Mulan is one of Disney’s most beloved musicals, with classics like “Reflections,” “A Girl Worth Fighting For,” and the karaoke favorite, “I’ll Make a Man Out of You.” However, the film’s director Niki Caro has said that the 2018 live action version of the film will not have music in it.
It’s not like other live action Disney adaptations have lacked music. Beauty and the Beast’s recent adaptation had songs in it and The Jungle Book managed to retain a version of its most famous song, “Bare Necessities.” So why the decision not to bring over at least some of the music from the original animated version to the latest iteration? No reason was given during the interview with MovieFone, but it might point to Disney trying to go in a more serious direction with the film.
It’s hard to say since there is no set cast, no news about how the story will be told, and no release date beyond the year 2018. Still, the Internet was not happy that this new film was going to be skipping the epic and uplifting soundtrack.
Fans were also peeved that the film was described as a “girly martial arts extravaganza,” citing that it misses the point of what made the original film great – not that Mulan was a girl who could fight but rather than she was a girl who did what was right and fought through obstacles in order to save her country. There was also concerns that Li Shang, the General and love interest from the original film, was missing from the casting call list when it was initially released. What this all might mean for the film is anyone’s guess, but one can only hope the screenwriter will help guide the film in a better direction, and not whatever disaster this movie is slowly morphing into.