Director Niki Caro Reveals Why Mushu Was Left Out of the Live-Action ‘Mulan’

Director Niki Caro Reveals Why Mushu Was Left Out of the Live-Action ‘Mulan‘. Many Disney fans were surprised to hear that the iconic sidekick from the animated film, Mushu, would be left out of the story in the live-action film. At first, it was believed the character would take on a different form or role, but those rumors were quickly squandered by Disney. So, why did they decide to remove the humorous companion and guardian from the film? Recently, Director Niki Caro spoke with USA Today and shared why the studio decided to axe the character from the new feature.

“We were very inspired by what Mushu brought to the animation, which was the humor and the levity, and the challenge was to bring that to Mulan’s real relationships with her fellow soldiers,” Caro shared with USA Today. “Mushu, beloved as that character is in the animation, was Mulan’s confidante, and part of bringing it into the live-action is to commit to the realism of her journey, and she had to make those relationships with her fellow soldiers. So there was certainly a lot to work with in that department.”

Previously, Producer Jason Reed had shared another primary reason Mushu was left out of the film. The reason being, a very negative response from Chinese audiences after the animated films theatrical release in 1998. Reed had shared, “The dragon is a sign of respect and it’s a sign of strength and power, and that sort of using it as a silly sidekick didn’t play very well with the traditional Chinese audience.”

Mulan stars Yifei Liu (Mulan), Jet Li (Emperor), Donnie Yen (Commander Tung), Gong Li (Xianniang), Yoson An (Honghui), and Jason Scott Lee (Böri Khan). The live-action ‘Mulan‘ is now streaming via Disney+ Premier Access (additional $29.99 USD per subscription), and will be available to all Disney+ subscribers this December. Both the animated Mulan and Mulan II are currently available to stream exclusively on Disney+.

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Featured Photo Credit: Disney

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