I really enjoyed Mulan (the first movie). I went to buy a copy for my little girl recently and found that it was cheaper to buy it WITH Mulan II rather than on its own...so I purchased both together. Mulan II was extremely disappointing. The storyline itself is extremely dark. In Mulan (the original), she runs off to protect her family and father from having to go to war. So, she broke the cultural norms of her day for a virtuous reason. She sacrificed herself and was willing to face the consequences. In Mulan II, the emperor's daughters have sworn (freely) to marry the neighborings kingdom's princes in order to avoid war. Mulan finds this very difficult to accept because she can not understand how this can be a free choice. In the end, the princesses run off with their guards (for true love..they like the same food, they like each other's eyes...really deep stuff). The plot seems to teach kids that following your own wants over the needs of others is fine and lying and manipulating to get there are okay too. Needless to say, I cut up my copy (could not even give it to Salvation Army) Selling Mulan and Mulan II for less than Mulan alone makes perfect sense. Mulan II cheapens the original Mulan. Shame on Disney.
Review of Mulan II
