Mulan II (Musical Hell Reviews

[@thegayghost872]

I'm honestly surprised the movie didn't end with Mushu learning that Shang's family has a female dragon guardian who looks exactly like him, only pink

[@92JazzQueen]

They were planning to have that but it was scraped

[@chaoticneutral7976]

There is concept art of that only instead of pink she was yellow/golden colored

[@92JazzQueen]

@@chaoticneutral7976 I thought she was red colored like Mushu and just Mushu with a flower. That would have been so much cooler if she was Shang's family guardian.

[@chaoticneutral7976]

@@92JazzQueen A different piece of art showed her to be yellow with a bow but who knows what color they would have gone with had they not scrapped the idea

[@reasyrandom]

@@92JazzQueen Bubo moment!

[@PassTheMarmalade1957]

Even Mulan's voice actress can't seem to say the "I have a duty to my HeEeAaArT" line without sounding like she's rolling her eyes.

[@rogue7723]

Not all of the movie, though. Here's a clip for evidence (watch from 0:25-0:42) kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHikapx6hdCFhMU

[@mysterykiddo2167]

LOL

[@RedMoonSolitary]

You know she did that take god knows how many times and she couldn't help physically cringing behind the mic 😂

[@DemiSemme]

Of course the thumbnail is THAT image. That is this movie’s greatest legacy.

[@TheBatIsHungry6435]

Agree

[@tykamen5588]

It's the one thing that comes to mind when you think of Mulan 2

[@MissBarker93]

The one good thing to come out of this movie.

[@reasyrandom]

It's on the same level as "Belle's Magical Derpface". In hindsight, I remember that scene being longer. I guess the memes of "you pause anywhere, you get something" made me think that it lasted a solid 10 minutes.

[@DrawciaGleam02]

Diva is giving an accurate reaction to that face too! 😉

[@davidanthonymercado7064]

My thoughts towards to this movie were “DISHONOR ON YOU! DISHONOR ON YOUR WRITING! DISHONOR ON YOUR CHARACTERS!”

[@LovelyLivelyV]

Don’t forget “DISHONOR ON YOUR COW”

[@jakemetzgar]

DISHONOR ON YOUR STUPID ROM COM CLIMAX!

[@MovieFan1912]

Pretty much.

[@cameronleepowerrangersands5519]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha that’s so funny

[@jessehamm3573]

@@LovelyLivelyV Or as the Nostalgia Critic put it, "DISHONOR ON YOUR CASHCOW!"

[@savedgirl309]

I saw an interesting take online. “A girl worth fighting for” in the original movie is ultimately the little girl who lost her doll. Unfortunately those kind of details aren’t here.

[@mintstarmari]

The girl who lost her doll and was likely a casualty of the Hun invasion 😿 And then they removed the entire context in the sequel degrading the song to a typical male fantasy.

[@ultrafox4005]

Yeah, it was meant to show the audience that Mulan despite being a girl herself could still find a girl worth fighting for.

[@Talisguy]

The way you described Mulan and Shang bringing the comic relief trio to help escort the three princesses made me realise something. This is a Shakespeare comedy plot with all the cultural inaccuracy and double the contrivance and stupid character actions, but none of the humour.

[@PassTheMarmalade1957]

And none of the crossdressing. How do you manage that when the first movie actually had a woman disguising herself as a man?!

[@MovieFan1912]

@@PassTheMarmalade1957 And three of her male comrades disguising as women in the climax, with a decent drag joke.

[@afterdinnercreations936]

Not a bad idea. Insert a few bawdy sex-jokes and expensive-shoes, you got an episode of Sex & The City.

[@starbird3939]

It would have been interesting if they did keep the theme of “opposite attracts” Maybe a Pacifist calming Yao The orderly dating Ying And the spitfire dating Chen Poe

[@animeotaku307]

Now THAT would’ve been interesting! And would’ve treated its female characters as more than a means to an end.

[@nickcopeland6915]

Ling, not Ying.

[@allie_678]

Yeah that would have been a lot better.

[@afterdinnercreations936]

and the princesses can learn from the three guys, too. Mai could learn to be more self-assertive. Su can learn to be more introspective Ting-Ting can learn to loosen-up

[@opalyasu7159]

The women's doubts regarding the men they're forced to marry would make way more sense, then they learn to accept their future spouses' flaws (nothing dangerous, just basic character traits) and the men would also mature as people, to a degree

[@somerandomschmuck2547]

Fun fact: in the original story of Mulan, as in the thing that inspired the first Disney movie (at least the earliest thing I can find with the name) Mulan actually went through the entire war without being discovered, and even reached the rank of general. Her fellow generals who were good friends with “him” only figured it out when the leader of their group sent some of them to find their “brother” general because the leader had an unmarried sister he thought their “brother” would be a good husband for. At which point they finally met her out of her armor when they went to her house. They accepted it, left to tell the boss what was up, and one of the generals said he’d come back to marry her, which she seemed up for.

[@colleen4ever]

See, now if THAT had been the plot of the sequel, it would have been worth watching!

[@MovieFan1912]

That would have been much better than what we got.

[@thomashuffman3237]

@@colleen4ever only downside is that the first movie had Mulan was exposed during her first battle, and Shang wasn’t shown to have any relatives beyond his father.

[@DannyConeHeadOnceLer]

@@colleen4ever agreed

[@monstersinthecity]

So Mulan married a girl ? Nice

[@CJCroen1393]

"Aren't impressions more Iago's thing?" Not only that, but unlike Mushu, it _makes sense_ when Iago does it. He's a _parrot,_ parrots _mimic,_ that's the joke. Why is _Mushu_ suddenly doing it? Especially since, in the first movie, he was explicitly shown to be _terrible_ at impressions!

[@mrsmaggiekoch]

I think the worst thing is taking a fun side character and making them a straight up villian.

[@inaciosthirdstudio]

Clearly.

[@gageperuti5519]

17:22 Did Mulan just squee? If there was one Disney Princess I absolutely could NOT see squeeing, it's her.

[@MovieFan1912]

“Mulan, totally a ‘squee’er when she’s going to let China die and Savior of China!” -Nostalgia Critic

[@harlequinade2709]

My least favorite thing about this movie is how selfish everyone is. The princesses may not have been happy, but China WAS ABOUT TO BE INVADED. Sometimes there are bigger issues!

[@jakemetzgar]

Exactly! Take some responsibility for the people you’ll be ruling and protecting someday!

[@Theauntygollum]

That’s not selfishness babe it’s Western philosophy…. Oh, wait

[@songweretson]

Arranged marriages were the norm, even in the west, for centuries. And while most people talk about girls basically being sold, men were often told who to marry as well. Whether by royalty, or by their parents. In some countries, it's still common today. And yet people act like it's the worst possible thing.

[@DrawciaGleam02]

Hot take: The arranged marriages could have STILL failed if the guys the princesses married weren't mature enough to rule or financially smart....

[@songweretson]

@@DrawciaGleam02 But there's no indication that one of their husbands will rule. Most likely the Emperor has a son who will inherit, as well as other daughters to marry off.

[@cam4636]

Their rubber-hosey expressions were getting to me even before Shang goes entirely off model, but what really makes me side eye is Mulan turning into Generic Good Princess. "Follow my heart! Arranged marriage bad! *Squeal!"* Even most D*sney knockoffs aren't _that_ bland. There's bad, then there's ruining something _good._

[@juliagoodwin9510]

I love Disney's output, seeing as I've been watching them since I was a little girl, but as I've grown older, I've found their more saccharine traits have become unbearable. Granted, I'm not in their main demographic anymore, but still...

[@MissCaraMint]

Yeah if you watch the behind the scenes for the first movie you can see they actually tried this and came to realize how deeply wrong that approach was. The point of Mulan is duty and self sacrifice for her family. She goes to war to save her father’s life.

[@rogue7723]

Yeah the animation on the characters was overall _really inconsistent._ One minute it'll be good for a dtv sequel, with subtle facial expressions and fluid movements but then all of a sudden they'd give these _John Kricfalusci style_ expressions and move like those waving tube men you see outside a car dealership.

[@morley364]

The difference in animation quality between bits like Mulan singing Lesson Number One (6:42) and the princesses kissing the trio (21:49 and 21:54) is almost unbelievable

[@swamplinglvr]

You can tell they really don't know what they're doing when the parents have and give the wrong yin and yang symbols to Mulan and Shang. They give her the white with the black dot (yang) and him the black with the white dot (yin), when it should be the other way around. Unless it's supposed to represent them carrying each other's symbols...(Source: Xiran Jay Zhao).

[@jasonblalock4429]

Isn't it irritating when you come across a detail like that, which could either be clever or dumb, and you just can't tell which the movie actually had in mind? Because, also, given the gender-bending theme of the first movie, giving them the "wrong" necklaces could be a nod in that direction. Or it could just be lazy and dumb.

[@Eviltwin531]

@@jasonblalock4429 I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that shameless cash-grabbing direct-to-video sequels don't ever really even attempt to achieve "clever." Not to mention any experts brought in to help with cultural sensitivity issues for the original likely didn't return for this.

[@Hinatachan360]

I was thinking the same thing.

[@RedMoonSolitary]

Yikes that's not good

[@graphitetailgrace3870]

Give Hunchback 2 this: it didn't end with Quasimodo, Esmerelda, Phoebus and the rest indirectly dooming the entirety of France in the name of love.

[@kingandrewcecil348]

Agree. To all those who keep unfairly crapping on Disney's The Little Mermaid (1989) nowadays (which I, as a huge fan of that movie, am endlessly annoyed at), at least that movie didn't end with Ariel indirectly dooming the entirety of the sea kingdom Atlantica in the name of love, unlike this crappy sequel.

[@DrawciaGleam02]

@@kingandrewcecil348 Some critics of the movie would say Little Mermaid cut it pretty close.... considering how Ursula made a MASSIVE storm and all after getting that trident.

[@kingandrewcecil348]

@@DrawciaGleam02 But hey, at least that issue of Atlantica getting doomed under Ursula's hands was RESOLVED COMPLETELY when Ursula gets killed off by Prince Eric, unlike this movie where the threat of war on China by the Mongols was NEVER resolved by the ending at all.

[@graphitetailgrace3870]

@@DrawciaGleam02 I haven't watched Little Mermaid in a long time, wasn't Ariel in the dark about Ursula's real plan until it was too late to stop the deal?

[@DrawciaGleam02]

@@graphitetailgrace3870 Yeah.

[@WaywardAce420]

I am honestly very surprised that the “Mushu getting off scot-free” thing did not warrant Sin Number 10. I get that it’s part of the bullshit ending, but Mulan was 100% correct in that his actions were unforgivable, but she ends up forgiving him anyway because he did the very barest of the bare minimum?? And that thing with Shang combining the family temples, like, I’m not Chinese, so I’m not going to say anything about whether that is something that can or has been done, but in terms of writing, it is one of the laziest cop outs I have ever seen in film. Mushu did not deserve that, he was the absolutely and completely the villain of this film, and faced no consequences at all, nor did he put forth any amount of redemption.

[@jakemetzgar]

I hated him so much in this movie!

[@KaminoKatie]

Mulan should have a restraining order against him

[@slashermaster28]

I think the reason she didn't add that was because Mushu was sin number 1 and that BS plot point was connected to everything wrong with his character in this film.

[@MovieFan1912]

This is just like that one episode of Dora the Explorer where she and Boots jump into a book and save a Prince after he loses his ball and gets locked in a tower, and even then the witch got her comeuppance for less then minute before she promised to be good from now on.

[@WaywardAce420]

@@slashermaster28 fair point. ^^

[@johnvinals7423]

Between “Music” and “Mulan II”, someone really needs to send Diva copies of “The Owl House” to cheer her up.

[@moxxiedemongamer3019]

as I re-watch The Owl House again on Disney+ as a reminder on how Great this Show Despite Disney cutting there 3rd Season to only 3 Specials just because it doesn't fit the Disney Brand and because it's GAY which is BullShit

[@ericjanssen394]

Let's see: "Broadway fangirl", "Cranky mean-girl humor", "Liked Janine Tassori", "Thought Frozen was a bold feminist statement"...yeah, she'd be an Owl House fan. I miss heterosexual cartoons with actual jokes. Come back, Fred Flintstone, all is forgiven.

[@zooemperor3954]

Yep, she’d be a big fan of The Owl House

[@josephrowe849]

I ♥ the 🦉🏠!

[@johnvinals7423]

@@ericjanssen394 Also, Diva has ADHD in real life.

[@v1de0gamr23]

Is there some sort of law that all movies set in China must contain at least one scene where the characters travel past a large rice paddy being tended by a single female farmer in a conical hat?

[@MusicalHell]

Must be.

[@Eviltwin531]

Yep, it was in the "Rules of Cheap Film-making Tricks" that passed a while back. Section II, Item XII, right between "New Orleans must always have Mardi Gras parades, complete with jazz band" and "Kangaroos must be present in any Australia scenes."

[@v1de0gamr23]

@@Eviltwin531 Right, now I remember, it's the same section that states that the Eiffel Tower must be visible from every window in Paris 👍

[@TheBronyBraeburn]

I knew someone who loved to passionately defend this movie. Anyone who disliked it was "misogynistic" because "women should marry who they want, damnit!" Completely ignoring the historical and cultural context of the time period and location. If it wasn't for the physically painful experience of watching Belle's Magical World (Why, Paige, WHY?), I could easily declare this to be the absolute worst of the Disney direct-to-video sequels.

[@timothymclean]

Honestly, the bad feudal politics are pretty low on this movie's list of faults. And "the movie is good because it's against arranged marriage between strangers, girl power!" is damning with faint praise from both a feminist perspective and a general-quality one.

[@daliborjovanovic510]

That person sounds about as narrow-minded as the people who wrote his movie. Your personal happiness means bupkiss if it means sacrificing national security.

[@vincenthawthorne9360]

I mean the issue isn’t that women want to make their own choices. It’s the fact they have a DUTY TO THE PEOPLE because not doing it results in death! It’s not just that they want them to marry to specific people for honor and all that but the alliance is supposed to get the two kingdoms to fight against the invading Mongols. That’s more important than your feelings and hopes when YOU are royalty and you have to do what a royal is actually supposed to do.

[@timothymclean]

@@vincenthawthorne9360 I mean, it IS pretty shitty that the safety of these kingdoms is reliant on a bunch of women being traded around like prize cattle, but this movie isn't deep or well-considered enough to tackle either the "Hey, this political system sucks for women!" angle or the "It sucks, but duty is duty" angle.

[@animeotaku307]

Paige probably needed the paycheck. Actors got bills to pay, too.

[@EugenioScamardella]

Mulan (a Chinese young woman coming from a wealthy family, a young woman which is SUPPOSED to be aware of how her society works at her time) being so shocked at the idea of ​​PRINCESSES facing an ARRANGED MARRIAGE in ANCIENT CHINA keeps bonkering me. It's like a Catholic person feeling shocked at the idea of ​​a child from another Catholic family receiving his first Communion. It's like a Viking warrior feeling like it's "mean" to raid a Slavic village while conquering that land. It's like an Ancient Greek refusing to accept the idea of ​​dating prepubescing boys in order to "confer them" his wisdom. Don't get me wrong: a story that involves one of these subjects trying to go against what they find unfair or wrong in their society (and which sure feels wrong for ours) isn't a bad concept. BUT it has to be made properly, mostly by setting a specifiic yet believable context. The original Mulan movie was clearly intended to break gender stereotypes and expectations, and the choice of putting also all the "arranged marriage thing" would have made the movie feel confusing, trying to sell way too much material. The focus was just on something else. This sequel just starts off by a weak premess and developes it even worse. Edit. What I meant with those examples, is showing those individuals refusing to get that those "dissonant values" are actually a thing in their cultural and historical setting. History has taught us there were figures that decided to be out of those, but I think that at least they should be shown to be aware of how their setting works. Ex. Jasmine from Aladdin is clearly unhappy with her arranged marriage, BUT in that movie: 1) the theme of feeling "trapped" and trying to find a way out of it is central and just doesn't feel like it's been forced within - 2) Jasmine is shown to already know what's (her father's) law, so there's not "shocked reaction" by her.

[@Dreigonix]

Her contemporary influence iz pastede on yay!

[@cam4636]

All this is true, but I think it's an even deeper issue of laziness on the writers' parts--"Feminist(-ish) character? She must hate arranged marriage!" is such an old & thoughtless trope that I doubt they even bothered to consider what Mulan as a person with a personality, a person in the cultural context of Mulan's story, or Mulan the character who started off trying to get an arranged marriage in the first movie would think.

[@allisonbergh4429]

A bit off-topic, but I love your use of “bonkering” as a verb 🥰

[@EugenioScamardella]

@@allisonbergh4429 Thank you. Honestly, I'm not even an English-speaker so I just used it.

[@allisonbergh4429]

@@EugenioScamardella Its fascinating and fun watching the evolution of English accelerated thanks to the internet. The verbing of nouns is one of the best parts 😁

[@MinimalistTheatre333]

I enjoyed this story when I was younger. When I grew up, I realised that the only parts that I had liked about it were the beginning with the village girls, the subplot with the princesses and the extras on the DVD. If the story had been about Mulan's army friends finding girlfriends then this would have been slightly boring and generic, but still a better story.

[@EpixAndroid]

Same!

[@hinasakukimi]

even as a kid i really hated the way mushu behaved, it felt so mean :C

[@animeotaku307]

Well, one could make a good story out of three men growing out of their misogyny while romancing three women who are given more personality beyond “what would make them desirable to our three guy’s specifically?”

[@hinasakukimi]

@@animeotaku307 yeah if they had been the opposite of what the guys wanted that would've been interesting (not to mention, consistent with what the movie itself has established).

[@haleywalker1640]

18:03 Or him defying the law and choosing to let Mulan live instead of killing her when her identity is exposed. Sure, he was repaying her for saving him and the other soldiers, but it still counts.

[@rjd-kh8et]

The biggest problem with the ending could have been resolved by Mushu as the Golden Dragon of Unity telling Lord Chin to finalize the alliance regardless of the marriage.

[@gracekim1998]

Yeah 😅 they never resolve the alliance and war thing

[@XOISHTAR]

I somehow missed the “it’s been a couple months since the first movie” bit when I initially saw this movie and thought they hadn’t been around each other in a few years… which made it feel like they had gradually changed into the characters of this rather messy sequel.

[@colleen4ever]

And he immidiately shows up to propose, when in the first movie they just became good friends!

[@GatorRay]

Heck I'm shocked Mushu didn't say "WHAT! Are you sure you want to marry him after only A MONTH?" have Mulan say she is and then have Mushu go "OKAY THEN" that feels like a missed opportunity.

[@rogue7723]

I do kinda give this movie points for when Mulan is holding Shang from falling from the bridge. The animation and Ming Na Wen’s acting were _top-notch._ Here's a clip for evidence (watch from 0:25-0:42) kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHikapx6hdCFhMU

[@Eviltwin531]

I used to like this movie quite a bit (don't judge, I judge myself) and remember the behind the scenes docu and watching Ming-Na recording that scene with tears pouring down her face. All that... for this movie.

[@rogue7723]

@@Eviltwin531 Yeah I remember seeing that, I was _in awe._

[@ForrestFox626]

Ming Na Wen deserved a better movie for that performance

[@SEELE-ONE]

“Mushu ex-machinaeing some Deus” Tips the hat to one very clever line

[@greggerred5949]

The “RIP Gilbert Gottfried” was small but vary nice, thank you for that. ;,)

[@caitlinsnowfrost8244]

5:20 You joke, but I'd *love* to meet Shang's annoying ancestral guardians.

[@naomistarlight6178]

Mulan was no "commoner", her family's estate as shown in the beginning of the first one was far from poverty. And everyone talked about her father in the first one as if he were some kind of respected war hero.

[@KL-ki8db]

Well commoner in comparison to royalty. Even if Mulan were to be an upper class which she is implied to be, she wasn’t part of the nobility much less royalty. This was an attitude that many in the past had towards royal arranged marriages. See Henry VIII’s scandal with like half of his wives being noblewomen but are still seen as “commoner” since they are not royalty.

[@gracekim1998]

um you need to keep the historical and cultural context here

[@MorriganAtwood]

...Anyone else notice that at least half the bandits are just Shanyu's goons from the movie because the animators were too lazy to come up with new designs?

[@MovieFan1912]

As if this movie wasn’t lazy enough.

[@matthewn1566]

Mulan would rather follow her heart than save China? Yeah, this movie should never exist.

[@miticaBEP07]

I only save the three princesses. They’re cute, have a warm bond with each other and should have been the focus. I would want to watch a movie with Mulan bonding with other girls. The closest we get is her stupid sister in the live action one.

[@ScorpionFlower95]

there is no disney live action movie of mulan in bang si se

[@MovieFan1912]

@@ScorpionFlower95 I thought it was Ba Sing Se.

[@MovieFan1912]

The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai.

[@luciakaminski779]

So these are 3 princesses that have probably been sheltered all their lives and they fall in "love" with the first guys they spent a bit of unchaperoned time with. Since it feels like if the princesses saw the princes first instead they would have fallen for them, the whole marrying for love and with who they want doesn't hold much weight here.

[@jonathanwallis3300]

Mushu in this movie reminds me of the original version of Woody before the major rewrite!

[@MovieFan1912]

Oh, yeah. I just wish the ancestors did the same thing that the toys did to Woody in that version of Toy Story, regardless of what happened.

[@GrandCorsair]

This movie really did Mulan dirty and it drives me crazy.

[@AtarahDerek]

Forget the cultural context. Mulan's personality in the sequel doesn't stand up to her personality in the context of the original film. She was never opposed to arranged marriages. She never would've said something so cheesy as, "I have another duty to my heart." The girl was known in the original for NOT having that kind of conviction, and instead being super impulsive. She also understands her culture and isn't about to completely tear it down just because the brides to be have never met their future husbands. Her only concern would've been that the emperor first vetted the candidate princes to assure that they would treat his daughters well. If this were a well written sequel, the emperor may have even asked Mulan to secretly vet the princes for him. And THAT could've set up the main conflict. As for making Mushu the villain...yeah, that was completely detestable.

[@92JazzQueen]

I like that idea. Not against arranged marriages but being married off to a potential jackass is interesting.

[@littlemisstfc]

Shang’s off model angry mode is what haunts my dreams at night.

[@justsomeokami8867]

What I hate about this sequel the most is that it had potential to be passable; but it’s writing is so cookie cutter that it makes me believe that whoever was on the writing staff never saw the first one nor understood it. 🤦🏾‍♀️

[@frankieseward8667]

Aladdin and Cinderella had solid sequels.

[@sewthernbelle]

And yet…this is still a more entertaining take on the Mulan legend than the Live Action movie.

[@reasyrandom]

Watching a picture of Mulan dry is a better use of your time.

[@jenneacubero1036]

It didn't use a concentration camp, I'll give them that.

[@MovieFan1912]

There is no remake in Ba Sing Se.

[@jenneacubero1036]

@@MovieFan1912 *Agrees with creepy smile*

[@diegodubber2140]

That live-action remake, oh my... Way to make an already godawful year (2020) tenfold worse.

[@jasonblalock4429]

I have to imagine that Musical Sequel Hell includes "Bathing Beauties" on repeat 24/7.

[@cutiepuppy4427]

CHECKS! STRIPES!

[@juliagoodwin9510]

Harsh, but fair.

[@MovieFan1912]

@@juliagoodwin9510 She said it herself, she’s a demon, she doesn’t do fair.

[@angelofmusic1992]

Shang is totally off-model in this when he's yelling and stuff, but I find it hilarious. Every frame is golden. XD

[@Gogoroth2]

I saw those frames as memes way before I saw the movie. I thought it was some Butt Monkey side-character. I didn't know it was supposed to be Shang until I saw the film.

[@Eviltwin531]

Sweet Lucifer, it's like the Mulan of this movie is the late-2000s Buzzfeed Feminism misremembered version of the character instead of the real deal.

[@stephaniejenkins7822]

I heard a rumour that Eddie Murphy read the script for Mulan II and refused to come back to voice Mushu after seeing what they did to the character.

[@GatorRay]

Perhaps one of the influencing factors was him coming off a crappy sequel with The Nutty Professor 2 The Klumps (Or if I were to give it a more accurate title. The Nutty Professor 2. Buddy Strikes Back)

[@erikdaniels0n]

Considering most of the original cast came back for the sequel and Mushu is one of the few, if not the only, characters to have a different voice actor, I actually believe this

[@ultrafox4005]

@@erikdaniels0n Right. And while all the returning main characters are butchered in someway, Mushu was easily unrecognizable when it compared to the first movie.

[@ravenshymn]

Man do I wish the budget for this movie went to a TV series like the one they did for Aladdin. Think of all the Chinese mythology they could work with, not to mention how much time they would have to flesh out the characters.

[@turkishvan2]

I'm still annoyed by the inclusive of the native-to-the-Americas skunk among the animals chasing Shang If I'm being generous, it could be a striped polecat, but it would still be far away from its home of Africa

[@Heroshii15]

I remember the advertising for this movie was very Mushu-centric, to the point I thought it was a comedy spin-off rather than a direct sequel.

[@gingergoddess8953]

Ah, I cannot wait for when you do Little Mermaid 2. I feel like it's inevitable. The sacrifices you make for this court, Diva. May Fire!Boss Bless (curse?) you. I think Mulan 2's biggest sin is the writers taking what's technically a WAR MOVIE and turning it's sequel into a faux Shakespearean romance. We get ONE scene with fighting, which doesn't last long. People love Mulan because she develops into a badass, a Disney Princess with a body count. Now here we are and she's "but but lIsTeN tO YoUr hEaRt." But at the end of the day, the Warrior Savior of China is a squeeing daydreamer who needs her fiance to save her. It's just such a 180.

[@colleen4ever]

And she's not even a Princess.

[@drewbear1969]

It's almost as though someone just picked a random fanfic and called it the script. I gotta admit though, Ting Ting literally cringing at Ling's bad jokes was amusing. [e] I'm looking forward to the thrashing of _Journey Back to Oz,_ so much wasted campy potential there😄

[@luciakaminski779]

I was just thinking that there are many fanfiction writers that worry a lot about keeping characters in ... well, character. And that this movie feels like they went for the fanfic with the most comments, not noticing that they were all pointing out how not in character everyone was.

[@TeylaDex]

Most fanfics are better than this.

[@morgantherat]

And it's not a very high bar to begin with.

[@garthst.claire3459]

I actually remember seeing this as a child, after loving the first movie and being excited that there was a sequel. I remember it feeling kinda "off" from the beginning but that extremely cliche line/delivery of "Like holding a leeeleee" (or, in German "stand straight like lilies") was the movie's final nail in the coffin for me. I didn't have the words yet to explain what exactly bothered me, other than that it was "crap", but I turned the movie off at that point and didn't even know how it ended until seeing it years later.

[@juliagoodwin9510]

Thank you for ripping into this mess! I'll never forgive Disney for turning one of their most badass female characters (I mean seriously, she's the only Disney Princess with a body count in the _thousands_ ) into a love-obsessed sop. Who, you know, DOOMED ALL OF CHINA. I know Disney has its demographics (of which I am far from being part of) but is a little quality too much to ask for?!?!

[@colleen4ever]

Especially since Mulan has no business being in that lineup,. seeing as how SHE'S NOT EVEN A PRINCESS!

[@MovieFan1912]

Man, she went from savior to disgrace just like that.

[@JenneeAmell]

“Bisexual icon, Li Shang” Ah, I see you are also a woman of culture. Not that I didn’t already know that.

[@digitaltailsmon4096]

I mean you can’t tell me that’s not the impression one gets in that movie. Besides even straight guys gotta admit he is kinda hot.

[@Dreigonix]

YES. TEAR APART THIS MOVIE LIKE IT TRIED TO TEAR APART MY FAVORITE DISNEY COUPLE.

[@kingandrewcecil348]

Agree. It's about time Musical Hell finally ripped this shitty sequel apart - in fact, I've been waiting for this review for years. My next suggestion on Disney sequels for Musical Hell to rip apart: The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea

[@colleen4ever]

@@kingandrewcecil348 Yes yes yes yes yes YES!!

[@MovieFan1912]

@@kingandrewcecil348 More like Return to the Status Quo.

[@kingandrewcecil348]

@@MovieFan1912 Yeah. The Little Mermaid 2:Return to the Sea has the laziest rehash plot I've ever seen in a Disney direct-to-video sequel, since it's basically nothing more than a reverse plot of the first Little Mermaid film with barely anything new added to it.

[@kristinahuchison2511]

Um at least it showed more realistic relationship growth considering Mulan and Shang didn’t know each other that much, considering most of the film she was Ping to him. Pocahontas 2 however was literally only made when a minority of history nerds and descendants complaining about Pocahontas’s love with John Smith because it’s “historically inaccurate” so instead of telling them to go watch a documentary, Disney stupidly tried appealing to them by trying to force her with her historically correct husband John Rolfe 🤮 FYI Pocahontas didn’t marry him for love, she was literally forced to because she was the chief’s daughter and this was kinda a peaceful solution to prevent war. But upon learning she DIED in England whatever peace there was between her tribe and the English was broken

[@clairepaffey1727]

I'm so mad with how they treat Shang in this film. I'm also furious with how they treat him in the live action remake, I.e. removing him entirely.

[@reasyrandom]

They didn't remove him entirely, they replaced him with a creep.

[@MovieFan1912]

The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai.

[@tobiasetchristopher]

Wasn't Mulan alright with being, herself, united in an arranged marriage in the first movie?

[@neesi1570]

As soon as Mulan started signing philosophy to schoolchildren, am I the only one who started humming "The World is a Circle" to themselves?

[@joshuawinchester9599]

I feel like Diva just gets angrier and angrier with each new case

[@MovieFan1912]

She has been doing this for ten years. Of course she would be angry.

[@ILuvBoysInDresses]

I remember the behind-the-scenes for this including a bit about the original plot. The princesses weren't just unenthusiastic about the arranged marriage idea, they were actively trying to run away. They suited each of the boys so perfectly because they were faking interest in order to dupe their guards and escape. When Mulan confronted the princesses, they confessed, and the boys overheard. Chien Po was the most heartbroken to find that, not only could Su not cook, she couldn't even boil water. And I can't help but think how much better that movie could have been. But it was deemed too mean-spirited. Somehow the writers thought THIS travesty was less mean-spirited!

[@megacrashthehedgehog5377]

Another big issue with the ending is that the whole point of the arranged marriage in the first place was so that China can be protected from the invading Mongols. If there's no arranged marriage, then what about the alliance? What do they do now? How do they stop the invasion? Does the Emperor get a say in this? Where's the resolution? WHO THE HELL WROTE THIS STORY!?!

[@jackwells8107]

It's okay that the Emperor's Daughters married below their station. The Sultan decreed the Sultana could marry anyone she wanted, so it probably worked for these girls as well... Or did that come after this?

[@THATGuy5654]

I'm sure a lot of these Disney sequels made a lot of kids happy over the years, but considering anyone over the age of 13 would usually just say, "why does this exist?" I can't bring myself to say it was a big loss when they shut it down.

[@Eviltwin531]

What's weird is there's the occasional gem like "Hercules: The Animated Series" that proves that follow-up media can work (or maybe I'm just misremembering because Lisa Kudrow as Aphrodite the Deadpan Smartass was a stroke of genius) they just don't seem to want to make the effort.

[@reasyrandom]

@@Eviltwin531 Hercules did create some major continuity issues though. I'd recommend the Lilo and Stitch franchise and the Little Mermaid series (which was a better prequel than Ariel's Beginning, I'll die on that hill)

[@mitkitty]

There's definitely some genuinely good movies in the pile-Cinderella 3 is hilarious and fun, the Lion King sequels still hold up, etc....but when it gets bad it's REAL bad

[@phonybeautrain6520]

@@Eviltwin531 Hercules : The animated series is still fun if flawed, and can't simply exist in the same continuity as the movie despite the show's insistence.

[@brandyloutherback9288]

The thing is... Li Shang Bisexual Icon and Mulan not working as a couple, I can actually get behind that plot! They've only known each other for a month, and Shang was presumably too busy for talking after his promothion to General! Is Mushu were less horrible, and was genuinely looking out for Mulan, this plot could've worked and been really mature for Disney!

[@strawberrysoulforever8336]

Fun fact: The princesses were originally written to be just pretending to like the guards to have an excuse to get out of their arranged marriages. That's why they seem like perfect matches, because they act the same way in both versions, even though they genuinely like the guards in the finished product. Whether this makes the movie better or worse is up for debate, but apparently the change was made because the creators decided the princesses needed to be more sympathetic characters and the ruse turned off test audiences.

[@ScorpionFlower95]

I'm just gonna say it: this isn't as terrible as the sequels of Pocachontas or The Hunchback of Notre Dame's etc. The animation is decent, not as great as the original's but decent. And the plot with the three soldiers and the three princesses was actually quite nice and cute. I am on the fence about the relationship between Mulan and Li Shang because on the one hand, I didn't like seeing them being driven apart, but on the other hand, they were not together for very long so it also sounds realistic? plus, Li Shang's "death" was heartbreaking. and finally, Mushu was pretty much the villain of this film which is such a far cry from him in the 1st movie

[@kristinahuchison2511]

I agree. Hunchback of Notre Dame 2 was a complete joke because of how dark the original was, but it was nice seeing Quasi move on from Esmerelda and find a girlfriend. Pocahontas 2 was just 🤬🤮😭

[@snowangelnc]

The thing with the soldiers and the princesses could have been done much better though. The idea of it being so horrifying to expect the princesses to go through with an arranged marriage is already out of place as it is; the idea that it's presented as a completely different and superior thing for them to each marry a guy that they just met makes it weirder. The fact that they all knew that the whole point of the marriages was to prevent a war, and that none of them seemed to care about the thousands of people that would probably die because of their actions didn't help.

[@OhSkyeLanta]

And the necklaces are switched. Traditionally the white side (given to Mulan) represents masculine and the black side (given to Shang) represents feminine. As much as people would like to credit it as subtle goodness in this movie, I know enough about American ideas about color theory and weddings to know it is definitely not.

[@trinaq]

Mark Moseley did a decent attempt at voicing Mushu, but it just wasn't the same without Eddie Murphy and his one liners.

[@MovieFan1912]

It’s like Dan Castellaneta replacing Robin Williams as the Genie.

[@phonybeautrain6520]

And it doesn't help that the writing turned Mushu in a possessive jerk and the true vilain of story...

[@LaineMann]

Also, can we just talk about the fact that a white man was hired to impersonate the voice of a black guy? Like……ew.

[@mattneff]

This film could've worked if it was a Mushu side quest movie without Mulan. Like, if they kept the first ten minutes, then have Mushu and Cricket watch over the three soldiers as they escort the princesses, it could've been a Lion King 1.5 type of movie. Have the nosey scribe from the first film be the one trying to keep the soldiers from hooking up with the princesses, then Mushu can help them all end up together.

[@KaminoKatie]

I'd watched that

[@nicolemiller7760]

For whatever reason, I was thinking about this movie today and how awful it is, even by direct-to-video Disney sequel standards….random, but very welcome!

[@quantummelody2959]

Ooo I see a link to Xiran Jay Zhao's video in the description! That's a very good review.

[@MusicalHell]

I think I stumbled on their channel around the time Over the Moon came out and damn, they've got good content. (Edit: pronouns corrected)

[@Stargazer_Ley]

@@MusicalHell *Their. Xiran is nonbinary and uses they/them.

[@MusicalHell]

@@Stargazer_Ley Thank you!

[@thefilmwatcher1216]

Man, this movie is abysmal. Mulan, Mushu, and Shang's characters are completely obliterated, the story is incredibly dumb and boring in which nothing interesting happens, the songs are forgettable, and the ending makes absolutely no sense. The only thing that's not completely idiotic is that the animation is honestly okay and they got most of the original voice actors to come back. Also, Mark whatever his name is does a decent job at impersonating Eddie Murphy.

[@jackmonaghan8477]

It's also worth mentioning that one of the Disney DTV sequels Lasseter was overseeing was a Snow White prequel that would have explained the skeleton in the Queen's dungeon was SW's father and Dopey was rendered mute after witnessing his parents being killed. Yeah...

[@colleen4ever]

That would solve the mystery of where Snow's father was during the whole movie! But how would the Queen still be the Queen instead of Snow immidiately inheriting the throne?

[@lunettasuziejewel2080]

@@colleen4ever Snow White's only 14, right? Her stepmother could be Queen Regent until Snow reaches the age of majority.

[@alexv3375]

To be honest, I'd be interested in seeing you do a review of _The Fox & The Hound 2_ sometime! One of those ones with quite a few musical numbers, and that the opinion (either one of the worst Disney direct-to-video sequels, or one of the more watchable ones; at the very least for Reba McIntire as Dixie and Patrick Swayze as Cash) definitely tends to vary wildly on among fans.

[@TheDyslexicCosplayer]

Hey thank you for posting this :-) I’ve been having a really bad week and frankly your content always brings a smile to my face so thanks for brightening up what was otherwise looking to be a kind a rough week:)

[@jeremyusreevu237]

As someone who thinks the original Mulan is just ok, this sequel is fricking AWFUL! To say these characters are flanderized would be an insult to the concept of Flanderization, the dialogue sucks, the music is a massive downgrade from the original, there's only one fight scene (IN A MULAN MOVIE!!!!), the film takes a 💩 all over the original film's message, and THEY LET CHINA DIE just because "arranged marriages are bad". I don't know if this is the worst Disney sequel, but it's easily the most insulting, and it's so good to see Diva tear it to shreds.

[@GatorRay]

Worst part is before there was a third Mulan film planned. Presumably in which the princesses get their parents aid in getting more troops to help fight the Mongols cause at the end of the day. They don't care about them hooking up with men below their class as long it makes them happy.

[@DrawciaGleam02]

@@GatorRay At least they were going to address the arranged marriages not going through.... But going with that plan STILL COULD HAVE FAILED if the princes weren't mature or had financial savviness. Not spending funds wisely would definitely have crippled the war effort, and negotiations would have been harder if the princes were immature rulers.

[@kristinahuchison2511]

It obviously wasn’t the best sequel, but it’s nowhere near the level of Pocahontas 2

[@GatorRay]

@@DrawciaGleam02 Touche.

[@KL-ki8db]

@@kristinahuchison2511 Well, at least Pocahontas 2 made more historical sense than this movie.

[@AndrewB..]

Yay more musical hell, this one's gonna hurt

[@MovieFan1912]

At least it won’t hurt as much as Music.

[@YelenaSkunky]

@@MovieFan1912, yeah, "Music" is outright insulting. And this one is mostly inoffensive, though still not good at all.

[@MovieFan1912]

@@YelenaSkunky At least this one didn’t break her 10-Sin Scale.

[@toric6005]

The foodog voiced by Ricky Gervais is a good idea, but maybe it’s just Foo Dog from American Dragon Jake Long 🤣🤣

[@richardpulido4624]

I heard Ricky is going to voice a cat villain in an upcoming animated movie called Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank. Apparently, Samuel L. Jackson is involved too

[@queenofawesome2550]

11:52 No Mulan you did that to protect your father who was old and implied to be previously wounded in war from having to go back to war but okay your duty is to your heart or whatever.

[@Barakon]

The cricket is a secret crop protecting spirit that always follows Mulan to give her good luck.

[@Sate12]

I always snort when Mulan says she has a duty to her heart. It's just such a STUPID line. And whenever a main character 'dies' off scene my brain goes "Nah, their fine" but Sheng popped back up sooner than I expected

[@maddiekoester7785]

If you’re going to continue on the Disney sequel trend, I’d like to see you do Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea or Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride if you haven’t already!

[@alexx5064]

oh return to the sea was garbage, I would love to see a musical hell of that!

[@graphitetailgrace3870]

$10 says Fox and the Hound 2 will be the next sequel for the chopping block.

[@moxxiedemongamer3019]

@@graphitetailgrace3870 I'll take that bet

[@KaminoKatie]

She's already did Lion King 2: Simba's Pride for Know The Score

[@Locke350]

@@alexx5064 The only good thing about that movie is Tara Stong’s vocal performance as Melody and she got to show off her singing voice in that.

[@rambletash]

I do love the character designs of the princesses though. They join the ranks of Disney sequel characters who deserved to be in better movies for me.

[@rambletash]

I like that they have at least some minute variation in body type, height, and face shape, instead of just having the same generic Disney Princess look.

[@tultsi93]

Dear god, Mushu is a yandere... not for Mulan but his career.

[@gregzotter6189]

The ONLY thing I have to say to Mulan 2's creators is this: Dishonor! Dishonor on YOU, dishonor on your family! Dishonor on your COW!

[@kichiwas-hargan4775]

Dishonor on this sequel.

[@katherineyatsko4691]

Every time Mulan said "My duty is to my heart" or whatever I felt like vomiting.

[@jeremyusreevu237]

That feels like something a fourteen-year-old girl would write on Wattpad.

[@angrynoodletwentyfive6463]

I kinda want to see a musical hell review of the film "water babies" I'm not sure if it fully qualifies as a musical as there are only 3 songs (which makes them a bit jarring) but it is wierd, and the animation is terrifying, and it was directed by the same guy who made chitty chitty bang bang....

[@disneytriviabuff8188]

I vaguely remembered seeing that on TV when I was little. A few months ago, I decided to watch it from beginning to end and I now wish I had let it stay a vague memory. The only plus I can give the movie is that the live-action portions were decently shot. Other than that, the animation is dull, the songs are forgettable (the only one I remember is High Cockalorum or whatever it was but that's only because it got a billion reprises) and there are many things that are never explained (who or what was that mysterious lady who took on the form of like four different people?)

[@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343]

I think the biggest sin of this movie is that everything that made Shang a cool character in the first movie is completely gone in this one.

[@MasterBuilderDragon]

That’s not Mushu. That’s some dragon who killed the real Mushu and took his place.

[@MovieFan1912]

Like in Who Censored Roger Rabbit. We just didn’t see him disintegrate.

[@nicholasdruce5346]

Even Devon and Cornwall hate him.

[@fablethewolf825]

Isn't it a bit eyebrow-raising that Mulan spent a decent chunk of the real - erm, "first" - movie - not to mention the training montage to end all training montages - out-dudeing the dudes and is effectively a professionally trained battler, strategist and war hero...and this movie demotes her to glorified babysitter, wing-woman and blushing bride-to-be? This version of Mulan makes the caterpillar version look like the Mulan from the first movie. Also, not to imply anything, but the original Mulan had four screen-writers, one of which _was_ a woman. This movie had no female writers at all.

[@GatorRay]

I find it funny how you referenced Frozen but didn't reference the role reversal Shrek 2 did of Li Sheng (Sorry if I spelled it wrong) going on horseback to prevent Mulan from making a horrible mistake. I can understand you letting it slide because of it being seen as low hanging fruit. But I thought of it due to this THING having the same composer as Shrek The Musical which you've previously reviewed on Miss Nightmare's channel. Also never heard of the bit of Oz media next on the chopping block and Oh sweet lucifer. The film at one point featured Bill Cosby (My bad. Thought he was dead but he isn't. My apologies. Also oh my lord we're going from Disney D2V sequels to Filmation's crap)

[@MeeplandHeights]

Imagine if this movie had been about Mulan struggling between her wanting to marry Shang and wanting to remain part of her family (and the inherent sexism of women being owned by families), and maybe have some organic arguments between them of Shang starting to treat her "like a girl" when Mulan wants to be seen as an equal like when he thought she was another man. In the end you can have him reinforce that her being a woman really doesn't impact their status as equals and maybe he joins her family (sure it's not realistic for the time but it's a Disney movie and it's not like we know or care about Shang's family anyways so they can shove that in anyways)

[@ClaudetteVioletta]

Disney fans can make better Disney sequels than Disney itself

[@bored_person]

11:01 Your commentary is not unwanted. It's the entire reason we watch you.

[@invaderdrey8563]

The funny thing is, Shang and Mulan were given the wrong symbols. Shang was given the yin which is femininity while Mulan was given Yang which is masculinity. But I guess the animators couldn't be bothered to actually look up which one was which, just assumed the black one was Yang and the white one was Yin

[@scoutart1508]

Then again, ironically, she has influence of soldier masculinity from the first film, if you know what I mean

[@dungleuc759]

they just guess that white means femininity and black means masculinity but that unintentionally makes them more queer coded than ever

[@chaoticneutral7976]

20:19 To be fair plenty of Chinese princesses weren't even related to the emperor they stood for and were picked from the palace to serve as stand-ins for arranged marriage purposes and that included concubines and servants

[@MusicalHell]

Except the Emperor explicitly describes them as his daughters, and in this simplified version of historic China there's no reason to doubt that statement.

[@Adamguy2003]

Another issue with the atrocious "Like Other Girls" song is that its theme/ concept is REALLY inconsistent with the movies and their depictions of girls in Chinese society at the time. It has lyrics like "Wanna be free like other girls," "Wanna climb trees like other girls," "Wanna skin knees like other girls," but normal girls in China back then didn't do ANY of those things! They were expected to be poised, refined, demure, stay at home, and strive for nothing in life other than to eventually get married. I'd imagine the Emperor being rather torn on his daughters marrying the soldiers. On the one hand, the soldiers ARE below the princesses' station, and as cool and funny as Ling is, I doubt the Emperor would support the idea of that goofball marrying the eldest princess and thus becoming next in line for the throne. A KZbin video showing the scene when Ling gets the princess to laugh for the first time has a comment that sums it up well: "(The moment in the video in which we see Ling getting nearly incinerated by the fireworks and comedically shrieking in pain and fear) The future Emperor of China, ladies and gentlemen." On the other hand, the three soldiers not only are war heroes, but also personally played a direct role in saving the Emperor's life less than a month prior, so he might allow it as a token of his gratitude. So, he'd probably view it as a very complicated situation.

[@RedMoonSolitary]

I do have to say that I thought the whole idea of the sidekick characters getting together with the princesses was a fun concept. It would have made a good short or something, though, instead of put into a full movie.

[@naomistarlight6178]

12:14 love all the North American animals there, like so much effort went into this... /s

[@TheBatIsHungry6435]

Fanfact, during the scene with shin falling into the abyss the voice actress for mulan actoully cried

[@TheBatIsHungry6435]

@@MovieFan1912 actoully it was because she was really getting emotional in the scene

[@anomaliecosmos]

I agree with you about the tragic rays of potential shining through this concept (heck, the malicious compliance running joke ACTIVELY CONTRIBUTES to the duty vs morality through-line instead of just being a diversion that's at least worth our time) but. I think. The only Mulan sequel we REALLY needed was... Mulan Rouge :]c

[@gracekim1998]

This is a guilty pleasure of mine😂 because of the songs and Shang’s crazy expressions 😅

[@cathoffmann9353]

I received this DVD when I was 7 as an Easter gift. I was so excited to watch it because I love the original. And when I watched it, I think that was the first time I ever felt like I got scammed.

[@zackrules4797]

What this movie's plot could have been about, is to have Shan-Yu as a ghost form where he and his ghost army planning to destroy China and Mulan, Shang, Mushu and the three soldiers (Yao, Ling and Chien-Po) has to stop them and save China which that would makes this into a great sequel.