"Legend of Mulan" Page at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

"The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all."
— The Emperor, and everybody else

“The Ballad of Mulan” began as a 6th-Century 330-word poem in Chinese about a woman posing as a man to enlist in the military in place of her ailing father. Each subsequent adaptation has taken liberties with the central premise, enlarging on interaction with the Emperor or the battle scenes or adding a love story or other subplot – or all of the above!

History of The Stageworks and Movies & TV In 1912, Peking opera virtuoso Mei Lanfang adapted the poem for the stage. A crew was assembled in 1924 to film five performance numbers from his operas, including 'Zoubian' from "Mulan Joins The Army"; the releases of these films in 1926 marked Hua Mulan’s screen debut. Competing feature-length adaptations of "The Ballad of Mulan" soon followed, arriving in theaters in 1927 and 1928.

Bu Wancang’s 1939 Chinese drama “Maiden In Armour” was made during the Second Sino-Japanese War and spun the folk tale into a patriotic allegory to stoke the anti-collaborator sentiment of the moment; the film tacked on a palace-intrigue subplot involving Mulan (played by Nancy Wan-seung Chan) smoking out a traitor and a couple of spies. (released on DVD as “Hua Mu Lan Joins the Army”)

Over time, the folklore morphed into a parable on gender equality. A case in point was “Hua Mulan,” the 1956 Chinese Yu opera musical co-directed by Liu Guoquan and Zhang Xinshi. The ability of Mulan (Chang Xiangyu) to pass for a man was less of a concern, with her father (Ma Tiande) exhorting her to be more masculine and talk less. When her comrades kvetched about women having it easy during wartime, Mulan spoke up for the women who were busy toiling in the fields and weaving fabric for uniforms back home. She exhibited strategic shrewdness as a general, cleverly thwarting an invader’s sneak attack with a preemptive ambush. Mulan was so passable that her field marshal (Zhao Yiting) tried to play matchmaker between her and his daughter.

“Lady General Fak Muk-lan,” the 1961 Hong Kong Cantonese opera musical directed by Wong Hok-sing, also took matters lightly. The prospect of Mulan (Fenghuang Nu) cross-dressing to serve the country drew giggles from her younger sister (Chan Ho-kau), who later even playfully flirted with Mulan upon seeing her handsome disguise. Although Mulan was apparently passable, her clumsy traveling companion (Hui Ying-sau) was terrible at keeping a secret and at times came perilously close to blowing her cover.

Among the film adaptations, the 1964 Hong Kong Huangmei opera musical “Lady General Hua Mu Lan” — directed by Yueh Feng and featuring Ivy Ling Po, the genre’s biggest star — emerged as the most thematically progressive rendering yet. Although it still found comedy in Mulan’s fussing over sleeping arrangements and her zero tolerance for alcohol, the film unequivocally established her martial arts prowess and leadership skills as unmatched by anyone. Anything men could do, Mulan did it better. She schooled men when they disparaged women. Bucking long-standing convention, Mulan here romantically pursued her fellow general, Li Guang (played by Chin Han, whom Ling wound up marrying in real life).
“Lady General Hua Mu Lan” referenced the “Butterfly Lovers” legend that dated to the Tang dynasty and revolved around Zhu Yingtai’s pretending to be a man to educate herself while secretly developing an unrequited love for her roommate, Liang Shanbo. Suffice it to say, Barbra Streisand’s “Yentl” reminded the Chinese a lot of this tale.

The 1994 Chinese feature film "Saga of Mulan (Hua Mulan chuan qi)" was a musical.

By contrast, Disney’s 1998 “Mulan,” co-directed by Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft, came off as the most regressive iteration of the folklore. Although Mulan became a general in virtually every other adaptation, she was dishonorably discharged in this Disney animation.

“Mulan II,” Disney’s 2004 direct-to-video animated feature.

Jingle Ma’s 2009 Chinese drama “Mulan: Rise of a Warrior,” starring Vicki Zhao, reclaimed the folklore with a corrective narrative. Perhaps the most serious and realistic presentation of “The Ballad of Mulan” thus far, the film went to great lengths to flesh out Mulan’s character, as well as that of the Rouran invaders. Mulan was afforded vulnerability for the first time, which led her commanding officer (Chen Kun) to fake his own death so she could assume his position as general and summon the resolve to lead her troops to victory. In a nod to Disney, the film did show her indulging in the creature comfort of a hot spring bath.

the 1998 animated feature as the definitive retelling of “Mulan” in the public consciousness, and the 2020 live-action remake looks to supplant that. Despite the absences of Mushu and Li Shang, Disney’s new live-action “Mulan,” starring Liu Yifei, does give us deja vu of the 1998 animation. In a rare show of American individualism in this turbidly Orientalist production, Mulan outs herself and supposedly brings shame on everyone. She is expelled just as her animated incarnation was, but — spoiler alert — the emperor (Jet Li) decorates her as an officer in the emperor’s guard — radically, as herself without any male disguise. Hua Mulan surely has come a long way as a woman and a warrior over the course of one century.

The Poem [6th-Century C.E.]
“The Ballad of Mulan” is a 330-word poem in Chinese about a woman posing as a man to enlist in the military in place of her ailing father; it is dated sometime between Wei of the Northern dynasties (386-534) and the Tang dynasty (618-907), which locates it in the 6th Century C.E. Scholars and historians have not been able to settle on its origins or settings, and given that no archaeological evidence corroborates Hua Mulan’s existence, her story may well be simply folklore.

“The Ballad of Mulan” has spawned no fewer than 15 film adaptations; most have never been released stateside or even subtitled in English. In fact, a few are so obscure
that they don’t come up in a search on IMDb or Wikipedia. Of the Chinese Mulan films, only six are readily available on DVD, Asian VCD, or streaming sites.

"The Ballad of Mulan" aka "Mulan Joins The Army (Mulan Congjun)" [China 1928] /tt6274216/
directed by Hou Yao for the China Sun Motion Picture Company • {this film is considered lost}
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulan_Joins_the_Army_(1928_film)

"Mulan Joins The Army (Mùlán Cóng Jun)"
aka “Maiden In Armour” [Huacheng Film/Xinhua Film China Feb 1939]

Mulan Joins The Army 1939 movie by Bu Wancang

When China is invaded by evil nomads during the Northern Wei dynasty, a young maiden's elderly father is called into service by the Emperor; she dons her father's old armor and takes his place in the army; during training, she meets Liu Yuandu who becomes her loyal friend. Eventually Mulan is sent to the front line where she meets with the army's weak commanders who consider the idea of cooperating with the invading nomads rather than fighting them. Mulan dresses as a nomad and spies on the enemy and learns that an attack is imminent; returning to her home camp, her warnings are ignored by the general to disastrous results. When the attack finally happens, the General is killed, but not before putting Mulan in charge; she regroups the Chinese forces and defeats the nomads. Returning to the Imperial capital, Mulan is offered a position in the Emperor's court; she turns the position down, asking only to return to her home, where she returns to her feminine persona and marries Liu Yuandu.
Produced by Zhang Shankun; directed by Bu Wancang; written by playwright Ouyang Yuqian; starring Chen Yunshang
VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available • credits at IMDb • 1939 movie entry at Wikipedia
watch too-loud movie - Mandarin with Cantonese subtitles [3/2020 upload; 1:29:04] online at YouTube

"Saga of Mulan (Hua Mulan Chuan Qi)" musical feature [China Century Ent. 1994]

movie in the style of Chinese opera • Co-produced by Zhenduo Han & Minjun Yan; co-directed by Lili Qiu & Lang Xiao; screenplay by Baolin Yang & Xinghua Zhang; starring Shuxian Bai, Mingjie Xu, Guoqing Zhang; DVD is in Mandarin with English subtitles
Knight Mediacom Intl. color DVD [4/2004] out of prodn/used
credits at IMDb

"The Secret of Mulan" (1998) (anim Video) /tt0218589
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_of_Mulan

"A Tough Side of A Lady" (1998 film) – Hong Kong TVB drama series starring Mariane Chan as Hua Mulan

"Mulan" animated feature (Walt Disney Animation June 1998] /tt0120762
http://www.amazon.com/Mulan-Special-Ming-Na/dp/B00024I2Z4/

"Reflections On Ice: Michelle Kwan Skates To The Music of Disney's Mulan" TV movie (1998) /tt0228769

"Mulan" 48-episode period drama TV series [Taiwan CTV 1998 or 1999] starring Anita Yuen as Hua Mulan /tt0972658

"Mulan II" feature video release [Walt Disney Animation Nov 2004] /tt0279967
http://www.amazon.com/Mulan-II-Ming-Na/dp/B0002YLCH4/

"Mu Lan" [2012] China TV series production with Elanne Kong starring as Mu Lan • not listed at IMDb (2020)

Jamie Chung portrayed Mulan in 12 episodes of the "Once Upon A Time" TV series [2011-2018] /tt1843230/
in the second, third and fifth seasons, 10/2012 to 11/2016

"The Legend of Hua Mulan (Hua mu lan chuan qi)" 49-episode TV series (CCTV 2013)
starring Hou Meng Yao, Dylan Kuo, Liu De Kai, Ray Lui, Dai Chunrong, Angel Wang

"Disney Sing-Along-Songs: Honor To Us All" video [1998] /tt0284053
musical numbers "Honor To Us All" and "I'll Make A Man Out of You"

playwright Xu Wei [1521-93] dramatized the tale in two acts as "The Female Mulan" or, more fully,
"The Heroine Mulan Goes To War In Her Father's Place (Cí-Mùlán Tì Fù Cóngjun)"

In 1912, Peking opera virtuoso Mei Lanfang adapted the poem for the stage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mei_Lanfang

“Hua Mulan” the 1956 Chinese Yu opera musical co-directed by Liu Guoquan and Zhang Xinshi.

“Lady General Fak Muk-lan” the 1961 Hong Kong Cantonese opera musical directed by Wong Hok-sing took matters lightly.

Island School [pre-12, est. 1977] in Lihue, Kauai, Hawai'i presented "The Legend of Milan" [3/2018]
musical stageplay for 5th graders adapted by Kathryn Schultz Miller, directed by Peggy Ellenberg

Legend of Mulan ballet by Hong Kong Dance Company

"The Legend of Mulan" ballet [2015] by Hong Kong Dance Company
4-act performance that has been part of H.K.D.C.'s repertoire for several years; the New York debut was at the David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center in March 2015. the U.K. debut was at Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London in April 2015.

"The Legend of Mu Lan: A Heroine of Ancient China" [Victory Press 1992]
the first English-language picture book featuring the character Mulan published in the United States

"Wild Orchid" [2009] by Cameron Dokey
a retelling of the Ballad of Mulan as part of the Once Upon A Time series of novels published by Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon & Schuster

"Deadpool Killustrated" comic book (2013)
Hua Mulan, Natty Bumppo, and Beowulf are brought together by Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (using H.G. Wells' time machine) to stop Deadpool from killing
all the beloved literary characters and destroying the literary universe.

"Reflection" [Disney Press 2018] by Elizabeth Lim
an installment in the Twisted Tales series, with an alternate ending to the Disney film in which Mulan must travel to Diyu (the Underworld) in order to save her captain.

"I Am Hua Mulan" [Oct 15, 2019] by Wenjun Qin & Rong Yu
http://www.amazon.com/Am-Hua-Mulan-Wenjun-Qin/dp/1478867914/

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	"China's Bravest Girl: The Legend of Hua Mu Lan" [grades 1-3; 1993] Told by Charlie Chin, Translated by Wang Zing Chu, Illustrated by Tomie Arai book is Chinese-English bilingual Children's Book Press 9¾x8¾ pb [6/97] for $5.98 Children's Book Press hardcover [10/93] out of print/used
	"The Song of Mu Lan" [grades K-12; 1995] Art & Text by Jeanne M. Lee book is Chinese-English bilingual Front Street/Boyds Mills Press 10½x8 hardcover [8/95] for $5.59

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