The Art of Mulan

by Jeff Kurtti

Inspired by a 2,000-year-old Chinese legend, Mulan is the first animated feature film to be primarily produced by Disney's studio in Orlando, Florida. This richly illustrated volume, The Art of Mulan, reveals the story behind the making of the film and includes more than 350 stunning color and black-and-white illustrations, showcasing a variety of art produced by the many talented artists who worked on the film.

Like film's heroine, the Disney artists who created Mulan made a journey of self-discovery that began with a momentous decision - to make a modern-day film adapted from an ancient Chinese source. Their efforts to remain faithful to the spirit of the original legend and the traditions of Shinese culture, while at the same time make it accessible to today's international audience, are chronicled in The Art of Mulan by the artists themselves. Their words reveal their passion while their art demonstrates the dazzling array of talent Disney committed to the making of a truly moving and spectacular film.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Film, China, Coffee Table Books, Asia, Reference

192 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1998

Reviews

[Gretel Hernández · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una gran película, en la cual aparece la que es considerada por la mayoría, como la mejor princesa Disney; me encantó ver su arte.

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

(More pictures at parkablogs.com)

I really couldn't put it down after reading it. It tells a very clear and interesting story on how the movie was created. Disney put huge emphasis on stories. The different story artists would discuss at lengths in this book on the considerations they made when trying to adapt Chinese history into a Western film. There were ideas to make Mulan a romantic comedy, which were luckily shot down, in an attempt to keep the film authentic.

The research process is most interesting and takes a look at the artists as they travel tthroughout China, visiting places like the Great Wall, Forbidden City and other ancient cities. It's a great learning process for them, when they were there, and for the readers, as we read from their experiences now.

All the concept art, storyboards and film stills presented are always related back to the story. The artists will always be there to explain how their design supports the story. So it's a great insight into how to do production design. Hans Bacher has also created a useful style guide for artists to follow. Only one page is published in this book but the rest can be found on his blog.

While the movie is animated, the book doesn't talk about animation technically.

This art book is the learning process of creating an animated film. It's fun, fresh and delightful to read. It should appeal greatly to animators, production designers and artists.

This review was first published on parkablogs.com. There are more pictures and videos on my blog.

[Miss Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

They give the background on the Chinese myth and a bit about the culture itself first. Then they discuss how much the story changed as it was developed.

We are lucky to have gotten the film we did. At one point, they wanted it to be a romantic comedy. Mulan was supposed to have an arranged marriage to Shang. She was supposed to be a tomboy who was dissatisfied with her life and the options available to her.

At one point they had two dragons, Yin and Yang. They had a dragon and a phoenix.

A lot of song numbers that never made it into the film.


The entire crew seemed to really understand Mulan and the heart of the story:

"Mulan's motivation is a lot about honor and self-sacrifice; This is really a story about a father and a daughter and honor - not girl meets boy and they live happily ever after."
So, while there is the possibility of Shang and Mulan getting a happily ever after, it is never the focus of the film. And that is a most excellent thing.

This is a girl who did what she did for the love and honor of her family.
That meant scrapping the arranged marriage that Mulan runs away from; getting rid of the tomboy who runs off to prove herself to others. Mulan's motivations are about something far more noble than running away from the destiny set out for her or proving she is as good as the men.

"But for me, what is powerful about the film is the notion of sacrifice, the notion of commitment, the notion of dedication, the notion of truth-telling, and the notion of doing the right thing - and achieving greatness."

And that is why I love this film!

Anyone who liked Mulan or is interested in how films are developed, especially from an artistic standpoint, will likely enjoy.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Previously I had read The Art of Hercules and I'd been wanting to read The Art of Mulan ever since it came out--it's my favorite Disney animated film. It's really interesting to hear about the decision making process behind scenes on these animated features, especially in regards to the direction of the kind of story they wanted to tell while trying to retain the spirit of the legend (whether they are successful, not sure as I don't know much about the tale of Mulan--but they did at least seem to do their research) and balance making an entertaining film. I also love learning all of the information about the art styles they used in the animation, even up to why they chose to use certain colors. I feel like the animators really did take some artistic steps with the way they approached the art in Mulan, but also kept it true to Disney. If you ever want an in depth look at the film, this is a great book. And it has a lot of stills from the film as well as artwork that was used for developing the style of the backgrounds and characters.

[Patrícia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overreliance on movie frames. The text was extremely interesting at times but was also only namedropping every artist and every disney movie ever at others. Interesting and overall good, however not that many behind the scenes art. Good insight on the thoughts behind the characters and story.

[Brenno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esse livro é indispensável para qualquer fã da animação. É um trabalho extremamente rico sobre a produção desde as pesquisas até a animação de personagens, composição de cenas, cores. Possui várias imagens lindíssimas de artes conceituais com uma impressão com qualidade absurda.

Super recomendo

[alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

idk if it’s bc this movie means a lot to me or because this was the first book of its type that i read, but i rlly rlly loved this! i think it does a rlly great job of showing the care put into the development of mulan and i enjoyed learning of all the steps that came before the movie even rlly started

the layout of this was also rlly fantastic and hit a good balance of text and visuals that added to eachother, idk much love for this!

i think i would like to buy this one day :^)

[Elevetha · Rating 4 out of 5]

While an alarming amount of text is featured in this one and still not enough concept art for my taste, I heartily enjoyed reading about their journey making Mulan. Much more interesting than The Art of Anastasia, as far as the creative process goes.

[John Peel · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Mulan" is one of my favorite Disney animated films, and this book is a very clear and fascinating look at how the animators approached their work on the film. There are lots of great illustrations to demonstrate what they talk about. Fascinating fun.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great art-book. Great movie.

[Alex Baron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic art of book. Mulan has always been one of my favourite animated movies and this book does an excellent job taking the reader through the creation of the film. In particular the book covers the genesis of the film along with concept art and story decisions that were made. You get to hear why the movie looks like it does and what character decisions they chose. Every film has challenges and Mulan was no different. To hear how the story team pushed through them was interesting. Overall a great book if you are a fan of the film or Disney animation.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very informative! I was most impressed with the team’s travels to China for inspiration and the making of Sequence Six, the part which shows how Mulan disguised herself as a soldier. I enjoyed their sketches too. This book actually makes me appreciate the movie more.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gorgeous art that--like the movie itself--is stunted by half-baked text.

[Foureyesbambino · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 4 out of 5]

628 - 2020

[Margaux Mannessier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un beau récit de la conception du dessin animé de 1998. J'ai écouté la BO en lisant et je regrette un peu qu'on ne l'évoque pas davantage.

[Vonoudom]

i want to read it

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back in the 90s, Disney produced several of these lavish, glossy volumes as companions for their animated features. These Hyperion Editions are still widely regarded by collectors as some of the best art books available.

The Art of Mulan is truly one of the best of these originals. It is a beautifully designed piece featuring in-depth explorations of the inspirations behind the film, including a reproduction of the original Mulan story and a great deal of exquisite concept artwork.
Of particular note, too, is a chapter detailing the animator's research trip to China, which provides valuable insight into the finer details involved in their creative process.

For any fan of this film, this volume would make an excellent gift - though it is sadly out of print, so it is difficult to find affordable copies. If you can find one in good condition, I would highly recommend it for passionate Disney fans and collectors!

[τλιϓλ · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the books that I dreamed to have for my own since I watched the movie.
I like the way it started, the beautiful poem, the sweet lines, those sketches and pictures, the info about everything from A-Z, everything was just amazing in this book, I felt like crying when I end the book, I really loved it and enjoyed it ^_^

[Kelly K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This gave a lot of information on the development process as well as a description of what the creators did during their trip to China before creating the picture. I would have loved to have seen more first drafts of what characters looked like as well as sketches. The majority of the art in the book was stills from the film.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely gorgeous book. The creative process is described really well and it's complemented by a wide selection of images from various stages of development. This book had a beautiful way of handling chapter breaks, with an image of a character printed on thick, sheer paper overlaid on a background image from the development stages.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book as a Chirstmas gift. I liked how it brought you into the stages of them creating the movie.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous book of which I really only got to scratch the surface. It is definitely worth the money for those who loved the animation.

[Cass]

I want this so badly but it's been out of print for ages and so it's really expensive! (Going for about $100 used.) Yup, my eye is out.

[♫✯Em loves Hollenstein✯♫❤the summertime and butterflies all belong to your creation❤]

i am so obsessed with Mulan. i literally have watched it twice in one day. i need this.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This went into a lot of detail regarding the process of the making of the movie.

[Alfredo Espinoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mulan