats with her Hanfus.
Except when she goes to the matchmaker, Mulan does not wear any makeup or anything to beautify her appearance. Mulan is naturally beautiful nonetheless.
She wears a light blue tank top, short blue shorts, and is barefoot when she sleeps. She wears a dress consisting of a green long-sleeved shirt with olive brims and both a yellow skirt and inside shirt with a low-cut neckline, blue wrap, red waistband, and black ballet flats with gray soles, but also has been seen barefoot as well. She briefly wore her hair in a ponytail tied in a knot. When she arrived in the town, her hair is loose, and she had bits of hay stuck in her hair. To impress the matchmaker, she had her face painted in white, red lipstick, pink cheeks, purple eyeliner, thin black eyebrows, hair tied in a loose bun with a red hair ribbon with hair strands hanging between her eyes, and she wears a narrow crimson and pale pink Chinese skirt, a pink jacket with long, flowing sleeves, an aqua and plum collar, a blue wrap with a red ribbon to fasten it, a light purple scarf, same color shoes, a jade bead necklace, gold dangling earrings, and a special lotus flower hair pick. When she returns home from her failed meeting with the Matchmaker, she wears the same crimson and pink skirt, blue wrap and red ribbon, and same color shoes with a pink long-sleeved shirt with light purple cuffs with the same aqua and plum collar. During Reflection, she removes her earrings and necklace, wipes away her make-up and lets her hair down when she removed her hair ribbon and lotus hair pick. Her father later folds back one side of her hair and places the lotus hair pick back in her hair to cheer her up. While serving her family tea, she wore her hair in a ponytail tied with a red hair tie. When she was sitting on the Great Stone Dragon statue, she was still wearing her pink and white hanfu, but she is barefoot, and her hair is wet and messy with long loose strands hanging in front of her face. When she was disguised as "Ping", she has her hair tied in a bun with a teal ribbon to look like a man (when she cuts her long, beautiful hair with her father's sword into a shoulder-length), and dark green soldier armor. In the Martial Arts sequence, she had a cream suit. In the Shan Yu battle, she wore a teal dress consisting of a poet-sleeved blouse, a long olive vest with a crimson collar, a crimson belt, light pink sash, and black shoes.
Abilities[]
Although Mulan possesses no magical or superhuman powers, she has military training courtesy of Shang.
- Martial Arts: As part of her training, Mulan learned kung fu, eventually becoming proficient in hand-to-hand fighting.
- Swordsmanship: Mulan honed her skill with her father's sword and became an expert swordswoman, easily holding her own against even the battle-hardened Shan Yu.
- Marksmanship: Under Shang's tutelage, Mulan developed skill with ranged weaponry, from the bows and arrows to gunpowder cannons.
- Horseback riding: Even before her time in the army, Mulan is an excellent equestrian, further enhanced by her bond with loyal steed Khan.
- Strategist: Mulan is also intelligent, cunning, and resourceful, as shown on several occasions, such as when she was first to climb the pole and retrieve an arrow embedded in the top successfully during training. Knowing her unit was vastly outnumbered, she was able to quickly think of using the last cannon to cause an avalanche on the entire Hun army, quite literally stopping them cold, and later lure Shan Yu into Mushu's firing range. When she pulled out her fan, she acted as though she was in shock from having nothing left to fight with, when all along she planned to disarm him with it.
Appearances[]
Mulan[]
Mulan in the original film.
At the start of the film, Mulan is seen rehearsing her answers for the Matchmaker's examination (she has noted the answers on her arm). Despite running late, Mulan makes it to the Matchmaker, but her time there ends in humiliating failure. Shortly after, the Emperor's counselor, Chi-Fu, arrives in her village to announce that the deadly Huns, led by Shan Yu, have invaded China after breaching the Great Wall, and that one man in every family must serve in the war, being conscripted into the Imperial Army to reinforce the Emperor's troops and defend the Imperial City and other communities from the Huns. Despite her protests, her father agrees to go despite his old age and disabilities. When she tries to argue with him that night for putting his life on the line for honor, Fa Zhou reprimands her and hurts her feelings, causing her to run out and weep on the Stone Dragon statue in the middle of a storm. Knowing her father would die, and knowing what she must do now to prevent it, Mulan secretly goes in his place by posing as a man, cutting her long hair with her father's sword, stealing her father's armor and riding away on her horse, Khan. That night, her journey to honor has begun. On her way to the army camp, Mulan meets Mushu, a small dragon who claims to be a guardian sent to her by her ancestors. He agrees to help her pass as a soldier.
Mulan, under the guise of Ping, training alongside her fellow soldiers.
Though Mulan fails the army training at first, no thanks to having been on the bad side of the other recruits, including Yao, Ling, and Chien Po, and Mushu trying to help through trickery, which only serves to anger her superior officer in Captain Li Shang, she uses her intelligence and determination and becomes the first soldier to solve a puzzle set by Shang. This happens just after Shang decides that she has failed the training regiment and is not fit to serve in the Imperial Army since her lack of strength and discipline would be putting her own life and that of her fellow troops in great danger, handing her the reins of her horse and telling her to go home, especially after she has been on Chi-Fu's bad side when a misfired rocket launched by her destroyed his tent, only reinforcing his belief Shang's troops would be unfit in his eyes to head to the war front. While Mulan could have done that, seeing as she has already ensured her father would not be killed in battle due to his body and old war wounds catching up to him, she attempts the first test with recovering the arrow at the top of a tall pillar again. Upon figuring out how to solve it, she is nearly to the top when the other recruits begin to wake up as dawn breaks. Seeing her climbing up the pillar, they gather around to watch, and when Shang comes out to see what is going on, he is shocked and surprised when his arrow lands near him, and sees that Mulan has been the one who solved his puzzle. The other recruits cheer her on, putting aside their earlier teasing over her.
With that, Shang's convinced to give her another chance and allows her back into the regiment. Afterward, she rapidly progresses to become one of the best soldiers in the unit, while also giving the encouragement to the other recruits to improve as well, turning them into respectable soldiers that Shang felt were ready to see combat. She also befriends Yao, Ling, and Chien Po, three fellow soldiers, though she is forced to hide her gender. Through the machinations of Mushu, the soldiers are called to the war front. Meanwhile, after finding that the main Imperial Chinese Army, led by Shang's father General Li, has been completely destroyed by the Huns, with no survivors left standing from either the General's army or the village they had been protecting from Shan Yu and the Huns, Shang leads Mulan and the other soldiers to stop them since their unit was the only defense left standing between Shan Yu and the Imperial City. Despite the unit being outnumbered after Mushu blows their cover and alerts the Huns to their position, Mulan is able to defeat the Huns by starting an avalanche and burying them by way of the last rocket in the army's munitions. She sustains an injury from Shan Yu, which results in her true gender being revealed. She is spared death, the punishment for a woman joining the army, as Shang's way of repaying the debt from Mulan rescuing him during the avalanche. Mulan is left behind by the army and prepares to return home to face humiliation. However, she discovers that Shan Yu and his five generals have survived the avalanche after it passed and are heading towards the Imperial City.
Mulan facing Shan Yu during the final battle.
Mulan arrives first and attempts to warn Shang. However, as a woman, she is ignored by him and everyone else (after what happened previously), except for Yao, Ling, and Chien Po, and orders them to keep an eye out for Shan Yu and the surviving Huns. However, when Shan Yu reveals himself and captures the Emperor, Shang, Yao, Ling, and Chien Po join her in a rescue attempt. Mulan disguises herself, Yao, Ling, and Chien Po as concubines and take out the Hun guards, allowing Shang to reach Shan Yu and the Emperor. Yao, Ling, and Chien Po escape with the Emperor just in time, but Mulan remains behind after Shang is knocked unconscious by Shan Yu. She reveals herself to the ruthless leader of the Huns as the soldier who has taken out most of his army, which angers Shan Yu. He draws his sword and angrily slashes at her, tearing down portions of the palace in the process. While running from Shan Yu, she plans to kill him using fireworks. While Mushu and Cri-Kee fetch them, Mulan faces Shan Yu on the roof of the Emperor's palace. She disarms him with a paper fan and uses his own sword to pin him to the roof, allowing Mushu to launch a fireworks rocket at Shan Yu, killing him on impact with a nearby fireworks tower.
Mulan is oppressed by Chi-Fu for the final time when he arrogantly says that she is unworthy of being called a hero or being worth anything as a woman. Mulan is then confronted by the Emperor with her various crimes, having heard about them from Chi-Fu. At the same time, he acknowledges that she saved all of China and bows to her out of respect. His gesture results in all the gathered people bowing as well. The Emperor first offers Mulan a council position, then a job as consul, both of which Mulan respectfully declines, explaining that she'd much rather go back home to her family. The Emperor accepts this and gifts her with his personal crest and Shan Yu's sword. Having changed from a once gawky misfit into an honorable heroine, Mulan returns home and is able to reconcile with her father. The film's end shows Mulan inviting Shang, who has been following her under the guise of returning her father's helmet, to dinner for he happily accepts. She is last seen thanking Mushu for his guardianship.
Mulan II[]
Mulan in Mulan II.
One month later, Li Shang, now promoted from Captain to General, proposes to Mulan, and they begin preparing for their wedding. However, the Emperor tasks them both with escorting Ting-Ting, Su, and Mei, his three daughters, to the neighboring Chinese kingdom of Qui Gong in an attempt to form an alliance. Should the alliance fail, the Mongols would invade China just like the Huns did. Mulan and Shang ask Yao, Ling, and Chien Po to accompany them. Shang and Mulan's relationship becomes somewhat strained during the trip, as the couple has differing views on various issues, particularly on the subject of the arranged marriages the princesses are being forced into.
Meanwhile, Mushu is informed that if Mulan marries Shang, he will cease to be a guardian, instead returning to his former job as gong ringer. Mushu takes advantage of Mulan and Shang's differences and tries to break them up. However, Mulan soon discovers Mushu's plans when he confesses out of guilt and tries to reconcile with Shang after voicing her disappointment with Mushu and how she'll never forgive him for his actions such as Mushu trying to get between her and Shang so he can keep his job as a guardian and making the carriage fall into the river.
Before she can talk to Shang, bandits attack the group. Mulan and Shang are able to save the princesses, but are left hanging from a broken bridge. Shang chooses to sacrifice himself, as the bridge can only support one. Mulan tearfully mourns his "death" and refuses to move from the spot she is in until sunrise. Seeing that the princesses have fallen in love with Yao, Ling, and Chien Po and believing that Shang is dead, Mulan prepares to offer herself as a bride in the princesses' places as she heads towards Qui Gong alone. However, Shang is revealed to have survived his fall and travels to Qui Gong to stop her from going through with the marriage. Mushu is able to fix things by masquerading as the Golden Dragon of Unity to force Lord Qin to stop the wedding. The joyful princesses are released from their vows, and Shang and Mulan are informally married. They later hold an actual wedding at the Fa family home, although it is unknown how much time has passed since they returned from Qui Gong to the Imperial City.
At the end of the film, it is revealed that Mulan had reconciled with Mushu and has told Shang about him (whom he calls the Golden Dragon of Unity), and that prompts Shang to combine the family temples, allowing Mushu to remain a family guardian, much to the disappointment of Mulan's ancestors.
House of Mouse[]
Mulan in House of Mouse.
Mulan makes cameos in the House of Mouse television series and the direct-to-video release Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse.
In "The Stolen Cartoons", she was one of the guests to have endured Donald's drastic makeover of the club while Mickey, Minnie and Goofy were gone.
In "Jiminy Cricket", she is seen amongst the crowd of Disney characters seeking Jiminy's attention.
In "Ask Von Drake", Mulan was seen sitting with her father as Mickey Mouse and Ludwig Von Drake make a bet to see how smart Von Drake is. Later, Mulan is seen with Mushu and Cri-Kee during the headcount of all the Disney character guests.
In "Salute to Sports", Mulan briefly appeared on stage with Donald to give a martial arts demonstration, during which, she kicks with the intent to break a wooden plank - instead, Donald is split in half.
Sofia the First[]
- “I think you girls are stronger than you know.”
- ―Fa Mulan to Sofia, Amber, and Jun.
Mulan meeting Princess Sofia.
Mulan made a guest appearance in the Sofia the First episode "Princesses to the Rescue!".
While singing a song called "Stronger Than You Know", she teaches Sofia, Amber, and Jun that they are stronger than they know by showing them how to cross over the moving warrior statues with vines and tells them to go on to save their beloved fathers and brothers without her.
Just like Ariel in "The Floating Palace", she does not appear in her redesign outfit. Instead, she has her much shorter shoulder-length hair and wears her father's battle armor along with his helmet and a new golden sword.
In "Forever Royal" when Sofia is battling Vor inside her amulet, Mulan appears to Sofia in spirit form along with all the other princesses who were summoned to help Sofia in her times of need and they encourage her to be brave and strong for they all believe in her.
Ralph Breaks the Internet[]
- “Sometimes, your song can't start, until you go someplace... to reflect.”
- ―Fa Mulan to Vanellope.
Mulan charging at Vanellope in Ralph Breaks the Internet.
In Ralph Breaks the Internet, Mulan is a netizen resident of Oh My Disney where she and the other Disney princesses meet and greet their fans. After Vanellope glitches into the princesses' dressing room to avoid the First Order Stormtroopers, Mulan is seen talking with Merida. Upon mistaking Vanellope for a threat, the princesses confront her with various weapons; Mulan arms herself with her father's sword, and lets off a battle cry as she confronts their would-be assailant. Vanellope hastily explains that she is also a princess, lowering the defenses of Mulan and the others. Mulan, Merida, Anna and Moana are the only ones who do not ask Vanellope a question to prove what kind of princess she is. She is nevertheless regarded as a princess after Rapunzel asks if people assume all of Vanellope's problems were solved by a "big, strong man", which Vanellope relates.
Mulan and Elsa in their comfy clothes.
After admiring Vanellope's "gown" the princesses change into more casual outfits to match, courtesy of Cinderella's mice. Mulan wears a red-and-cream bomber jacket with golden dragons that resemble Mushu with a white top underneath, black jeans, white socks and red-and-white sneakers, and is seen lounging on a beanbag chair. While conversing, the princesses teach Vanellope about the correlation between singing and a princess' dream. Vanellope sings about wanting a steering wheel to fix her video game Sugar Rush, but her talents are lackluster. Mulan comments that she was a little "pitchy", but explains that sometimes a princess' song can't start until she goes somewhere to reflect. Pocahontas adds to this by claiming some princesses find their song by finding a form of water and staring at it; Mulan references that she stares at the horse trough at home, without enthusiasm.
In the climax of the film, Mulan and the princesses see Ralph about to fall to his death from the Google tower and work together to save him. After Snow White tosses a Poisoned Apple to Belle who uses her book as a baseball bat to hit it to Mulan, who then chops it into four slices with her father's sword to release Belle, Ariel, Cinderella, and Tiana's discarded dresses tied to Rapunzel's magic hair. After Ralph is saved, the princesses introduce themselves as friends of Vanellope and befriend Ralph as well.
Other appearances[]
In Lilo & Stitch, Mulan is featured on a poster in Nani's bedroom. Also, a Chinese restaurant called "Mulan Wok" can be seen in the town.
In the animated mini-series It's a Small World: The Animated Series, Mulan makes a brief non-speaking cameo in the episode "Just One Moon".
Mulan was slated to star in the second installment of the Disney Princess Enchanted Tales series of DVDs with Cinderella. However, the film was canceled due to poor sales of the first installment.
In Once Upon a Studio, Mulan joins all of the characters to take a group photo to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney Animation Studios. Mulan sings with Snow White and Asha during "When You Wish Upon a Star", just as everyone is able to successfully take the group photo together.
In Wish, Mulan was among the Disney animated characters that appeared during the credits.
Live-action appearances[]
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade[]
Mulan made an appearance outside of the Disney Parks and Resorts riding on the Disney Wish float, "Magic Meets The Sea", in the 2022 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Joining fellow Disney Princesses Raya, Moana, and with their husbands, Cinderella & Prince Charming, Tiana & Naveen, Rapunzel & Flynn Rider, and Jasmine & Aladdin, along with Mirabel Madrigal, the Fab 5, Marvel superheroes Spider-Man and Black Panther, and supporting Cast Members acting as their backup performers or supervisors/adjutants, Mulan waved to the crowds as the float made its way from Central Park West to 34th Street. As it got close to Herald's Square, Mulan stayed on board with Donald, Pluto, Mirabel, Raya, Spider-Man, and Black Panther while the other characters disembarked and walked the remaining distance behind the float with their support and supervisors, still waving to the crowds lining the parade route and protected by NYPD officers. Once at Herald's Square, the characters and their support performed "Seas The Adventure" from the Disney Wish, including snippets of "A Whole New World" and "When You Wish Upon a Star", ending with a flourish of streamers and confetti to add that spark of Disney Magic to the parade for the second year in a row that the "Magic Meets The Sea" participated in the parade. After the parade ended, while the float was disassembled for transport back to New Jersey for storage in the Macy's warehouse there, Mulan and the other characters departed Manhattan to return home to either Disneyland in Anaheim or Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista to resume their duties there with meeting-and-greeting Guests during Disney's holiday festivities, especially during the final months of the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary celebrations. However, if Macy's decides to bring the "Magic Meets The Sea" float back for a third year in a row with the 2023 parade, it is possible that Macy's will ask Disney if the characters can come back for another year, and if CEO Bob Iger and the VPs agree after discussion with Macy's CEO and VPs, the characters will return to give the long-standing Macy's Thanksgiving tradition another pinch of pixie dust to truly make the parade magical and memorable, especially for The Walt Disney Company's Centennial Anniversary in 2023.
The "Magic Meets The Sea" float is going to return for the 2023 parade, but Mulan will not be among the returning characters riding on it this year.[1]
Video games[]
Fight Night Champion[]
When chosen Manny Pacquiao she was voiced by Lea Salonga and she sings The National Anthem of the Philippines along with Jasmine who sings The National Anthem of the United States due to Floyd Mayweather Jr. In the game. Mulan wears her Filipiniana Gown with pearls in Hiyas she has a see through gown with Butterfly Sleeves.
Kingdom Hearts series[]
Due to her world being destroyed by the time of Kingdom Hearts, Mulan did not appear in the first game, while her being in Mushu had escaped the world's destruction. However, by Kingdom Hearts II, Mulan plays a major role in her homeworld when it is restored after the events of Kingdom Hearts.
Reprising her role from the original film, Mulan (as Ping) plans to join the Imperial Chinese Army until she encounters Sora, Donald, and Goofy, whom Mushu recognized from when he served as a summon to Sora in the first game. The trio decides to enlist with her after learning she was trying to help her family. Despite difficulty fitting in with the soldiers, including Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po, Mulan proves herself worthy when she defeats Shan Yu and his Heartless while saving Shang's life. However, Mushu accidentally reveals Mulan's true identity to him, causing an enraged Shang to desert Mulan and the group, while still fulfilling his life debt with sparing Mulan for saving his life, instead of executing her for violating Imperial law. Afterward, the group learns that Shan Yu is still alive, and are forced to follow him back to the Imperial City when he kidnaps the Emperor. After defeating the villain, Mulan is thanked by both Shang and the Emperor. By the time Sora had arrived back, Mulan had begun hunting a mysterious cloaked man who she believes is an enemy spy, but Sora knows it is a member of Organization XIII. As they followed the cloaked man to the mountains, a Heartless dragon awakes, courtesy of Organization XIII member Xigbar. This forces Mulan and the others to battle the Heartless and defeat it when it confronts them in the Imperial City in the courtyard before the Imperial Palace. Mulan gives her support to Sora when he leaves to continue his journey to find Riku and Kairi. As a reward for her honor, the Emperor makes her Shang's partner. During the end credits, Mulan and Shang were having a romantic moment in the Bamboo Grove, only for their moment to be interrupted when Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po were spying on them. Shang walks over to reprimand them, while Mulan watches with amusement alongside Mushu.
In Kingdom Hearts Union χ, Mulan appears as a normal attack and speed medal for the game's avatars.
Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion[]
In the game, Mulan has been kidnapped to the World of Illusion by an evil witch known as Mizrabel, as part of a dark scheme to steal the essence of beloved Disney characters for her own selfish purposes. Fortunately, however, she is soon rescued by Mickey Mouse and remain within a sanctuary with the other rescued Disney characters until Mizrabel's eventual defeat, allowing the characters to return to their homes.
Disney Heroes: Battle Mode[]
Mulan in Disney Heroes: Battle Mode
In this game, Mulan appears as one of playable characters. Mulan is Front-line Damage role hero. Her main ability can launch fireworks at enemies falling from the sky. She can also dodge attacks by using her fan which also activates a shield to herself. At the start of each battle Mulan launches a giant cannon firework, the same one which caused avalanche in the movie. Mulan's basic attack is attacking enemies by using her family's sword. Mulan's appearance is based on the end of movie when she fights Shan Yu.
Mulan has friendship campaigns with Colette Tatou and Bo Peep. She also has friendship campaigns with Mushu and Li Shang and Chicken Little.
Disney Infinity[]
In Disney Infinity, she has a weapon, Mulan's firework cannon.
In Disney Infinity 2.0, Mulan appears as a costume townsperson in the Infinity Toy Box, while "Ping" is also one of the Toy Box Hosts, in this case, the Exploration Host.
Mulan is a playable character in Disney Infinity's third installment, exclusive to the Toy Box.
Disney Dreamlight Valley[]
During the November 1st, 2023 livestream and showing of the 2024 roadmap for the game, Mulan was hinted at being added to the game in a future update via a new realm being added in the Dream Castle. Her addition, along with that of Mushu, was added with The Lucky Dragon update on June 26, 2024, including new items in Scrooge's store, the Premium Shop, a new Star Path themed around Mulan called the Majesty and Magnolias Star Path, and additional content based on player and fan feedback.
Upon arriving in Mulan's realm, the player finds Mushu in the center of the Imperial Army's hidden camp. Believing them to be a new recruit that was extremely late to the training, Mushu has the player clean up the messes around the camp for him. After that, he has them retrieve the pieces of a training uniform from around the area, put it on, then whip up Mulan's breakfast, Mushu's Congee, before waking her up by ringing the gong next to her tent, as Mulan was worn out from training and Mushu let her get some extra sleep. Once Mulan is awoken/spawned, leaping out of her tent thinking they were under attack, but then being surprised to see the player character as they say hello to her, Mulan is happy to see them. She decides they need to train the player and set up their defenses in case of any trouble later on. She has the player talk to Mushu first to get the defenses set up, then she'll train the player.
Mushu and the player decide that if they make an army of dragon statues, that would intimidate any invader into turning tail and fleeing for their lives. Collecting the materials from around the area and taking a selfie of Mushu to serve as the template, along with a few Dream Shards, the player easily crafts the statues using the crafting table in the camp. Putting them in the kiln, the player then heads over to talk to Mulan about their training while the kiln works.
Mulan needs the player to complete three exercises for their training: fishing, brick-breaking, and orienteering. The brick-breaking is done using the player's pickaxe to break the stone bricks, ten salmon have to be caught in the fishing ripples in the water around the camp, and for the orienteering exercise, Mulan gives the player the training weights similar to what she and the other recruits used in the film during "I'll Make a Man Out of You" to carry while navigating the training maze in camp to complete the exercise. While navigating the maze, the player also needs to find training pebbles that Mulan placed around the maze before meeting her at the finish line marked by the Imperial flag. Once finding all the pebbles and meeting Mulan at the flag, she tells the player they passed the orienteering exercise. After the player finishes all of the training exercises, if Mushu's defense plan wasn't finished yet, Mulan will have the player head back to finish it up. Mushu is pleased with the statues and gets ready to box them up to send all over China to help with the defenses.
Moments after this is finished, a tremor strikes the camp and causes the nearby mountain to suffer a landslide, turning part of the area into a tangle of rocks, sand, and dead trees from the clusters of trees, bamboo stalks, and rocks that were there moments earlier. Mulan has the player help clean up all the debris, then plant some tree seeds and water them to help reinforce the area to ensure the camp can withstand another landslide, with the trees soon growing into beautiful cherry blossom trees. After that, to prevent flooding, Mulan asks the player to craft some sandbags to help withstand floodwaters, which Mulan places along the camp's perimeter facing the river, that way, the camp is ready for floods. With that done, she's fresh out of ideas. The player confesses to not being a new recruit and explains they are from Dreamlight Valley and offers Mulan a chance to come back with them. Mulan agrees, but wants everything with Mushu squared away first.
Mushu and the player decide that to prevent future landslides, they should build a fence at the base of the mountain to serve as a barrier against them. Once the fence is in place, Mushu and Mulan signal that the statues are ready to be shipped out. While Mushu waits for the delivery wagon, the player agrees with Mulan to provide a house for them back in Dreamlight Valley and heads back to build it with Scrooge's McDuck Construction Company, requiring a cost of 20,000 Star Coins. Once finished, Mulan arrives, and once the player checks back in on Mushu regarding the delivery wagon, he'll be ready to join the Valley as well.
Once in the Valley, Mulan's first friendship quest will involve opening her tea stall, as she will be mandatory for being able to gather the ingredients to make the new tea recipes added to the game, including Oolong Tea, Jasmine Tea, and Chrysanthemum Tea. To do so, she first asks the player to whip up a pair of vegetarian pizzas for her, giving them the recipe, even if the player already unlocked it themselves. After the player makes the pizzas, she gives one back to them while asking them to mine for topaz, garnets, aquamarines, and peridots as part of her training regiment she thought of. Once they player mines the required amount of gems, she then asks if they have tea in the Valley. When the player tells them not yet, she intends to head back to her realm to get the crates for the tea, but the player goes instead, not wanting Mulan to lose her memories again to the Forgetting if she heads back herself. Once the player finds the tea crates in the camp and brings them back to Mulan, she gives them her tea stall to set up in the Valley, thus unlocking it to collect the ingredients to make the three kinds of tea available in the recipe book.
Printed media[]
Kingdom Keepers[]
Mulan appears in the fourth book in the series. Here, she rescues Finn and Charlene from Shan Yu at the China Pavilion and navigates them across the World Showcase Lagoon.
Before the Sword[]
Hua Mulan, the version of Mulan who appears in the 2020 film, makes her debut in the novel Before the Sword by Grace Lin. The novel acts as an official prequel, showing Hua Mulan's adventures prior to the film.
Disney Parks[]
Disneyland Resort[]
Mulan posing for a photo at Walt Disney World.
Disneyland offers extra theme park entertainment as part of the "Happy Lunar New Year Celebration". In honor of the Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese Lunar New Year, the celebration features live performances, activities, and food. "Mulan's Lunar New Year Procession" is seen at selected times throughout the day, in which Mulan and Mushu proceed in colorful costumes to a photo location area where guests can meet-and-greet with them along with Chip 'n' Dale dressed in Asian-inspired attire.
She is also featured in Disneyland's stage show "Mickey and the Magical Map", where she performs "Reflection" in a medley alongside Pocahontas, Rapunzel, and Flynn Rider.
Mulan and Mushu (as well as a kite of the latter) both make cameo appearances in the Disneyland version of It's a Small World.
Mulan is among the characters that are part of the "It's a Small World" finale float for 50th anniversary of the Main Street Electrical Parade.
Walt Disney World[]
In Magic Kingdom, Mulan has her own portrait hung with the other princesses at the Princess Fairytale Hall.
Mulan used to take part in former Castle Show, Cinderella's Surprise Celebration as one of the heroes called to protect the kingdom from the Evil Queen's invasion, facing off with Shan Yu and defeating him similar to the original film with fireworks.
Mulan additionally has her own car based on her film in the Disney Stars and Motor Cars Parade at Disney's Hollywood Studios. She also makes a few cameo appearances in this park's version of Fantasmic! during the bubble montage, and was also among the characters on the riverboat during the finale (though she had been replaced by Moana in the recent update of the original version). The recent revamp on November 3, 2022 added her in both animated and live action form along with Shang as part of a new scene that updates the original one for Pocahontas. Her appearance in the finale also returned (now with Shang).
Mulan appears regularly for meet-and-greets in the China Pavilion at Epcot. She was usually dressed in her bridal costume/hanfu from the "Honor to Us All" musical number, until receiving a makeover in 2016.[2] She is one of the few Disney Princesses that does not have a winter variation of her trademark dress to wear during the colder months, like Jasmine and Rapunzel. Around July or August 2023, she began making appearances again at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in the Norway Pavilion with her fellow Disney Princesses.
Hong Kong Disneyland[]
Mulan was one of the meet-and-greet characters in Fantasy Gardens until 2010, as well as Mickey's WaterWorks with the Disney Princesses until 2009. From January 2018 to February 2019, she reappeared as a meet-and-greet character outside of Plaza Inn, as part of the Lunar New Year event. Mulan will soon become meetable once again in The Royal Reception Hall, in her new outfit. Mulan is the only Disney Princess who speaks Cantonese during meet-and-greets.
She made an appearance in The Golden Mickeys, and a cameo in Mickey and the Wondrous Book, when the "other" six stories are featured from the Wondrous Book during the finale. Prior to these shows, Mulan appeared in the castle show Disney in the Stars.
Mulan and Mushu (as a kite) make cameo appearances in the Hong Kong Disneyland version of It's a Small World.
Shanghai Disneyland[]
Mulan is heavily featured throughout the park. She stars in her own float (dressed as Ping while riding Khan) in Mickey's Storybook Express, and is featured in her own scene in Voyage to the Crystal Grotto. Inside the Enchanted Storybook Castle, Mulan has her own wall carving display alongside other members of the Disney Princess franchise. Mulan also appears in the castle fireworks show Ignite the Dream.
Mulan is the only Disney Princess who speaks Mandarin during meet-and-greets.
Disney Cruise Line[]
Mulan and Shang appear in the stage show The Golden Mickeys (also featured previously in Storybook Theater at Hong Kong Disneyland). Mulan also has an extended section in the show Wishes, where she performs both "Honor to Us All" and "Reflection".
Disney Princess[]
Despite not being a princess by birth or marriage, Mulan is an official member of the highly popular Disney Princess franchise, though not marketed as prominently as other princesses like Cinderella or Ariel (however in recent years she has been making more appearances). Even so, she remains one of the most acclaimed members of the franchise, often referred to when giving examples of strong Disney heroines.
Redesign[]
Mulan received multiple changes in her late 2012 redesign.
Mulan's face was elongated very slightly and is no longer as rounded as it used to be. The epicanthic folds by her eyes have also been sharpened a bit to give them a more narrow appearance. Her body type was also changed to a more hourglass shape from her original androgynous figure in the film.
Mulan wears an elaborate, bejeweled gold hair clip, and her now waist-length hair is long and flowing. The material used in her Hanfu dress is metallic-looking in appearance and texture and still sports the same color as her old appearance. In early redesigns, her dress is more reddish with sparkles. Much of her black hair is loose and down instead of having the hair clip.
Her face and the other visible parts of her skin appear to be whitened with powder, with her cheeks touched with rouge and her lips painted red, somewhat resembling a more traditional Chinese bride.
Other early redesigns included her dress being bright gold and dark red instead of green, blue, and yellow.
Palace Pets[]
Mulan's Palace Pets are Blossom, Lychee, Plumdrop, Alora, Snowpaws, and Chai.
Differences from the source material[]
- Fa Mulan is based on the character Hua Mulan from the Chinese legend. Much like Arthur Pendragon and Robin Hood, the legend has been immortalized in several poems and ballads, and doesn't have a single author. The Disney animated film made some changes to the legend.
- Mulan's surname is spelled using the Mandarin pronunciation for "花", which is "Hua". Disney uses the spelling for the Cantonese pronunciation. Thought in different forms of the poem, her last name has been changed but 'Hua' is the most popular. The live action version uses the Hua surname.
- In the Ming dynasty play Mulan Joins the Army and the Qing dynasty novel Fierce and Filial, she takes the name of her aged father "Hua Hu".[3] In the Qing dynasty novel Biography of Extraordinary Mulan, she goes by "Mulan" while masquerading as a man.[4]
- According to the Ming dynasty play Mulan Joins the Army, Mulan had a young sister named Munan and a younger brother named Hua Fang (nicknamed Yaoer).[5] Mulan does have a younger sister in the live action version.
- Mulan was already well versed in archery, swordsmanship, spearmanship, bojutsu, martial arts, and various other forms of hand-to-hand combat; being taught the increasingly numerous and highly useful trades of self-defense from her father.
- In the Qing dynasty novel Fierce and Filial, she left home to battle in the Wei army at the age of seventeen, and returned home twelve years later at the age of twenty-nine.[6]
- Mulan gained high merit in her twelve years of fighting as a woman but refused any reward and advisory jobs working for the Emperor that would make her and family prosperously wealthy and rich beyond her dreams. She had desired to return home to take care of her dear father whom she had not seen in twelve long years. However when she gets there she discovers her father died and her mother remarried.
- Hua Mulan had no sense of awkwardness and fits seamlessly into society whether she is a feminine woman or disguised as a masculine man.
- Mulan actually liked wearing makeup and wearing feminine hairstyles and opted to wear them after returning home from war.
- Mulan's identity as a woman was never revealed while in service. Shortly after returning home, her fellow warrior comrades who had served with her came to visit. Though they were stunned to see an extremely beautiful woman instead, and then learned the truth about their good friend and general, they praised her for all she had done for them.
- Mulan was asked to be a concubine/lover to the Emperor in the Qing dynasty novel Romance of Sui and Tang, but she denied this offer and instead took her own life before she was charged.
Relationships[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Mulan is the first Disney Princess to have her last name revealed, the second one being Tiana.
- She is also the first Disney Princess of East Asian descent.
- Her pink bridal outfit is very often confused for a kimono (Japanese), but is actually the Chinese garment hanfu.
- Mulan is the first Disney Princess to technically not be royalty - she was not born a princess nor did she marry a prince.
- However, she is noble as military achievements earned nobility titles in China during her time period.
- Mulan is the last Disney Princess to be introduced in the 20th century.
- Mulan spends most of the time in her training uniform, her battle armor, or her blue infiltration dress, while in the merchandise, she is shown mostly in her "normal" dress or her pink matchmaker dress.
- Mulan is the second Disney Princess to have both parents alive and present during the entire film, the first being Aurora in 1959 and the third being Rapunzel in 2010, Merida being the fourth in 2012, and Moana being the fifth in 2016.
- Mulan means "magnolia blossom" in Chinese. It could also mean "wood orchid".
- While her name is "Fa Mulan" in the Disney film, in the actual Chinese legend her name is "Hua Mulan", though they are both pronounced similarly (Fa being Cantonese). Her name is "Hua Mulan" in the live action version.
- Mulan is depicted holding some objects as if she were left-handed, but is seen using the sword in her right hand, so she may be ambidextrous. However, since Chinese martial arts are traditionally taught right-handed, so she may have been trained that way.
- Originally, the screenwriters planned to have Mulan join the army to get out of her society. Though the way she feels about society is still present in the film, it is not made to be the main point. She seemed selfish and unlikable that way, so screenwriters stuck to the traditional way of her saving her father.
- Tia Carrere, who later voiced Nani Pelekai in Lilo & Stitch, was considered for the role of Mulan. Lea Salonga (her singing voice) was also considered as her speaking voice, but she was unable to speak in a pitch low enough for Ping, hence Disney settling on Ming-Na Wen.
- Mulan was featured in the 100th issue of Disney Adventures Magazine.
- When Mulan disguises herself as a man, her eyelashes and double eyelid disappear and her eyebrows grow thicker, but when she dresses feminine, her eyelashes grow back, her double eyelid comes in again, but her eyebrows remain thick.
- In the original film, Mulan cut her hair to disguise as a man before heading off into the army. This is despite the fact as Chinese men usually kept their hair long just like the long-haired Chinese women back in Ancient China when the original film took place.
- Mulan touches her hair a lot because animators noticed that her voice actor, Ming-Na Wen, did.
- Mulan is, by far, the Disney character (hero or villain) with the highest body count ever. The production team had drawn 2,000 Hun soldiers during the Huns' attack sequence, along with 2,000 more horses. Only six Huns survived to the avalanche and only one of them (Shan Yu) is killed later. This makes Mulan's final body count to 3,994 (Shan Yu is killed by Mushu, rather than Mulan, and not a single horse survived).
- Mimi Chan did the motion capture for Mulan's martial arts moves.
- In the Disney Princess line-up and dolls, Mulan is often shown as being more tanned than the others besides Jasmine, Pocahontas, Tiana, Moana and Raya. However, in the new 2013 type line-up and their merchandise, Mulan is shown as the palest one, when it should have been Snow White.
- In the Special Edition DVD audio commentary, it is said that though Mark Henn is her animator, Chris Sanders (Little Brother's animator, who later created and voiced Stitch) was the one who mastered her quirky personality.
- Mulan is often noted in an audio commentary that she uses her mind to solve problems and with the learning at the camp can use a combination of strength and intelligence.
- In the deleted part of "Reflection", Mulan says, "they want a docile lamb, no one knows who I am," which is true throughout the first film and sometimes between scenes of Qui Gong and Mulan's marriage in the second film, she claims to have told Li Shang everything.
- The recoloring of Mulan's redesign may be due to the fact that red and gold were often considered by the Chinese as the colors of communism or because in ancient China, the royal color was gold and red was the color of luck and prosperity.
- All of Mulan's dresses in the first film had a blue bodice and a red sash.
- Mulan sings a remix of another song in the play Mulan Jr. called "Written in Stone". She also sings a remix of "Keep 'Em Guessing".
- On the cover of Mulan II, Mushu is holding a ring (probably an engagement ring), but it is never seen in the film nor given to Mulan, possibly due to Chinese marriage traditions.
- Her side of the yin and yang necklace is the yang side, associated with masculinity.
- Although Mulan cuts her hair, it remains long in the Disney Princess merchandise.
- Mulan is shown in several deleted scenes in which one she is daydreaming of how she wants to demonstrate her adventurous/tomboyish spirit.
- Mulan's curtain has white ducks or swans on it.
- Mulan, Moana, and Raya are the only princesses not to have celebrities pose as them for the Disney Dream Portrait Series.
- Ironically enough, Mulan's voice actress, Ming-Na Wen, made a cameo appearance in the 2020 remake of the film where she portrays an esteemed guest introducing Mulan to the Emperor which is seen at the end of the film, making Wen the only actress from the original 1998 film to participate in the remake, though as a different character.
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Disney Cruise Line Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 2023
- ↑ Anderson, Corlinne (May 31 2016). "PHOTOS: Mulan and Pocahontas debut new outfits at Walt Disney World" (Article). Inside the Magic. Retrieved on June 1, 2016.
- ↑ Mulan Joins the Army by Xu Wei
- ↑ Biography of Extraordinary Mulan
- ↑ Questions about Mulan’s Legend and History, Answered
- ↑ Fierce and Filial by Zhang Shaoxian
External links[]
Mulan (Disney character) on WikipediaFa Mulan on Heroes Wiki
Mulan on Disney Princess Wiki
- Mulan on Kingdom Hearts Wiki
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