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Mulan Essay

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The film Mulan is a powerful children’s movie, when disregarding the historical inaccuracies, in that it portrays the honorary Disney princess, Mulan, as a progressive and powerful young woman in a world ruled by men and their sense of honor. Throughout her story, however, she would have been lost without the help of her entourage; this is especially true for her guardian, Mushu. He has the obvious role of being the comic relief for the film, but he is a vastly more complex character than that; he acts as Mulan’s protector and as the main source to further along the movie’s plot. When Mushu was first introduced, he is portrayed as a mystical being who may play an important role within the story, as shown by his dramatic entry; however, that notion is quickly challenged when the main Fa ancestor reveals that Mushu is a fallen guardian, one who has failed in the past at protecting a member of the Fa family, Fa Deng, and was demoted to “gong ringer” (Mulan, 1998 DVD). After this, Mushu becomes dispirited as he woefully awakens the other ancestors to debate on the proper course of action to protect Mulan. He is then tasked with awakening the great stone dragon to be sent to Mulan’s aid. While attempting to reanimate the dragon from its statue state, he accidently destroys it and, after fooling the ancestors, takes it upon himself to …show more content…

While Mulan and her entourage sit upon the mountain, she ponders if the decision to take her father’s place was truly worth it. Mushu tries to provide solace when she says she didn’t see herself as being worth while by stating “[the helment] just needs a little spit shine is all” (Mulan, 1998 DVD). This shows that he has begun to see the errors in his ways and that he is growing out of his selfish desires, as evident when he admits “I risked [Mulan’s] life to help myself” (Mulan, 1998

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