Diversity in Disney:

Mulan(1998)-Adaptation of Chinese folktale Hua Mulan

“Disney not only puts an American teen spin on the story of Mulan but also
reorganises it around the typical western fairy tale ideals, ones which privilege
masculinity over femininity”(115)

The film “relies on sartorial Artifacts to designate gender(girls wear pink, boys
wear blue)”(116)

“Mulan continuously differentiates men and women through axiomatic concepts

of what is female and what is male”(116)

“Only those crossings that reaffirm the established masculine order are allowed
to remain, whereas the victorious soldiers maintain their lauded position, the
huns are defeated, and Mulan becomes an obedient daughter and future
bride”(116)- As a film lorded for empowering women, the film in fact embraces
binaries and borders between nationalities and gender. The huns that crossed
the chinese border are repelled, and Mulan returns from cross dressing as a man
to reassume her position as a women in society and future bride while the
victorious male soldiers remain as fully trained soldiers that have crossed over
from inexperience, to being experienced seasoned soldiers in positions of power.

For boys, much of the film is dedicated to Mulan learning from “Mushu, a small
dragon guardian, through the camp, listening to his whispered guidance on how
to ‘act like a man’ Thus the Wu Shu camp functions on two levels, training new
recruits to be soldiers as well as training Mulan to be a man”(119)

“If wife is the cultural artifact of woman in the film, then ‘soldier’ is the cultural
Artifact of man”

To the characters, becoming a man in the song “I’ll make a man out of you”
entails “hand to hand combat, archery, rocket launching, and a plethora of
physical activities”(120)

Mulan does not enjoy transitioning into a man: “For the gender binary and
patriarchal power to remain intact gender crossing cannot be an attractive
option for women”(122)

Conclusion: “the path is different but the destination is the same”(126)