Mulan, one of the many fan favorite animations that Disney has created, is coming to theaters in 2019 in live action which excites many rising younger generations who grew up watching the warrior girl from ancient China who saves her country using her wits and strength. For a movie that has been created in the late 90’s, Mulan can be evaluated as a ground-breaker for its attempts to resolve racial minority representation and feminism. Yet, despite all the anticipation surrounding this new live action, we can’t help but face the fundamental question that follows every Disney live action remakes: do we actually need one?
With the following video essay, we are going to explore this fundamental question of do we actually need a live action remake of Mulan by looking at the points that the original animation has done well and some parts where it falls behind today’s standards of social awareness.
As we have seen in the video, the original animation carries the significance of being one of the pioneers to resolve the issue of racial representation. Also, Mulan’s presence to the girls who grew up watching the talented female hero has given the girls the confidence that girls can do whatever they want to. Nevertheless, Mulan has issues of cultural appropriation and over simplification of minority culture as seen in various characters and scenes throughout the movie. On top of that, Mulan’s masculine capabilities displayed in the animation could actually play into gender stereotypes, which in turn have negative impacts on feminism. Making a live action remake may harm the original animation’s pioneering presence on racial representation and feminism. On the other hand, the original animation has clear shortcomings in terms of today’s standards that need to be addressed. However, just like the Beauty and the Beast remake, wouldn’t this live action remake harm the originality and the artistic value that the animation carries?
One thing that is clear is that Mulan and its upcoming live action remake open up an interesting venue of discussion ranging from social values to artistic originality.
Time
60 Minutes
Objective
Identify issues present on the original Mulan and delve into pros and cons of a remake.
Keywords
Introduction (15 Min)
Take a poll of the class
Allow students to come up to the classroom board to write down why they like Mulan
Inform students about the upcoming remake of Mulan and allow them to discuss why Disney is trying to make a remake of Mulan
Video Presentation (5 Min)
Show Yewhan Choi’s “Mulan Long Video” to provide some background on the issues surrounding the upcoming live action remake
Classroom Activity: Individual Writing (10 Min)
Have the students write their own stance regarding the remake of Mulan.
Classroom Activity: Group Discussion (15 Min)
Divide the class into groups of 5. Provide each group with worksheet containing the following questions.
Let the groups discuss about the questions and inform that each student will have to present one of the five response to the group discussion questionnaire.
Classroom Activity: Presentation (15 Min)
Allow each group to come up to the front of the class and let each group member present each of the group’s response to the questionnaire.
Homework Assignment
Write 300-500 words on the necessity of live action remake of Mulan. Describe specifically why you think there is a need or no need of remake using specific scenes from the animation. If your stance has changed after our classroom discussion, explain why it has changed. Also provide your take on remakes and artistic originality. Do remakes harm or improve artistic originality?