MULAN: Behind the Scenes with Yifei Liu, Jet Li & Donnie Yen

Bring Honor To Us All

Not all Disney theatrical remakes are the same. Some use the magic of special effects and editing to whisk the audience towards the fairy tale of old like Beauty and The Beast and The Lion King. While others rely on practical effects and transporting the the audience into the main plot so that the lessons learned in childhood echo even stronger with age. Mulan seeks to balance between these extremes, and does so with grace and poise much like the self-titled main character.

It is clear that while Mulan does draw on the fantasy elements within Eastern culture: this movie is grounded, practical, and authentic. Yifei Liu, who plays the main role in Mulan, spent three months training. Sometimes seven or eight hours a day with the sword. The crew, the trainers, the art department, everyone who worked on this movie did so passionately and you can feel it throughout the film.

Director Niki Caro believed that authenticity was of the utmost importance so the crew went to China to study and experience the culture. They believed in dedicating time and effort toward an accurate depiction.

Jet Li himself spoke on the power of the film and the representation. “It wasn’t just a film about Mulan being a tough girl and fighting. It’s about the details. Sharing the Chinese culture with the world is my responsibility.” Donnie Yen believed it be a movie similar to the cartoon, however, once he set foot on set he realized the vision for this film was not one of the past, but of the future.