Disney's live-action version of "Mulan"
is not a shot-for-shot remake
of the animated classic from 1998.
Instead, it's more of a reimagining
based on the ancient Chinese poem
"The Ballad of Mulan."
And while so many things are different,
the heart of the story is still there,
along with plenty of nods to the animated original.
Here are all the ways Disney's live-action "Mulan"
is different from the original.
Oh, and warning, spoilers ahead.
When the new movie starts,
Mulan is a child,
and we watch her grow older on screen.
But in the original,
we see her at only one age
for the duration of the film.
Mulan's surname is tweaked from Fa,
the Cantonese pronunciation of her name, to Hua,
which makes it truer to the name of the original ballad.
However, both names have the same basic meaning.
Later, when Mulan needs to come up
with a fake name for the army,
she settles on Hua Jun,
as opposed to Fa Ping from the original movie.
Mulan: It's Ping.
Li Shang: Ping.
Narrator: There are also some changes to Mulan's family
in the live-action version.
She now has a younger sister.
In the animated version, she's an only child,
though she does have a dog named
Little Brother. Mulan: Little Brother!
Narrator: While in some versions of the original legend
she's an only child,
there are other versions where she has siblings.
Also missing from the live-action version:
Mulan's quirky grandmother.
Thanks to the film's longer running time,
they were able to more fully flesh out
the bond between Mulan and her father.
In the new version,
Mulan carries her father's sword
with the words "Loyal," "Brave," "True"
etched into the blade.
The phrase is repeated throughout the film,
speaking to the theme of the story.
Mulan: Loyal, brave, and true.
Narrator: But take a look at the sword
in the animated version;
you'll notice both sides of it are completely blank.
Another iconic object
from the original movie remains unchanged:
Mulan's hair clip with a flower on it.
In both movies, she leaves it behind
to signify that she's left home.
In the animated movie,
she leaves it by her parents' bed.
In the live-action one,
she leaves it in her father's wardrobe.
But there were some elements from the animated movie
that just would not have worked as well in live action.
Specifically, Mulan's anthropomorphic animal sidekicks,
like Cri-Kee, the lucky cricket.
Cri-Kee was a crucial part of the matchmaking scene,
when the troublemaking bug causes chaos
after soaking in the cup of tea.
In the reimagining, instead of a cricket,
a spider pops up on the table.
Mulan tries to cover it with a teapot,
ultimately ending in disaster.
Cri-Kee may not be in the movie,
but he is there in spirit.
One of Mulan's fellow human soldiers is named Cricket.
And like Cri-Kee, he's called a good luck charm.
Grandmother Fa: Yep.
This cricket's a lucky one!
Narrator: Another fan favorite -
and a controversial character - missing from the film:
Mushu the dragon,
who was voiced by Eddie Murphy.
You might recall that the wisecracking creature
served as Mulan's guardian sent by her ancestors.
While Mushu was popular with US audiences,
Chinese viewers found him to be trivializing.
So, no Mushu means no scene
where he shatters the dragon guardian statue
that is actually supposed to accompany Mulan.
Instead, it's Mulan
who accidentally shatters the statue,
that of a phoenix.
The phoenix makes sense as a Mushu stand-in,
and not just because the two creatures have a similar look.
After she leaves for war,
Mulan's father prays to the ancestors
and the phoenix to protect her.
So while there are no actual ghosts of ancestors seen here,
we still know they have Mulan's back.
And the phoenix follows her silently throughout her journey.
Other characters from the animated version
are present here, but with new names.
Instead of Shan Yu,
the leader of the invading northern army is Böri Khan.
And he has more motivations now
than just wanting to conquer China.
Khan also wants to avenge his father's death.
Böri Khan is fighting with the Rourans, not the Huns,
as Shan Yu was in the original.
This might be more accurate.
Some historians have said
the Huns were likely more focused
on attacking Europe than China
during Mulan's time.
Alongside Böri Khan is a completely new villain
to the universe named Xianniang.
In the animated movie,
Shan Yu does have a falcon,
which also acts as his spy,
but the falcon never takes the form of a person.
According to the filmmakers,
they wanted to bring in a new female antagonist
as a way to balance out the protagonist.
See, both characters are able to harness the power of chi,
a concept that is never mentioned in the original.
It's apparent that Mulan can do this early in the film.
And later on, it allows her to do everything
from jump across rooftops to scale walls.
Another one of the animated characters
wasn't necessarily removed,
but rather divided up.
According to the producer Jason Reed,
Li Shang, the captain who notably got down to business,
was split into two separate characters.
One is Commander Tung, Mulan's mentor,
and the other is a fellow soldier named Honghui
who grows close to Mulan.
Reed also said it didn't feel appropriate
having an older commanding officer be her love interest.
In an interview with Insider,
animated "Mulan" codirector Tony Bancroft
said that they actually considered
making Li Shang Mulan's equal.
Originally, they had another character as the sergeant,
who would have turned out to be a spy.
Once that character was cut,
Li Shang got a promotion.
One of the most iconic parts of the animated Mulan
is missing from this live-action version:
the songs.
Instead of making the film a musical,
memorable lines from the songs
are woven into the dialogue.
For example, Mulan says,
"Yes, it is best.
I will bring honor to us all,"
calling back to the song "Honor to Us All."
And while you won't get to hear Donny Osmond sing
"I'll Make a Man Out of You,"
the sergeant does tell the young warriors,
"We're going to make men out of every single one of you."
At one point, Mulan sits at a table
with some fellow soldiers, who talk about
their favorite characteristics in a woman.
Ling holds up a drawing
of a woman he'd been matched with
that looks similar to those sketches
from the animated scene.
Po then says,
"I don't care what she looks like;
I care what she cooks like,"
which is very similar to a line sung by Chien-Po
in "A Girl Worth Fighting For."
And while Mulan never sings the words herself,
the tune for "Reflection"
can be heard on the score
during several poignant moments throughout the film.
While the basics of the story are the same,
some major plot points have also been altered.
In the animated movie, the toughest obstacle
the commander throws at the soldiers
is making them retrieve an arrow
from the top of a high pole
while holding a pair of weights.
In the live-action movie,
they also must carry full buckets of water
to the top of a high mountain.
In the animated training montage,
they do train with buckets,
but it's large sacks they're carrying up a mountain.
In both movies, Mulan is injured,
but in different ways.
In the new movie,
she's hit by one of Xianniang's throwing stars.
But in the animated movie,
she's slashed by Shan Yu's blade,
which ultimately leads to her
being stripped in the medical tent
and revealed as a woman.
One of the most dramatic moments in Mulan's story
is when her secret is revealed.
The live-action version
has her being the one to make the decision
to out herself as a woman.
In the middle of battle,
she lets down her hair and shows her true self.
It's an especially empowering moment
that gives the character more agency.
This scene also might explain
why the live-action version doesn't show
Mulan chopping her long hair off
earlier with her father's blade.
This battle is brought to an abrupt end
by a huge avalanche,
a famous scene from the animated movie
that director Niki Caro
decided to keep in the live-action film.
But instead of shooting a cannon,
in the new movie,
Mulan tricks Böri Khan's men
into firing a large boulder at the mountain,
and nobody is seen rising from the snow unscathed.
This time around, there's no victory parade in the city.
And while Shan Yu met an unfortunate
firework-related demise in the animated movie,
Böri Khan tumbles to the ground
before Mulan finishes him off with one of his own arrows.
And if you're waiting for fireworks,
that doesn't happen until Mulan saves the emperor,
who, played by actor Jet Li,
has a much more active role in this film,
venturing out to fight his enemy.
When Mulan returns home in the live-action version,
her father says,
"It is my daughter that means everything to me."
In the animated version,
after handing him gifts from the emperor,
he says something different,
but with the same general intent.
Fa Zhou: The greatest gift and honor
is having you for a daughter.
Narrator: When Mulan gets a visit from Commander Tung,
it's not a romantic gesture.
Rather, he comes with a new sword,
as Mulan's was destroyed during the final battle,
and a second invitation from the emperor
to become an officer in the emperor's guard.
In the ballad, the animated movie,
and the live-action movie,
the emperor asks Mulan to come work for him.
Mulan always declines,
choosing instead to return home.
The film ends before she can give an answer.
But it would make sense if she wanted to fight again,
because in the ballad, Mulan and her comrades
travel "together for twelve years."
Were there any other big differences you spotted
between the animated and the live-action films?
Let us know in the comments.