Niki Caro, Mulan Director Confirms That Removing Mushu in the live-action Mulan film on Disney Plus was an important decision.
The Director of Mulan has explained about Mushu being absent from the live-action Disney remake. After a delay because of the pandemic, Mulan premiered on Disney Plus this week. Critic reviews are still rolling in. However, the film holds a 78% on Rotten Tomatoes. Many reviewers are praising the visuals and cinematography of the film.
Mulan Director Confirms That Removing Mushu was necessary, there are many differences between live-action films and animated ones. One of the differences in the removal of certain characters. This includes Mushu as well.
He is voiced by Eddie Murphy and is frequently applauded as an iconic part of the 1998 movie. Despite Mushu’s stature as a fan favorite, the 2020 film chooses to replace Mushu’s character with phoenix, who determines the part of Mulan’s guardian, albeit a silent one.
Mushu Was Important In Animated Interpretation
Mulan Director Confirms That Removing Mushu, CinemaBlend notes that director Niki Caro thinks that replacing Mushu was a crucial move for the 2020 version of Mulan. She clarifies that while Mushu was an important character in the animated interpretation of Mulan, the live-action movie required a narrative change. More specifically, Caro says that part of modifying the animated film into a live-action version meant perpetrating “to the realism of [Mulan’s] journey,” which implies that wisecracking Mushu wouldn’t have been the promising fit.
Though fans are disappointed that Mushu won’t have his live-action juncture on the silver screen, Caro’s priority on the more logical elements of Mulan’s journey upholds her final decision on the dragon. While Mushu was on hand to lend cheeky advice in the animated film, having a talking dragon occur throughout the film would have really weakened the tone.
While Mushu’s insolence might not be existing in this version of Mulan. He will not be a Disney Icon as Mulan Director Confirms That Removing Mushu was mandatory.