Disney’s Mulan: 5 Things In The Movie That Were Historically Accurate (& 5 That Were Not) (2024)

As one of the most beloved Disney animated movies of the 1990s, Mulan's true story adds an exciting aspect to the movie. Mulan tells the story of the titular hero, a young woman in ancient China who defies social expectations of women at the time, disguising herself as a male soldier in order to defend her country against the invading Hun army. The story of Mulan is based on the Chinese folk legend of Hua Mulan from the 6th century. Along with the legend itself, there are some historical aspects of Mulan that are more accurate than others.

Mulan remains a popular movie among Disney fans for its rich story, its memorable songs, its incredible visuals, and its representation of Chinese culture. However, as with most movies that take on a historical story, not everything makes complete sense and there are some areas that can be pointed out that are not factually correct. There are also a number of facts that the movie does get right in telling this grand story. While it might not change how fans enjoy Mulan, exploring the movie's accuracy is a fun way to visit the Disney adventure.

Things In Disney's Mulan That Were Historically Accurate

The Invasion Of The Huns

Shan Yu is one of the most underrated Disney villains of all time. He is a ruthless warrior with a terrifying presence at the head of the Hun army. Under his command, the Huns are made to be fearsome enemies for Mulan and the Chinese army to face in the battlefield. While aspects of the army are exaggerated, they were a formidable force when they invaded.

Historians do believe that the Huns were responsible for invading the region of China where the film takes place during the time this story was set, according to China Highlights. The Huns lived to the north, in the Rouran State, although Shan Yu was not a real historical figure. Little is known about the Huns in real life, but they were an important part of shaping ancient Asia and Europe. This group of nomadic people were known for their intimidating warfare.

Her Name Is Mulan

Though Mulan established herself as one of the great Disney princesses in the studio's history, she is also so much more than that. She paved the way for many female warrior characters and it makes sense that the movie wanted to pay homage to the real-life figure. The film is based on a real Chinese ballad called Ballad of Mulan, and much like the film, it depicts a girl who leaves her home to join the Imperial army in her father's place.

The story has been retold several times over the years, and the ballad itself left plenty of room for interpretation. It dates all the way back to 386–581 AD at least, likely beginning in oral retellings and being written down significantly later. Unfortunately, with almost no way to verify its authenticity, no one knows if there is any truth behind the story, or if it comes from a place of fiction.

Piety And Loyalty Are Important Chinese Values

While Disney has a long history of culturally insensitive depictions in its movies, the Disney Renaissance of the late 80s and 90s saw a shift in the kind of stories they were telling. Along with Pocahontas, Mulan allows for new cultures to be explored. While they were not perfect depictions, Mulan sought to highlight aspects of Chinese culture within its grand adventure.

Piety and loyalty are two things that Mulan strove for in the film, as she sought to bring honor to her family. She wanted to support her father by allowing him to stay home, rather than die on a battlefield in his older age, and with injuries from a prior war. Both of these values are in fact very important in Chinese culture. Mulan's loyalty was shown time and time again throughout the movie, especially during the sad reunion with her father when she returned home with gifts to win back his favor.

Crickets Are Considered Lucky In Chinese Culture

While Mulan was a unique story in the catalog of Disney animated movies, it also conformed to many of the crowd-pleasing tropes of this era of these animated movies. This also included having the classic Disney animal sidekicks. Along with Mushu and Khan, Cri-Kee is a cricket who is gifted to Mulan as part of the matchmaking process. Mulan later lets Cri-Kee go free only for it to choose to continue following her on this adventure.

Crickets are in fact symbols of luck in Chinese culture, and they were even kept in golden cages like they are in the film. However, it is still a bit false as the cages didn't begin to exist until the Tang Dynasty. Fans also doubt that this cricket would have survived for as long as it did, although that is part of the joy that makes up classic Disney movies.

Mulan Was Expected To Fill A Domestic Role

While rewatching some of the Disney princess appearances from past movies can reveal certain aspects that did not age well, Mulan was part of an era that showed female characters being more independent and taking charge of their life. Ariel from The Little Mermaid pushed back against her father's strict rules. Belle defied public opinion to focus on her love of reading.

As shown by the movie's first few scenes, Mulan was all set to be married off to a nice man as she was dressed in traditional garb and set up for a meeting with a matchmaker. This was true of China as even in the ballad she went home following the war to become a weaver, even turning down a position of power in favor of returning to her family. This internal struggle does relate to the culture in which this film is set which adds to the realism and historical accuracy of it all in the eyes of viewers.

Things In Mulan That Are Not Historically Accurate

A Chinese Dragon Breathing Fire

While his role as Donkey in the Shrek movies might be the more famous of Eddie Murphy's voice performances, he also steals the show in Mulan as the wise-cracking and energetic little dragon Mushu. His comedic presence in the movie adds a much-needed spark to the story, even if this depiction of a Chinese dragon isn't accurate.

Historically in Chinese culture, Chinese dragons do not breathe fire as their European counterparts do. Despite this fact, Mushu does so in the film several times, albeit a very small flame. According to China Highlights, Chinese dragons were also said to live in bodies of water, with many even having power over water to some extent, which is another fact that this movie missed in its creation. Mushu might be the best Disney sidekick, but he is far from being seen as a real Chinese dragon due to his lifestyle.

It Is Set In The Han Dynasty

Most of the animated movies to come out during the era of the Disney Renaissance were period stories and Mulan falls into that category as well. When it comes to these family-friendly animated movies that feature talking animals, audiences tend to overlook some of the historically inaccurate movie moments. However, some moments immediately take the movie out of the time period it is meant to be set in.

The ballad is set back in the Han Dynasty, but there are many anachronisms in the film to the era as tea and rockets were not created until later. Tea drinking wasn't common practice until the Tang Dynasty but is portrayed heavily at the beginning of the film when Mulan receives a makeover (via Culture Trip). Rockets were also not used in combat until the 12th century, so Mulan wouldn't have been able to defeat Shan Yu with them at the end of the film.

Mulan's Secret Is Discovered

Posing as a man to fight in the war is a plot point that provides Mulan with a number of interesting avenues for the story. It showcases the bravery of Mulan from the beginning and her willingness to forge her own path. However, it also provides a lot of comedy and intrigue into the plot with her trying to keep her secret hidden with the audience knowing the truth will eventually come out.

In the movie, Mulan's secret was exposed at the camp after she received a wound that required medical care, and Li Shang was told that she was a woman. However, in the ballad, she revealed her secret years later on her own terms after she returned home and invited all of her war comrades to visit. All of them are shocked that they spent their time serving together in the army for 12 years and never uncovered the truth.

Mulan Had To Disguise Herself

Mulan is a great movie that can be enjoyed by viewers of all ages regardless of the historical inaccuracies. However, it is also one of the movies in which historical fact really ruins the whole story it has created. In this case, it was Mulan's willingness to stick closely to the original ballad that led it astray and the source material includes one key inaccuracy.

The ballad states that Mulan had to disguise herself as a man as the only way to be able to fight in the army. However, there is some historical evidence that she didn't actually have to do this at all. As per Science News for Students, there is some evidence that shows women warriors have existed in China since the time her story was created, which mutes the point that she would have to pretend to be a man at all. However, this would have put a damper on a few of the movie's famous songs, so it's probably better that Disney decided to stay true to the ballad rather than historical accuracy itself.

Mulan's Feet Were Not Bound

Mulan faced a lot of challenges in her journey throughout the movie, but she did end up being spared one historically cruel practice. A traditional fact of Chinese culture was that women would bind their feet. This practice would make it so their feet would fit into smaller shoes and was a common practice during the Han Dynasty and for long after. Foot binding was considered a symbol of beauty and status, but was painful and limited mobility.

Disney never shows this practice, although it is assumed in the ballad that she unbound her feet before heading off on her journey into the heat of battle. It would have been interesting to see Mulan address this fact or even the Disney live-action remake. It could have been an opportunity to comment on the culture and further highlight how it oppressed women.