Disney’s release of its live-action Mulan is a grand experiment in how much people are willing to pay for content during a pandemic. Disney originally scheduled their remake for a late March theatrical release only to wind up dropping it on their streaming service, for an unprecedentedly large fee of $29 — and that’s if you’re already a Disney+ subscriber. While the remake of the beloved late’90s animated movie will eventually be on the regular tier of Disney+, Christina Aguilera had very good reason to shell out the extra money to show her children the live-action version of the film that helped her become a superstar.
Aguilera had a breakout hit with “Reflection,” which she recorded for the Mulan soundtrack. The singer was invited back to re-record the song for the 2020 version of the movie. As it turns out, Aguilera had never shown her two children the movie. So on the film’s Friday’s release, Aguilera used the film’s digital premiere as an excuse to finally make them watch the animated original.
She shared her excitement about showing her children the movie for the first time on Twitter, calling it a “beautiful thing to share” with her family.
My kids know about #Mulan, but they haven’t seen the live action version yet. They’ve heard the music, they saw me recording it in the studio — so it’s a beautiful thing to share that with my children now 🤗
— Christina Aguilera (@xtina) September 4, 2020
The singer also talked about re-recording “Reflection,” as well as a new song for the 2020 version of Mulan, calling it an “emotional” experience and pointing out the differences between the two songs.
Recording the new Reflection was actually very emotional for me. I teared up many times (had to swallow the emotion because I’m not an accurate singer while crying 🤣😭) I realized & appreciated how much has changed from the original place & time I recorded this song. https://t.co/JZ1sXn16z3
— Christina Aguilera (@xtina) September 5, 2020
I am partial to the new version of Reflection for sure. Although I look back and smile at the version I did as a teen…I can hear the youth of a girl who doesn’t fully know herself or the power of her instrument yet. I’ve gotten to know myself better over the past 20 years… https://t.co/YJLcF7fVAw
— Christina Aguilera (@xtina) September 5, 2020
Aguilera also shared an extremely throwback GIF of herself as on Disney, which was a nice coda to what became a very enlightening Twitter Q&A.
Once a Disney girl, always a Disney girl. #Mulan pic.twitter.com/PxqJzvPL2C
— Christina Aguilera (@xtina) September 5, 2020