![]() Mulan has paler skin than any of the other characters, as well as rounder eyes. But, it’s all right for Disney to villainize the Huns-they’re not really around as a people anymore!Īll of these examples may not seem so bad on their own, except that they are contrasted against the rest of the characters, who, while still being Asian, are a much less over-the-top portrayal of their ethnicity. He is also very hulking and animal-like, with seemingly super-human strength, and his constant hanging from trees and the roofs, of buildings. Shan Yu is grey-faced and yellow-eyed with long, pointed fingernails like claws, and pointed fang-like teeth. The villainous Shan Yu, and the rest of the Huns, are dehumanized extensively. The Emperor, though certainly a “good guy”, often sounds like he is quoting from slips of paper inside fortune cookies, with his many wise, cryptic sayings. Other characters make fun of him, and he is portrayed as less manly than any of the other soldiers. ![]() He is annoying and pompous, and most often used for comedic effect. In the case of Chi Fu, the character is drawn like a racist caricature, and his voice actor has one of the most pronounced and heavy accents. The most stereotyped characters are the annoying council member Chi Fu, the Emperor himself, and the villain. And it has to be asked-how much of the Chinese culture portrayed in the film is authentic, and how much is Disney’s and America’s perception of Chinese culture? Secondly, this is another Disney film that deals with other cultures-outside of the traditional European folk/fairytale that they are so comfortable with. And who would think to prepare a child for so much darkness before sitting down to watch a Disney movie? I can see many smaller children getting upset over instances like this, especially if they weren’t prepared for it. As the two soldiers flee, Shan Yu turns to an archer and asks, “How many men does it take to deliver a message?” The archer replies, “One.” And smirks as he shoots an arrow. For instance, when the Huns capture two Imperial soldiers, the Hun leader, Shan Yu sends them away to tell their commanding officers that the Huns are coming. Although no one is really shown dying on screen, there are several instances like the subtext with the doll, where viewers are meant to understand that someone is being killed. And then the frame widens to reveal the rest of the carnage, and there are a few seconds in the shot of dead soldiers and horses as far as the eye can see. When the soldiers come across the destroyed village in the mountains, there are no bodies or wounded civilians, but the houses are all in ruins, the sky is blood red, and Mulan finds a doll on the ground-hinting that everyone, even children, has died. And Disney doesn’t shy away from the violence too much, either. Mulan is the only Disney princess with a body count. It opens with the murder of a nameless soldier and the invasion of China. But it was fun to put on such a negative attitude while watching the movie.įirst off, this film is certainly a lot darker than the average animated Disney flick. Let me preface this blog post by saying that this is one of my all time favorite Disney movies, so pretty much none of the following are really my beliefs. ![]() For this assignment, I decided to watch and review the 1998 animated film “Mulan” and criticize the hell out of it. ![]()
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