Why so little things with Mulan?

[ILuvMulan]

As you can tell from my signature Mulan is my favorite too. Yes, I am 40. When I met her I told her she was my favorite and she smiled from ear to ear. I like a woman who can take care of herself. Her character is strong and decisive and I like that for a role model for my daughter (although she is an Ariel fan). I digress... anyway I have had pretty good luck finding Mulan and Mushu pins and a barbie type doll online. The only thing I found at the parks was the "statue" of her and Shang. I would love a Mulan purse!!!

 

[aristocats_lover]

I wish there was more Mulan too! My dad and I loved watching Mulan together when I was growing up (came out when I was around 9). They could market her more, esp. since they found her good enough for a sequel! In which she gets married! So she is doing some girly things...

Last year at my birthday we finally saw Mulan and Mushu (I love Mushu!) in China. We had seen her at the Norway breakfast, but I wanted to see her with her dragon lol. Mulan and Mushu were very excited because Mushu was included in my birthday shirt design. I called it my "side kick" shirt because it had all the cute little creatures I liked from Disney movies, like the bread and butterflies etc. Mulan said that her and Mushu weren't incldued in a lot of things.

 

[Berlioz70]

Yes, I agree, Disney should do more to promote "non-princesses" type female characters.

I collect pins and I hardly see any Mulan or Pocahantas pins. I have seen Mulan at Epcot, but since the show ended at AK, no Pocahantas anywhere.

Poca is at RPW at DAK.

PP was right. Pocahontas gets no love either. Why not have her in Frontierland or the American Pavilion at EPCOT? It would be cool if we saw her at WL when we stay there this year but I doubt it.

Disney has these "rules" - you can't meet Cinderella outside of MK (minus the occasional appearance at the Norway breakfast if another Princess is saving dwarfs, or sleeping). And you can't meet Poca outside of DAK. Somedays she can be in three different areas of the park... she's a busy girl running around all over !

 

[goofy4prez]

My daughter was able to catch Mulan and Mushu last week in the Chinese pavillion at Epcot. Between Aug. 08 and this past trip she completed my daughters quest to meet and get the autograph of each Disney Princess.

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

Mulan is in a bit of an odd position from Disney marketing's point of view. She's no a literal princess at either the beginning or the end of the film. She spends more time disguised as a man than she does wearing a pretty dress, which Disney tends to push as a big selling point of their princess merchandise. She battle marauding Huns instead of going to the ball. The first scenes of the movie are largely devoted to showing that she's not very good at doing proper girly things.

Still, I do wish Disney would do more with her and some of the other non-princess Disney ladies. It's perfectly fine that some girls love the standard princesses and their beautiful dresses and their particular stories, but not every girl is into that and I can't see why Disney wouldn't want to promote role models for all kinds of little girls if they can make a buck in the process. Among others, I'd love to see more attention paid to Jane from "Tarzan" who does actually wear a pretty dress through roughly half her scenes in the movie (though DH finds her later outfits much hotter. )

Aside from that, it would be nice to see a little more diversity in the "princess" lineup. Jasmine is generically Middle Eastern, but all the other current princesses are Caucasian. Again, I can't see why Disney wouldn't want to push characters like Mulan and Pocahontas (who, as the daughter of a chieftain, is an actual princess) in their Princess lines, if only so more little girls can have a princess who looks like them. I'm hoping the release of "The Princess and the Frog" will aid Disney in figuring this out, but who knows?

The daughter of a chief isn't necessarily a princess. Natives don't follow the "traditional" royalty roles.

I feel like I am battling marauding Huns everytime I go to the MK. Maybe that is why I can relate to her.

PP was right. Pocahontas gets no love either. Why not have her in Frontierland or the American Pavilion at EPCOT? It would be cool if we saw her at WL when we stay there this year but I doubt it.

I thought I had seen someone with pictures of her in the AP in Epcot. I could totally be dreaming. We met her outside the gates at AK in May, and she was just outside Camp Minnie Mickey in December. She was mobbed, or we would have stopped.



I also LOVE Mulan!! I've always contemplated getting a lucky cricket tattoo. I know, in addition to China, I've seen her quite a bit in MGM. I saw her there last May with two princesses, whom I can't seem to remember. We only saw her and Mushu in China in December.

 

[hllb]

it would be nice to see a little more diversity in the "princess" lineup. Jasmine is generically Middle Eastern, but all the other current princesses are Caucasian. Again, I can't see why Disney wouldn't want to push characters like Mulan and Pocahontas (who, as the daughter of a chieftain, is an actual princess) in their Princess lines, if only so more little girls can have a princess who looks like them. I'm hoping the release of "The Princess and the Frog" will aid Disney in figuring this out, but who knows?

Yup, I totally agree. My daughter liked Cinderella for a while. Then she was really into Aurora for a while. That bothered me until I realized she just liked it because she wore a pink dress. Now she's really getting into Mulan so that makes me happy. I don't want her growing up wishing she had blond hair and blue eyes (which is what I always wished for growning up!).

Here's my baby girl and her big brother (they're only 10.5 months apart in age):

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

Cuties!!!!!

 

[peytonsmomie]

Oh my goodness HLLB! What cuties! Growing up, my husband used to beg his mom to adopt a baby from Asia and it's something he still brings up every so often. I did volunteer work in a Turkish orphanage in the early 90s, and always swore I'd head back overseas to adopt. Of course, everytime we start to seriously talk about adopting or fostering, I wind up pregnant. But we both keep the intention to one day adopt.

Anyhow, back to the Mulan topic. I have an 8 year old who cannot abide princesses in any form. She won't even watch disney movies with princesses in them. She loves Mulan, b/c as she says, "Mulan's a soldier girl, just like an American girl today should be." As you can tell, I'm raising quite the little feminist.

When we get to Disney in 2 months, I'm gonna have to be on the extra-extra lookout for Mulan and Mushu for my daughter to meet!

 

[freepixie]

First of all - hllb - your children are precious!!

Mulan - I LOVE MULAN!!! It bothers me that she is so underplayed at the parks and very little merchandise is available! I remember the year Mulan came out - I was in high school and we vacationed in WDW that year and there was a TON of Mulan stuff (and I bought as much as my babysitting money would allow!) But since then, not enough!! C'mon Disney, show some love for Mulan!

I still have my little stuffed "Little Brother!"

Also its been years since Mulan has been out for meet-n-greets in her warrior gear - she's always in the matchmaker dress which was not her finest moment in the movie. And where is Shang?? The year Mulan came out I got my pic with Mulan in warrior gear and Shang in warrior gear - dang he was a hottie!

 

[livndisney]

Mulan is big in our family! We we standing around in China one day and Mulan walked out. She saw DD's Mulan dress, took her by the hand and walked away chatting LOL.

 

[homedad]

its funny how your opinion changes, being a tradionalist never got into Lilo and Stitch, Mulan or Pocohantas...to new for me I guess but as I watched them with the kids they are now some of my fav movies and all have great music...

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

First of all - hllb - your children are precious!!

Mulan - I LOVE MULAN!!! It bothers me that she is so underplayed at the parks and very little merchandise is available! I remember the year Mulan came out - I was in high school and we vacationed in WDW that year and there was a TON of Mulan stuff (and I bought as much as my babysitting money would allow!) But since then, not enough!! C'mon Disney, show some love for Mulan!

I still have my little stuffed "Little Brother!"

Also its been years since Mulan has been out for meet-n-greets in her warrior gear - she's always in the matchmaker dress which was not her finest moment in the movie. And where is Shang?? The year Mulan came out I got my pic with Mulan in warrior gear and Shang in warrior gear - dang he was a hottie!

Amen, sister!! I was a freshman in high school, and we were at WDW to perform for Magic Music Days, and we saw them in MGM. He was definitely a topic of coversation among the girls!! The guys were not thrilled.

 

[aurora23]

I love Mulan! I have seen her in the China pavillion before. I wish they had rides or more promotions with Mulan and Mushu in them. I see a lot more of Lilo and Stitch who I can't stand. Sigh. More Mushu please!

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

Hey, now!! What's with no love for Lilo and Stitch!? She is half my family! Pocahontas is the other half. I'm a rare mix.

 

[MonkeyDishwasher]

I love Mulan. She's my favorite, too. I'm hoping to see her at Akershus, and will definitely try to find her at the China pavilion, too. She's not technically a princess, though, is she? She is truly a heroine, though.

Probably already covered by now, but No. Mulan is not a princess. She was not royal by birth, nor did she marry a prince (but she did end up with Shang... but he's not a royal!)

 

[julesingeorgia]

Mulan was my 11yo DS's fave! He made me watch that movie a million times when he was 2-4. He still watches it every time it comes on the Disney channel even though we own it and he can watch it whenever he wants. I also can't believe they don't give the characters more fame! Although I know he would not be caught dead taking his pic with Mulan dressed up as a yucky girl! He likes her with her sword, not her dress.

 

[MonkeyDishwasher]

Also its been years since Mulan has been out for meet-n-greets in her warrior gear - she's always in the matchmaker dress which was not her finest moment in the movie.

I love Mulan in her "Ping" gear... When my friends and I went to WDW in 2002, we caught up with her at the Hat in the Studios. She was really very cool, and we asked her if she signed her autographs any differently when she wore her different outfits (but explained that we are completely against autographs, so we would save her the later carpal tunnel syndrome and not make her prove it). We then asked if we could get pictures, and she let us hod her sword! Those are probably some of my favorite photos with any character.

Disney has these "rules" - you can't meet Cinderella outside of MK (minus the occasional appearance at the Norway breakfast if another Princess is saving dwarfs, or sleeping)

1900 Park Fare Dinner.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I'm curious to see if the Disney parks located in Tokyo and Hong Kong feature Mulan more prominently than the western based parks. My mom has commented that she always sees a very large crowd of very excited little girls of Asian descent around Mulan.

As for why Disney doesn't have a lot of Mulan merchandise available, I think that's because Mulan merchandise doesn't sell as well. I suspect that part of it comes from the storyline of the film, and part of it from the lack of "little girl" appeal. While it may not be fair or right, the future of Princess and the Frog merchandise will probably depend on how well the movie does. Enchanted didn't do great, and consequently, Giselle stuff is pretty much gone.

To those would love to see more Mulan merchandise, there is this silver lining. At least some Mulan stuff sells. I know many people who would love to see merchandise of their favorite characters, but Disney makes almost nothing with their character. At least Mulan gets an occasional pin or a Walt Disney Classics Collection piece. I've even seen Mulan fine art. And this is probably little or no consolation to those who would love to see more Mulan stuff.

 

[Barbossa'sWench]

I couldn't agree more. I sooooooo <3 Mulan and Mush is one of my Disney boyfriends! Everytime I go to Epcot I have to find them, consequently I have lots of pics. I agree their should be more merch, I have a few pins, and a couple stuffed Mushu's and a doll but a shirt would be awesome. Ditto for Pocahontas, I love her!