I have to say that Mulan is one of my favorite Disney films, because—as Disney films go—it doesn’t portray the female lead as being in need of rescue. Sure, most of the Disney heroines have some spunk, some sass, and even Mulan ends up getting the guy in the end, but she kicks some serious butt along the way.

Well, it turns out that the film version of the ancient tale isn’t quite on target. Shocking, that. I mean, Disney is just so known for staying true to the original fables…. What? Oh, the Little Mermaid didn’t die at the end of the film? My bad. Ahem. Anyway!

Animated World News reports that Mulan will soon be a television series:

With many in China unhappy with the Disney-fied version of MULAN, Jiang Tong Animation Co. Ltd. (JTAC) is in works on a 52-episode series based on the famed Chinese fable, reports newKerala.com.

HUA MULAN will be based directly on the Chinese ancient poem titled, “Mu Lan Ci,” which was written between 420-581. The poem tells the story of the courageous Chinese girl who dressed up as a man so she could take the place of her aged father in battle.

Zhu Youlan, ceo of the JTAC, said the new version will focus the story on the heroine against a Chinese backdrop unlike Disney’s MULAN, which focused more on individual heroism.

I’ll be curious to see if the television series makes its way to the U.S., and if so, if it will resonate with audiences here. Thanks to Disney, most Americans are pre-programmed to expect our animated tales to tolerate exactly one crisis (preferrably the death of a parent) and then be sunshine and bunnies thereafter. But 52 episodes based on the same story; will there be a lot of war depiction? History and culture? More development of Mulan’s life prior to disguising herself and heading off to war? That’s a lot of time to fill.

If it works out for JTAC, maybe they can redo some other Disney epics. I could go for 52 episodes of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Let’s teach those kids about the realities of mid-15th-century France! Or maybe 52 episodes about 101 Dalmatians, with the emphasis on responsible animal breeding practices.

I kid. As much as I enjoyed Mulan the movie, I look forward to the series and the added dimensions it will lend to the story. I just think that saying “Disney got it wrong” is a little bit like saying “the sky is blue,” is all.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 29th, 2006 at 7:30 am and is filed under Random acts of television, Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.