The Secret of Mulan
The Secret of Mulan is the 1998 entry in the series of "Secret of..." films released direct to video by UAV/Sterling Entertainment Group, which generally were adaptations of popular theatrical animated films released in a given year, such as The Secret of Anastasia and The Secret of the Hunchback. This film, written by Katherine Lawrence and Christy Marx, is based on the poem about Hua Mulan, which had been made as a film by Walt Disney Animation Studios the same year as Mulan, and combined with elements from another popular 1998 animated film from Pixar Animation Studios, A Bug's Life. The film is one of the early collaborations of the composer-lyricist team of Megan Cavallari and David Goldsmith, and some copies were released with a CD soundtrack attached to the back cover.
The Secret of Hua Mulan | |
---|---|
DVD cover. Note Mulan's extra legs indicating that she is a larva. | |
Directed by | Peter Fernandez (voice director) |
Produced by | Bill Schwartz |
Screenplay by | Katherine Lawrence Christy Marx |
Story by | Bill Schwartz |
Starring | Elaine Tse Lisa DeSimone Robert Lydiard Jonathan Dokuchitz Jeff Bergman |
Music by | Score: Nathan Wang Songs: Megan Cavallari (music) David Goldsmith (lyrics) |
Edited by | Alan Winderbaum |
Production company | Schwartz & Co. Hong Ying Animation |
Distributed by | Sterling Entertainment Group |
Release date |
|
Running time | 50 minutes |
Country | USA China |
Language | English Spanish Chinese |
Synopsis
When Mala-Khan declares war, the Emperor orders all able-bodied males to fight. A young female caterpillar named Mulan disguises herself as a male warrior named Hua and leaves home to take her elderly father's place in the Emperor's army. She proves to be a capable warrior and quickly rises through the ranks with each winning battle.
Mala-Khan, starting to panic with each loss, finds a traitor in the Emperor's ranks to kidnap Mulan. However, when she matures into her pupa stage, she is mistakenly assumed to have escaped. She returns as a butterfly to the Emperor's camp where she romances her commanding prince, who, also being a butterfly, understands.
Cast
(in credits order)
- George Bettinger
- Tom Clifford
- Leo Burmester
- Abigail Revasch
- Gregory Abbey
- Loren Brown
- Lionel Wilson
- Jack Gwaltney
- Elaine Tse
- Robert Lydiard
- Jeff Bergman
- Lisa DeSimone
The voice director of the film was Peter Fernandez. No overall director is credited.