Mulan Brings Honor to Its Creators

When Enchanted came out last year, one of the things that excited me most about it was the fact that it would be a musical. I adore Disney musicals, and they've been sorely lacking in that department lately. The '90s was an incredibly rich time for this, however; one of the last in that decade-long winning streak was Mulan, an atypical film about young Chinese woman uncomfortable with the role society is forcing upon her who finds out what she's really made of when she enlists in the army, disguised as a man, to spare her ailing father the duty.

There is great beauty in Jerry Goldsmith's score for the film, with all its rich textures and Asian motifs. Mulan's Decision starts off pensive, with lilting, fluty tones that give way to pulse-pounding excitement as the song progresses. The ominous Attack at the Wall prickles with danger, and intensity builds in The Huns Attack, with its distinct instrumentation and march-like rhythms. Suite From Mulan and Blossoms are both notable for the range for expression and the haunting melodies that linger after the song ends, while the poignantly elegiac The Burned-Out Village is perhaps the most moving of the instrumental tracks.

Ever since Beauty and the Beast, Disney always had to have a radio-ready tune or two to stick with the credits. Here, it's True to Your Heart, a peppy ode to self-assurance performed by 98 Degrees and Stevie Wonder, and Christina Aguilera's version of Reflection, the film's most popular song, performed by Lea Salonga in the movie. Just about all of the songs, composed by Matthew Wilder with lyrics by David Zippel, contain at least a nugget about wanting to be true to oneself, but this anthem really hits the message home with all the power balladry it can muster, making it a song frequently heard in American Idol auditions, teen beauty pageants and the like. "When will my reflection show who I am inside?" It's an intriguing question that plagues many - especially, it seems, teenage girls - and Aguilera sings the heck out of it, though as always, I prefer the in-the-moment movie version.

Eddie Murphy is the chief source of comic relief throughout the film, but Mulan's army buddies offer their share of humorous moments, particularly in A Girl Worth Fighting For, in which the guys enthusiastically daydream about the kind of gal they'd love to have waiting for them when they get home. This lively group song performed by Harvey Fierstein, James Hong, Jerry Tondo, Matthew Wilder and Salonga (who, as Mulan, tries unsuccessfully to convince the lads that smarts and guts are as desirable in a woman as good looks and cooking skills) is rowdy but sweet despite its rather patronizing tone. These guys don't yet realize what Mulan is capable of, nor that she is a woman; when they find out, they'll gain a little better appreciation for womankind. It's a lovely light moment that takes a sudden dip into tragedy as it concludes.

Its bookend song is You'll Bring Honor to Us All, performed by Salonga, Beth Fowler and Marnie Nixon, in which Mulan's mother and various other women try to coach Mulan on the standards of grace and beauty she must adopt in order to score a fine catch of a husband. The accompanying film sequence is both funny and frustrating, since Mulan clearly is not meant for the mold the women in her community try to fit her into. "Men will gladly go to war for you," they tell her; they hope that she will be, as the above-mentioned song states, "a girl worth fighting for." I got flashbacks to this song as I watched the first-season episode of LOST in which Sun, the daughter of a Korean business tycoon, is pressured by her parents to doll herself up for a husband she doesn't want. There's also a hint of Fiddler on the Roof, with all the focus on tradition and matchmaking.

All of the songs are cleverly written and give us good insight into the characters, but my favorite has to be I'll Make a Man Out of You, young army leader Shang's whip-'em-into-shape anthem for his sluggish troops. It doesn't hurt that Donny Osmond does the singing; his voice, as he so amply demonstrated in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, is a powerful instrument, and listening to him belt out this half-snarky, half-inspirational song is almost as good as hearing his wistful tones on Close Ev'ry Door, my favorite Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice collaboration. Osmond conveys a perfect mix of derision and pride as this young man strives to create a cohesive unit and thereby prove himself worthy of his lauded father's legacy. With an irresistible melody and memorable lyrics (, this is the one that will always keep me in the Disney store a few extra minutes if it happens to pop up on the screen just as I'm leaving. "We must be swift as the coursing river... / With all the force of a great typhoon... / With all the strength of a raging fire... / Mysterious as the dark side of the moon."

A stirring movie about a warrior "princess" whose heart and spirit rival Eowyn in The Lord of the Rings, it contains hints of romance but far less than the typical animated Disney feature. The soundtrack accentuates the movie's themes of courage and self-awareness, while the instrumental portions have a unique flavor reflective of the Ancient Chinese setting. Mulan doesn't seem to have achieved quite the classic status of Disney's early-90s batch, but as a movie and as a soundtrack, it's spectacular and well worth a viewing and a listen.