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| Mulan by Heather Theurer |
It has certainly been a week for Disney live action news! Mulan has been on the live action slate for a while but announced late yesterday (Tuesday) she's heading for a 2018 Winter release date - November 2nd 2018 to be exact.
Though Mulan is not a fairy tale - it's based on the legend of Hua Mulan, the girl who disguises herself as a man to go to war - Disney's treatment added that touch of wonder and magic that people associate with fairy tales so it's in the public consciousness as such. Mulan's even been named a Disney Princess, though she's royal not by birth or by marriage, and so the "fairy tale" continues in that regard as well (by "fairy tale" we mean adding to the invention by way of the wonder factor and the spinning of a tale, not necessarily the falsehood it also implies).
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| Mulan by Veronica Art |
The great news is that Disney had embarked on a global search for the right actress to play the Chinese legend and lead character.
Though a director has yet to be hired, the script by Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin is “a more nuanced and elaborate adaptation” of material “combining the legendary ballad and the 1998 animated film,” according to reports. (source)
Also good news is that the team be accessing the original ballad more than the original animation (which, we will admit, was still an impressive tribute, especially considering how things could have been changed under the Disney banner). The script is going to take a bit of work, as is evidenced by the numerous attempts at a spec (see details
HERE) but they must be getting close, otherwise they couldn't confidently set things in motion. Disney is well aware there will be a lot of scrutiny on representation and authenticity (relatively speaking) and reports are that they intend to do honor to the legend in the live action film as well.
We look forward to watching this develop.
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| Fan art poster from a few years ago |
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