People of my generation have an unhealthy attachment to the movies of the Disney renaissance of the 1990s. Sure, some of them should be looked at fondly, like Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, but some are held up in very high regard purely by nostalgia and not actual merit, like Hercules or Pocahontas. One of those movies that is not nearly as good as people remember it to be (and no one will care to change their opinion) is Mulan. But with the recent box office successes of Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, and most recently Cinderella, Disney is going back to their catalogue once more with a live action adaptation of the film.
There are reasons to like this decision. Primarily, it will put an entirely Asian cast (or hopefully entirely Asian) in a big budget, mainstream movie. How often does that come along? Secondly, the script will be written by Elizabeth Martin and Lauren Hynek, so we will be getting a female perspective on a female-centered story, as opposed to the original animated film which had six credited screenwriters, five of which were men.
There is no word yet on who will direct or star in the film, as well as whether or not the adaptation will be a musical. One of the primary reasons people still adore that film is for the terrible song “I’ll Make a Man Out of You”, sung by Donny Osmond, so if this ends up not being a musical, I wonder how my nostalgia obsessed peers will take to it. Along with Mulan, Disney has lined up more adaptations of their catalogue, including Beauty and the Beast (starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens), The Jungle Book (starring Bill Murray and directed by Jon Favreau), and Dumbo (directed by Tim Burton). I wouldn’t put it past them if in four years we’ll get an announcement for a live action Frozen.
Original report from The Hollywood Reporter.
