Mulan Parent Guide

Hua Zhou (Tzi Ma) is concerned about his daughter, Mulan (Crystal Rao). The child is fearless, with boundless energy and powerful qi (life force) but the aging war hero recognizes that these traits are unwelcome in a girl. As she approaches marriageable age (now played by Yifei Liu), he tells her, “Your qi is strong, Mulan. But qi is for warriors; not daughters. It is time for you to hide your gift away, to silence its voice.” Always dutiful, Mulan accepts this “conceal, don’t feel” advice, bows to her father’s counsel, and prepares for a meeting with the matchmaker (Pei-Pei Cheng).

Despite her best intentions, Mulan fails to impress the matchmaker. Convinced she is a source of dishonor to her family, she is further disheartened when the emperor’s representatives order one man from each family to serve in the imperial army and defend China from the invading Rourans and the witch (Li Gong) who aids them. Knowing her father is too disabled to survive a war, Mulan steals his horse, sword, and armor, and flees into the night to take his place in the military.

Disney’s live action remakes of its classic films have spanned the gamut from almost identical recreations (The Lion King) to heavily rewritten stories (Dumbo). Mulan falls somewhere between the two, with a broadly similar narrative arc (girl pretends to be a boy and saves China) but substantial differences in tone and story. If you’re expecting a live action frame-by-frame reproduction of the 1998 animated movie, you will be disappointed. There’s no wisecracking dragon, no catchy soundtrack (the biggest loss), no Captain Shang, and no comedy. This production should be assessed on its merits, as a war drama with themes as strong as its battle scenes.

Parents will be enthusiastic about the messages in Mulan. At the completion of their training, the young warriors pledge fidelity to three pillars of virtue: loyalty, bravery, and truth. The importance of these three virtues is repeatedly stressed throughout the film, with honesty receiving particular emphasis. Also introduced as a cardinal virtue is devotion to family. Having family love and loyalty put front and center in a major film is something that parents are going to celebrate.

The power of girls and women – our need for it and our tendency to fear and suppress it – is the principal theme that undergirds the entire story. Mulan’s gifts are scorned and treated with suspicion by her community. The witch also has the same gifts: “The more power I showed, the more I was crushed,” she tells Mulan as she tries to persuade her to join forces. Mulan’s attributes – her strong qi, her indomitable courage, her sense of honor, and her strategic intelligence – are vindicated over the course of her journey and are clearly established as imitation-worthy for kids and teens in the audience.

Parents might be concerned about showing Mulan to their youngsters, given its PG-13 rating. The film does have too much battlefield violence for young kids but it is on the light end of the PG-13 range and the violence is neither gory nor gratuitous. Any kid or tween who enjoys Marvel superhero movies will not find the content in this movie too frightening or unsettling.

The biggest question that hangs over this production is whether it’s worth coughing up the $30 on top of a Disney+ subscription. My answer to that is an unequivocal “Yes”. Mulan brings honor to its studio. It is a superb film, beautifully shot, solidly acted, and overflowing with positive examples for our kids. The coronavirus epidemic forestalled its theatrical release, forcing Disney to come up with another way to recoup its investment in the film. When we pay for movies of this quality, we encourage Hollywood studios to make more outstanding family films. We are voting with our wallets. Let’s make that vote count.