Fa Mulan (花木蘭) is the main titular protagonist of Disney's 1998 animated feature film of the same name and its 2004 direct-to-video sequel. She is inspired by the legendary Hua Mulan from the Chinese poem The Ballad of Mulan.
Her speaking voice is provided by Ming-Na Wen while her singing voice is provided by Lea Salonga.
Mulan is the 8th official Disney Princess and first heroine in the line-up who is not actually royalty through either birth or marriage.
Background[]
Mulan resides in a small Chinese village with her father, her mother, and her wisecracking grandmother (whom Mulan takes after). 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 woman of the time. Mulan, however, is presented as an outcast. She was clumsy and sought 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 was that of Mushu, a diminutive dragon.
Personality[]
At the start of the film, Mulan is introduced as a free-spirited outcast; a clumsy girl who is unable to follow rules, regulations, or traditions. Despite this, she has a warm heart and wants nothing more than to uphold her family 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, 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, as well as the pressures of the society she was born into - 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 takes a shift. 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 third act of the film. She has the ability to perform successful tactics through quick-thinking and mental observation, as opposed to mere brute strength (something that is idealized in her camp) which would eventually result in saving her fellow soldiers, as well as 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.
By the sequel, it is shown 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 jovial, especially when seen with Shang, whom she had developed a strong, romantic relationship with by the start 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 had long black hair, when joining the army she cut it so her hair wouldn't be too big for a bun. She also has dark brown eyes.
Mulan wore a range of outfits, from 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 over shirt, 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.
Except when she goes to the matchmaker, Mulan does not wear any makeup or anything to beautify her appearance. Mulan is naturally beautiful nonetheless.
When she sleeps, she wears a light blue tank top, short blue shorts, and is barefoot. She wears a dress consisting of a green long-sleeved shirt with olive brims and both yellow skirt and inside shirt with a low cut neckline, blue wrap, red waistband, and black ballet flats, but also has been seen barefoot as well. To impress the matchmaker, she had her face painted in white, red lips, black hair tied in a loose bun with a red hair ribbon, narrow crimson and pale pink Chinese skirt, pink jacket with long, flowing sleeves, aqua and plum collar, blue wrap with a red ribbon to fasten it, light purple scarf, same color shoes, jade bead necklace, gold dangling earrings, and a special lotus flower hair pick. When she was disguised as "Ping," she has black 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, long olive vest with a crimson collar, crimson belt, light pink sash, and same color shoes.
Gallery[]
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Videos[]
