Jussi
Registered User
If they didn't want it to be compared to the original, then they shouldn't have remade it. I didn't follow the production, but some quick googling says Mushu isn't in their because Chinese audiences don't like him (same reason they removed a kiss between Mulan and her love interest). I'm not sure if "pandering to the Chinese market" is a more legitimate excuse when telling a Chinese folk tale vs some Transformers movie, but I guess it could be.
I thought the movie was fine, but I actually would have preferred it without any mysticism at all. No mushu, no pheonix, no witch, no chi. Remove the extremely Disney stuff like when she is chasing the chicken at the start and just have it be a grounded movie about a young women risking her life for her family.
Chinese hated Mushu in the animation, they considered it an insult to the legend of Mulan. That legend is highly revered in China. This could have broken the box office records in China and become the first billion dollar movie there, IF they like it.