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Mulan II

This is thelatest accepted revision,reviewedon28 October 2024.

Mulan IIis a 2004 American animateddirect-to-videomusicaladventure filmproduced byWalt Disney PicturesandDisneyToon Studiosand distributed byBuena Vista Home Entertainment.The film was directed byDarrell Rooneyand Lynne Southerland (in her directorial debut) and produced by Jennifer Blohm, from a screenplay written by Michael Lucker, Chris Parker, andRoger S. H. Schulman.

Mulan II
DVD cover
Directed by
Screenplay by
Produced byJennifer Blohm
Starring
Edited byPam Ziegenhagen
Music byJoel McNeely
Production
companies
Distributed byBuena Vista Home Entertainment
Release dates
  • November 3, 2004(2004-11-03)(Italy)
  • December 28, 2004(2004-12-28)(United States)
Running time
79 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

It is the sequel toWalt Disney Feature Animation's 1998 animated feature filmMulan,featuring original songs that were written by composerJeanine Tesoriand lyricistAlexa Jungeand amusical scorecomposed and conducted byJoel McNeely.Much of the voice cast from the first film returned, excludingEddie Murphy(Mushu),Miriam Margolyes(The Matchmaker),James Hong(Chi-Fu),Chris Sanders(Little Brother), andMatthew Wilder(Ling's singing voice). Murphy, Margolyes, and Sanders were replaced byMark Moseley,April Winchell,andFrank Welker,respectively, whileGedde Watanabedoes his own singing for the sequel.

Mulan IIfeaturesMulanand her new fiancé, GeneralLi Shangon a special mission: escorting the Emperor's three daughters across the country to meet their soon-to-be fiancés. Meanwhile, Mushu attempts to break up their relationship to keep his pedestal. The film deals witharranged marriages,loyalty,relationships,making choices,trust,and finding truelove.

The film was released as a direct-to-video title in the United States on December 28, 2004. Unlike its predecessor, which gained critical acclaim,Mulan IIwas poorly received by critics.

Plot

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One month after defeating theHuns,[b]Mushuenjoys his restored status as a guardian spirit, to the dismay of the Fa family ancestors.General ShangasksMulanfor her hand in marriage, and she happily accepts. Mushu is initially thrilled about the engagement, until the ancestors inform him that if Mulan marries Shang, his family ancestors would become her guardians and Mushu will lose his job. The Emperor calls upon Mulan and Shang and informs them of the threat theMongolspose toChina.To oppose them, the Emperor intends to strengthen China by forging an alliance with the kingdom of Qui Gong, arranging for his three daughters,Princesses Ting-Ting, Mei, and Su,to be married to Qui Gong's princes, and assigns Mulan and Shang to protect them on their journey. Although uneasy at the idea of arranged marriage, Mulan agrees to the mission.

Mulan and Shang, along withYao, Ling and Chien-Po,set out with the princesses to Qui Gong. In order to protect his position as guardian, and believing that Mulan and Shang are incompatible due to their different behavior, Mushu tags along to sabotage their relationship, whileCri-Keeattempts to stop him. While desperately trying various ways to sabotage Mulan and Shang's relationship, Mushu accidentally destroys the princess's carriage. Now forced to travel on foot, Mulan and Shang briefly argue over what direction they should go, as well as their duties. Seeing this, Mushu manipulates Shang into believing that Mulan is fed up with him, escalating tensions between them.

Meanwhile, Mei, Ting Ting and Su fall in love with Yao, Ling and Chien-Po respectively, and the princesses decide to follow Mulan's advice of having a duty to their hearts. That night, Yao, Ling and Chien-Po take the princesses out to a nearby village, and they mutually declare their love. Mulan pursues them, becoming happy that the princesses have followed their hearts. Mushu wakes up Shang, who pursues the group and reprimands them for forgetting about their duties. Mulan and Shang erupt into a heated argument, and decide that they are too different for each other and break up.

The group begins travelling across bandit country, and Mushu realizes that Mulan's break-up with Shang has only made her miserable. Overwhelmed with guilt, Mushu confesses to his actions, losing Mulan's trust yet motivating her to fix things with Shang. The group is attacked by bandits that attempt to kidnap the princesses. Although the princesses are saved, Mulan and Shang are left dangling on a broken bridge; Shang allows himself to fall into the ravine so that Mulan can lift herself up. Heartbroken, Mulan declares that the princesses won't be forced into a loveless marriage and continues on to Qui Gong alone. Mulan presents herself to Qui Gong's ruler,Lord Qin,and lies that the princesses have been killed, offering herself in their place; Lord Qin agrees, and arranges a wedding between Mulan and his eldest son,Prince Jeeki.

Shang turns up alive and meets up with Yao, Ling, Chien-Po and the princesses, and heads to Qui Gong. Shang interrupts the wedding and admits that Mulan was right about following her heart. To save Mulan and Shang from Lord Qin's forces, Mushu impersonates the Great Golden Dragon of Unity, forcing Lord Qin to ally himself with the Emperor, while allowing Mulan and Shang to marry and freeing the princesses from their vows. Sometime later, Mulan and Shang officially marry in Mulan's village, and Mushu accepts the loss of his position. However, Shang combines the family temples, enabling Mushu to continue being a guardian spirit. While celebrating, Mushu accidentally reveals himself to Shang and Mulan, but Shang is not surprised as he was already aware of Mushu's existence, as Mulan had already told Shang about him. Afterwards, Shang and Mulan embrace while the thrilled Mushu is happy to have his role back.

Cast

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Main article:List of Disney's Mulan characters

Marketing

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The trailer for the film was first released on January 27, 2004, with the 2-Disc Special Edition release ofAlice in Wonderland.The trailer was also attached to other VHS and DVDs released by Walt Disney Home Entertainment in 2004. A behind-the-scenes sneak preview was also released on October 26, 2004, with the Special Edition release of its predecessor.

Soundtrack

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Mulan II
Soundtrack albumby
Various artists
ReleasedJanuary 25, 2005
Recorded2004
Length31:41
LabelWalt Disney
ProducerBrian Rawling
Graham Stack
Brett Swain
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

The soundtrack contains songs from the film performed by various artists, as well as portions of thefilm scorecomposed byJoel McNeely.It was released on January 25, 2005, byWalt Disney Records.

All tracks are written byJeanine TesoriandScott Erickson

No.TitlePerformer(s)Length
1."Lesson Number One"Lea Salonga& Chorus
2."Main Title"
3."Like Other Girls"Judy Kuhn,Beth Blankenship &Mandy Gonzalez
4."A Girl Worth Fighting For (Redux)"Gedde Watanabe,Harvey Fierstein&Jerry Tondo
5."Here Beside Me"Hayley Westenra
6."(I Wanna Be) Like Other Girls"Atomic Kitten
7."The Journey Begins"
8."In Love and in Trouble"
9."The Attack"
10."Shang Lives!"
11."Here Beside Me"

Reception

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Review aggregatorRotten Tomatoesgave the filma rating of 0%based on reviews from 5 critics and an average score of 3.9/10.[2]According to Scott Gwin ofCinemaBlend,"Mulan IIis a direct-to-DVD disgrace that takes everything excellent about its predecessor film, rips it to shreds, and uses it for rat cage lining. "[3]TV Guidereviewer Robert Pardi gave the film a 2 out of 5 star rating, saying, "The originalMulanwas heralded for adding a spunky heroine to the Disney canon of distressed princesses, but despite its excellent voice cast, this sequel merely apes the success of live-action martial arts films ".[4]

Canceled sequel

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In early 2002, it was reported that Disney was working onMulan III.[5]Raymond Singer and Eugenia Bostwick-Singer, writers of the first film, submitted two stories to Disney, in which they suggested a new character named Ana Ming.[6]Like this film, the second sequel would have been releaseddirect-to-video,but it was canceled before the release ofMulan II.[7]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Animation outsourced toWalt Disney Animation Japan,Wang Film ProductionsandSD Entertainment.
  2. ^As depicted inMulan(1998)

References

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  1. ^Mulan IIatAllMusic
  2. ^"Mulan II (2003)".Rotten Tomatoes.Flixster.
  3. ^Gwin, Scott."Mulan II DVD Review".CinemaBlend.Retrieved2 April2015.
  4. ^"Mulan 2 | TV Guide".TVGuide.Retrieved2018-09-25.
  5. ^Hettrick, Scott (February 18, 2002)."Disney bets on Piglet's prospects".Variety.RetrievedNovember 14,2016.
  6. ^Hettrick, Scott."Q&A with screenwriters Raymond Singer and Eugenia Bostwick-Singer".Video Premiere Awards. Archived fromthe originalon September 10, 2004.RetrievedNovember 14,2016.
  7. ^"Buena Vista DVD bash:" no Mulan 3 "".Disney Animation Archive. August 22, 2004. Archived fromthe originalon March 22, 2012.RetrievedNovember 14,2016.
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