I can't think of a single animated feature film done by Disney that I don't like. For some reason they never bore me and they never feel the same. The classics like 'Snow White' and 'Cinderella' are great but I think I like the newer ones ('The Little Mermaid', 'Beauty and the Beast', 'The Lion King') even more. 'Mulan' definitely belongs to the best ones.

Mulan is a girl who doesn't do much right. For the honor of her family she joins the army instead of her father. She takes his gear and runs off. She pretends to be a man and does the training to go to war against the Huns who invaded China.

With some nice new songs, great music by Jerry Goldsmith and beautiful animations this is a real Disney. A little dragon called Mushu is helping her on the way. He is send by the ancestors. The voice of Mushu is from Eddie Murphy and he does a very great job. With a quick and good story and a lot of funny moments this is a great movie.

The Huns led by Shan Yu are invading China. The emperor is calling up one man from each family to join the army. Fa Mulan (Ming-Na Wen) fears her father is too sick and instead joins herself disguised as a man. Her ancestors call on the Great Stone Dragon to retrieve Mulan but clumsy small dragon Mushu (Eddie Murphy) accidentally cracks the statue. So Mushu tries to make Mulan a war hero so that they can return in triumph.

It's a good evolution on the Disney princess movies. She is no longer the helpless victim. Like Beauty and Beast, Mulan willingly sacrifices herself but she's doing even more. She is actively trying to break out of the traditional gender roles. It's an admirable advancement but it's missing a few things. The most notable is the absent of any catchy great new song. Also Mulan dressed as a male soldier doesn't make for the best doll for the collection. Nevertheless this is a good story and fun exciting animation.

I love this movie, and so does my sister. I loved the fact, they based it in China, and they got the cultural aspects of Chinese life right. Bravo, Disney! The animation, especially during the avalanche scene, was spotless(loved that epic shot of the bird flying over the huns),and the music, especially in the attack of the huns/avalanche scene and the part where everyone bows down to Mulan towards the end(a real tear-jerker as was the "greatest honour is having you for a daughter" part) by Jerry Goldsmith was lovely too, Shan-Yu's theme was also haunting. The songs are better than they're given credit for, the best being "Reflection", "I'll Make a Man out of You" and the one in the end credits. I strongly recommend Vanessa Mae's rendition of "Reflection", which is extraordinary. The singing voices, from the likes of Lea Salonga and Donny Osmond, did match the voice actors, unlike Quest for Camelot. The characters are also very memorable; Ming Na's feisty Mulan(one of Disney's greatest female characters),George Takei's brooding ancestor, Eddie Murphy's hilarious Mushu- who bags most of the film's best lines-, BD Wong's handsome Shang, Miguel Ferrer's mysterious and often frightening Shan Yu(who actually is an effective and underrated villain despite having an all-too-easy and lame death scene) and of course Pat Morita's wise Emperor. Some aspects of the well-told story might fly over children's heads, but this is enthralling entertainment, that deserves a much higher rating. 9/10 Bethany Cox