Quote from Oladosun Joshua Segun on June 19, 2025, 12:11 PM

That girl staring back at me—who is she? Christina Aguilera saw her own face in the bathroom mirror when she first used a tape recorder to record a Whitney Houston song because, as she subsequently explained, "the acoustics were good."

The Mickey Mouse Club veteran was given the opportunity to record "Reflection," her first single and the ending of Mulan, one of the Mouse House's most cherished and daring animated movies, after that recording was submitted to Disney.

The ancient Chinese legend of the female warrior Hua Mulan served as the inspiration for Disney's 36th animated film. Its strong and free-spirited title character, voiced by Ming-Na Wen, made it an immediate hit when it was released on June 19, 1998. It went on to earn over $300 million at the box office and receive an Oscar nomination.

The highly regarded movie also marked the beginning of Aguilera's singing career, securing her first record deal at the age of 17.

Yes, when Mulan was made into a live-action adaptation in 2020, the "Dirrty" singer was present to celebrate.

"Twenty years later to be celebrating my first album and this at the same time is an incredible meant-to-be experience," at the premiere, the mother of Max, 17, and Summer, 10, said. "To now share this movie with my children and to know that the message in it is so strong and so truthful to what my lyrics and my music has always been about and that's to speak your truth, to always defy the odds and show your warrior and your fighter inside."

She released two songs for the much-awaited movie, but in the process, another well-liked member of the original production was eliminated.

Ironically, the final cut of the original movie also nearly omitted Aguilera's song. And Mulan's voice was originally supposed to be provided by a different actress.

And in celebration of the film's 27th anniversary, those are just some of the behind-the-scenes details we are sharing. So, allow these Mulan secrets to turn you into a man.

1. The Disney animation company at Disney-MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios) developed Mulan, the 36th animated movie that Disney has released, mostly in Florida.

2. Mulan, based on a 2,000-year-old Chinese legend, took five years to produce and involved over 700 animators. The film's development started in 1994 when a team of artistic supervisors was sent to China for three weeks to gather ideas and gain a better understanding of the culture.

3. Mulan's original version was a romantic comedy in which the title character, a misfit, flees after her father sets her up with Li Shang. But when screenwriter Chris Sanders was brought in to create the script, he pushed the team to stay closer to the original legend.

4. At first, it was thought that Tia Carrere would voice the title character. Mulan's speaking and singing vocals were then given by Lea Salonga, who sang Princess Jasmine's voice in Aladdin.

5. Filmmakers did not think Salonga's attempts to deepen her voice as Ping were convincing, so Ming-Na Wen was brought in to speak the part, even though Salonga continued to perform Mulan's songs. After producers heard Wen's narration in The Joy Luck Club, they decided to cast her.

"When we heard Ming-Na doing that voice-over, we knew we had our Mulan," In 1998, producer Pam Coats told The Deseret News. "She has a very likable and lovely voice, and those are the qualities we were looking for."

6.Although Donny Osmond provided the character's singing voice in the film, BD Wong was chosen to play Captain Li Shang. "I'll Make a Man Out of You." Osmond was previously in the running to voice Hercules' title role.

7. In the Chinese version of the film, Jackie Chan provided the voice of Li Shang.

8. Before Eddie Murphy agreed, the filmmakers looked at Joe Pesci, Steve Martin, and Sinbad in hopes of finding a comedian to voice Mulan's chatty dragon sidekick Mushu, much like Aladdin did with Robin Williams as Genie.

9. Nevertheless, Murphy nearly turned down the film when he was first requested to record Mushu's voice in a real studio. Murphy remembered promising Disney, "We can record it in my basement," during an interview with The Chicago Sun-Times. In the end, Murphy taped his portion at his New Jersey home.

10. Lyricist David Zippel claims that although Mushu had a song in the original script, the song was dropped once Murphy was cast.

"We wrote three different versions of it," Zippel revealed "But that's because we didn't understand at that point that it wasn't that Eddie Murphy wasn't liking our songs, he just didn't want to sing in the film."

11. "I'll Make a Man Out of You", is among the film's hit tunes, but composer Matthew Wilder acknowledged that he "never thought" it would become as popular as it did.

"It was a training sequence, and whether you're talking Private Benjamin or GI Jane, [imagine] taking that and putting it into an Asian motif," Wilder described the lively melody. "We were trying to marry the idea of that hyper-masculinity as if it were a Marine moment, but instead of it being Marines, it was the Chinese army."

12. Zippel and Wilder disclosed that they had to battle, "tooth and nail" to keep "Reflection" in the finished picture when the filmmakers thought about removing the ballad completely.

13. "True to Your Heart" was originally composed for Hanson to perform at the end credits. However, Stevie Wonder ended up singing the song after an agreement with the boy band fell through.

14. Directors At the end of the movie, Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook appear as the men who light the fireworks.

15. The only Disney princess who is not truly a member of the royal family is Mulan. She did not marry a prince, nor was she born a royal.

16. In September 2020, Niki Caro's live-action adaption, which starred Yifei Liu in the titular role, was released after ten years of development.

17. Mushu was one character that did not make the switch from animation to live-action.

"Mushu, beloved as that character is in the animation, was Mulan's confidante and part of bringing it into live action is to commit to the realism of her journey and she had to make those relationships with her fellow soldiers," Caro gave USA Today an explanation. "So, there was certainly a lot to work with in that department."

It’s a bold shift, and while some fans missed Mushu’s antics, others appreciated the film’s effort to honor the original Chinese ballad more respectfully.