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Mulan Jr. is a one-act stage musical based on the 1998 Disney animated film Mulan, [1] which in turn was based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan and the story "Fa Mulan" by Robert D. San Souci. The adaptation mixes songs featured in the 1998 film as well as deleted songs from the film, including the revival of songs written by Stephen Schwartz, who was the original composer for the 1998 film before leaving to work on The Prince of Egypt . The musical is G-rated, any mature content from the sources it is based on having been deleted in the adaptation. The cast includes 26 roles plus an ensemble. The show was taken down from MTI's website in the summer of 2020, but it's being considered as a re-release but no date is currently set for if that does happen.
Mulan Jr. is a part of the Music Theatre International’s (MTI) Broadway Junior series which adapts larger musicals and Disney productions to 30-minute (for the KIDS productions intended for elementary school-aged students) and 60-minute (for the Junior productions intended for middle-school aged students) musicals. [2] Mulan Jr. rights can be purchased with a showkit which includes 30 scripts, 1 piano-vocal score, 2 rehearsal / accompaniment CDs, and 1 choreography DVD. [3] The kit also includes 30 copies of Family Matters: A Parent's Guide to Theatre, a guide which offers parents tips to supporting their students as well as explain the rehearsal and performance process. [4]
The Fa Family Ancestors; Laozi, Lin, Zhang, Hong, Yun, introduce the setting as the day Mulan is set to meet the village Matchmaker ("Written in Stone'). Mulan's father, Fa Zhou prays to the family ancestors ("Honour to Us All") that she will make a good match. However, Mulan ruins her betrothal ceremony, bringing dishonor on the Fa Family ("Honor to Us All - Reprise") and consequently struggles with her identity ("Reflection"). Fa Zhou is then conscripted into the army by Chi Fu, The Emperor's councilor, after Shan-Yu and the Huns invade China. Mulan therefore disguises herself as a boy and steals her father's helmet and sword in order to run away from home and take his place in the army ("Written in Stone - Reprise"). The Fa Family ancestors task the dragon Mushu, a demoted family guardian, to stop Mulan before she is killed for her impersonation ("Honor to Us All- Reprise").
On their way to military training, Mushu gives Mulan advice on how to act like a man, in opposition to his orders to bring her back home ("Keep 'Em Guessing"). When Mulan arrives at Military training, she introduces herself as "Ping" and undergoes training under Captain Shang with Yao, Ling, and Qian-Po ("I'll Make a Man Out of You/Lesson No.1"). The soldiers travel to a mountain village to protect it from the Huns ("A Girl Worth Fighting For"), but when they arrive the village has already been destroyed. While the soldiers react to their failure ("A Girl Worth Fighting For – Reprise"), they are attacked by the Huns. Mulan triggers an avalanche which buries the Huns and allows the soldiers to escape. Shang gives his eternal trust to Ping, but soon discovers that Ping is actually Mulan. He chooses not to kill Mulan because she saved his life, but decides to leave her behind instead ("Written in Stone/Reflection – Reprise").
Shan-Yu and the Huns dig themselves out of the snow and begin to travel towards the Imperial City for an attack. Mulan goes to Shang to warn him of the impending attack ("Written in Stone – Reprise"), but she is ignored. The Chinese people have gathered at the Emperor's Palace to celebrate the Huns defeat, however in the festivities, Shan-Yu is able to kidnap the Emperor. After Mulan convinces Shang to listen to her plan to save the Emperor, she tasks Shang, Yao, Ling, and Qian-Po to dress as women in order to sneak into the palace ("Keep 'Em Guessin' – Reprise"). The men, Mushu, and Mulan split up. The men save the Emperor while Mulan fights and defeats Shan-Yu and Mushu signals the Chinese army to attack the palace, resulting in the retreat of the Huns. The Emperor commends Mulan for her bravery ("A Girl Worth Fighting For – Reprise"). Mulan returns home and is welcomed back by Fa Zhou. She is visited by Shang who comes with the intention of becoming her suitor. Mushu is rewarded for helping Mulan bring honor to the Fa Family by the ancestors who promote him to Family Guardian ("Honor to Us All – Finale," "Keep 'Em Guessin' – Bows").
The musical closely follows the plot of the Disney film. However:
Further changes can be seen in the musical numbers:
Written in Stone (Part one) - Ancestors
Written in Stone (Part two) - Fa Zhou, Yun, Fa Li, Grandmother Fa, Lin, Laozi, Hong, Ensemble
Written in Stone (Part three) - Ancestors and Ensemble
Honor to Us All (Part one) - Fa Zhou, Mulan, Ancestors, Fa Li, Grandmother Fa
Honor to Us All (Part two) - Mulan, Grandmother Fa, Ensemble
Honor to Us all (Part three) - Hong, Lin, Laozi, Yun, Fa Zhou, Mulan
Reflection - Mulan, Ancestors, Fa Li, Grandmother Fa, Fa Zhou
Written in Stone (Reprise) - Mushu, Ancestors, Mulan, Fa Zhou
Honor to Us All (Reprise) - Mushu
Keep 'em Guessing (Part one) - Mushu, Mulan, Ensemble
Keep 'em Guessing (Part two) - Mulan, Mushu, Ensemble
I'll Make a Man/Lesson No. 1 - Shang, Qian-Po, Yao, Ling, Mushu, Mulan
A Girl Worth Fighting For - Ling, Mulan, Yao, Qian- Po, Mushu, Chi-Fu, Ensemble, Shang
A Girl Worth Fighting For (Reprise) - Mulan, Ensemble
Written In Stone /Reflection (Reprise) - Mulan and Ancestors
Written In Stone (Reprise) - Mushu and Mulan
Keep 'em Guessing (Reprise) - Shang, Mulan, Yao, Ling, Qian-Po, Mushu
A Girl Worth Fighting For (Reprise)/Coming Home - Emperor, Shang, Yao, Ling, Qian-Po, Mulan, Fa Zhou
Honor to Us All (Finale) - Company
Keep 'em Guessin' (Bows) - Company
The Shang dynasty, also known as the Yin dynasty, was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou dynasty. The classic account of the Shang comes from texts such as the Book of Documents, Bamboo Annals and Records of the Grand Historian. Modern scholarship dates the dynasty between the 16th to 11th centuries BC, with more agreement surrounding the end date than beginning date.
Hua Mulan is a legendary Chinese folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era of Chinese history. Scholars generally consider Mulan to be a fictional character. Hua Mulan is depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu by Jin Guliang.
Fa Mulan is a fictional character, inspired by a legendary figure, who appears in Walt Disney Pictures' animated film Mulan (1998). Her speaking voice is provided by actress Ming-Na Wen, while singer Lea Salonga provides the character's singing voice. Created by author Robert D. San Souci, Mulan is based on the legendary Chinese warrior Hua Mulan from the poem the Ballad of Mulan, making her the first Disney Princess not to be based on a fairytale or folktale but rather a legend. Her name "Fa Mulan" is inspired by the Yue Chinese name for the character, which is pronounced Fa Muklan. The only child of an aging war veteran, Mulan disregards both tradition and the law by disguising herself as a man in order to enlist herself in the army in lieu of her feeble father.
Mulan is a 1998 American animated musical coming-of-age action-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. Based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, the film was directed by Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft and produced by Pam Coats, from a screenplay by Rita Hsiao, Chris Sanders, Philip LaZebnik, and the writing team of Raymond Singer and Eugenia Bostwick-Singer, and a story by Robert D. San Souci. Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, Miguel Ferrer, and BD Wong star in the English version as Mulan, Mushu, Shan Yu, and Captain Li Shang, respectively, while Jackie Chan provided the voice of Li Shang for the Chinese dubs of the film. The film's plot takes place in China during an unspecified Imperial dynasty, where Fa Mulan, daughter of aged warrior Fa Zhou, impersonates a man to take her father's place during a general conscription to counter a Hun invasion.
Laozi, also romanized as Lao Tzu and various other ways, was a semi-legendary ancient Chinese philosopher, author of the Tao Te Ching, the foundational text of Taoism along with the Zhuangzi. Laozi is a Chinese honorific, typically translated as "the Old Master". Modern scholarship generally regards his biographical details as invented, and his opus a collaboration. Traditional accounts say he was born as Li Er in the state of Chu in the 6th century BC during China's Spring and Autumn period, served as the royal archivist for the Zhou court at Wangcheng, met and impressed Confucius on one occasion, and composed the Tao Te Ching in a single session before retiring into the western wilderness.
Song is the pinyin transliteration of the Chinese family name 宋. It is transliterated as Sung in Wade-Giles, and Soong is also a common transliteration. In addition to being a common surname, it is also the name of a Chinese dynasty, the Song dynasty, written with the same character.
The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch or by his Chinese name Huangdi, is a mythical Chinese sovereign and culture hero included among the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and an individual deity (shen) or part of the Five Regions Highest Deities in Chinese folk religion. Calculated by Jesuit missionaries, who based their work on various Chinese chronicles, and later accepted by the twentieth-century promoters of a universal calendar starting with the Yellow Emperor, Huangdi's traditional reign dates are 2697–2597 or 2698–2598 BC.
Mulan II is a 2004 American animated children's film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and DisneyToon Studios and distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment. The film was directed by Darrell Rooney and Lynne Southerland and produced by Jennifer Blohm, from a screenplay written by Michael Lucker, Chris Parker, and Roger S. H. Schulman. It is the sequel to Walt Disney Feature Animation's 1998 animated feature film Mulan, featuring songs written by Jeanine Tesori and Alexa Junge and a musical score composed and conducted by Joel McNeely. Much of the voice cast from the first film returned, excluding Eddie Murphy (Mushu), Miriam Margolyes, James Hong (Chi-Fu), Chris Sanders, and Matthew Wilder. Murphy, Margolyes, and Sanders were replaced by Mark Moseley, April Winchell, and Frank Welker, respectively, while Gedde Watanabe does his own singing for the sequel. Mulan II features Mulan and her new fiancé, General Li Shang on a special mission: escorting the Emperor's three daughters across the country to meet their soon-to-be fiancés. Meanwhile, Mushu attempts to break up their relationship to keep his pedestal. The film deals with arranged marriages, loyalty, relationships, making choices, trust, and finding true love.
Soon-tek Oh was a Korean–American actor. He was the voice of Fa Zhou in Disney's Mulan and the direct-to-video sequel Mulan II and the sadistic Colonel Yin in Missing in Action 2: The Beginning. He has starred in many films, and also acted in television series, including Stargate SG-1; MacGyver; M*A*S*H; Charlie's Angels; Airwolf, Magnum, P.I.; Hawaii Five-O; Kung-Fu; Zorro; The Man with the Golden Gun; Baa Baa Black Sheep and Touched by an Angel.
"I'll Make a Man Out of You" is a song written by composer Matthew Wilder and lyricist David Zippel for Walt Disney Pictures' animated film Mulan (1998). Appearing on the film's soundtrack Mulan: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack, "I'll Make a Man Out of You" is performed by American singer Donny Osmond as the singing voice of Captain Li Shang in lieu of American actor BD Wong, who provides the character's speaking voice. The song also features contributions from Lea Salonga as the singing voice of Mulan, Eddie Murphy as Mushu, and Harvey Fierstein, Jerry Tondo and Wilder himself as Yao, Chien-Po and Ling, respectively. In addition, Mushu has a speaking line unlike the other characters in the song.
Mulan: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack is the soundtrack for the 1998 Disney animated feature film, Mulan. Released by Walt Disney Records on June 2, 1998, the album featured songs by Matthew Wilder and David Zippel, conducted by Paul Bogaev, and score composed and conducted by Jerry Goldsmith. Vocalists included Lea Salonga, Donny Osmond, 98 Degrees, Jaz Coleman, Stevie Wonder and Christina Aguilera.
Herman Kwan Hoi-San was a Hong Kong actor. His English name was Herman Kwan. Kwan started off as a Cantonese opera actor in street theatre before joining New Voice Opera Troupe (新聲劇團). He also started singing for early Hong Kong film soundtracks and moved on to act in films, mostly adaption of opera in Cantonese. He became famous and acted in many lead roles. When Hong Kong films started to move towards Mandarin, Kwan's career faltered and joined TVB and acted in various roles. Directors and filmmakers rediscovered his talent and cast him in many supporting roles in films. In 2001, Kwan suffered a stroke and was left mute and paralysed. He died in 2006.
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"Keep 'Em Guessing" is a song written for the 1998 animated film Mulan. The song was to be sung by Mushu and performed by Eddie Murphy. It was written by Matthew Wilder and David Zippel. It was restored for the stage musical adaption Mulan Jr.