{"id":12000,"date":"2020-02-27T11:39:44","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T19:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/?p=12000"},"modified":"2020-03-02T10:55:27","modified_gmt":"2020-03-02T18:55:27","slug":"the-8-most-interesting-things-we-learned-from-our-mulan-set-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/disney-mulan-set-visit\/","title":{"rendered":"The 8 Most Interesting Things We Learned From Our &#8216;Mulan&#8217; Set Visit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Back in 2010, Disney first announced the live-action retelling of the 1998 animated film <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mulan <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">directed by Charles Russell (<em>The Mask<\/em>) and starring international actress Zhang Ziyi as the legendary Chinese warrior. Unfortunately, the film never came to fruition and talks about giving Mulan the live-action treatment were shelved for another five years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2015, with the success of live-action Disney movies like <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maleficent <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cinderella<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Disney brought Mulan back onto the table, bringing in director Niki Caro (<em>Whale Rider<\/em>) and screenwriting duo, Richard Jaffa and Amanda Silver, to the fold. Disney brought in China\u2019s biggest stars to be part of this movie with Donnie Yen, Gong Li, Jet Li, and introducing American audiences to China\u2019s sweetheart Yifei Liu as Hua Mulan.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-FlPy1rNgi0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, 22 years after the release of the animated movie, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.atomtickets.com\/movies\/mulan\/240942\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mulan <\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">will hit the big screens next month.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In October 2019, Atom Tickets was invited to New Zealand, where the cast and crew of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mulan<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> were in the middle of filming Mulan\u2019s big fight scene. In between takes, the cast and crew came by to talk about being part of this beloved classic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are a few things we learned while on the set.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>1. The Music From The Animated Film Will Still Have A Presence In The Movie<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The producing team behind the live-action movie knew fans were upset when it was announced the film would not be a musical and explained that this film combines the animated film with the original Chinese &#8220;Ballad of Mulan&#8221; folksong which is rooted in realism like <em>The Jungle Book<\/em>.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe made the decision that we wanted to keep the world &#8212; even though it\u2019s a fantasy &#8212; more grounded more realistic so those emotions really played and the threat is very real so we are using music in a slightly different way,\u201d producer Jason Reed explains.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But, don\u2019t fret. Fans may recognize some of the music played throughout the film, assures Reed:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI can guarantee you that there will be songs you recognize and remember will in the movie. It will not be [a] traditional break into [the] musical. They\u2019re not going to stop their workouts and do a big musical number to camera. However, there are a number of songs that are iconic for the movie and tell a great version of the story and they are very helpful to us in how we\u2019re putting the movie together. And it gets a little easier in animation to keep the tension and the reality in place and still have people break into song and sing to camera.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>2. The Changes Are Meant To Pay Respect To The Chinese Story<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/images.atomtickets.com\/image\/upload\/h_960,q_auto\/v1562610380\/ingestion-images-archive-prod\/archive\/1562610380261_240942_cops_18.jpg\" width=\"2031\" height=\"960\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many fans were disappointed in the changes from the animated movie, but the production team wants audiences to know it\u2019s only to pay respect to Chinese culture and the original poem the movies were based on, &#8220;The Ballad of Mulan.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, in the animated version, Mulan cuts her hair before joining the Chinese army to disguise herself as a man, but in this film, she keeps her hair long. Reed explains, \u201cIn the Disney film, the scene where she\u2019s cutting her hair off it\u2019s actually an anachronism. So Chinese warriors, male warriors wore their hair long. Chinese men wore their hair long. For her to cut her hair off, it would make her look more like a woman than less like a woman in reality. Since we\u2019re doing the live-action version, because we\u2019re looking at the worldwide market we thought we had to bring that level of cultural accuracy to it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>3. There Will Be Elements Of Mushu In The Film<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another thing that sparked controversy among fans were the reports of the film not having Mulan\u2019s beloved sidekicks, Mushu and Cri-Kee, and Reed addressed that, too:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cObviously, Mushu is a beloved character and one of the most memorable elements of the animated film. It turns out that the traditional Chinese audience did not particularly think that that was the best interpretation of the dragon in their culture, that the dragon is a sign of respect and it\u2019s a sign of strength and power, and that sort of using it as a silly sidekick didn\u2019t play very well with the traditional Chinese audience.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To appease all audiences, Reed explains they took the symbolism of the Mushu, the ancestral dragon guardian of the Hua family, and made sure to include it in the wardrobe and weapons.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As for Cri-Kee, Mulan\u2019s good luck charm, fans should expect to see him interpreted in human form, played by Jun Yu.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>4. Disney Made Sure To Consult The Asian Diaspora And Chinese Audiences<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Disney executives wanted to do <em>Mulan<\/em> right and consulted four major audiences on the importance of the character of Mulan and how they\u2019d like to see the film move forward in a thoughtful way. After consulting with four different groups &#8211; Chinese audiences, the Asian diaspora, women, and Disney fans, Reed hoped to have found a way to tie all audiences together.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAs a concrete example, traditionally the story of Mulan is a story about a young girl finding a way to do her duty. And it\u2019s all about duty and kind of about the devotion to the Confucian order, and for what we found in our research that was for the diaspora community. They read it as a story about a young girl finding her way against her parents, that despite the rules and despite the traditions, she found her own way forward. So those are sort of two completely different ways of reading the story.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although there were no Chinese historian consultants on set, Reed assured they worked with a council of advisors during the development and design phase. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cSo we have a lot of Chinese folks around our whole stunt team, the vast majority of our stunt team is from China,\u201d says Reed. \u201cA number of our actors are from China, so we get little tweaks here and there. We had 25 different experts in various areas that were helping with design, costumes, makeup, architecture, [and] story.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>5. Grandma Hua Is Not In The Film But Mulan Will Have A Sister<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/images.atomtickets.com\/image\/upload\/h_960,q_auto\/v1562610298\/ingestion-images-archive-prod\/archive\/1562610298029_240942_cops_6.jpg\" width=\"2031\" height=\"960\" \/>American audiences may be confused to see Mulan with a little sister, Xiu (Xana Tang), because in the animated film, Mulan is an only child who is pushed to meet with the matchmaker by her mother and hilarious, wise-cracking grandmother. Audiences may not know this, but in one of the versions of the original ballad, Mulan has younger siblings. So the writers decided to add a sister instead of a grandmother.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt shows the contrast between a woman, or a young girl, that is going outside the normal boundaries,\u201d producer Barrie Osbourne explains. \u201cThey&#8217;re two different people with two different approaches to life that but they&#8217;re both great sisters and friends. But it shows the contrast between them and it helps illustrate what&#8217;s different and interesting and unique about them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>6. Li Shang Is Split Into Two Characters Due To The #MeToo Movement<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The crew wants it to be known that there is a Li Shang in the film, but decided to split the character into two different ones due to the #MeToo movement. Not wanting a commanding officer to fall in love with his subordinate, the producing team decided to have Commander Tung (Yen) lead the team into battle and her actual love interest, Hongwei (Yoson An), be her equal in the army.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI think particularly in the time of the #MeToo movement, having a commanding officer that is also the sexual love interest was very uncomfortable and we didn\u2019t think it was appropriate,\u201d said Reed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reed, who is well aware of Li Shang\u2019s LGBTQ icon status, revealed that Hongwei and Mulan will be drawn to each other throughout the movie &#8211; even when Mulan is in disguise as a man.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An, who was visiting the set that day, is ready to be that bisexual icon. He confirmed<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0Hongwei notices something about Hua Jun (Mulan\u2019s disguise) that the other boys in the training army do not.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThey start off on the wrong foot, really,\u201d An shared.\u201cYeah, they start off on the wrong foot. As they progress through the training together, they kind of have this unspoken bond about it because they recognize each other\u2019s warrior spirit. That\u2019s how they kind of build their friendship up to begin with through the training and acknowledging each other.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>7. The \u2018Witch\u2019 Element Is To Make It Stand Out From Other Mulan Movies<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/m.media-amazon.com\/images\/M\/MV5BY2U4OTQ5NzMtMWI5NC00YzM4LWIwZWUtYWJjMWRhYzU5NjU0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNDcwNjMzMTY@._V1_.jpg\" width=\"1366\" height=\"568\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chinese studios have recreated the story of Mulan many times on the big screen so Disney knew they had to do something to stand out with their Mulan story.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOne of the things that &#8212; as we were talking to filmmakers in China about how we can best &#8212; going back to this, how do you service two audiences, how can we make a movie that bridges [the gap between Western storytelling and Chinese stories]?\u201d says Reed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With Gong Li as the witch, Xian Lang, who joins forces with the villainous Bori Khan (Jason Scott Lee), Reed explained that adding that character would bring the fantastical elements as well as another adversary for our woman protagonist:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe wanted to have a female antagonist in the movie as well as just having a male antagonist so that we could explore female power in that society in different ways and have different perspectives on it. There are some other characters that we added, or bifurcated that have helped us do the same thing in other places.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>8. Unlike The Animated Film, The Enemy Has A Valid Reason For War<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the animated version, Shan Yu was the evil leader of the Huns and was bent on taking over all of China. Lee says that Bori Khan has a different and personal reason for war with the Emperor of China &#8211; vengeance. Bori Khan and his army want to reclaim the land and culture taken from them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Due to the censorship issues from China, the intentions behind Bori Khan\u2019s fight is not as obvious, but Lee approached the character with the idea of colonization.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cSo the way I&#8217;m approaching it is that much like in colonialism that pushed out native or indigenous cultures, Bori Khan&#8217;s fight is to regain and recompose his culture of the Rouran people,\u201d says Lee. \u201cAnd it&#8217;s to reestablish their power structure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lee says that Bori Khan is extremely ruthless in his methods because the character has been through many wars.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He&#8217;s tough, just a tough character that just &#8212; almost can&#8217;t get knocked down,\u201d Lee explains. \u201cI think that&#8217;s the respect he&#8217;s given by the tribal leaders of the other Rouran tribe. It sort of allows him to unify the other groups to increase his army, increase his power, and and have the ability to tackle the Emperor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mulan <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is set to be released on March 27th. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atomtickets.com\/movies\/mulan\/240942\"><strong>Get tickets here.<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Back in 2010, Disney first announced the live-action retelling of the 1998 animated film Mulan directed by Charles Russell (The Mask) and starring international actress Zhang Ziyi as the legendary Chinese warrior. Unfortunately, the film never came to fruition and talks about giving Mulan the live-action treatment were shelved for another five years.\u00a0 In 2015, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":12006,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[64,50],"tags":[40,37],"class_list":["post-12000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-disney","category-editorial","tag-featuredpage","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12000"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12003,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12000\/revisions\/12003"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}