Toon Talk: Mulan Special Edition DVD - Nov 4, 2004

Toon Talk: Mulan Special Edition DVD
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(c) Disney

Bonus Features - Disc 1:
  • Seven Deleted Scenes are included, such as the unused Mushu song “Keep ‘Em Guessing�? (featuring the clever lyric “if they don’t ask, don’t tell�?) and several optional takes on the opening prologue.
  • Mushu narrates DisneyPedia: Mulan’s World, informative snippets on all things even remotely related to Mulan and China, from such Chinese inventions as fireworks, paper and tea to the Great Wall of China to, of course, dragons.
  • Skip over Mulan’s Fun Facts, a sort of Pop-Up Video of behind-the-scenes trivia to the tune of “True To Your Heart�?.
  • Speaking of Music Videos, you can find four of them on the first disc: a “what were they thinking�? Mandarin version of “I’ll Make A Man Out Of You�? sung by … Jackie Chan; a new version of “True To Your Heart�? from the ubiquitous Raven; and the original videos for “Reflection�? (performed by a pre-skank Christina Aguilera, wandering around the China pavilion at Epcot) and “True To Your Heart�? (performed by a pre-Mr. Jessica Simpson Nick Lachey, along with the rest of 98 Degrees and Stevie Wonder, playing that traditional Chinese musical instrument, the harmonica).
  • Check out the Sneak Peeks section for two separate previews for the upcoming video premiere sequel Mulan II, scheduled for release February 1, 2005.
  • Also of note: in addition to the usual English, Spanish and French language tracks, the film is also available in Mandarin.
  • And of course, there is the requisite Audio Commentary, here provided by co-directors Bancroft and Cook, along with producer Pam Coats, which brings us to:

The Top Ten Things We Learn From This Audio Commentary:
  1. Voice actors Pat Morita (The Emperor) and James Shigeta (General Li) are actually of Japanese descent.
  2. Chris “Stitch�? Sanders created the design and also supplied the voice for Mulan’s hyper pup, Little Brother.
  3. Legendary Disney story man Joe Grant was instrumental in the creation of Cri-Kee, Mulan’s lucky bug sidekick.
  4. Co-director Tony Bancroft began as an animator (supervising Pumbaa in The Lion King), so he pitched in on a few select scenes in Mulan, specifically ones featuring the Matchmaker, Mushu and Chi-Fu.
  5. The Tong Dynasty was the film’s main design influence.
  6. Tom Bancroft, the supervising animator of Mushu, is the twin brother of co-director Tony Bancroft.
  7. Rules to live by: men in drag and naked chickens are always good for a laugh.
  8. The directors have their own cameo in the later scenes of the film: they are the two guys in the fireworks booth who are spooked by Mushu and Cri-Kee.
  9. The filmmakers were adamant that Shan-Yu not die by falling to his death, as most Disney villains are apt to do.
  10. A similar scene in Fantasia inspired the animation of the lotus blossoms in the Fa garden at the end of the film.