No Mushu In Live-Action Mulan
After much speculation, last week, Mulan’s director confirmed that Mushu will not appear in the upcoming live-action Mulan reboot.
Filiz Mustafa of the UK-based Digital Spy reported:
Mulan director Niki Caro has sadly revealed that the upcoming live-action remake won’t feature “an update” of the animated film’s fan-favourite character Mushu.
The red dragon, voiced by Eddie Murphy in Disney’s 1998 original animation, acted as the self-appointed guardian of Fa Mulan, devoted to protecting and giving guidance to the female warrior when she posed as a male soldier in the army.
Mushu wasn’t spotted in the movie’s first trailer when it was released last year, and director Caro has now revealed why they decided to leave Mushu out of the highly-anticipated remake.
During a press appearance, Caro told gathered reporters:
I think we can all appreciate that Mushu is irreplaceable… You know, the animated classic stands on its own in that regard. In this movie, there is a creature representative – a spiritual representation of the ancestors, and most particularly of Mulan’s relationship with her father.”
“But an update of Mushu? No,” said Caro.
Clearly, this will disappoint some fans of the original film. However, the Director explained:
So, on the left and right hand of the emperor is a dragon… The dragon is representative of the masculine, and the phoenix is representative of the feminine.
In a movie, in a story that so much explores gender fluidity, I thought that that was a really nice and appropriate way to go.
I am very excited to see the new Mulan. While my oldest son (9) is upset with the omission of Mushu, I am thinking the new version of Mulan will have plenty of surprises in store.
But what do you think of the upcoming Mulan movie?