Mulan Super Bowl Sneak Peek Teases Sunday’s Big Game Trailer
Courtesy of movieweb.com:
Disney has released a new Mulan commercial for Super Bowl. The aim of the new footage is to announce that the studio is dropping a full-length trailer during Sunday’s big game. While a lot of Disney fans have had mixed feeling with their live-action remakes, the studio is continuing on with one of their most beloved tales. Even with criticism, nearly all of the remakes have been huge winners at the box office, including last year’s Aladdin and The Lion King. However, Mulan seems to be a completely different beast altogether.
This Super Bowl spot features more of the intense action that we’ve seen in previous trailers, but this is new footage. Disney is stripping away the musical aspect of the story and going for a war story with cinematic battles, which means breaking out into song would not have fit the tone in this particular project. The movie looks a bit dark and very gritty when compared to the original animated version.
Acclaimed director Niki Caro is the one in charge of leading the new remake, which brings the epic tale of China’s legendary warrior to life in Disney’s Mulan. The story focuses on a fearless young woman who risks everything out of love for her family and her country to become one of the greatest warriors China has ever known. When the Emperor of China issues a decree that one man per family must serve in the Imperial Army to defend the country from Northern invaders, Hua Mulan, the eldest daughter of an honored warrior, steps in to take the place of her ailing father.
Masquerading as a man, Hua Jun, she is tested every step of the way and must harness her inner-strength and embrace her true potential. It is an epic journey that will transform her into an honored warrior and earn her the respect of a grateful nation… and a proud father.
While the story looks very similar to the animated Mulan that Disney fans love on paper, there are some differences. The aforementioned lack of musical numbers is the first, which has already been discussed. The second is the absence of fan-favorite Mushu, who was not included in the story this time around. Niki Caro seems to have been going for a more serious approach to the source material, which has some fans more than a little upset.
Disney is always going to face some controversy for going back and making a new version of one of their animated classics. The Lion King was criticized for being too similar to the original, while Aladdin was criticized for deviating from the story too much, which is the territory that Mulan is currently in, even though the movie has yet to be released. Whatever the case may be, the studio is taking chances, and Mulan could go on to bring a new audience to the Disney big screen remakes.
The Mulan cast includes Yifei Liu as Mulan, Donnie Yen as Commander Tung, Tzi Ma as Zhou, Jason Scott Lee as Bori Khan, Yoson An as Honghui, Ron Yuan as Sergeant Qiang, with Gong Li as Xianniang, and Jet Li as the Emperor. The movie is directed by Niki Caro from a screenplay by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, along with Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin. The story is inspired by the narrative poem “The Ballad of Mulan.” The producers are Chris Bender, Jake Weiner and Jason Reed, with Bill Kong, Barrie M. Osborne, Tim Coddington and Mario Iscovich serving as executive producers. You can check out the MulanSuper Bowl spot above, thanks to the Walt Disney Studios YouTube channel. Don’t forget to watch the big game to see the full-length trailer.
