Mulan: Special Edition (1998)

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General		Extras
Category	Animation	Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio & Animation Menu Audio Audio Commentary-Directors And Producer Deleted Scenes Song Lyrics-Sing-Along Songs (2) Music Video-'I'll Make A Man Out Of You' By Jackie Chan(Mandarin/Canton) Music Video-'Reflection' By Christina Aguilera Music Video-'True To Your Heart' By Stevie Wonder & 98° Game-DisneyPedia: Mulan's World Featurette-Mulan's Fun Facts Music Video-'Reflection' Peformed In Mandarin By CoCo Lee Music Video-'Reflection' Performed In Spanish By Lucero Music Video-'True To Your Heart' Performed In Spanish By Christian Featurette-The Journey Begins Featurette-Story Artists' Journey Featurette-Design Featurette-Production Featurette-Music Featurette-International Mulan
Rating
Year Of Production	1998
Running Time	84:17
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (61:43) Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Tony Bancroft Barry Cook
Studio Distributor	Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	Ming-Na B.D. Wong Soon-Tek Oh Eddie Murphy Harvey Fierstein Gedde Watanabe Miguel Ferrer James Hong Pat Morita June Foray James Shigeta Lea Salonga Freda Foh Shen
Case	?
RPI	$29.95	Music	Jerry Goldsmith Vanessa Mae Matthew Wilder

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Greek Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) Bulgarian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Arabic Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.70:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired Greek Bulgarian Arabic Greek Audio Commentary Bulgarian Audio Commentary Arabic Audio Commentary Bulgarian Titling Arabic Titling	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    I have reviewed a number of animated features recently including the new version of Ice Age and Aladdin, so it was interesting to see a film which was released between those two and really falls into a group of films produced by Disney when their animation department went off the boil a bit before the addition of Pixar brought new life to the genre. Having said that, Mulan is certainly not a bad animated film - it is just not up to the standard of earlier ones like Aladdin or later ones like Ice Age or Toy Story. To my mind the differences that make this so are twofold - this film offers less to an adult audience than any of those mentioned above and also the songs are just not as good as those in Aladdin or The Lion King. The first song, for instance, sounds like it was stolen from a long lost Gilbert & Sullivan operetta. For the record, I had not seen this film before reviewing this disc.

    Mulan has been previously released in Region 4 as a bare bones release by Warner Home Video in 2000. The review of that version can be found here. This new version is very different and is being released by Buena Vista Home Entertainment who currently distribute Disney films here in Region 4. Here is a short guide to the major differences:

    The new version has the following new features:

• Lots of extras including a second disc (The previous release had no extras of any note)
• A new video transfer
• Different Language options
• A full bit rate Dolby Digital 5.1 track (The previous version was 384 Kb/s)

    Mulan tells the story of a young girl growing up in ancient China. She is the only child of a war hero, Fa Zhou, and her father wants her to uphold the family honour by making a good marriage match. This means she needs to impress the matchmaker. Unfortunately, things do not go well and to add to her misery her father is called up to fight for the Emperor. Because of a bad wound when he fought previously, he is now crippled but bravely accepts his conscription anyway. Mulan decides to run away and join the army in her father's place, taking his horse, armour and sword. She poses as a man and despite some difficulties she becomes an accepted member of the army, under her commanding office Captain Shang (voiced by B D Wong who some of you may know from Law & Order). Her father prays to his ancestors for their assistance and they decide to send someone to help her. Unfortunately, instead of the hero they plan to send, a small Dragon, Mushu (voiced by Eddie Murphy), goes instead. He of course becomes the comic sidekick along with a lucky cricket called Cri-Kee and together they set off to save China from the invading Huns, led by the evil Shan-Yu.

    The things which stood out as positives for me were Mushu, who really added life to the film after a slightly slow start, and the lovely opening credit sequence which utilises Chinese calligraphy and art.

    This film will not suit the youngest children as there are some dark scenes and also some fighting (although no one actually dies on-screen of course). It would probably best suit an audience in the 5 to 10 age bracket. So, a very good animated adventure without being in the top echelon of recent animated films.

Video

    The video quality is very good but not quite as sharp as other more recent animated films. Based upon the previous review, this is a different video transfer as the layer change occurs much later at 61:43. The file size of this one is 4093648 Kb. Indications are that the new Special Edition version has significantly better colour than the old version, although I do not have the old one for direct comparison.

    The feature is presented in a 1.70:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is very close to the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise. The shadow detail was excellent. I did not think it was as sharp as other animated films I have seen such as Aladdin.

    The colour was wonderful, rich and solid throughout. This is good as colour is an important ingredient in the film.

    The only noticeable artefact was aliasing which was quite regular but generally mild in nature. Examples include the Great Wall at 1:08 and a belt at 12:03.

    There are subtitles in 5 languages including English & English for the hearing impaired. The English subtitles were clear and easy to read.

    The layer change occurs at 61:43 and was not noticeable.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is very good and quite subtle.

    This DVD contains five audio options, an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 448 Kb/s, Greek & Arabic Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks encoded at 384 Kb/s and a Bulgarian Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync.

    The score of this film by Jerry Goldsmith is excellent, adding humour, tension and excitement as required. To my mind, the songs are not as strong as other Disney animated films.

    The surround speakers added some mild directional effects and atmosphere. This is not an overly dynamic soundtrack but by the same token the surrounds add some subtle and worthwhile sounds such as thunder at 17:15. Generally, a very nice effort.

     The subwoofer was nicely integrated and added bass as required.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    There are copious extras spread over two discs. To my mind some of the extras are very good while others are completely superfluous, especially the incredible array of foreign language music videos.

Menu

    The menu included an intro, music, and the ability to select scenes, languages and subtitles.

Disc 1

Deleted Scenes

    These are presented mostly as storyboards with audio, as they were not fully animated. They are really more abandoned ideas for scenes and alternate versions rather than deleted scenes removed from the completed film. Despite this they are quite interesting. They include introductions by one of the directors, Tony Bancroft, and are presented non 16x9 enhanced and with 2.0 surround audio. The scenes included are:

• Keep em Guessing (3:48) - A deleted song for Mushu to introduce himself to Mulan. They decided it did not fit with the character after Eddie Murphy was cast in the role.
• The Betrothal (5:53) - An alternate approach to introducing Mulan which it was felt showed her as too selfish.
• Shan-yu destroys village (2:30) - More of Shan-yu's character which was removed because it was felt to be too dark.
• The Prologue Chronicle (3:36) - This is actually a featurette explaining the various ideas they went through for the opening of the film.
• Shadow Puppets Prologue (0:58) - A test version of one of the openings discussed in the featurette.
• Mulan's Daydream (2:30) - Another alternate opening involving Mulan's dream of what she wanted her life to be.
• The Emperor's Dream (3:30) - Another alternate opening this time being the Emperor's vision of the future

Music & More

    This section includes a number of karaoke style singalongs and music videos. Presented non 16x9 enhanced. Included are:

• Honor To Us All (3:35) - Singalong version of song from the film with karaoke style lyrics.
• I'll Make a Man Out of You (3:56) - Singalong version of song from the film with karaoke style lyrics.
• I'll Make a Man Out of You (3:23) - Mandarin language version of the song as sung by Jackie Chan (yes, Jackie Chan, martial arts movie star!)
• Reflection (3:35) - Music Video of song from the film as sung by Christina Aguliera.
• True to Your Heart (4:25) - Music Video of this song from the film by Stevie Wonder & 98 degrees, an African American boy band.

DisneyPedia : Mulan's World (7:19)

    This section includes an animated menu and is hosted by Mushu. It is designed for children and features a variety of information about Ancient China. Sections can be chosen individually or all can be played. Each section includes some animation and a voiceover by Mushu. Topics covered include dragons, good luck charms, the real legend of Mulan, ancestors, honour, the Chinese calendar, the Emperor, the Huns, the Great Wall, fireworks, paper and The Art of War. Good stuff, interesting info but kept to a level kids can understand and presented in an amusing way.

Commentary - Producer - Pam Coats, Director - Tony Bancroft and Director - Barry Cook

    This is generally a pretty good commentary with some worthwhile information included. They do spend a bit of time patting themselves and everyone else on the back but no more than you expect from a major studio commentary. Technically, something very useful has been done which is to keep each person commentating in a different speaker so it is easy to tell who is talking at a specific time. Pam is in the centre speaker, Tony in the right and Barry in the left. Discussion covers the opening sequence debate, animation, the balancing act between drama, action & comedy, the research they did, trivia, the voice talent, the story and characters and the development process. Worth a listen.

Mulan's Fun Facts (2:13)

    A short set of behind-the-scenes footage with music and pop-up trivia. Nothing to get excited about.

Disc 2

Music & More

    A fairly pointless collection of foreign language music videos unless you speak the languages involved. Interestingly they are not the languages which are available on the main feature. Included are:

• I'll Make a Man Out of You (3:04) - Cantonese language version of the song as sung by Jackie Chan. The video is very similar to the Mandarin one on Disc 1.
• Reflection (3:37) - Version of the song in Mandarin by Co Co Lee, who has a very nice singing voice.
• Reflection (3:37) - Version of the song in Spanish by Lucero.
• True to Your Heart (3:16) - Version of the song in Spanish by Christian.

Backstage Disney

    This large section about the making of the film includes many sub-section and featurettes as follows. Most of them include interviews with the Producer, Director and various other crew members. Overall, these are fairly comprehensive although something about the voice talent used in the English version would have been interesting. Each section can be played as one group or separately.

• The Journey Begins
• Discovering Mulan (6:48) Featurette about the trip to China taken by principal members of the crew to gather information and ideas for the design of the film and characters.
• The Ballad of Hua Mulan (5:19) The original legend of Mulan accompanied by paintings and music. This is an interesting and very worthwhile addition.
• Early Presentation Reel 1995 (2:22) A presentation reel prepared by the team to show progress to executives. This one includes storyboards of the scene where Mulan decides to leave home.
• Early Presentation Reel 1996 (2:01) Drawings of visual design at that point of the development.
• Story Artists Journey
• Finding Mulan (7:06) A featurette about the character design and development process for Mulan including how her look and character changed over time.
• Storyboard to Film Comparison (0:47 + 1:26) Includes an introduction and then a multi-angle feature of the storyboards and final film for a scene involving Mushu.
• Design
• Art Design (5:35) A featurette on the design of the film's look and how it changed during the long development cycle. Includes interviews with the Art Director, Production Designer and others.
• Character Design (3:48) This featurette focuses on the input of Chin Yi, a Taiwanese born designer who did a lot of the character design.
• Ballad of Colour (4:28) A featurette on the importance of colour to this movie and how the colour was used to express emotions.
• Still Galleries - Various galleries including hundreds of pictures. They are separated into galleries for Character Design, Visual Development & Backgrounds and Layouts.
• Production
• Progression Demonstrations
• Mushu Awakens - This section includes an introduction (0:30) by the director followed by a four angle multiple angle feature (0:55) showing how a scene was put together. The four stages are sketch, rough animation. clean-up and final colour. Each stage also has a separate introduction by the Art Director (0:47, 0:43, 1:04 & 1:17) which explains what occurs in each stage.
• Matchmaker Meets Mulan - Another scene with an intro (0:22) and a four angle multiple angle feature (1:06).
• Digital Production - Two featurettes on the CGI work done for the film.
• The Hun Charge (4:51) Discusses the computer animation process to produce the scene involving a mass charge of cavalry and the incredible complexity involved.
• Digital Dim Sum (4:02) Covers how they built crowd scenes for later in the film, based on ones they had already developed and how they used old animation techniques from early Disney Animation and adapted them to the CGI age.
• Music (5:14) - Featurette covering the development of the songs and how to fit them into the movie. Including interviews with lyricist and song composer and footage of the recording sessions involving Donnie Osmond and others.
• International Mulan
• Mulan's International Journey (5:45) Includes interviews with the guys who run International Voicing for Disney and discussion of the process they go through to re-voice the film.
• Multi-language Reel (3:13) The same scene over and over again in various languages
• Publicity Art Gallery - Multi-page still gallery of various promotional items

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

    This movie has recently been re-released in Region 1 in a very similar format. The differences are quite minor and are as follows:

    The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;

• Another different version of True to Your Heart by Raven
• French, Mandarin & Spanish soundtracks

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;

• 3 of the foreign language video clips on Disc 2
• Arabic, Greek & Bulgarian soundtracks

    On this basis you may as well call it a draw.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good.

    The set has a large collection of extras, some of good quality, others which are a waste of time.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall