About midway through the U.S. Women’s National Team’s World Cup win on Sunday, Disney debuted the first trailer for its upcoming live-action remake of the 1998 animated classic Mulan. It’s the latest in a long line of such films that the entertainment conglomerate has been planning for some time. (Aladdin and The Lion King are two of the most recent examples.) However, unlike most of these remakes, Mulan doesn’t appear to have any music in it. Nor, for that matter, did the dragon Mushu make an appearance.
That neither the original movie’s musical elements and the Mushu character — who was voiced by comedian Eddie Murphy — might not be included shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. During the early pre-production stages in 2017, director Niki Caro said that “no songs” were then in the studio’s plans. The Whale Rider director did emphasize that fact that her take would be a “muscular piece of girly martial arts extravaganza in China,” and judging by Sunday’s trailer, that’s exactly the case.
Even so, the lack of the comical Mushu character — or anything remotely resembling him — has set off a firestorm on social media. Most of the negative reactions were, predictably, relegated to a handful of detractors whose attachment to the original cartoon was seemingly unbreakable.
https://twitter.com/DjSouza95/status/1147921689889529856
https://twitter.com/Blessyvilized/status/1147915845143674880
Dear @DisneyStudios: Your #Mulan movie looks truly dazzling! But you can have my money once you show me the Mushu! Mulan & Mushu are like Pinocchio & Jiminy Cricket, so do Mushu! Also: (SPOILERS!) Please keep the part when Mulan throws her shoe at Shan Yu. Signed, A Demanding Fan https://t.co/qhvfdaEq5f
— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) July 7, 2019
A few from this camp admitted their initial unhappiness but started to come around after watching the trailer.
1st trailer for live action #Mulan is here!!!
Looks amazing!! I'd love to see Mushu, but he probably wouldn't work w/ the kind of film they're making here. Still looks awesome pic.twitter.com/QAwSNTVL7x
— Jeff Rothman 🌻🏒⚾️ (@amazingjr87) July 7, 2019
me before the mulan trailer: so no musical scenes, no shang, NO MUSHU??!?!! idk if it's gonna work..
me after watching the trailer: pic.twitter.com/i0QIsO3Ozo
— ellie-wan kenobi 🌺 (@fakehappymeal) July 7, 2019
The majority, however, seemed perfectly fine with the changes.
Good teaser. I’m fine with no Mushu and no songs. Don’t people complain about their live-action remakes just copying the animated versions? Looks like they will be changing things up a lot here. https://t.co/MrQWAD9fCn
— Eric Goldman (@TheEricGoldman) July 7, 2019
Listen, if we could forgive the live-action Cinderella for not having music & talking mice with clothes, then we can forgive Mulan for not having Mushu. Cinderella was still fantastic. #Mulan pic.twitter.com/BJtfxnnAyr
— Laura ลอร'า 劳拉 🍥 (@lsirikul) July 7, 2019
After all, the 1998 cartoon added a lot to the original source material…
Hua Mulan’s story dates to as early as 386 AD frm a folk song & later a transcription in the 6th century. Disney’s live action film is attempting to honor the OG version for Western & Eastern (China) audiences. There is no Mushu or Li Shang in the original so please, shut up! https://t.co/IA4D0uudpJ
— Cindy PikaChu Swing ✨朱良蒨 (she/her) 🌸✨ (@iamcindychu) July 7, 2019
…but trolls are gonna troll.
me: i loved the comedy mushu brought to the original #mulan but i would rather watch a story that grounds itself into the chatacters historical and cultural details while still giving fun familiar nods to the original disney property-
them: pic.twitter.com/PCVlnErKFh— William Yu 유규호 (@its_willyu) July 7, 2019