Mulan

Walt Disney Studios

Andrew Jáuregui, Staff Reporter

After the massive streak of movie delays this year, some pushed-back releases will soon be seeing the light of day. One of these such titles is Disney’s live-action remake of Mulan

Many people world-wide have been awaiting this next movie in the long line of Disney reboots, but how many people will actually be watching it? A large rent fee, increased maturity rating, story changes, censorship, and the Hong Kong protests might just serve as the many roadblocks in Mulan’s path to success.

Disney has announced that Mulan will be available to rent on September 4th on the streaming service Disney Plus. It will cost $30 dollars to rent, leading to many people, unwilling to pay extra, to wait for Mulan’s regular release on Disney Plus.

Movie maturity ratings are a key element of all films, and Mulan’s rating may not be in their favor. Unlike most of Disney’s original movies, this film carries a PG-13 rating due to its battle sequences, which could cause a decrease in potential younger viewers to watch the movie. Many people grew up watching the original Mulan, but the mature rating may push away parents with younger children.

Along with the hefty rent fee and rating, many more people have decided to skip out on Mulan due to the heavy changes made to the story. Key characters such as Mushu, the red dragon who helps guide Mulan, and Li Shaang, Mulan’s army captain and future love interest, have been removed from the retelling all together, along with many side characters. Additionally, the iconic songs such as ‘I’ll Make a Man Out of You’ have been scrapped and replaced with more traditional Chinese music. 

Disney claims they are making the story more accurate to the original ballad, but many believe that most of the changes to the story revolve around the heavy censorship of media in China. Feeling pressure to remove all elements that could get their film banned in China, thus cutting Disney off from the almost 1.4 billion potential viewers in the Chinese market, it is extremely likely that the studio is sacrificing the nostalgia of its older fans to make money off potential new ones by re shaping their original story to be in line with what China wants its citizens to see.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the only controversy involving China with this movie. Lead actress Liu Yifei, who plays Mulan in the movie, has caused mass controversy after she voiced her support of the Hong Kong police during the ongoing Hong Kong protests.

As the brutality and cruelty of the Hong Kong police force becomes more widely known to more and more people, the amount of people calling for a mass boycott of the film is increasing. 

Whether it be from the delay of the film, high rent price, rating, massive story reform and censorship, or increasing support for Hong Kong around the world, it is safe to say Disney’s 2020 Live-Action release of Mulan will have many obstacles to overcome if it is to be Disney’s next success.