Caroline Siede Girl Culture (Substack) Sep 16, 2026

If each Disney princess of this era is an attempt to evolve the archetype, Mulan combines Ariel’s yearning, Belle’s intelligence, Jasmine’s outspokenness, and Pocahontas’ sense of duty into the most nuanced, richly drawn Disney heroine of the 1990s.

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Desmond Ryan Philadelphia Inquirer Dec 20, 2024 4/4

Mulan marks a sumptuous return to top form, and it can stand comparison with anything done in the classic era of Disney animation. Back then, Snow White dreamed that some day her prince would come. Today, the prince would not find Mulan waiting for him.

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Jeff Strickler Minneapolis Star Tribune Dec 20, 2024 4.5/5

The color palette is stunning, the attention to detail exquisite and the merger of computer-animated epic scenes with intricate, hand-drawn passages is seamless.

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Jami Bernard New York Daily News Dec 20, 2024 4/4

It features exquisite, silky backgrounds and enough action, romance and silly stuff for all ages and genders.

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Donald Munro Fresno Bee Dec 20, 2024 A

Mulan is beautiful. It soars, laughs and cries. It's as delicate as a late-blooming cherry blossom and as solid as the Great Wall of China.

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Joe Morgenstern Wall Street Journal Dec 20, 2024

The film, which is pleasant enough and quite lovely in its visual design, may well inspire millions of girls to forget about Leonardo DiCaprio and get on with their lives. Yet Mulan suffers from recurrent earnestness and erratic writing.

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Dennis King Tulsa World Dec 20, 2024 4/4

This lovely, energetic and painterly film, based on an ages-old Chinese legend about a young warrior heroine, is one that achieves a nearly perfect blending of elements -- adventure, romance, comedy, music and art -- that define the genre.

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Steve Persall Tampa Bay Times Dec 20, 2024 A-

When you see the Walt Disney Pictures animation wizards working near the top of their game like this, you wonder why any other studio ever tries to muscle into their territory.

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Eleanor Ringel Cater Atlanta Journal-Constitution Dec 20, 2024 A

A quantum leap beyond the labored pretentiousness of The Hunchback of Notre Dame or the self-conscious chic of Hercules, Disney's 36th full-length animated movie is far more than a grand family film. It's a grand film, period.

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Rene Rodriguez Miami Herald Dec 20, 2024 3/4

As good as Mulan is -- and there are long stretches when it is simply wonderful -- the movie could have still been better, if only its makers weren't so insistent on treating it like such a... cartoon.

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Chris Garcia Austin American-Statesman Dec 20, 2024 3/4

Puncturing the period stuffiness of its animated features with incongruous bits of pop culture ephemera is the puritanical studio's bid at hipness. It works improbably well. But it's Mulan's quaint unhipness that makes it such a respite.

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Ella Taylor L.A. Weekly Dec 20, 2024

Without its fabulous animation, Mulan would add up to little more than a serviceable variant on the Disney drill.

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Bob Fenster Arizona Republic Dec 20, 2024 3/5

It's puzzling that experienced filmmakers who could craft a kids picture as lively and entertaining as Mulan could have trouble snipping out the objectionable bits.

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Ann Hornaday Baltimore Sun Dec 20, 2024 3/4

As wonderful as this is to watch, though, Mulan ultimately inspires a pang of ambivalence.

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Jay Carr Boston Globe Dec 20, 2024

After a few recent subpar efforts by Disney, Mulan bracingly and captivatingly reinvigorates the studio's animation line. Sporting the look and feel of an instant classic, it's the studio's strongest, freshest entry since The Lion King.

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Jack Mathews Newsday Dec 20, 2024 3.5/4

Mulan is one of Disney's most daring animated features and, at the same time, its the most child-friendly since The Lion King.

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Alexander Walker London Evening Standard Dec 20, 2024

Girls can go to war, too; and boys shouldn't keep them in their place. The message couldn't be more politically correct -- or, at it turns out, decently entertaining.

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Nick Place The Sunday Age Dec 20, 2024 3.5/5

It all adds up to a fun package, with great sight gags, a tender ending and lots of laughs.

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Michael Wilmington Chicago Tribune Dec 20, 2024 3/4

Highly accomplished, slick as a whistle and sometimes dazzlingly entertaining, this new Disney animated feature is a modernized version of a Chinese legend.

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Graham Young Birmingham Mail Dec 20, 2024 4/4

It's not one of the all-time greats like Snow White, but the good news is that it's far better than the likes of Pocahontas.

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