Mulan II is a 2004 American direct-to-video Disney animated film directed by Darrell Rooney and Lynne Southerland is a sequel to the 1998 animated film Mulan. The entire cast from the first film returned, except for Eddie Murphy (Mushu), Miriam Margolyes (The Matchmaker), Chris Sanders (Little Brother), James Hong (Chi-Fu), and Matthew Wilder (Ling's singing voice). Murphy and Margolyes were replaced by Mark Moseley and April Winchell, respectively, and Gedde Watanabe does his own singing for the sequel.
The animation was co-produced by Walt Disney Animation (Japan), Inc.; SD Entertaiment, Inc.; Wang Film Productions Co., Ltd – Cuckoos Nest Studio; T2 Studio; Jade Animation Company Ltd.; and Gullwing Co., Ltd.
Summary[]
Mulan and her new fiancé, General Li Shang, are on a special mission: escorting the Emperor's three daughters across the country to meet their soon-to-be fiancés. The film deals with arranged marriages, loyalty, relationships, making choices, trust, and finding true love.
Plot[]
The sequel takes place approximately one month after the events of the first film. There is much to celebrate in China, as Shan Yu and the evil Huns are long gone, and the Middle Kingdom is at peace. Fa Mulan is shown to be idolized by many of the local children, especially young girls, as a result of her heroic deeds.
One day, Shang, who has been promoted to general in between the films, proposes to Mulan, who happily accepts. When Mushu learns of the engagement, he is pleased at first. However, the First Ancestor of the Fa family informs Mushu that if Mulan marries Shang, Mulan will become a part of Shang's Family, thus his family's ancestors and guardians would take over and Mushu will no longer be a Fa family guardian. Hearing this, Mushu becomes worried, especially when the ancestors show their happiness at the thought of Mushu returning to his gong-ringer duties (Apparently, Mushu had been aggravating the ancestors with his demands for special treatment).
Mushu decides to try to break the couple apart, though his cricket friend Cri-Kee tries to stop him. Meanwhile, Mulan and Shang are summoned by the Emperor, who reveals that the Mongols are threatening China this time. The Emperor plans to form an alliance with the neighboring kingdom of Qui Gong to help fend off the Mongols. To solidify the alliance, he asks Mulan and Shang to escort his three daughters: Princesses Mei, Ting-Ting, and Su, to Qui Gong, where they will be married to the three sons of Lord Qin, the ruler of Qui Gong. If Mulan and Shang do not complete the mission in three days, the alliance will crumble, and the Mongols will destroy China.
Mulan and Shang set off, bringing along their friends Yao, Ling, and Chien Po. It is revealed that despite the trio's involvement in the rescue of China, they were unable to find wives of their own as the Matchmaker had thrown them out. During the trip, Mushu tries to cause problems between Mulan and Shang, who he finds out have different views on various things such as the princesses' arranged marriage, but they all backfire. However, this also caused Mushu to accidentally destroy the cart the group are riding in, forcing them to continue on foot. Meanwhile, the princesses each fall in love with Yao, Ling, and Chien Po, and the feelings are mutual among the three. The following night, Mushu continues to try breaking Mulan and Shang up. He is successful in tricking Shang into thinking that Mulan is manipulating him and this leads to utter friction between the two. Eventually, the trio takes the princesses to a nearby village where they impress them. When Mulan discovers that they fell in love with Yao, Ling, and Chien Po, she decides to disobey orders and try to prevent the arranged marriage, only for Shang to arrive on the scene. Displeased with the trio's actions, he reminds them to focus on the mission and breaks up with Mulan despite her reasonings on the trio and the princesses' feelings for each other. Unknown to everyone, Mushu is pleased that his plan had worked. He's the one who made Shang find out what happened between the trio and the princesses when he woke him up after Mulan had left to the village.
As the trip goes on, the group passes through a land that is inhabited by bandits. Yao, Ling and Chien-Po subtly reaffirm their feelings to the princesses, making them happy to know that they still love them. Mulan and Shang remain sad prior to their breakup the previous night. After he realizes that making Mulan break up with Shang only made her miserable, a guilt-ridden Mushu is forced to confess to Mulan of his actions. Learning of the misunderstanding and furious at Mushu for what he had done, Mulan loses her trust in him and becomes motivated to clear up the matter with Shang. Before she can do so, the bandits ambush the group. Mulan, Shang, Yao, Ling and Chien-Po are able to save the princesses, but then Shang and Mulan end up hanging from a broken bridge. The rope can only support one person, so Shang lets go to save Mulan, and falls into the river, sacrificing himself in the process.
A devastated Mulan continues on the journey to Qui Gong on her own. Since she knows the princesses don't wish to go through with the mission, and Shang is believed to be dead, she offers herself as a bride to one of the princes, even if it means marrying someone she does not love. However, Shang is revealed to have survived the fall and goes to Qui Gong to stop her from marrying Lord Qin's eldest son, having come to realize his love for her is mutual regardless of their differences. Mulan almost goes through with the marriage, but is stopped and overjoyed by his arrival. Angered that he disrupted the wedding, Lord Qin demands Shang to leave. Shang refuses and wishes to marry Mulan instead. Lord Qin orders the guards to take him away while he takes Mulan back until everyone is stopped by the sudden interference of the Golden Dragon of Unity, actually Mushu imitating the dragon by speaking from inside its statue. He forces Lord Qin to stop the wedding while he informally officiates it for Mulan and Shang to make up for his actions. The couple are married, and the princesses are released from their vows, allowing them to marry Yao, Ling and Chien-Po. Sometime later, back at the home of the Fa family where Mulan and Shang have a real wedding, the ancestors prepare a list of chores for Mushu, who is about to return to being a gong ringer. Shang arrives at the temple with Mulan and combines his family's temple with hers. This shocks the ancestors and allows Mushu to keep his title as family guardian. In his joy, he accidentally reveals himself to Shang. However, Mulan has already told Shang everything about Mushu, so the matter is null. Mulan and Shang live happily ever after as Mushu demands the dismayed ancestors to prepare some special pampering for him.
Cast[]
- Ming-Na Wen as Mulan
- B.D. Wong as Li Shang
- Mark Moseley as Mushu
- Lucy Liu as Mei
- Harvey Fierstein as Yao
- Sandra Oh as Ting-Ting
- Gedde Watanabe as Ling
- Lauren Tom as Su
- Jerry Tondo as Chien Po
- Pat Morita as The Emperor of China
- George Takei as First Ancestor Fa
- June Foray as Grandmother Fa
- Freda Foh Shen as Fa Li
- Soon-Tek Oh as Fa Zhou
- Frank Welker as Cri-Kee
Additional Voices[]
- Jeff Bennett
- Jillian Henry as Sha-Ron
- Michelle Kwan as Shopkeeper
- Jack Angel
- John Cygan
- Debi Derryberry
- Bill Farmer
- Teresa Ganzel
- Mickie McGowan
- Paul Pape
- Jan Rabson
- Judy Schacher
- Mindy Sterling
- Kari Wahlgren
- Cathy Cavadini
- Abby Craden
- Elizabeth Daily
- Terri Douglas
- Sandy Fox
- Jennifer Hale
- Mona Marshall
- D.A. Nichols
- Paige Pollack
- Lynwood Robinson
- Kath Soucie
- Abbey Thickson
- Jim Ward
- Tress MacNeille
- Liliana Mumy
- Rob Paulsen as Prince Jeeki
- Kevin Michael Richardson
- Brian Tochi
- April Winchell as The Matchmaker
- Keone Young as Lord Qin
Loop Group[]
- Cam Clarke
- David Cowgill
- Rachel Crane
- Lanai Chapman
- Elisa Gabrielli
- Jackie Gonneau
- Angela Haney
- Wendy Hoffman
- Karen Huie
- Art Kimbro
- Mark Robert Myers
- Melissa Osser
- Zoe Poll
- Grace Rolek
- Diana Sherman
- André Sogliuzzo
Uncredited[]
- Lea Salonga as Mulan (singing voice)
- Judy Kuhn as Ting-Ting (singing voice)
Reception[]
The film was panned by film critics. It holds 0% on review aggregator, Rotten Tomatoes. According to Scott Gwin of CinemaBlend, "Mulan II is a direct-to-DVD disgrace that takes everything excellent about its predecessor film, rips it to shreds, and uses it for rat cage lining." Other critics called it trivial or falling short of realistically representing China.
Original concept[]
Barry Cook, the director of the first film, was asked to write a treatment for the sequel. He turned in a one-page draft that featured Mulan and Shang about to be married when the emperor sends them on a mission up North. The finale would have featured Mulan and her allies, which included her ghost ancestors, taking on Shan-Yu and his ghost army.[1]
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