User blog:ARTaylor/20 Years of Mulan

Today marks the twentieth anniversary of the premiere of Mulan. The film is the thirty-sixth from Walt Disney Animation Studios, released during the famous Disney Renaissance of the 1990s. Based on the Chinese legend, the film follows the outsider Fa Mulan who pretends to be a man in order to save her elderly father from fighting in a war against the invading Hun army.

The film was well received with fans and critics. It was the second-highest grossing family film of the year. It won several Annie Awards including Best Animated Feature while the musical score was also praised. It was nominated for the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Music Score. It received a mixed reception in China, due to the numerous changes to the Mulan story as well as the then-negative reception of The Walt Disney Company due to a controversial documentary released the previous year. The film was followed by a direct-to-video feature, the characters' inclusions in several video games, and a live-action adaptation currently in production.

The film features the talents of Ming-Na Wen as the titular heroine Mulan, Miguel Ferrer as the villainous Shan Yu who leads the Hun army, George Takei as the spirit of Mulan's eldest ancestor, Frank Welker as the cricket Cri-Kee and Mulan's horse Khan, Mary Kay Bergman as the spirits of various ancestors, Corey Burton as an ancestor, June Foray as Grandmother Fa, as well as Patrick Pinney and Elisa Gabrielli doing additional voices. Bob Persichetti worked as an artist on the film. Chris Williams wrote the story.