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Before I say anything, I should say first that I haven't seen the movie. So this isn't about content. This is about a trend in (American) animation that has gone a little too far. Yes, as the subject says, I mean the bizarre cuteness which really has no place in most of the subject matter on which these movies are based. Mulan continues this trend nicely, from the previews I've seen. You know what I'm talking about: the dancing teapots, the cute dragons saying witty things, talking animals, happy demons (?), friendly antagonists, ad nauseum. Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Pocahontas, Hercules, and now Mulan, all carry on the grand Disney trend of sticky-sweet cuteness. I'm not incredibly familiar with the legend this story is based on, but did a cricket really figure into it? Did her dragon guardian actually have a part in it, and if so, does the legend mention him calling her a "babe"? I'm guessing not. However, Disney isn't exactly known for their overwhelming dedication to the facts, are they? Quasimodo is an evil character in Hugo's novel, you know. The mythological Heracles (Hercules) killed his wife and son in a psychotic rage (Hera-induced, but still). And he wasn't friends with a satyr, either. Granted, Pocahontas could have been friends with a raccoon, but didn't John Smith sail away and leave her to rot after she saved his life? If Disney is just so determined to target kids with the sticky- sweet candy-coated life of its characters, why do they have to pick such unsavory themes? Maybe I'm being too hard on Mulan. I haven't seen it yet, and maybe it's the beginning of a new trend: Disney realizing that not every kid who goes to see their movies is utterly brain-dead. Maybe it won't be a pathetic mutilation of a cherished legend. Maybe.
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