Different From the Rest
Why be the same when you could be Mulan?
Disney’s “Mulan” is unique and powerful and a revelation in the midst of Sleeping Beauties and Snow Whites. While there are some changes that should be made to this film, it is undoubtedly the start of change in the princess movie industry for good.
In chronological order, Disney’s princess movies are:
- “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” (1937)
- “Cinderella” (1950)
- “Sleeping Beauty” (1959)
- “The Little Mermaid” (1989)
- “Beauty and the Beast” (1991)
- “Aladdin” (1992)
- “Pocahontas” (1995)
- “Mulan” (1998)
- “The Princess and the Frog” (2009)
- “Tangled” (2010)
- “Brave” (2011)
- “Frozen” (2013)
- “Moana” (2016)
In case you didn’t notice, we didn’t get our first princess of color until Aladdin, and Jasmine wasn’t even the main character in that one (it was also 1992… 55 years after Disney’s first princess movie. Yikes). It took three princess movies for the princess to be even a little bit heroic (Ariel) and it took four movies after THAT to get to Mulan. You might say, Wait! Belle read books and Pocahontas helped save the Powhatan tribe! Doesn’t that count for something?
The answer is both yes and no. While it’s great that Disney decided to portray Belle as an intellectual who saves both her father and the people trapped in the castle, she still supposedly falls in love with an extremely moody, hateful ‘beast’. Believable? Not quite. And although one of the points the movie strives to emphasize is that looks don’t matter and beauty is on the inside, you could argue that Belle has Stockholm syndrome and can’t exactly afford to worry about the Beast’s personality or his looks. As for Pocahontas, it doesn’t really live up to expectations. It almost does a wonderful job portraying the English realistically (i. e., thieves, murderers, rapists, etc.), however, Pocahontas is hardly shown to have anything more important in her life than her male relationships and the entire movie perpetuates myths and harmful stereotypes about indigenous peoples. Further research will tell you that there really aren’t many reasons to praise the movie.
That brings us to Mulan. Let me start off by saying: Amazing. Magnificent. Beautiful. Contrary to the princess movies that came out before Mulan, she doesn’t just sit and hope things go her way. No, she grabs her destiny with her own two hands and takes it upon herself to not only protect her father, but also to save the whole of China from the Huns. Is she discouraged when her father refuses to stay home? Yes. Does that stop her? Not in the slightest.
Mulan is one of a kind in that she inspires millions of young children (girls in particular) to take control of their destinies. Are you feeling stuck? Is life not going your way? Mulan would tell you to do something about it, and that’s what’s important about this movie. Not only does it teach girls that sometimes sacrifice is necessary for the greater good, it teaches girls that there is always a way to solve the problem. By using her head and her heart, Mulan reaches viewers through a connection that is powerful and beautiful. What more could you ask for?
