Mulan

Then, just to stay in air conditioning, I went down the street and checked out Mulan. By myself. Imagine my surprise when someone actually decided to sit in my row. I figured I had "Pedophile" tattooed across my forehead (maybe it was the trench coat that scared people off), but I didn't care. Deb was turned off by the horrible marketing job Disney is doing with this movie, and I can understand that. They ARE doing a lousy job marketing this. And it's too bad, because it's the best movie they've done in years.

Ming Wa Wen is the speaking voice of Mulan, an independent, strong willed girl whose family wants to marry her off in Chinese tradition, but she would rather be her own person. When the Huns attack China and one male member of each family is recruited for battle, Mulan's father, still hobbling from his last tour of duty, is called to fight. Mulan, in an attempt to save her father's life and to prove to her family and herself that she is honorable despite not following tradition, disguises herself as a boy and goes to fight in her father's place.

The good news about this movie is that Alan Menken did not do the score. What seemed like a questionable move is that Matthew "Break My Stride" Wilder did the music instead, but the songs were not bad. Sure, they fit the Disney mold, but not as much saccharine as the more recent songs have had. The Hercules song Go The Distance, for example, was slush. These songs, while not classics like Under The Sea, are at least better than slush. And there isn't that much music in this either, which makes the movie even more enjoyable.

Another good thing about this movie was the lack of a romantic subplot. It's about time a female character stood out in one of their movies as her own person instead of being devoted to another character. The girls will love this for its Girl Power theme, and the boys will love this for some of the most kickass animated battle scenes ever. The fight scene in this movie rivals the stampede in The Lion King.

The last good thing was there were no annoying smartaleck sidekicks like Aladdin's Iago (thank you, Chad Hume, for that one). The only talking sidekick was Mushu, the dragon who helps Mulan along, and he's voiced by Eddie Murphy, and he damn near steals the show.

Some of the humor and animation in this actually reminded me of a Tex Avery era Warner Brothers cartoon, which I found doubly ironic. Warners released an animated story of their own, Quest For Camelot, in an attempt, like Fox's Anastasia, to steal some of Disney's glory. But the production as a whole was so bland and inoffensive, nobody cared. If Warners only looked at what made their past cartoons such huge successes, they'd be miles ahead of the pack. Instead, Disney is taking the bigger risks and winding up with the bigger payoffs.

Don't be fooled by the bad marketing of this movie. Mulan is one of their greats, in terms of storytelling, animation and a good mix of dry and broad humor. It features their best female lead since Beauty and the Beast's Belle, and it's a promising sign that they're getting back on track.