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PAM COATS: Hi. You're now listening
to the audio commentary

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of the picture we had
the privilege of making, Mulan.

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My name is Pam Coats,
and l was the producer on the movie.

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And l had the opportunity to work
with two great directors on the project.

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I'm Barry Cook, one of the co-directors.

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And l'm Tony Bancroft,
the other co-director.

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This is one of my favorite parts
in the film, starting this way.

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COOK: lt was a simple painting
Hans Bacher put together,

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sort of watercolor on rice paper.

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But getting it to animate,

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I think Jeff Dutton
was the genius behind that.

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BANCROFT: As our artistic coordinator,
he worked out a way to reveal the lines

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through a series of complicated mattes,

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so it Iooked
like it was being painted on,

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and then created a system of bleed

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so that it gave a feeling
of bleeding into the rice paper.

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COATS: We took a research trip
to China, and I remember the first day

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when we got to actually go
to the Great WaII.

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lt was a beautiful day
and there were flags all over it.

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That inspired that shot,
because we sat on the Great WaII

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and heard that sound of flags.

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COOK: Flags flapping,
high in the mountains.

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COATS: We took a lot of video.

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The Great WaII is big enough to get
six horses across it at one time.

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lt's really nice.

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BANCROFT: Were there falcons
on any of the flags?

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COOK: There were birds.

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(MEN CHUCKLING)

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COATS: Remember how many times

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we taIked about
this opening sequence?

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We went back and forth severaI times

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about how much of
our viIIain, Shan-Yu,

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we wanted to reveaI in this first shot.

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For a long time,
we didn't even see his face.

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COOK: We kept him
dark and mysterious.

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COATS: This guy's about to go
do something that we got inspired by

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with some of our research.

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The towers were really far apart
on the Great WaII,

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and they actually used to light
signal fires along those towers

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to let people know what was going on,
so that inspired the sequence.

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Now all of China knows you're here.

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BANCROFT: We had different versions,

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where we showed
aII of Shan-Yu's troops

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on the other side of the wall,

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but we decided it was more mysterious

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to introduce just Shan-Yu
as the leader of the threat,

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and then reveaI the amount of Huns
that he has later on, as a surprise,

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in the avalanche sequence,
to great effect, l think.

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Shan-Yu is leading them.

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We'll set up defenses
around your palace immediately.

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No.

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COATS: Now this is the sequence
you meet Chi Fu.

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Chi Fu.

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Yes, Your Highness?

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COATS: We had a Iot of fun with Chi Fu,

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because we could really push him
into the real comical, cartoon mold.

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. . .but I believe my troops can stop him.

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COATS: Pat Morita's The Emperor.
He was a Iot of fun to work with.

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COOK: And James Shigeta
pIayed the GeneraI.

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lt was funny,
we have two Japanese actors

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pIaying the two Ieaders of China.

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"Graceful. Polite."

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COATS: Now this sequence,
this introduction to Mulan,

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we struggled with this
for a really long time,

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trying to figure out
how to introduce her.

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COOK: But as aIways, Chris Sanders
pulled us out of the fire.

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BANCROFT:
Chris Sanders is our head of story,

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and he just really nailed who she was

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and defined her personality,

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because if you didn't fall in love
with this character,

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there was no reaI use
going on in the story.

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And he nailed her quirky qualities.

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-He's pretty quirky himself.
-(COOK CHUCKLING)

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COATS: Didn't Chris name the dog
LittIe Brother?

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COOK: l think so.
COATS: Which we loved.

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BANCROFT: Matter of fact,
he not only did

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the character design for Little Brother...

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We loved the drawing that he created
for it in his storyboards.

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We used it as the finished design.

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He aIso does the voice of LittIe Brother.

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He did this funny yappin'
down the hallway,

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and we said, "That's so funny,
we gotta get that in there."

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And it's still funny.

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COATS: Now this sequence here, too,
we battled back and forth with this,

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about how much humor to get into it.

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COOK: l love this. lt's my favorite.

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COATS: But he's in there praying to
his ancestors.

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We wanted to put humor in there,

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but make sure
we weren't crossing the line.

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BANCROFT: Tone was something
we always battled with on this,

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because it's a comedy,
it's an action picture,

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it's a drama.

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There's many different elements,
juggling different tones

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and where to aIIeviate the audience
with a funny joke

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was always something we battled with,
trying to get the right balance.

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COOK: And throughout, there was
always the real need for comic relief

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after certain dramatic parts.

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We'd go between
a very dramatic section, very serious,

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and then sort of lighten it up.

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Fa Li, is your daughter here yet?

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The Matchmaker
is not a patient woman.

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Of all days to be late. . . I should have
prayed to the ancestors for luck.

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How lucky can they be?

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COOK: Joe Grant
was really a champion

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of this character of the cricket.

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COATS: They are
a symbol of good luck.

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We bought cricket cages
when we were in China.

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COOK: And Joe did the first drawings

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and sort of suggested that
we put the cricket in.

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And all throughout production,
we would come into work,

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especially in development,
and we'd always find a little sketch

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Joe had slipped under the door
of Cri-Kee doing something.

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BANCROFT: Joe Grant is one of the
oldest living animators and artists

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stiII empIoyed by Disney Studios.
He worked on the first Snow White.

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COOK: He was a character designer
on that movie

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and designed the OId Hag or Witch.

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BANCROFT: So he went from designing
the Old Hag or Witch in Snow White

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to Cri-Kee in Mulan.

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He's a very talented and charming guy.

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Well, honey, l've seen worse

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We're gonna turn this sow's ear

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(MULAN SCREAMS)

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lnto a silk purse

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COATS: The overall story purpose
for this song sequence

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was to set up the norm
that Mulan is trying to fit in with.

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So, this sets up the society

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and what they expect of a woman
in that timeframe.

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. . .what's this?

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COATS: Wait. What did the writing
on her hand say?

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-Can you remember?
-COOK: lt was the...

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COATS: lt's literally what she was
writing down in the beginning?

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BANCROFT: lt was the principles of
being a good wife or a good daughter...

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COATS: That's right.

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COOK: lt's like a finishing school.

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Things that would hang on the wall
of a finishing school for girls.

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COATS: Didn't David Wang,
who worked on Mulan

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in our background department
in Florida,

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do that transIation for us?

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COOK: David or Chen-Yi.

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COATS: David Wang actually taught
in Beijing. Was it Beijing?

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And then Chen-Yi Chang
is from Taiwan,

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and they helped a lot with translations

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and cultural research, things like that.

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COOK: Chen-Yi
is just so versatile. Phenomenal.

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A lot of the character designs
are based on his work.

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COATS: We eventually
gave him the title

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of character designer on the movie,

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but he was so much more than that.

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COOK: He did lots of stuff.
COATS: He did everything.

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COOK: Designs for the temple...

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BANCROFT: Researched
costume design accuracy.

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What dynasty those costumes
wouId be in

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so it was as accurate as possible.

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COOK: And we based the look
of the film on the T'ang Dynasty,

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which would've probably been
the closest period

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to where MuIan Iived.

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COATS: SupposedIy, yeah.

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COOK: The closest that really had
a style and an architecture of its own.

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Many people look at the architecture
in this film,

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and it's reminiscent of what wouId be
thought of as Japanese architecture,

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but the Chinese infIuenced the Iook
of the rooftops and so forth.

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You see it more in the ImperiaI City,
the architecture,

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but it's heavily influenced
by T'ang Dynasty designs

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and especially the palace
that was in China at that time.

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BANCROFT: David Wang did
the Chinese Iine drawing

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of the Great WaII that opens the fiIm.

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And he had studied that.

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It's a reaI art form in itseIf
to try and get that line work,

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and the elegance of it and the beauty.

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So he did a Iot of
our Chinese caIIigraphy

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throughout the movie.

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Whenever you see something
in Chinese Ietters,

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it usually means something.

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Sometimes comic, sometimes not.

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Please bring honor to us all

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"Fa Mulan."

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-Present.
-Speaking without permission.

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Oops.

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Who spit in her bean curd?

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BANCROFT: There's tests that Mulan
has to go through,

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and this was certainly one,
the matchmaker test.

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She had to pass this, and this isn't
totaIIy accurate in Chinese history

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that they would have to do this, but
we felt it was the best way, story-wise,

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to show that she had faiIed.

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And it was also a way of showing
that she wanted so bad

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to make her father proud of her
by passing this test,

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that she even cheats
and writes the notes and stuff.

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lt just showed how important
it was to her.

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And then when she fails,
it has a lot more meaning.

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Reflect before you snack. . .

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Act! This shall bring you
honor and glory.

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BANCROFT: And you'll see
there's a scene coming up here...

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Since I was an animator at Disney
for years,

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I wanted to do a bit of animation
on the fiIm.

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So I animated this scene
of The Matchmaker coming up,

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when Cri-Kee faIIs down her bIouse.

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lt was a lot of fun,

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because it is The Matchmaker
and l really liked her design.

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COATS: lt took you like, what,
four months for this scene?

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BANCROFT: Okay, maybe.
COATS: So get ready for it.

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BANCROFT: Maybe it was four months.
Two weeks, four months, one of those.

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But it was a lot of fun to do,
and it just reminded me

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of the fun of being able to
lock your room and not be in a meeting

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and draw, like you always
want to as an artist.

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. . .just take that back?

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-One moment.
-(SCREAMING)

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00:10:41,308 --> 00:10:42,641
BANCROFT: There... The next one.

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00:10:42,726 --> 00:10:44,893
There it is. This is my scene, right here.

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00:10:45,145 --> 00:10:46,395
(BANCROFT EXCLAIMING)

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00:10:46,688 --> 00:10:48,939
-That is the Cri-Kee there.
-COATS: Gone. Done.

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00:10:49,024 --> 00:10:50,899
BANCROFT: Don't blink. lt's over.

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00:10:50,984 --> 00:10:52,860
COOK: This is a real staple of comedy,

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00:10:52,944 --> 00:10:58,198
seeing the authoritative figure
be humiIiated.

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CharIie ChapIin used to do
that type of stuff all the time.

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00:11:02,912 --> 00:11:04,747
lt's always fun to watch.

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00:11:04,831 --> 00:11:06,373
COATS: And Barry
does Iove CharIie ChapIin.

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00:11:06,458 --> 00:11:08,709
COOK: l'm a big, big fan.

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00:11:11,004 --> 00:11:12,129
(COOK CHUCKLING)

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00:11:12,589 --> 00:11:14,340
BANCROFT: There's some
funny stuff here.

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00:11:14,424 --> 00:11:15,716
COOK: We thought the worse
The Matchmaker

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00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:17,676
looked by scene's end,

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00:11:17,761 --> 00:11:20,346
the more dishonor
on MuIan's shouIders.

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00:11:20,430 --> 00:11:22,514
BANCROFT: ls that pudding
coming out of her eyes?

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00:11:22,599 --> 00:11:24,975
-What is that?
-COOK: She's got oiI on her eyes.

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00:11:25,060 --> 00:11:26,268
She's got a Iand spiII.

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00:11:26,353 --> 00:11:29,021
COATS: lt's like
a birthday cake gone bad.

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00:11:30,899 --> 00:11:32,733
COOK: So something comic
goes into something

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00:11:32,817 --> 00:11:34,526
very emotional and dramatic here,

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00:11:34,611 --> 00:11:36,487
and that's the tone we wanted.

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00:11:36,571 --> 00:11:39,698
COATS: One of my favorite shots,
right there.

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00:11:39,783 --> 00:11:43,243
BANCROFT: Mark Henn's animation.
COATS: The animation is so beautiful.

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00:11:44,662 --> 00:11:48,707
BANCROFT: We're coming up now
to Mulan's Reflection song.

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00:11:48,792 --> 00:11:52,336
This was the first song
written for the fiIm

234
00:11:52,420 --> 00:11:54,838
by Matthew Wilder and David Zippel.

235
00:11:55,382 --> 00:11:58,717
The songs in a musical

236
00:11:58,802 --> 00:12:02,721
become kind of tent poles
that lace the story together,

237
00:12:02,806 --> 00:12:04,640
and that everything's built upon.

238
00:12:04,724 --> 00:12:07,476
lt was really important
the first time we heard it,

239
00:12:07,560 --> 00:12:12,189
that it land and it really set a tone
of who she is...

240
00:12:12,273 --> 00:12:14,233
COATS: And what she wanted.
BANCROFT: And what she wanted.

241
00:12:14,317 --> 00:12:18,904
And traditionally, this is
the heroine's "l want" song,

242
00:12:18,988 --> 00:12:25,369
but Mulan doesn't want anything more
than just to be allowed to be herself.

243
00:12:25,453 --> 00:12:28,914
So that was the thing we aIways
struggled with on this song.

244
00:12:28,998 --> 00:12:31,083
Lyrically, what is she really saying?

245
00:12:31,167 --> 00:12:33,502
COATS: We played around
with the lyrics a lot.

246
00:12:33,586 --> 00:12:38,424
Because it was...
She kind of wanted two things,

247
00:12:38,508 --> 00:12:41,427
she wanted to be herseIf
and to make her dad proud.

248
00:12:41,511 --> 00:12:46,014
And that came in.
We struggled with that for a long time.

249
00:12:46,099 --> 00:12:48,350
BANCROFT: Yeah.
COATS: To get that playing right.

250
00:12:48,435 --> 00:12:54,106
BANCROFT: But when we first heard it
in a smaII music room

251
00:12:54,190 --> 00:12:57,776
in the Feature Animation building
in Burbank, years and years ago,

252
00:12:57,861 --> 00:13:00,612
it struck us with the amazingly

253
00:13:00,697 --> 00:13:03,907
passionate and emotional
feel of the song,

254
00:13:03,992 --> 00:13:08,454
and we knew, l think, we had
something special at that moment.

255
00:13:08,538 --> 00:13:12,416
COOK: There's half and half
symbolism there,

256
00:13:12,500 --> 00:13:18,380
yin and yang, sort of,
but that she's sort of torn.

257
00:13:18,465 --> 00:13:20,090
You know, which one?

258
00:13:20,175 --> 00:13:23,635
Who am I?
Am l who they want me to be?

259
00:13:24,387 --> 00:13:27,931
Or am I somebody eIse
who l know l probably am?

260
00:13:28,016 --> 00:13:30,267
BANCROFT:
Yeah, that's a great image,

261
00:13:30,351 --> 00:13:32,644
and visuaI icon moments Iike that

262
00:13:32,729 --> 00:13:37,441
are really what, l think, bring the viewer
into understanding her dilemma

263
00:13:37,525 --> 00:13:39,526
without a Iot of words.

264
00:13:41,321 --> 00:13:44,781
COATS: This sequence coming up,
this exchange,

265
00:13:44,866 --> 00:13:47,201
when it first started in the movie,

266
00:13:47,285 --> 00:13:50,245
remember, they were
walking home from town.

267
00:13:50,330 --> 00:13:51,330
COOK: That's right.

268
00:13:51,414 --> 00:13:53,916
COATS: She and Dad
were coming from town.

269
00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:58,462
OriginaIIy, the notice that war
was breaking out was posted in town,

270
00:13:58,546 --> 00:14:01,423
and he picked a flower from the tree.

271
00:14:01,508 --> 00:14:06,512
It so stuck and resonated
when Chris Sanders did it,

272
00:14:06,596 --> 00:14:09,431
that eventually it found
its right place in the movie,

273
00:14:09,516 --> 00:14:13,644
but that scene didn't change content
very much at all.

274
00:14:13,978 --> 00:14:15,646
BANCROFT: lt's the only scene
that we saved.

275
00:14:15,730 --> 00:14:18,774
COOK: We just switched the location
to their garden.

276
00:14:22,153 --> 00:14:24,571
BANCROFT: Now in this scene,
we did a fun thing here.

277
00:14:25,281 --> 00:14:28,283
A little more Mulan
behind-the-scenes trivia,

278
00:14:28,826 --> 00:14:34,206
when Chi Fu is caIIing out the names
of people being called to serve,

279
00:14:34,290 --> 00:14:37,000
they're actually names
of some of the staff

280
00:14:37,085 --> 00:14:39,378
and artists that worked
on the production.

281
00:14:39,462 --> 00:14:41,463
-You'II hear...
-COOK: Hsiao and...

282
00:14:41,548 --> 00:14:43,840
-Chang.
-BANCROFT: Chang, Chen-Yi Chang,

283
00:14:43,925 --> 00:14:46,093
and Rita Hsiao, who was a writer on it.

284
00:14:46,803 --> 00:14:49,429
. . .must serve in the Imperial Army.

285
00:14:49,514 --> 00:14:52,307
The Hsiao family.

286
00:14:52,392 --> 00:14:55,769
The Yi family.

287
00:14:55,853 --> 00:14:58,438
I will serve the Emperor
in my father's place.

288
00:14:58,523 --> 00:15:02,234
-The Fa family.
-No!

289
00:15:02,569 --> 00:15:04,069
COATS: About this acting choice.

290
00:15:04,153 --> 00:15:06,613
l remember the meeting
we taIked about

291
00:15:06,698 --> 00:15:09,992
having Dad, as an older man,
was tricky.

292
00:15:10,076 --> 00:15:12,578
We had a lot of discussion about Dad,

293
00:15:12,662 --> 00:15:14,121
because we needed the audience

294
00:15:14,205 --> 00:15:17,499
to beIieve Dad
was too feeble to go to war.

295
00:15:17,584 --> 00:15:20,669
Because if he feIt Iike
he could go to war,

296
00:15:20,753 --> 00:15:24,131
we were afraid the audience
would never forgive him

297
00:15:24,215 --> 00:15:26,883
for not going after his daughter.

298
00:15:26,968 --> 00:15:33,140
So we struggIed a Iot with what was
his disability, and how old was he,

299
00:15:33,224 --> 00:15:35,559
'cause we didn't want him
to be so feeble,

300
00:15:35,643 --> 00:15:38,604
you thought he'd expire
at any moment.

301
00:15:38,688 --> 00:15:43,609
But that moment of him taking his cane
and handing it to his wife,

302
00:15:43,693 --> 00:15:45,861
and the dignity that gave him,

303
00:15:45,945 --> 00:15:49,364
was really one of my favorite parts
about this entire sequence.

304
00:15:49,449 --> 00:15:52,284
And the shot of those three women.

305
00:15:56,164 --> 00:15:59,791
BANCROFT: lt's very difficult
to animate a limp

306
00:15:59,876 --> 00:16:02,377
or disability like that
accurately and well.

307
00:16:02,462 --> 00:16:06,465
lt's easy for it to look like you didn't
put in the right amount of drawings,

308
00:16:06,549 --> 00:16:09,551
or it wasn't animated well,
and it Iooks Iike a mistake.

309
00:16:09,636 --> 00:16:13,472
That's one thing l think Mark Henn,
as the supervising animator of Dad,

310
00:16:13,556 --> 00:16:16,933
brought to the character, because
it has the feeling of an actual limp,

311
00:16:17,018 --> 00:16:19,478
which is very difficult to animate.

312
00:16:19,562 --> 00:16:20,687
(GROANS)

313
00:16:21,230 --> 00:16:22,814
(BODY THUMPS FLOOR)

314
00:16:23,316 --> 00:16:25,442
(GROANS)

315
00:16:26,986 --> 00:16:28,236
(PANTING)

316
00:16:28,488 --> 00:16:31,198
COOK: We have to give credit
to Tom Schumacher

317
00:16:31,282 --> 00:16:38,038
for suggesting we show the public side
of Fa Zhou, of the father,

318
00:16:39,749 --> 00:16:41,333
his public presentation.

319
00:16:41,417 --> 00:16:45,504
That he didn't need the cane to walk,
that he was able and capable.

320
00:16:45,588 --> 00:16:49,549
lt also built upon the idea of his pride,

321
00:16:49,634 --> 00:16:52,260
which is what this scene is aII about.

322
00:16:52,428 --> 00:16:55,389
He's so prideful, he's willing...

323
00:16:55,473 --> 00:16:59,476
And so devoted to this idea of honor,

324
00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:03,355
-he's willing to sacrifice his life for it.
-COATS: His life, right.

325
00:17:03,439 --> 00:17:06,858
COOK: And Mulan thinks it's
the stupidest thing she's ever heard.

326
00:17:06,943 --> 00:17:10,237
And she tells him that right there,
which is pretty forward.

327
00:17:10,321 --> 00:17:11,571
BANCROFT: Mulan is...

328
00:17:11,656 --> 00:17:15,992
That's a good point, Barry,
because honor is an eIement of...

329
00:17:16,077 --> 00:17:18,912
You'II hear the word "honor"
throughout this movie.

330
00:17:18,996 --> 00:17:20,622
To American audiences,

331
00:17:20,707 --> 00:17:22,749
we don't quite have
the same understanding,

332
00:17:23,292 --> 00:17:24,918
and we're not raised
with a sense of honor

333
00:17:25,002 --> 00:17:26,962
Iike the Chinese are and were.

334
00:17:27,046 --> 00:17:29,381
So, we reaIIy needed
to get that across,

335
00:17:29,465 --> 00:17:32,592
because a lot of why she did it
hinged upon it.

336
00:17:32,677 --> 00:17:33,760
To American audiences,

337
00:17:33,845 --> 00:17:36,054
she does it
because she Ioves her father.

338
00:17:36,139 --> 00:17:39,725
But more than that, we tried to show
that it was to honor her father,

339
00:17:39,809 --> 00:17:43,854
to honor her family and her ancestors,
that she did all the things she did.

340
00:17:43,938 --> 00:17:47,232
And when she comes back
and presents all the honors

341
00:17:47,316 --> 00:17:51,194
that were bestowed upon her
by The Emperor to her father,

342
00:17:51,279 --> 00:17:54,823
that that had meaning,
because those were physical honors.

343
00:17:59,162 --> 00:18:00,662
COOK: This is one
of the first sequences

344
00:18:00,747 --> 00:18:04,249
we approved into
production and animated,

345
00:18:04,333 --> 00:18:09,588
the scenes of Mulan sitting on
that statue of the Great Stone Dragon.

346
00:18:09,672 --> 00:18:13,008
COATS: lt was boarded perfectly
by Dean DeBlois,

347
00:18:13,092 --> 00:18:14,801
one of our story artists.

348
00:18:14,886 --> 00:18:18,430
He ended up being the second lead
in story for us,

349
00:18:18,514 --> 00:18:21,558
but this sequence just
got approval right away.

350
00:18:21,642 --> 00:18:23,059
lt was so good.

351
00:18:23,144 --> 00:18:25,520
COOK:
The sequence had a pretty big history.

352
00:18:26,564 --> 00:18:28,356
I had done some thumbnaiIs.

353
00:18:28,441 --> 00:18:32,110
Chen-Yi Chang had boarded
an entire version of it once,

354
00:18:32,195 --> 00:18:35,363
and then Dean brought it all home.

355
00:18:36,365 --> 00:18:37,783
BANCROFT:
lt's a pantomime sequence,

356
00:18:37,867 --> 00:18:42,746
so the visual icons represented here
are so important.

357
00:18:42,955 --> 00:18:46,124
And one of the things
that Dean brought into the boards was,

358
00:18:46,209 --> 00:18:49,044
every time you see her in action,

359
00:18:49,128 --> 00:18:52,547
or doing something different
throughout this scene, making choices,

360
00:18:52,632 --> 00:18:54,883
you'll always see a face looking at her.

361
00:18:54,967 --> 00:18:58,845
We always cut to a face,
whether it be a dragon face...

362
00:18:58,930 --> 00:19:02,599
And you'll see throughout
almost every scene and new location,

363
00:19:02,683 --> 00:19:04,100
there's a face looking at her.

364
00:19:04,185 --> 00:19:06,311
Those faces
represented the ancestors.

365
00:19:06,395 --> 00:19:09,940
Again, it's a feeling
that she's being watched,

366
00:19:10,024 --> 00:19:12,484
that the ancestors
know what she's doing,

367
00:19:12,568 --> 00:19:14,820
that she's breaking the family rules.

368
00:19:14,904 --> 00:19:17,364
COOK: And that was
a huge contribution.

369
00:19:17,448 --> 00:19:21,993
BANCROFT: We use that now,
coming up here with Grandma,

370
00:19:22,078 --> 00:19:25,330
because she represents
the spiritual side of the family.

371
00:19:25,414 --> 00:19:27,999
COOK: She's the closest one
to becoming an ancestor.

372
00:19:28,084 --> 00:19:29,376
(ALL CHUCKLING)

373
00:19:29,585 --> 00:19:32,170
BANCROFT: So she can
communicate a IittIe bit

374
00:19:32,255 --> 00:19:33,463
with them, or they through her.

375
00:19:33,548 --> 00:19:35,507
She has this spirituaI connection

376
00:19:35,591 --> 00:19:39,553
and instantly knows that something
is wrong all of a sudden.

377
00:19:45,017 --> 00:19:48,144
COATS: l wanted to talk
a bit more about...

378
00:19:48,229 --> 00:19:51,064
"Mulan's decision,"
is what we called the sequence.

379
00:19:51,148 --> 00:19:55,151
We found, and you'll notice
when you look at the sequence,

380
00:19:55,236 --> 00:19:59,656
in which MuIan decides to Ieave
to take her father's place,

381
00:19:59,740 --> 00:20:01,741
she stands and Iooks at them in bed

382
00:20:01,826 --> 00:20:04,494
and Ieaves the fIower
by their bed stand.

383
00:20:04,579 --> 00:20:08,290
And a Iot of Western audiences
wanted more than that.

384
00:20:08,374 --> 00:20:09,875
-They wanted...
-COOK: A kiss.

385
00:20:09,959 --> 00:20:13,879
COATS: ...or a hug or something,
and that's not a cultural thing.

386
00:20:13,963 --> 00:20:17,716
We got a lot of notes
at the very beginning,

387
00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:20,677
"That is so cold,"
and, "Why isn't this happening?"

388
00:20:20,761 --> 00:20:24,598
Because she, in a Chinese famiIy,
wouIdn't have done that.

389
00:20:25,099 --> 00:20:27,017
She was showing her father
honor and respect,

390
00:20:27,101 --> 00:20:30,020
but she didn't necessarily need
to kiss him goodbye.

391
00:20:30,104 --> 00:20:33,607
COOK: Mark Henn was able to pull it off
with just a look from Mulan.

392
00:20:33,691 --> 00:20:37,402
lt's easier in live action, for an actor
to do that, the subtleties.

393
00:20:37,486 --> 00:20:41,406
But to be abIe to do what he did there
in animation is pretty astounding.

394
00:20:41,490 --> 00:20:45,410
l don't know if people realize
the level of talent and ability

395
00:20:45,494 --> 00:20:49,331
it takes to pull off
a moment like that, subtly.

396
00:20:50,333 --> 00:20:51,833
(CLANKING)

397
00:20:54,837 --> 00:20:57,339
I live!

398
00:20:58,549 --> 00:21:01,718
So tell me what mortal needs
my protection, great ancestor.

399
00:21:01,802 --> 00:21:03,762
-You just say the word and I'm there.
-Mushu. . .

400
00:21:03,846 --> 00:21:05,305
BANCROFT: Here's the first time
we see Mushu,

401
00:21:05,389 --> 00:21:08,475
who's animated by my twin,
Tom Bancroft.

402
00:21:08,559 --> 00:21:12,437
COOK: And great stuff,
a really fun character to work with.

403
00:21:12,980 --> 00:21:15,440
BANCROFT: Mom said she was always
most proud of him.

404
00:21:15,524 --> 00:21:16,900
(LAUGHTER)

405
00:21:16,984 --> 00:21:19,194
COOK: Why shouldn't she be?
That's good stuff.

406
00:21:19,278 --> 00:21:21,780
BANCROFT: lt's good animation.
You're right, Mom.

407
00:21:21,864 --> 00:21:26,117
COATS: You know the animals he's
pointing to at the top of this temple?

408
00:21:26,202 --> 00:21:28,787
-Aren't they the zodiac signs?
-COOK: They are.

409
00:21:28,871 --> 00:21:30,121
COATS: Those are
the Chinese zodiac animaIs.

410
00:21:30,206 --> 00:21:32,457
COOK: Chinese zodiac symboIs.

411
00:21:32,541 --> 00:21:34,834
Of which I'm a dog.

412
00:21:36,921 --> 00:21:39,005
BANCROFT: And all that glowing
Chinese caIIigraphy,

413
00:21:39,090 --> 00:21:41,466
another Mulan trivia number 236,

414
00:21:41,550 --> 00:21:44,469
are names of artists
that worked on the production.

415
00:21:44,553 --> 00:21:47,222
COOK: Our writers,
Eugenia Bostwick-Singer

416
00:21:47,306 --> 00:21:49,391
and her husband, Raymond,

417
00:21:49,475 --> 00:21:53,520
were writing partners, and they did
the voices for these two ancestors.

418
00:21:53,604 --> 00:21:56,731
They had come from
an acting background, as well.

419
00:21:56,816 --> 00:21:58,316
Everybody's probably seen Raymond.

420
00:21:58,401 --> 00:22:01,611
-He always played somebody's dentist.
-(BANCROFT CHUCKLING)

421
00:22:01,696 --> 00:22:06,741
This is the character l did the voice for,
the American Gothic setup.

422
00:22:08,327 --> 00:22:10,537
We can't all be acupuncturists.

423
00:22:10,621 --> 00:22:13,123
COATS: So again, going into the story
on this sequence,

424
00:22:13,207 --> 00:22:14,457
we wanted to be careful,

425
00:22:14,542 --> 00:22:16,626
'cause we didn't want
to offend anyone.

426
00:22:16,711 --> 00:22:20,296
Because a Iot of Chinese
do worship their ancestors,

427
00:22:20,381 --> 00:22:25,176
so we wanted to baIance
what they did with humor.

428
00:22:25,261 --> 00:22:28,847
We had to place Mushu
in a bed of humor

429
00:22:28,931 --> 00:22:32,851
or else he was really going to stick out
Iike a sore thumb.

430
00:22:32,935 --> 00:22:36,563
COOK: Well, this time period
that we sort of...

431
00:22:37,398 --> 00:22:40,900
During Mulan's time,
when the poem was written,

432
00:22:40,985 --> 00:22:44,612
Buddhism had not come
from India into China.

433
00:22:45,448 --> 00:22:49,367
Really, the only religion
was a reverence

434
00:22:49,452 --> 00:22:51,453
and a worship of ancestors.

435
00:22:51,537 --> 00:22:53,705
And then, of course,
Confucius thought,

436
00:22:53,789 --> 00:22:56,332
which is not exactly religious thought,

437
00:22:56,417 --> 00:22:59,544
but it came in,
and it was there at the time, too.

438
00:22:59,628 --> 00:23:02,172
ln fact, the poem is based on
the five tenets

439
00:23:02,256 --> 00:23:05,091
of Confucius' phiIosophy or teaching.

440
00:23:05,217 --> 00:23:07,385
. . .awaken the Great Stone Dragon.

441
00:23:07,470 --> 00:23:09,429
COOK: That's it!
BANCROFT: Oh! That was my scene!

442
00:23:09,513 --> 00:23:12,849
Did you see that? Wasn't that funny?
This is a scene I animated.

443
00:23:14,310 --> 00:23:16,436
Tom was good enough to let me do
a Mushu scene l really wanted.

444
00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:18,897
l love comedy characters,
so it was a Iot of fun to do.

445
00:23:18,981 --> 00:23:22,484
He went over each drawing,
because he didn't Iike them.

446
00:23:22,568 --> 00:23:23,860
COOK: He relished doing that.

447
00:23:23,944 --> 00:23:26,321
BANCROFT: To this day,
he won't Iet me draw Mushu.

448
00:23:26,405 --> 00:23:28,073
Thanks, Tom.

449
00:23:28,282 --> 00:23:30,658
COOK: Eddie Murphy was phenomenal
to work with on this.

450
00:23:30,743 --> 00:23:35,080
We expected that he would ad-lib
a lot more in recording sessions,

451
00:23:35,164 --> 00:23:38,958
but what we found was instead of that,

452
00:23:39,043 --> 00:23:44,005
he did a great deal of homework
preparing from the script,

453
00:23:44,090 --> 00:23:48,927
but preparing ideas he'd bring in
and trying things.

454
00:23:49,011 --> 00:23:51,679
lt was really great
to be abIe to work with him.

455
00:23:51,764 --> 00:23:55,767
COATS: l think he was probably
our fastest person recording,

456
00:23:55,851 --> 00:23:58,561
because he did his homework and had

457
00:23:58,646 --> 00:24:01,773
two, three or four
different ways of trying it.

458
00:24:01,857 --> 00:24:05,819
We would get in, record him
and be done very quickly.

459
00:24:05,903 --> 00:24:07,737
COOK: Tons of energy.

460
00:24:09,115 --> 00:24:11,616
ln voice casting,
that's one thing you look for,

461
00:24:11,700 --> 00:24:14,119
is the energy the character brings.

462
00:24:14,203 --> 00:24:18,206
lt's not necessarily speed, but it's life...

463
00:24:18,290 --> 00:24:20,041
COATS:
Different patterns to their voices.

464
00:24:20,209 --> 00:24:23,628
'Cause you have to divorce yourseIf
from their physicalities.

465
00:24:25,005 --> 00:24:26,464
BANCROFT:
Every time we'd see Eddie,

466
00:24:26,549 --> 00:24:28,424
he'd be working on a different movie,

467
00:24:28,509 --> 00:24:30,260
-so he'd Iook different.
-COOK: Different haircut.

468
00:24:30,386 --> 00:24:33,471
BANCROFT: Or a little goatee.
Once, we recorded him

469
00:24:33,556 --> 00:24:35,932
in Florida, and he was stark bald!

470
00:24:36,016 --> 00:24:38,852
He was doing Holy Man at the time.

471
00:24:39,562 --> 00:24:40,812
So, it was funny to see him Iike that.

472
00:24:40,896 --> 00:24:43,439
We made fun of him
as much as we couId.

473
00:24:44,942 --> 00:24:48,570
l think Tom did a great job
in capturing the quality of Eddie

474
00:24:48,654 --> 00:24:52,949
without actually looking like Eddie
through the performance.

475
00:24:53,450 --> 00:24:55,326
After this Great Stone,
Humpty Dumpty mess,

476
00:24:55,411 --> 00:24:58,496
I'd have to bring her home
with a medal to get back in the temple.

477
00:24:59,081 --> 00:25:01,666
COATS: We did this sequence,
what, 30 times?

478
00:25:01,750 --> 00:25:03,376
COOK: Over and over.

479
00:25:03,460 --> 00:25:05,503
COATS: At least 30 times.

480
00:25:05,588 --> 00:25:09,549
COOK: Mushu had to be motivated
to go with Mulan,

481
00:25:09,633 --> 00:25:13,094
but we wanted him to be
selfishly motivated,

482
00:25:13,179 --> 00:25:17,223
so he's not helping her at first,
he's making good for himself.

483
00:25:17,308 --> 00:25:21,186
So, when he gets back to the tempIe,
the ancestors will be impressed

484
00:25:21,270 --> 00:25:22,937
and he'll get his promotion.

485
00:25:23,063 --> 00:25:25,356
-Then who's the loser, me or you?
-(CHIRPS)

486
00:25:28,611 --> 00:25:30,236
(SCREECHING)

487
00:25:37,328 --> 00:25:39,370
BANCROFT: We were talking
about tone earIier.

488
00:25:39,455 --> 00:25:42,207
The great thing about
the Shan-Yu sequences,

489
00:25:42,291 --> 00:25:45,418
it gives the audience
a sense of impending doom.

490
00:25:45,502 --> 00:25:50,715
And you wonder, from the very
beginning, how we open the picture.

491
00:25:50,799 --> 00:25:55,345
We start with the world at large,
China, and there's a probIem.

492
00:25:55,429 --> 00:25:59,057
Shan-Yu's coming in and he has
a vendetta with The Emperor.

493
00:25:59,141 --> 00:26:00,767
We don't know quite why yet.

494
00:26:00,851 --> 00:26:04,395
And then we cut to the one...
The Emperor even says,

495
00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:07,232
-the one man who can...
-COOK: The one grain ofrice.

496
00:26:07,316 --> 00:26:09,567
BANCROFT: lt was a great speech.
COOK: l wrote that line.

497
00:26:09,652 --> 00:26:12,195
-The only line l wrote.
-BANCROFT: l love that line, too.

498
00:26:12,279 --> 00:26:15,573
It's, "One grain of rice can tip the scaIe,

499
00:26:15,658 --> 00:26:20,036
"but one man may be the difference
between victory and defeat."

500
00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:23,373
The Emperor was talking about
something else at the time,

501
00:26:23,457 --> 00:26:26,167
but symbolically,
he's talking about Mulan.

502
00:26:26,252 --> 00:26:29,921
So when we cut to MuIan, we see that,
even though she's not a man,

503
00:26:30,005 --> 00:26:35,301
she represents that one man,
so it's a great dynamic of this film.

504
00:26:35,386 --> 00:26:40,640
You get a feeling that every time
you cut back to the eviI Shan-Yu,

505
00:26:40,724 --> 00:26:43,017
that's part of the larger story.

506
00:26:43,143 --> 00:26:47,397
You always wonder, how does
this character, this little girl, Mulan,

507
00:26:47,481 --> 00:26:50,692
how is she going to affect
the outcome of the larger story?

508
00:26:50,776 --> 00:26:52,318
And ultimately, she does.

509
00:26:52,403 --> 00:26:55,363
COATS: l prefer woman, by the way,
the woman MuIan.

510
00:26:57,116 --> 00:26:58,157
BANCROFT: She's a girl, Pam.
She's 1 6.

511
00:26:58,242 --> 00:26:59,492
COOK: She's 16.
She's not a woman yet.

512
00:26:59,576 --> 00:27:02,996
l think by the end, she's a woman.
But l think she starts as a girl.

513
00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:07,375
l think she matures,
not physically, but as a person.

514
00:27:09,628 --> 00:27:12,046
They're very manly and tough.

515
00:27:12,923 --> 00:27:14,299
(NEIGHING)

516
00:27:14,550 --> 00:27:16,968
COATS: We didn't talk about Khan.
Khan's the horse.

517
00:27:17,052 --> 00:27:20,930
Khan is from a cIassic
T'ang Dynasty design.

518
00:27:21,015 --> 00:27:25,435
Down to the tiny legs
and the really defined snout area.

519
00:27:25,519 --> 00:27:26,728
COOK: Yeah, long snout.

520
00:27:26,812 --> 00:27:30,231
lt's really close
to Chen-Yi's originaI design.

521
00:27:30,316 --> 00:27:32,025
Beautiful, beautiful work.

522
00:27:32,109 --> 00:27:35,570
Get ready, Mulan.
Your serpentine salvation is at hand !

523
00:27:35,654 --> 00:27:37,488
For I have been sent by your ancestors. . .

524
00:27:37,573 --> 00:27:39,407
COOK: Ah!
Cri-Kee doing shadow puppets.

525
00:27:39,491 --> 00:27:42,118
COATS: We should talk
about this whole sequence

526
00:27:42,202 --> 00:27:45,455
and the history of Mushu's song.

527
00:27:45,539 --> 00:27:47,582
COOK: We thought we might
put a song in here,

528
00:27:47,666 --> 00:27:50,168
and we wrote a song or two.

529
00:27:50,252 --> 00:27:52,628
COATS: We wrote three songs.
We didn't write them.

530
00:27:52,713 --> 00:27:53,713
COOK: We didn't.

531
00:27:53,797 --> 00:27:56,341
COATS:
Matthew and David wrote them.

532
00:27:56,425 --> 00:27:58,384
ln our minds, from the very beginning,

533
00:27:58,469 --> 00:28:01,012
we thought this would be
a song sequence,

534
00:28:01,096 --> 00:28:04,432
where we wouId Iearn
about Mushu through a song.

535
00:28:04,516 --> 00:28:07,852
And they wrote some great songs.

536
00:28:07,936 --> 00:28:11,314
And every time we did it,
it seemed to haIt the movie.

537
00:28:11,398 --> 00:28:13,733
BANCROFT: lt really did.
COATS: lt did.

538
00:28:14,026 --> 00:28:17,528
lf you gave it enough screen time
to be a real song,

539
00:28:17,613 --> 00:28:20,740
-it just stopped the movie.
-BANCROFT: Right.

540
00:28:20,866 --> 00:28:23,493
I don't do that tongue thing.

541
00:28:23,619 --> 00:28:25,828
COATS: lt ended up
not working for the story.

542
00:28:25,913 --> 00:28:27,872
lt was really hard
on Matthew and David,

543
00:28:27,956 --> 00:28:30,958
because they wrote so many songs
in this area.

544
00:28:31,293 --> 00:28:34,670
If I was my real size,
your cow here would die of fright.

545
00:28:34,755 --> 00:28:37,548
BANCROFT: lt's one of the things
we've always talked about.

546
00:28:37,633 --> 00:28:40,968
Once you start to
get in tune with the movie,

547
00:28:41,053 --> 00:28:45,306
the movie actually takes on a life
of its own and tells you what it needs.

548
00:28:45,391 --> 00:28:49,519
We'd go to screenings
with the song in there,

549
00:28:49,603 --> 00:28:53,314
and it was the first thing that would
jump out at us, the movie saying,

550
00:28:53,399 --> 00:28:55,400
"l do not belong here. Take me out."

551
00:28:55,484 --> 00:28:58,236
COOK: Like rejecting
an organ transplant.

552
00:28:58,320 --> 00:28:59,487
It didn't fit.

553
00:28:59,571 --> 00:29:01,406
BANCROFT: lt was an emotional thing,
as fiImmakers.

554
00:29:01,490 --> 00:29:04,992
You get in tune with it so much
that it just doesn't feel right.

555
00:29:05,077 --> 00:29:07,912
So, it was a gutturaI choice there.

556
00:29:07,996 --> 00:29:09,747
COOK: But we did get the idea across.

557
00:29:10,749 --> 00:29:13,209
Mushu saying, "You've got a problem
and l'm here to help."

558
00:29:13,335 --> 00:29:16,421
Sort of seIIing himseIf to MuIan.

559
00:29:16,797 --> 00:29:20,758
Shoulders back, chest high,
feet apart, head up and. . .

560
00:29:20,843 --> 00:29:23,594
COATS: This sequence
was aIso one of the first

561
00:29:23,679 --> 00:29:26,264
sequences going into production.

562
00:29:26,348 --> 00:29:31,394
And when you first start a production,
you need to get the wheels greased.

563
00:29:31,478 --> 00:29:33,521
We put this in early,

564
00:29:33,605 --> 00:29:36,774
before we completely
had all the characters for the storyline,

565
00:29:36,859 --> 00:29:39,861
so we ended up redoing
a lot of this sequence.

566
00:29:40,821 --> 00:29:43,114
COOK: l got that tattoo afterwards.
COATS: Did you?

567
00:29:43,198 --> 00:29:44,782
-(PEOPLE LAUGHING)
-COOK: lt hurt, too.

568
00:29:45,534 --> 00:29:48,327
BANCROFT: Where is it, though?
COOK: Right there, my chest.

569
00:29:48,412 --> 00:29:50,037
In Iieu of hair.

570
00:29:50,372 --> 00:29:53,541
(SNORTING) What are you lookin' at?

571
00:29:53,625 --> 00:29:56,252
Punch him. It's how men say hello.

572
00:29:57,963 --> 00:30:00,548
COATS: We also had a lot of
back and forth debate

573
00:30:00,632 --> 00:30:05,636
about how much Ming-Na Wen,
who played the voice of Mulan,

574
00:30:05,721 --> 00:30:08,389
was going to change her voice range

575
00:30:08,474 --> 00:30:11,476
between being a man
and being a woman.

576
00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:14,812
We played around with it
a little bit where she started low,

577
00:30:14,897 --> 00:30:18,524
but keeping her low for the rest
of the movie feIt a IittIe unnaturaI.

578
00:30:18,609 --> 00:30:24,113
So, she started Iow and then cheated it
back up into her normal range.

579
00:30:24,198 --> 00:30:25,198
Now, this sequence...

580
00:30:25,282 --> 00:30:27,325
COOK:
She did a great job, by the way.

581
00:30:27,409 --> 00:30:32,663
We saw her in The Joy Luck Club and
feII in Iove with her as an actress.

582
00:30:34,082 --> 00:30:36,834
She does the opening narration
in that fiIm.

583
00:30:36,919 --> 00:30:40,713
Just beautiful. Beautiful performance.

584
00:30:41,256 --> 00:30:42,840
BANCROFT: And l think it says
a lot about an actress,

585
00:30:42,925 --> 00:30:45,510
for as beautiful as Ming-Na is,

586
00:30:45,594 --> 00:30:49,305
that she can play a man really well, too,

587
00:30:49,389 --> 00:30:51,557
I think it's to her benefit.

588
00:30:52,226 --> 00:30:53,559
-(CLATTERING)
-(CHICKENS CLUCKING)

589
00:30:53,644 --> 00:30:56,854
COATS: ln the scene
in which she decides what her name is,

590
00:30:56,939 --> 00:30:59,232
it's kind of a little interesting history.

591
00:30:59,316 --> 00:31:02,527
We have a visual development artist,

592
00:31:02,611 --> 00:31:06,030
who helped paint all
of our background keys for this movie

593
00:31:06,114 --> 00:31:09,033
by the name of Sai Ping Lok.

594
00:31:09,701 --> 00:31:12,328
So, his name inspired our choice

595
00:31:12,412 --> 00:31:15,414
for calling her Ping
when she was a man.

596
00:31:15,499 --> 00:31:18,292
COOK: lt's a great name.
lt's sort of funny to us,

597
00:31:18,377 --> 00:31:23,714
but it's actually
a reaIIy decent name in China.

598
00:31:24,091 --> 00:31:29,720
COATS: This sequence, again, we try
to hold until the very end, really...

599
00:31:29,805 --> 00:31:33,724
The audience doesn't know
that the GeneraI is Shang's dad.

600
00:31:33,809 --> 00:31:35,142
COOK: No wonder he got the job.

601
00:31:35,227 --> 00:31:37,436
COATS: At one point,
he wasn't Shang's dad.

602
00:31:37,521 --> 00:31:40,231
COOK: That's right.
COATS: And we changed that later on.

603
00:31:40,315 --> 00:31:42,817
BANCROFT: lt gave
a nice emotional dynamic later on,

604
00:31:42,901 --> 00:31:46,571
when you see
the GeneraI's been wiped out

605
00:31:46,655 --> 00:31:48,531
with aII the other troops by Shan-Yu.

606
00:31:48,615 --> 00:31:52,618
So it meant something more to our
characters by making that relationship.

607
00:31:52,703 --> 00:31:58,165
COATS: lt also sort of mirrors
MuIan's arc and what she did.

608
00:31:58,250 --> 00:32:00,543
She did what she did
to honor her father,

609
00:32:00,627 --> 00:32:02,211
because she Ioves her father.

610
00:32:02,296 --> 00:32:04,422
And Shang struggIes
with the same thing.

611
00:32:04,506 --> 00:32:05,506
COOK: Right.

612
00:32:05,591 --> 00:32:07,592
COATS: He really loves his father here.

613
00:32:07,676 --> 00:32:11,596
He's nervous. He's trying to do
the right thing by making him proud,

614
00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:16,017
and we Iiked that
mirroring the theme there.

615
00:32:16,518 --> 00:32:18,561
Leader of China's finest troops.

616
00:32:18,645 --> 00:32:22,148
COOK: Yeah, you could do
a whoIe story about Shang and his dad.

617
00:32:22,232 --> 00:32:24,442
This whole story
you could play as a movie,

618
00:32:24,526 --> 00:32:27,194
and it'd be pretty interesting, l think.

619
00:32:27,529 --> 00:32:31,866
It was hard at times to know
just how much to get into that story.

620
00:32:32,117 --> 00:32:35,578
BANCROFT: Besides that, that scene
was also important to us.

621
00:32:35,662 --> 00:32:39,290
We worked really hard to try and
get a sense of where they were going,

622
00:32:39,374 --> 00:32:41,167
the two stories coming together.

623
00:32:41,251 --> 00:32:44,545
There's a lot of strategy talked about
and where people are.

624
00:32:44,630 --> 00:32:46,672
Shan-Yu's here, we're going there.

625
00:32:46,757 --> 00:32:51,260
Ultimately, the audience doesn't care.
You get it when you just follow with it

626
00:32:51,345 --> 00:32:53,554
and see they're going here,
and they go there.

627
00:32:54,514 --> 00:32:57,183
But another thing we did directionally

628
00:32:57,267 --> 00:32:59,518
that we Iearned
studying David Lean films

629
00:32:59,603 --> 00:33:02,563
is that we always have a progression
of left to right.

630
00:33:02,648 --> 00:33:06,025
When our main character's story
was progressing,

631
00:33:06,109 --> 00:33:10,029
as she neared the palace,
she was always traveling left to right.

632
00:33:10,113 --> 00:33:15,368
When she was kind of going against
her story or against that goal,

633
00:33:15,452 --> 00:33:19,622
then she was taking a step back
or going right to left, screen-wise.

634
00:33:19,706 --> 00:33:22,541
And it's a great device,
l think, cinematically,

635
00:33:22,626 --> 00:33:25,419
to use to try
and always keep the direction

636
00:33:25,504 --> 00:33:28,255
and focus of the story in a visual way.

637
00:33:28,340 --> 00:33:31,008
. . .fix things, cook outdoors. . .

638
00:33:31,134 --> 00:33:35,137
COATS: Again, this is another great
Mark Henn scene.

639
00:33:35,222 --> 00:33:39,517
COOK: lt's a very early scene
that he animated. And really funny.

640
00:33:39,601 --> 00:33:41,519
BANCROFT: lt probably was
one of the first scenes.

641
00:33:41,603 --> 00:33:43,729
COATS: lt was one of
the very early scenes.

642
00:33:43,814 --> 00:33:46,857
BANCROFT: lt was one of the first ones
that sold to the studio, too,

643
00:33:46,942 --> 00:33:51,278
the idea that the audience
will go along with the pretense

644
00:33:51,363 --> 00:33:53,823
that she actually is a man.

645
00:33:53,907 --> 00:33:55,116
COOK: Pulling it off.

646
00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:57,034
BANCROFT: Or that
she could play that part.

647
00:33:57,119 --> 00:34:01,872
lt was Ming-Na's performance, Mulan's
animation and the character design.

648
00:34:01,957 --> 00:34:07,044
You'II notice that when
we represent her or draw her as a man,

649
00:34:07,129 --> 00:34:11,257
she has more of a jawbone
and a more angular look to her face.

650
00:34:11,341 --> 00:34:14,093
And when you see her earlier
in the film as a female,

651
00:34:14,177 --> 00:34:16,512
she has a very round,
more volumptuous

652
00:34:16,596 --> 00:34:17,847
or feminine Iook to her.

653
00:34:17,931 --> 00:34:20,641
COOK: "Volumptuous?"
BANCROFT: Voluptuous?

654
00:34:20,726 --> 00:34:24,562
COOK: Lump? Like, vo-"lump"-tuous?
BANCROFT: Because she's lumpy?

655
00:34:24,646 --> 00:34:28,065
-ls that what you were trying to say?
-COATS: Yeah, he did that on purpose.

656
00:34:28,150 --> 00:34:32,319
BANCROFT: I'II start again. She has
more of a feminine, rounder feel to her,

657
00:34:32,404 --> 00:34:35,322
and that's something
you can only do in animation.

658
00:34:35,407 --> 00:34:39,994
That's the fun thing of animation,
you just don't notice it happening.

659
00:34:40,078 --> 00:34:42,997
It's... That's aII.

660
00:34:43,123 --> 00:34:44,248
-COOK: Little trick.
-(COATS LAUGHING)

661
00:34:44,332 --> 00:34:47,752
You know, we have to work
on your people skills.

662
00:34:49,379 --> 00:34:51,922
COOK: Oh, l love this scene.
Look at how beautifuI that is.

663
00:34:52,007 --> 00:34:53,299
BANCROFT: Not an easy scene
to do, though.

664
00:34:53,383 --> 00:34:56,594
We worked on this thing over and over.

665
00:34:56,678 --> 00:34:58,095
COOK: We never got the idea across,

666
00:34:58,180 --> 00:35:01,307
but we were trying to show
that she was an outcast

667
00:35:01,391 --> 00:35:06,437
and put out where they kept the pigs,
outside the confines of the camp.

668
00:35:06,605 --> 00:35:09,148
BANCROFT: Right,
she's the lowest of the low, to start.

669
00:35:09,232 --> 00:35:11,317
COOK: This scene's so pretty...

670
00:35:11,401 --> 00:35:15,362
COATS: l don't think we ever really got
the humor we wanted out of that.

671
00:35:15,447 --> 00:35:17,364
Get your clothes on.

672
00:35:17,449 --> 00:35:19,366
Get ready. Got breakfast for ya.

673
00:35:19,451 --> 00:35:24,163
Look, you get porridge,
and it's happy to see you.

674
00:35:24,247 --> 00:35:26,874
Get outta there!
You gonna make people sick.

675
00:35:27,083 --> 00:35:30,878
COOK: l love that joke of having
a little funny face in the oatmeal, too.

676
00:35:30,962 --> 00:35:32,963
. . .and no fightin', play nice with the kids,

677
00:35:33,048 --> 00:35:34,340
unless one of the other kids wanna fight,

678
00:35:34,424 --> 00:35:36,383
then you have to kick
the other kid's butt.

679
00:35:36,802 --> 00:35:39,637
COATS: Now, again, you look at
the Mulan in this sequence,

680
00:35:39,721 --> 00:35:43,224
and when she wakes up,
she looks like she's just woken up.

681
00:35:43,308 --> 00:35:46,310
Her hair's kind of messed up,

682
00:35:46,603 --> 00:35:49,063
and that was a Mark Henn choice.

683
00:35:49,731 --> 00:35:52,483
That's what I'm talkin' about.
Now, get out there and make me proud.

684
00:35:52,567 --> 00:35:53,818
(HORSE NEIGHS)

685
00:35:53,902 --> 00:35:55,152
(SNORTING)

686
00:35:55,237 --> 00:35:57,530
-What do you mean the troops just left?
-They what?

687
00:35:59,241 --> 00:36:00,783
(MUFFLED SHOUTS)

688
00:36:01,243 --> 00:36:03,577
Wait! You forgot your sword.

689
00:36:03,954 --> 00:36:07,873
COOK: Barry Temple was
a supervising animator for Cri-Kee.

690
00:36:07,958 --> 00:36:10,292
Did a funny, funny job.

691
00:36:12,379 --> 00:36:15,881
Jeffrey Varab was
our supervising animator for Chi Fu,

692
00:36:15,966 --> 00:36:19,760
and he really captured
what we were looking for in this.

693
00:36:19,928 --> 00:36:22,847
COATS: He's really a man
you Iove to hate, Chi Fu is.

694
00:36:22,931 --> 00:36:25,850
COOK: But you've met him.
We aII know him somewhere...

695
00:36:25,934 --> 00:36:27,852
COATS: You know people like him.
COOK: ln our lives.

696
00:36:27,936 --> 00:36:31,897
BANCROFT: We always saw Shan-Yu
representing the villain

697
00:36:31,982 --> 00:36:34,441
on the bigger scale of the story.

698
00:36:34,526 --> 00:36:38,696
Chi Fu was reaIIy
her day-in, day-out villain

699
00:36:38,780 --> 00:36:42,491
she had to deaI with
on a personal level, her smaller story.

700
00:36:42,576 --> 00:36:46,453
So he was an important device
to have in the army camp.

701
00:36:46,538 --> 00:36:48,706
COOK: James Hong did the voice.

702
00:36:48,790 --> 00:36:52,835
COATS: The sequence in which Mulan
sort of peeks around

703
00:36:52,919 --> 00:36:56,964
and takes a Iook at Shang
without his shirt on...

704
00:36:57,048 --> 00:36:58,090
COOK: (WOLF WHISTLES) Baby.

705
00:36:58,174 --> 00:36:59,967
COATS: We added that
towards the end.

706
00:37:00,051 --> 00:37:02,845
We had screened the movie,
and we got some notes.

707
00:37:02,929 --> 00:37:05,723
Actually, the notes
were from MichaeI Eisner.

708
00:37:05,807 --> 00:37:09,351
He wanted a hint of romance,

709
00:37:09,477 --> 00:37:11,645
so we went back
and added that sequence.

710
00:37:11,730 --> 00:37:14,565
We had aIready had Shang
taking off his shirt,

711
00:37:14,649 --> 00:37:17,568
because he was going to go in
and do martiaI arts.

712
00:37:17,652 --> 00:37:23,490
But we added that Iook back in
to start to add this interest from MuIan.

713
00:37:23,575 --> 00:37:25,951
BANCROFT: You never heard
so many female artists

714
00:37:26,036 --> 00:37:28,579
hoot and holler at a drawing before, too.

715
00:37:28,663 --> 00:37:31,081
You need both to reach the arrow.

716
00:37:31,416 --> 00:37:35,502
COATS: Ruben Aquino was
the supervising animator for Shang.

717
00:37:35,587 --> 00:37:38,088
COOK: And BD Wong did the voice.

718
00:37:39,925 --> 00:37:44,303
COATS: Now when we were in China,
we went to the birthplace of martial arts.

719
00:37:44,387 --> 00:37:46,388
COOK: The Shaolin Temple.

720
00:37:47,140 --> 00:37:48,182
ln Luoyang.

721
00:37:48,266 --> 00:37:49,600
COATS: And we watched
a demonstration.

722
00:37:49,684 --> 00:37:52,269
lt helped inspire some of this stuff.

723
00:37:53,521 --> 00:37:55,064
We've got a long way to go.

724
00:37:55,148 --> 00:37:59,985
COATS: This is a great song.
lt helps move the story forward.

725
00:38:00,070 --> 00:38:04,073
lt's not a song just for
a song's sake, it's telling a story.

726
00:38:04,157 --> 00:38:06,867
And you see in this song
the progression.

727
00:38:06,952 --> 00:38:09,578
No one Iikes MuIan.
The Gang of Three hate her.

728
00:38:09,663 --> 00:38:13,123
Everyone's picking on her,
she's a complete failure,

729
00:38:13,208 --> 00:38:16,627
and she finally grows in this movie.

730
00:38:16,711 --> 00:38:18,128
By the end of this song,

731
00:38:18,213 --> 00:38:21,006
the Gang of Three
have a brand-new respect for her,

732
00:38:21,091 --> 00:38:24,802
and she's started to aIter
the way people feel.

733
00:38:24,886 --> 00:38:28,305
BANCROFT: You'll also see,
in this song, a visual thing

734
00:38:28,390 --> 00:38:31,892
that was developed
by our art director, Ric SIuiter,

735
00:38:31,977 --> 00:38:34,061
and our head of layout, Bob Walker,

736
00:38:34,145 --> 00:38:36,522
which I think
was done really masterfully.

737
00:38:36,606 --> 00:38:37,856
When you first see Shang,

738
00:38:37,941 --> 00:38:41,944
he's doing a lot of martial arts
with the pole and stick,

739
00:38:42,028 --> 00:38:43,946
and you'll see it was animated
and Iaid out

740
00:38:44,030 --> 00:38:46,156
so that whenever you see him,

741
00:38:46,241 --> 00:38:47,908
he's represented in full space,

742
00:38:47,993 --> 00:38:51,954
which gives depth
and perspective to the scenes.

743
00:38:52,038 --> 00:38:56,917
And that was purposeful, that we try
to show that he existed in full space,

744
00:38:57,002 --> 00:39:00,462
and she existed in limited space
or flat space.

745
00:39:00,547 --> 00:39:02,756
So, every time you see her,

746
00:39:02,841 --> 00:39:07,136
we placed her in areas
where she had less perspective

747
00:39:07,220 --> 00:39:10,431
and less movement and depth,
forward and backwards.

748
00:39:10,807 --> 00:39:14,143
lt was just a subtle thing we did
in developing this sequence.

749
00:39:14,227 --> 00:39:16,145
Then, as she starts to succeed,

750
00:39:16,229 --> 00:39:19,356
she becomes more dimensional,
artistically.

751
00:39:19,441 --> 00:39:21,650
COATS: We should talk about
Donny Osmond here.

752
00:39:21,735 --> 00:39:23,235
He does this song.

753
00:39:23,319 --> 00:39:26,405
He was the first concert I ever went to.
l had purple socks.

754
00:39:26,489 --> 00:39:27,698
BANCROFT: You had
a little puppy love there.

755
00:39:27,782 --> 00:39:30,492
COATS: (CHUCKLING) l did.
A little puppy love happenin'.

756
00:39:30,577 --> 00:39:34,705
When we cast BD Wong,
it was like this miracle,

757
00:39:34,789 --> 00:39:37,541
because Donny Osmond
was the perfect match

758
00:39:37,625 --> 00:39:40,002
for BD Wong's speaking voice.

759
00:39:40,086 --> 00:39:43,380
I met Donny Osmond in a restaurant
in Beverly Hills,

760
00:39:43,465 --> 00:39:45,883
and l got to have dinner with him.
l was shaking.

761
00:39:45,967 --> 00:39:47,676
l was so excited to meet this man,

762
00:39:47,802 --> 00:39:51,180
who turns out to be an
incredibly lovely human being.

763
00:39:51,264 --> 00:39:53,640
BANCROFT: Great guy, so nice.
COATS: With perfect pitch.

764
00:39:53,725 --> 00:39:55,476
He nailed this song.

765
00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:59,021
lt was really great working with him,
Iike a dream come true.

766
00:39:59,105 --> 00:40:03,275
And l made my parents so happy
because I knew Donny Osmond.

767
00:40:03,401 --> 00:40:05,569
lt was really a lot of fun.

768
00:40:06,571 --> 00:40:09,281
Also, in this sequence,
when she climbs the pole...

769
00:40:09,365 --> 00:40:12,493
Something we thought about
a lot with Mulan is,

770
00:40:12,577 --> 00:40:15,454
we had to Iook at how
a woman approaches things.

771
00:40:15,538 --> 00:40:19,917
A lot of times, a woman doesn't have
the physical strength of a man,

772
00:40:20,001 --> 00:40:24,171
so we Iiked her to win
with a combination

773
00:40:24,255 --> 00:40:26,757
of not only
her improved physical strength,

774
00:40:26,841 --> 00:40:28,509
but also by using her brain.

775
00:40:28,593 --> 00:40:31,512
That's what the ultimate victory is
in that sequence.

776
00:40:31,596 --> 00:40:34,932
She's the person who figured out
how to use those weights

777
00:40:35,016 --> 00:40:37,184
to help her get to the top of the pole.

778
00:40:37,268 --> 00:40:39,520
When you see her now
throughout the movie,

779
00:40:39,604 --> 00:40:44,525
she uses both her physical strength
and her mental capabilities to succeed.

780
00:40:45,610 --> 00:40:48,737
COOK: You'll see
the same locations in the song revisited

781
00:40:48,822 --> 00:40:52,658
once she's successful, and you'll see,
if you compare the two,

782
00:40:52,742 --> 00:40:57,663
although they're the same locations,
the color has intensified drastically.

783
00:40:57,747 --> 00:41:01,917
l really think Anthony Michaels
came into his own as an animator, too,

784
00:41:02,001 --> 00:41:04,878
doing the animation of her
going up the pole.

785
00:41:04,963 --> 00:41:06,130
COATS: He animated on Mulan.

786
00:41:06,214 --> 00:41:08,465
COOK: Chris WiIIiams
boarded that sequence.

787
00:41:08,550 --> 00:41:10,050
BANCROFT:
Yeah, Chris WiIIiams was the guy

788
00:41:10,135 --> 00:41:12,261
that really cracked that nut for us.

789
00:41:12,345 --> 00:41:15,305
How do you show a character
going through all the training

790
00:41:15,390 --> 00:41:17,057
and also get the story across that

791
00:41:17,142 --> 00:41:19,685
she's the lowest person
on the totem pole?

792
00:41:19,769 --> 00:41:22,688
And by the end,
not only is everybody trained,

793
00:41:22,772 --> 00:41:25,566
but also that they have respect for her,

794
00:41:25,650 --> 00:41:28,235
she's become the best of the best.

795
00:41:28,319 --> 00:41:32,447
COOK: Pres Romanillos was
our supervising animator for Shan-Yu.

796
00:41:32,532 --> 00:41:34,116
Did some great stuff.

797
00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:35,868
COATS: He also did the bird, the falcon.

798
00:41:35,952 --> 00:41:38,829
COOK: The falcon.
Alex Kupershmidt also helped out,

799
00:41:38,913 --> 00:41:42,291
because the character footage on Khan,

800
00:41:42,375 --> 00:41:45,460
Mulan's horse, wasn't as demanding.

801
00:41:45,545 --> 00:41:49,590
COATS: We struggled a lot with
how much footage we needed

802
00:41:49,674 --> 00:41:51,633
of Shan-Yu in the movie.

803
00:41:51,718 --> 00:41:56,180
Because Shan-Yu is
a fairly superficial villain.

804
00:41:56,264 --> 00:41:57,514
He wants one thing, right?

805
00:41:57,599 --> 00:42:01,894
He's big, bad, he wants to come in
to defeat The Emperor.

806
00:42:01,978 --> 00:42:04,354
So, we pIayed around a Iot

807
00:42:04,439 --> 00:42:06,523
with how much footage
we were going to use of him.

808
00:42:07,775 --> 00:42:10,485
We couIdn't have done this movie...
You can't do a cross-dressing movie

809
00:42:10,570 --> 00:42:12,321
without your obligatory
bathroom scene.

810
00:42:12,405 --> 00:42:13,405
COOK: Right.

811
00:42:13,489 --> 00:42:15,240
COATS: And that's what this is.
BANCROFT: Sort of.

812
00:42:15,325 --> 00:42:19,703
You've got to have the character
in a naked situation of some kind.

813
00:42:19,787 --> 00:42:23,123
This was what we caIIed "the awkward
lake sequence" because of that,

814
00:42:23,249 --> 00:42:25,542
it introduces the problem of,

815
00:42:25,627 --> 00:42:29,046
"How does she bathe
with all these guys?"

816
00:42:29,130 --> 00:42:31,256
COOK: You want to broach the subject.
BANCROFT: Yeah.

817
00:42:31,341 --> 00:42:33,550
COOK: Doing it with comedy
is really the best way.

818
00:42:33,635 --> 00:42:35,010
BANCROFT: Because story-wise,

819
00:42:35,094 --> 00:42:37,804
we talked about this quite a bit,
that story-wise,

820
00:42:37,889 --> 00:42:40,432
there's nothing going on
to progress the plot,

821
00:42:40,516 --> 00:42:44,436
other than it shows that now
she's kind of "in" with the guys.

822
00:42:45,146 --> 00:42:47,689
COATS: Our underwear gag.
You know what?

823
00:42:47,774 --> 00:42:49,399
An underwear gag, guaranteed laugh.

824
00:42:49,484 --> 00:42:51,777
COOK: Especially with hearts.
BANCROFT: Kids love underwear.

825
00:42:51,861 --> 00:42:53,737
COATS: Put hearts on boxers
and they go nuts.

826
00:42:53,821 --> 00:42:55,447
BANCROFT: Comedy standard.

827
00:42:56,115 --> 00:42:59,117
So aII it is, is humor and character,

828
00:42:59,202 --> 00:43:01,870
but we felt strongly
about keeping this in,

829
00:43:01,955 --> 00:43:04,081
because it is so much fun

830
00:43:04,165 --> 00:43:07,584
and it helps you to really love
and care for these characters,

831
00:43:07,669 --> 00:43:10,254
-because they care for each other.
-COATS: These guys.

832
00:43:10,338 --> 00:43:12,089
BANCROFT: That's what makes
Disney films great, too,

833
00:43:12,173 --> 00:43:14,258
is that you make choices like that

834
00:43:14,342 --> 00:43:18,345
purely for the fun of character
and the fun of comedy.

835
00:43:18,513 --> 00:43:21,515
COOK: Ling was played
by Gedde Watanabe.

836
00:43:21,599 --> 00:43:23,392
I know we were jerks to you before,

837
00:43:23,476 --> 00:43:25,269
so let's start over.

838
00:43:25,353 --> 00:43:29,106
COOK: And Chien-Po was...
COATS: Jerry Tondo.

839
00:43:29,190 --> 00:43:30,983
And I'm Chien-Po.

840
00:43:31,067 --> 00:43:34,945
COOK: Jerry Tondo did a very
funny job. He's a very sweet man.

841
00:43:35,029 --> 00:43:37,864
COATS: Now, Harvey Fierstein
plays the voice of Yao.

842
00:43:38,032 --> 00:43:41,451
And there's nothin'
you girls can do about it.

843
00:43:42,370 --> 00:43:45,831
COATS: We struggled
with what we wanted

844
00:43:45,915 --> 00:43:48,292
for the voice of that character
at the beginning.

845
00:43:48,376 --> 00:43:51,003
We really struggled with
who it shouId be.

846
00:43:51,087 --> 00:43:53,630
Once we got Harvey,
it just really landed.

847
00:43:53,715 --> 00:43:54,798
COOK: lt was great.

848
00:43:54,882 --> 00:43:57,592
COATS: The humor
of the character we needed.

849
00:43:57,677 --> 00:43:59,386
COOK: And Gedde was just so funny.

850
00:43:59,470 --> 00:44:03,724
He would have us all rolling
on the fIoor with his antics.

851
00:44:04,225 --> 00:44:05,684
(WHISTLES)

852
00:44:05,768 --> 00:44:08,103
BANCROFT: The other reason why
the Gang of Three are great,

853
00:44:08,187 --> 00:44:09,813
we caII them the Gang of Three,

854
00:44:09,897 --> 00:44:13,734
what they represent for us is,
not only are they great characters

855
00:44:13,818 --> 00:44:16,611
that we can portray and have fun with,

856
00:44:16,696 --> 00:44:19,990
and they represent the manly side
of the film,

857
00:44:20,074 --> 00:44:22,784
but also, in an economic way,

858
00:44:22,869 --> 00:44:24,995
they represent the entire Chinese army.

859
00:44:25,079 --> 00:44:28,832
Because we're making
this huge Chinese army picture,

860
00:44:28,916 --> 00:44:31,418
and yet we don't have
the budget or the time

861
00:44:31,502 --> 00:44:33,837
to produce thousands of armies.

862
00:44:33,921 --> 00:44:37,007
So a Iot of times, we just use
our camera to get that feeling.

863
00:44:37,091 --> 00:44:39,217
We'd cut to them
so that you get the sense

864
00:44:39,302 --> 00:44:40,844
of what the army's thinking,

865
00:44:40,928 --> 00:44:43,930
without having to represent
and draw 1 00 people.

866
00:44:44,015 --> 00:44:46,350
-They completed their training.
-Those boys. . .

867
00:44:46,434 --> 00:44:48,602
BANCROFT: What did it say
on his clipboard there?

868
00:44:48,686 --> 00:44:50,520
That actually did say something.

869
00:44:50,605 --> 00:44:52,397
COOK: lt does. l can't remember.

870
00:44:52,482 --> 00:44:55,942
lt was supposed to be a report
on how his troops were doing,

871
00:44:56,027 --> 00:44:59,029
or a training schedule.

872
00:44:59,113 --> 00:45:01,656
BANCROFT: Yeah, it was kind of
a running thing with him.

873
00:45:01,741 --> 00:45:05,243
He had that clipboard and he was
always writing something down.

874
00:45:05,328 --> 00:45:09,498
lt had to do with him being
that kind of character.

875
00:45:09,582 --> 00:45:11,875
COOK: Like the office rat or something.
BANCROFT: Yeah.

876
00:45:11,959 --> 00:45:15,087
COOK: He's making notes whenever
you make a mistake or something.

877
00:45:15,171 --> 00:45:16,380
You're dismissed.

878
00:45:16,464 --> 00:45:19,132
BANCROFT: The office rat
that everybody loves to hate.

879
00:45:19,217 --> 00:45:21,676
COATS: Now again,
this scene right in here

880
00:45:21,761 --> 00:45:25,097
was yet another subtle layering

881
00:45:25,181 --> 00:45:28,642
of Mulan's sort of growing...

882
00:45:28,726 --> 00:45:31,311
BANCROFT: Attraction.
COATS: ...attraction to Shang.

883
00:45:32,480 --> 00:45:34,523
BANCROFT: And Mushu calls her on it.

884
00:45:34,607 --> 00:45:37,025
"You're flirtin' with that boy, ain't ya?"

885
00:45:37,110 --> 00:45:38,402
What?

886
00:45:38,486 --> 00:45:40,862
You like him, don't you?

887
00:45:40,947 --> 00:45:41,988
No!

888
00:45:42,073 --> 00:45:45,283
BANCROFT: Yep.
She is Iivin' on deniaI.

889
00:45:46,369 --> 00:45:49,704
-lt's not just a river in Egypt.
-COOK: But l like him, anyway.

890
00:45:50,039 --> 00:45:54,209
I think it's time we took this war
into our own hands.

891
00:45:54,836 --> 00:45:58,547
BANCROFT: Now this is a great little bit
for Mushu, 'cause a lot of times,

892
00:45:58,631 --> 00:46:01,800
Disney sidekick characters,
as they're called,

893
00:46:01,884 --> 00:46:04,386
they don't really help the plot too much.

894
00:46:04,470 --> 00:46:06,930
They don't really
push it forward so much.

895
00:46:07,014 --> 00:46:09,057
But what I Iike
about Mushu and Cri-Kee

896
00:46:09,142 --> 00:46:11,435
is that this is their moment

897
00:46:11,519 --> 00:46:13,812
that they change the course of the story.

898
00:46:13,896 --> 00:46:15,647
By forging this note,

899
00:46:15,731 --> 00:46:18,108
they actively get Mulan and her troops...

900
00:46:18,192 --> 00:46:19,651
COOK: To the front.
BANCROFT: ...to the front.

901
00:46:19,735 --> 00:46:23,363
So, it was a great
little story plot moment

902
00:46:23,448 --> 00:46:25,407
that we could do in a comedic way,

903
00:46:25,491 --> 00:46:30,579
instead of finding some other
boring, non-fun way.

904
00:46:33,791 --> 00:46:36,835
COOK: This typing idea
was Alex Kupershmidt's idea.

905
00:46:36,919 --> 00:46:40,380
Before we put a sequence
into animation,

906
00:46:40,465 --> 00:46:43,467
we do what we call a turnover,

907
00:46:43,551 --> 00:46:45,385
or handing the sequence over
to the layout artists

908
00:46:46,304 --> 00:46:49,431
and invite those who will be involved,

909
00:46:49,515 --> 00:46:53,435
-the editor and...
-COATS: The supervising animators.

910
00:46:53,519 --> 00:46:57,147
COOK: Everything's already boarded
and approved to go into production,

911
00:46:57,231 --> 00:47:00,942
and we're all ready to go, but we try
to keep ourselves open for ideas.

912
00:47:01,027 --> 00:47:06,198
And that's when Alex came up
with that idea of the cricket typing.

913
00:47:06,282 --> 00:47:09,784
And it's just so funny.
lt worked out so great.

914
00:47:09,869 --> 00:47:12,787
COATS: This panda joke,
l gotta tell you...

915
00:47:12,872 --> 00:47:14,456
Who boarded the panda joke?

916
00:47:14,540 --> 00:47:16,291
BANCROFT: John Sanford.
COOK: Johnnie.

917
00:47:16,375 --> 00:47:18,335
COATS: When we boarded
this panda joke,

918
00:47:18,419 --> 00:47:20,086
we thought it was hysterical.

919
00:47:20,171 --> 00:47:22,839
And Tom Schumacher did not Iike it.

920
00:47:22,924 --> 00:47:24,591
He kept trying
to take it out of the movie.

921
00:47:24,675 --> 00:47:26,635
COOK: Oh, absolutely.
COATS: Barry and Tony would say,

922
00:47:26,719 --> 00:47:30,639
"Please just let it play for a screening.
lt's going to be funny."

923
00:47:30,723 --> 00:47:33,517
So, we battIed keeping that panda joke
in for a very long time.

924
00:47:34,769 --> 00:47:37,020
FinaIIy, at the end, Tom Schumacher

925
00:47:37,104 --> 00:47:40,565
actually conceded
that it was a funny joke,

926
00:47:40,650 --> 00:47:42,317
and we got to keep it in there.

927
00:47:42,401 --> 00:47:44,528
BANCROFT:
And it's another example where we use

928
00:47:44,612 --> 00:47:47,113
an office worker, if you will, as a voice.

929
00:47:47,198 --> 00:47:51,701
John Sanford, who did the storyboards
for it, aIso did the scratch on Chi Fu,

930
00:47:51,786 --> 00:47:56,248
so when Chi Fu screams Iike a woman,
we had tried a lot of different things

931
00:47:56,332 --> 00:47:59,376
and actually had a woman scream
in there and all this stuff,

932
00:47:59,460 --> 00:48:03,046
and it was never as funny
as John screaming like a woman.

933
00:48:03,130 --> 00:48:06,633
And to this day, nobody can scream
Iike a woman Iike John Sanford.

934
00:48:06,759 --> 00:48:10,220
COOK: This sequence
where Ling shows Mulan

935
00:48:10,304 --> 00:48:12,305
the equivalent of a girlie calendar.

936
00:48:12,390 --> 00:48:16,893
Broose Johnson animated some
of this really great transitional stuff.

937
00:48:16,978 --> 00:48:19,563
And getting that look
we had in the opening shot of the film,

938
00:48:19,647 --> 00:48:21,898
watercolor on rice paper.

939
00:48:23,025 --> 00:48:25,694
StyIisticaIIy, we just
departed completely

940
00:48:25,778 --> 00:48:27,862
from the rest of the movie again.

941
00:48:27,947 --> 00:48:33,910
But it was what they dreamt about and,
especiaIIy for Chien-Po,

942
00:48:33,995 --> 00:48:35,745
what his wish for Iife was

943
00:48:35,830 --> 00:48:38,707
and what he wanted to get out of
this whole experience.

944
00:48:38,791 --> 00:48:40,917
But it's fun to do that, too.

945
00:48:41,002 --> 00:48:44,629
l think it's refreshing for the audience
to see another side,

946
00:48:44,714 --> 00:48:49,384
or visually, another look for the film
that keeps it interesting.

947
00:48:49,468 --> 00:48:52,721
The most famous sequence
like that is the pink elephants

948
00:48:52,805 --> 00:48:54,764
on parade from Dumbo.

949
00:48:54,849 --> 00:48:57,642
-But this was our sort of...
-BANCROFT: Little fantasy moment.

950
00:48:57,727 --> 00:48:59,936
COOK: Having a fun moment
and using a different style.

951
00:49:00,021 --> 00:49:03,481
BANCROFT: lt was actually animated
by Broose Johnson and Aaron Blaise.

952
00:49:03,566 --> 00:49:05,650
COATS: Now, the song
A Girl Worth Fighting For,

953
00:49:05,735 --> 00:49:09,487
its thematic is that you see, or hear,

954
00:49:09,864 --> 00:49:12,991
the Gang of Three taIking
about what they want in a woman.

955
00:49:13,200 --> 00:49:17,746
And Mulan's strengths and skill sets
aren't really what they're describing,

956
00:49:17,830 --> 00:49:19,789
so it creates this interesting dynamic.

957
00:49:19,874 --> 00:49:23,084
And at the end,
once they realize Mulan is a woman,

958
00:49:23,169 --> 00:49:25,378
they respect and love her,

959
00:49:25,504 --> 00:49:27,881
and she doesn't have
any of the qualities

960
00:49:27,965 --> 00:49:29,215
they're singing about here.

961
00:49:29,300 --> 00:49:32,886
BANCROFT: No, they're these
male chauvinist pigs, basically,

962
00:49:32,970 --> 00:49:35,805
singing about what they think
a woman shouId be.

963
00:49:35,890 --> 00:49:38,767
l'll tell you, screenings
for the studio were tough.

964
00:49:38,851 --> 00:49:43,229
We'd get notes about how
non-P.C. this song was.

965
00:49:43,314 --> 00:49:45,607
COOK: Which was the whole idea.

966
00:49:45,691 --> 00:49:48,526
BANCROFT: We were actually happy
that we got that kind of feedback,

967
00:49:48,861 --> 00:49:50,445
because that's the purpose.

968
00:49:50,529 --> 00:49:52,530
They look really bad
for what they think a woman is,

969
00:49:52,615 --> 00:49:55,575
because that's the effect
MuIan has on them.

970
00:49:55,660 --> 00:49:58,203
ln the end,
she changes their whole perspective

971
00:49:58,287 --> 00:50:00,455
of what a woman is in society.

972
00:50:00,539 --> 00:50:04,209
COOK: And the abrupt change between
this happy-go-lucky song,

973
00:50:04,293 --> 00:50:07,671
suddenly they're faced with
the devastation of war.

974
00:50:07,755 --> 00:50:10,423
This was also very tricky to handle.

975
00:50:10,508 --> 00:50:13,301
We didn't want to show
dead bodies laying around.

976
00:50:13,386 --> 00:50:15,428
Later, we have one shot where we see

977
00:50:15,513 --> 00:50:17,847
the army as we look over
the ridge there,

978
00:50:17,932 --> 00:50:22,852
but we want to show destruction
without showing too much death.

979
00:50:22,937 --> 00:50:26,481
But represented by this doll Mulan finds

980
00:50:26,565 --> 00:50:30,694
in the house of some girl that...

981
00:50:30,778 --> 00:50:34,656
I don't know how much the audience
gets the direct connection,

982
00:50:34,740 --> 00:50:39,244
but she sees herself as the little girl

983
00:50:39,328 --> 00:50:41,996
who belongs to this doll.

984
00:50:44,542 --> 00:50:46,835
COATS: At this point,
we were talking for awhile,

985
00:50:46,919 --> 00:50:49,504
"Do we have to check back
in with Dad?"

986
00:50:49,588 --> 00:50:52,048
ln our minds, that relating...

987
00:50:52,133 --> 00:50:56,720
As she picked up that doll, it was
thinking of her being back home, too.

988
00:50:56,804 --> 00:50:59,723
I don't know if it
ever came across or not.

989
00:50:59,807 --> 00:51:02,392
COOK: Right, and l think here,

990
00:51:02,476 --> 00:51:08,690
MuIan's reaction to Shang just being
informed of the death of his father

991
00:51:10,818 --> 00:51:12,193
-reminded her...
-COATS: Yeah.

992
00:51:12,278 --> 00:51:16,906
COOK: We wanted to play her reaction
to Shang's moment of sorrow here,

993
00:51:16,991 --> 00:51:20,577
so that that wouId aIso cIick back...

994
00:51:20,661 --> 00:51:22,912
COATS: lt takes us back home.
COOK: ...to her dad.

995
00:51:22,997 --> 00:51:25,999
COATS: We made the decision
and taIked on and off

996
00:51:26,083 --> 00:51:28,209
about whether or not to cut back home.

997
00:51:28,294 --> 00:51:29,669
We decided not to,

998
00:51:29,754 --> 00:51:33,715
because we were afraid
that either Dad was going to be so frail,

999
00:51:33,799 --> 00:51:35,091
it wasn't going to be entertaining,

1000
00:51:35,176 --> 00:51:40,054
or that the audience would get angry
that Dad hadn't gone after Mulan.

1001
00:51:41,223 --> 00:51:44,893
BANCROFT: The scene that the camera
booms over the hillside,

1002
00:51:44,977 --> 00:51:48,605
and you see that the GeneraI

1003
00:51:48,689 --> 00:51:50,774
and all of his troops
were wiped out by Shan-Yu,

1004
00:51:50,858 --> 00:51:55,111
we see that with Shang
as he rises over the rise, also.

1005
00:51:55,196 --> 00:51:58,698
That scene, that background,
was painted three different ways.

1006
00:51:58,783 --> 00:52:00,575
Along the lines of
what Barry was saying,

1007
00:52:00,659 --> 00:52:02,619
the studio was very concerned

1008
00:52:02,703 --> 00:52:08,041
about how much gore to show,
so we had a small, medium and large.

1009
00:52:08,125 --> 00:52:11,461
-And the smaII was Iike hard...
-COOK: Body count.

1010
00:52:11,545 --> 00:52:13,296
BANCROFT: Yeah,
it was based on body counts.

1011
00:52:13,380 --> 00:52:15,799
So the smaII represented
very little bodies,

1012
00:52:15,883 --> 00:52:19,177
and it was mostly debris,
but it was too confusing.

1013
00:52:19,261 --> 00:52:21,971
Without showing any death,

1014
00:52:22,056 --> 00:52:24,599
then it doesn't really nail the idea home.

1015
00:52:24,683 --> 00:52:28,645
So we fought for a IittIe more,
and l think we settled with the medium,

1016
00:52:28,729 --> 00:52:33,024
because the large
was maybe a little too graphic.

1017
00:52:37,571 --> 00:52:41,658
COOK: l fought a lot to get this idea
of it starting to snow.

1018
00:52:41,742 --> 00:52:44,035
We were going
into a sequence with snow,

1019
00:52:44,119 --> 00:52:45,954
so it was practical in that sense.

1020
00:52:46,038 --> 00:52:51,084
But there was some calming effect
and some sort of healing effect

1021
00:52:51,168 --> 00:52:56,881
that this falling snow seemed to have
that worked well emotionally.

1022
00:52:57,925 --> 00:53:02,846
And, of course, after that we mentioned
how important it is to have comic relief

1023
00:53:02,930 --> 00:53:07,267
after a heavy or a serious sequence,
which that certainly was.

1024
00:53:08,894 --> 00:53:11,062
And there it is. That's another thing,

1025
00:53:11,146 --> 00:53:15,191
the overall pacing of the story
is such an important factor,

1026
00:53:15,276 --> 00:53:18,278
coming from a slow, sad sequence,
suddenly now,

1027
00:53:18,362 --> 00:53:20,905
aside from beginning it
with the comic relief,

1028
00:53:21,156 --> 00:53:24,659
but suddenly,
everything becomes hyperactive.

1029
00:53:24,743 --> 00:53:28,705
COATS: To set up this entire sequence,
we had a huge model.

1030
00:53:28,789 --> 00:53:30,081
COOK: Dean built it.

1031
00:53:30,541 --> 00:53:32,000
BANCROFT:
Dean DeBlois, the story artist.

1032
00:53:32,084 --> 00:53:33,501
COATS: He built this model.

1033
00:53:33,586 --> 00:53:36,421
-What, four by five feet?
-BANCROFT: Right.

1034
00:53:36,505 --> 00:53:41,426
COATS: And probably five feet deep,
the entire thing out of plaster of Paris.

1035
00:53:41,510 --> 00:53:46,222
Again, Dean DeBlois, one of our leads
in our story department,

1036
00:53:46,307 --> 00:53:49,934
'cause he had to figure out what
was happening, where everyone was,

1037
00:53:50,019 --> 00:53:53,187
so that he could get the right effect
on the story level.

1038
00:53:53,272 --> 00:53:55,690
BANCROFT: lt was the choreography of
where they run,

1039
00:53:55,774 --> 00:53:56,900
where they're headed,

1040
00:53:56,984 --> 00:54:00,111
when does Shan-Yu come up,
where do they travel to.

1041
00:54:01,196 --> 00:54:03,239
It was effective for that.

1042
00:54:03,324 --> 00:54:08,077
COATS: Because there's a lot to keep
track of, and Cri-Kee's pretty tricky,

1043
00:54:08,162 --> 00:54:12,874
because he is so tiny and
the space that he's in is so immense

1044
00:54:12,958 --> 00:54:17,545
that it takes a Iot of work
to keep track of everyone.

1045
00:54:17,630 --> 00:54:20,089
BANCROFT: We used CG arrows

1046
00:54:20,174 --> 00:54:23,259
created by David Tidgwell
and his effects department

1047
00:54:23,344 --> 00:54:25,345
to create a lot of depth in this sequence,

1048
00:54:25,429 --> 00:54:27,722
so you'll see we use them
to great effect.

1049
00:54:27,806 --> 00:54:30,099
Coming towards camera,
it gives a lot of depth.

1050
00:54:30,184 --> 00:54:32,936
A lot of the backgrounds, otherwise,
look very flat.

1051
00:54:33,020 --> 00:54:37,440
It's those arrows that
add some nice depth to the scenes.

1052
00:54:38,442 --> 00:54:41,152
COATS: David Tidgwell is a supervisor
of our effects department.

1053
00:54:49,328 --> 00:54:51,496
BANCROFT:
Those are aII CG fIags, too.

1054
00:54:51,580 --> 00:54:53,665
Always blowing in the background.

1055
00:54:53,749 --> 00:54:55,792
COOK: This is a great place
to mention Eric GuagIione,

1056
00:54:55,876 --> 00:55:02,882
who is Iead of our CG department and
helped pull off all of this Hun charge.

1057
00:55:03,968 --> 00:55:07,428
Sandra GroeneveId modeIed,
originally in clay,

1058
00:55:07,513 --> 00:55:09,639
some of the horses
from Chen-Yi's design,

1059
00:55:09,723 --> 00:55:12,642
or bust of one of the horses,

1060
00:55:12,893 --> 00:55:15,311
and began doing
preliminary animation on it.

1061
00:55:15,396 --> 00:55:21,234
lt was neat and very inventive how they
managed to animate probably, what?

1062
00:55:21,318 --> 00:55:25,655
-Five or six different horses?
-BANCROFT: Behaviors, yeah.

1063
00:55:25,739 --> 00:55:27,782
COOK: And five or six different Huns
on these horses.

1064
00:55:27,866 --> 00:55:33,121
But then with color and swapping out
shields and swords and hats,

1065
00:55:33,205 --> 00:55:36,749
and putting one rider on one horse.

1066
00:55:36,834 --> 00:55:40,753
You never really see two
that are exactly the same.

1067
00:55:40,838 --> 00:55:43,339
You might be if you want to
take the time to do it,

1068
00:55:43,424 --> 00:55:47,635
but it really feels like a wide variety of...

1069
00:55:47,720 --> 00:55:51,681
COATS: Then the thematic
that Jerry GoIdsmith captured,

1070
00:55:51,765 --> 00:55:55,518
Shan-Yu's thematic is one of
my favorite parts in his score.

1071
00:55:55,602 --> 00:55:57,812
I Iove the whoIe music in here.

1072
00:55:59,440 --> 00:56:01,941
All right. You might want
to light that right about now.

1073
00:56:02,026 --> 00:56:03,609
Quickly. Quickly!

1074
00:56:03,861 --> 00:56:08,364
COOK: From the time the avalanche
collapses right after she shoots it,

1075
00:56:08,449 --> 00:56:14,203
till they save her over the cliff is one
of the fantastic parts of the score.

1076
00:56:14,288 --> 00:56:16,122
lt's one of my favorites.

1077
00:56:16,206 --> 00:56:19,208
COATS: Now again, on a story point,
you've got to go back in

1078
00:56:19,293 --> 00:56:24,756
when you watch this sequence,
you realize that Mulan used her brain.

1079
00:56:25,215 --> 00:56:29,552
lt was really important for us that you
see her get the idea of that avalanche

1080
00:56:29,636 --> 00:56:31,596
in the refIection of her sword.

1081
00:56:31,680 --> 00:56:34,015
She gets the idea and she acts upon it.

1082
00:56:34,099 --> 00:56:40,313
She was abIe to defeat
a huge army here by using her brain

1083
00:56:40,397 --> 00:56:43,149
and a combination of
her physical strength,

1084
00:56:43,233 --> 00:56:46,778
but mostly she uses her head here.

1085
00:56:47,905 --> 00:56:50,865
BANCROFT: You'll see also
one of the fun things that we did,

1086
00:56:50,949 --> 00:56:53,159
which is very difficult to do in animation,

1087
00:56:53,243 --> 00:56:56,412
to try and get the feeling of
once the avalanche starts,

1088
00:56:56,497 --> 00:57:00,917
we start a hand-heId camera feeI
through a lot of the shots,

1089
00:57:01,001 --> 00:57:05,588
and this just gives a little sway
and tension to a Iot of the scenes.

1090
00:57:05,672 --> 00:57:07,632
But it's something that, in the computer,

1091
00:57:07,716 --> 00:57:09,217
we could scale up or down,

1092
00:57:09,301 --> 00:57:11,803
depending on the importance
of the scene

1093
00:57:11,887 --> 00:57:14,222
or how much tension the scene had.

1094
00:57:14,306 --> 00:57:17,141
We used it to great effect
to try to feel like

1095
00:57:17,226 --> 00:57:20,186
the audience is actually
in the avaIanche.

1096
00:57:20,270 --> 00:57:23,815
COATS: Remember Roy Disney
sent us some avalanche footage?

1097
00:57:23,899 --> 00:57:24,982
This avaIanche...

1098
00:57:25,067 --> 00:57:29,070
Our effects department did a reaIIy
great job in this movie.

1099
00:57:29,154 --> 00:57:33,658
The design of the effects was great,
but this avaIanche was a Iot of work.

1100
00:57:35,911 --> 00:57:41,707
COOK: Garrett Wren did the fantastic
animation of the avalanche as it begins

1101
00:57:41,792 --> 00:57:44,961
and ends over the cliff,
other scenes too,

1102
00:57:45,045 --> 00:57:49,382
but those were two mega scenes
for an effects animator

1103
00:57:49,466 --> 00:57:51,884
and just major work, all done by hand.

1104
00:57:51,969 --> 00:57:54,470
-BeautifuI stuff.
-BANCROFT: How long did it take him?

1105
00:57:54,555 --> 00:57:56,556
COATS: Oh, forever.
He worked on that through

1106
00:57:56,640 --> 00:57:58,474
the course of the movie, it seems like.

1107
00:57:58,559 --> 00:58:00,143
lt took him a long time.

1108
00:58:00,227 --> 00:58:02,687
COOK: That was the sequence he was

1109
00:58:02,771 --> 00:58:05,606
more or less assigned
to was the avaIanche.

1110
00:58:05,691 --> 00:58:07,483
And he made it work.

1111
00:58:07,568 --> 00:58:09,402
COATS: This was a tricky sequence

1112
00:58:09,486 --> 00:58:12,530
in terms of story
'cause there's a lot going on.

1113
00:58:12,614 --> 00:58:17,660
We had to make sure that
we got some level of believability,

1114
00:58:17,744 --> 00:58:22,582
because there's a huge suspension
of disbelief you have to go with.

1115
00:58:22,666 --> 00:58:25,960
But we reworked this sequence a lot,
trying to make sure...

1116
00:58:26,044 --> 00:58:28,796
Where was everyone?
What did Mulan need to accomplish?

1117
00:58:28,881 --> 00:58:30,756
How did she save Shang?

1118
00:58:30,841 --> 00:58:34,010
It was important that the Gang of Three
help her.

1119
00:58:34,094 --> 00:58:39,140
We wanted them to be a part of this,
which they ended up helping her.

1120
00:58:39,224 --> 00:58:42,643
We ultimately wanted Mulan
to have been in charge,

1121
00:58:42,728 --> 00:58:45,021
to be responsible for the success.

1122
00:58:45,105 --> 00:58:48,274
BANCROFT: Not only is Yao probably
the strongest man in the world

1123
00:58:48,358 --> 00:58:49,859
to be able to hold onto that rope

1124
00:58:49,943 --> 00:58:54,155
that's holding up
a ton of weight with the horse.

1125
00:58:54,239 --> 00:58:56,991
COATS: A horse, two humans,
a dragon and a cricket.

1126
00:58:57,075 --> 00:58:59,577
BANCROFT: That must be a steel cable
that it's attached to, also.

1127
00:58:59,661 --> 00:59:02,205
COATS: You have to ignore
the improbability

1128
00:59:02,289 --> 00:59:04,207
of it and go with the emotion of it.

1129
00:59:04,333 --> 00:59:05,917
LING: Give him some air.

1130
00:59:06,210 --> 00:59:07,376
(GASPING)

1131
00:59:07,461 --> 00:59:08,878
Ping?

1132
00:59:08,962 --> 00:59:12,965
You are the craziest man I've ever met.

1133
00:59:14,301 --> 00:59:16,844
And for that, I owe you my life.

1134
00:59:16,929 --> 00:59:20,389
From now on, you have my trust.

1135
00:59:20,474 --> 00:59:22,266
COATS: Now this sequence
coming up was one

1136
00:59:22,351 --> 00:59:25,144
that we tried a lot of different ways,

1137
00:59:25,229 --> 00:59:27,563
because we knew
from the very beginning

1138
00:59:27,648 --> 00:59:30,650
that MuIan had to
be reveaIed as a woman.

1139
00:59:30,734 --> 00:59:34,487
How do you do that
in a tastefuI manner?

1140
00:59:35,322 --> 00:59:37,406
BANCROFT: ln a G-rated movie at that.

1141
00:59:37,491 --> 00:59:41,244
COATS: A lot of the sequences we did
at the beginning got a laugh

1142
00:59:41,328 --> 00:59:44,330
or they got gasps
because they were too graphic.

1143
00:59:44,414 --> 00:59:48,042
Barry, wasn't this finally your solution?

1144
00:59:49,586 --> 00:59:53,547
COOK: l thought it was good to show
from a distance her in the medic tent.

1145
00:59:53,632 --> 00:59:57,260
The scene where they're whispering
to each other outside the tent.

1146
00:59:57,344 --> 01:00:00,930
The medic and Shang, stiII got
a giggle in the final screening.

1147
01:00:01,014 --> 01:00:02,098
COATS: lt did.

1148
01:00:02,182 --> 01:00:06,978
COOK: But to show that, after the fact,

1149
01:00:07,062 --> 01:00:09,272
she had been treated for her injury,

1150
01:00:09,356 --> 01:00:11,774
and the treatment of the injury...

1151
01:00:11,858 --> 01:00:14,694
COATS: That a medical man
was the person who discovered her.

1152
01:00:14,778 --> 01:00:18,572
COOK: A doctor, which
up until this point, he's not even around.

1153
01:00:18,657 --> 01:00:20,616
-He just shows up.
-COATS: We had to add him.

1154
01:00:20,701 --> 01:00:22,576
COOK: He's a mountain medicine man.

1155
01:00:22,661 --> 01:00:26,038
He lives up in the snow,
but he's part of the army.

1156
01:00:26,123 --> 01:00:30,376
The symbol on the side of his case
and the flag on the top of the tent

1157
01:00:30,460 --> 01:00:34,505
is an ancient Chinese symboI
for a doctor.

1158
01:00:34,589 --> 01:00:36,799
Chen-Yi gave us that piece of research.

1159
01:00:36,883 --> 01:00:39,677
COATS: When we revealed her
as a woman inside the tent,

1160
01:00:39,761 --> 01:00:40,803
it gave her some dignity.

1161
01:00:40,887 --> 01:00:45,016
Then Chi Fu immediateIy strips it away.

1162
01:00:45,100 --> 01:00:49,687
COOK: As we get closer and closer
to Shang about to execute MuIan,

1163
01:00:49,771 --> 01:00:52,648
the color intensifies in the sky.

1164
01:00:52,733 --> 01:00:57,570
As soon as the sword hits the ground,
you see the sky has no red in it.

1165
01:00:58,155 --> 01:01:01,157
An abrupt mood change.

1166
01:01:01,241 --> 01:01:05,703
Hopefully, something the audience
would never consciously pick up on.

1167
01:01:05,787 --> 01:01:08,956
From a standpoint of mood and tone,

1168
01:01:09,041 --> 01:01:13,544
it shifts suddenly when you see
the decision Shang's made

1169
01:01:13,628 --> 01:01:19,175
to not obey the law himself,
to show mercy.

1170
01:01:19,259 --> 01:01:21,677
BANCROFT: Then it dissipates,
as he's made a concIusion

1171
01:01:21,762 --> 01:01:24,263
and it aIIeviates the tension
in the scene.

1172
01:01:25,265 --> 01:01:27,391
COATS: One of the sub-themes
in Mulan

1173
01:01:27,476 --> 01:01:29,477
was what it takes to be a great leader.

1174
01:01:29,936 --> 01:01:34,023
Great Ieaders
know when to break the ruIes.

1175
01:01:34,107 --> 01:01:38,819
We see Shang here making
an important decision.

1176
01:01:38,904 --> 01:01:43,824
He should have killed her,
but that wasn't the right thing to do.

1177
01:01:43,909 --> 01:01:46,327
He made a really hard choice
right there

1178
01:01:46,411 --> 01:01:49,121
by leaving her alone in the snow,

1179
01:01:49,206 --> 01:01:51,415
which to leave her alive,

1180
01:01:51,500 --> 01:01:54,126
but she may have
quite possibly perished.

1181
01:01:54,211 --> 01:01:56,754
COOK: They're not Chinese characters,
it doesn't say anything,

1182
01:01:56,838 --> 01:01:59,840
but the arrangement
of those little sticks in the fire,

1183
01:01:59,925 --> 01:02:03,427
to give you the feeling
of Chinese brushwork.

1184
01:02:03,929 --> 01:02:07,598
We tried to put things in like that
whenever we couId.

1185
01:02:07,682 --> 01:02:11,894
We wanted to get the idea from Mushu,
like a little marshmallow roast,

1186
01:02:12,687 --> 01:02:14,230
but they wouldn't
have had marshmallows,

1187
01:02:14,314 --> 01:02:18,025
so we used
these wontons or pot stickers.

1188
01:02:18,151 --> 01:02:20,736
BANCROFT: Little dumplings.
COOK: (LAUGHING) l love pot stickers.

1189
01:02:20,821 --> 01:02:22,822
BANCROFT: Get me one of those.
Those look good.

1190
01:02:22,906 --> 01:02:25,408
COOK: lt's close to lunchtime,
that's why we're thinking of food.

1191
01:02:25,492 --> 01:02:28,744
COATS: l remember talking
about this sequence for a long time.

1192
01:02:28,829 --> 01:02:34,500
Barry pushed really hard
for her moment of seIf-doubt.

1193
01:02:34,584 --> 01:02:38,337
lt's interesting 'cause you can talk
to people who have seen the movie,

1194
01:02:38,422 --> 01:02:40,965
who talk about this sequence.

1195
01:02:41,049 --> 01:02:45,094
l remember trying to wrap
my head around it

1196
01:02:45,178 --> 01:02:47,179
when Barry was pushing for it.

1197
01:02:47,264 --> 01:02:49,223
BANCROFT: We all thought
he was crazy.

1198
01:02:49,307 --> 01:02:52,643
COATS: Because she has a moment of
self-doubt and it's the only time

1199
01:02:52,727 --> 01:02:56,063
where you see her almost
feel sorry for herself.

1200
01:02:56,148 --> 01:02:58,774
Other than that,
Mulan remains pretty constant.

1201
01:02:58,859 --> 01:03:00,276
Everything she does,

1202
01:03:00,360 --> 01:03:02,945
she does because
her heart tells her to behave that way.

1203
01:03:03,029 --> 01:03:04,613
But this moment right here,

1204
01:03:04,698 --> 01:03:07,741
where she questions
her altruistic behavior,

1205
01:03:07,826 --> 01:03:12,079
was a really great decision.

1206
01:03:12,164 --> 01:03:17,460
COOK: She had pushed
so hard to do this, to make the grade

1207
01:03:17,544 --> 01:03:21,797
and to hoId her own in the situation.

1208
01:03:21,882 --> 01:03:25,176
Then, when it all fell apart,

1209
01:03:25,510 --> 01:03:29,263
she really does question
her own motives

1210
01:03:29,347 --> 01:03:32,266
and wonder if it was the right decision,

1211
01:03:32,350 --> 01:03:35,311
or if she made a big mistake
from the very start.

1212
01:03:35,395 --> 01:03:38,772
l think a lot of what's underlying too
is the guilt of...

1213
01:03:39,858 --> 01:03:41,567
(SOFT CHIRPING)

1214
01:03:43,069 --> 01:03:46,614
COATS: Betraying all those people?
COOK: Some of this might be her fauIt.

1215
01:03:46,698 --> 01:03:50,159
The results of what happened,
but we don't want to get into that.

1216
01:03:50,243 --> 01:03:53,329
BANCROFT: The other value that it has
is that it really affects Mushu,

1217
01:03:53,413 --> 01:03:56,999
because he sees her lamenting about
what she'd done

1218
01:03:57,083 --> 01:03:58,918
in such a selfless way,

1219
01:03:59,085 --> 01:04:00,753
that it makes him feel guilty.

1220
01:04:00,837 --> 01:04:04,590
We do a neat visual thing there too,
to bring back the Reflection song,

1221
01:04:04,674 --> 01:04:07,718
where he sees his refIection
in the heImet.

1222
01:04:07,802 --> 01:04:11,805
It's at that moment that he feeIs
the need to confess.

1223
01:04:11,890 --> 01:04:14,934
So he comes out with the truth
that he was a con artist.

1224
01:04:15,060 --> 01:04:20,189
He really couldn't help her, but then
they discover that they're both outcasts

1225
01:04:20,774 --> 01:04:22,942
and they need to continue on together.

1226
01:04:23,026 --> 01:04:27,696
COOK: lt's really sort of the first moment
we see the big turn in Mushu there,

1227
01:04:27,781 --> 01:04:31,867
that now we know
he is going to help her in a real way.

1228
01:04:31,952 --> 01:04:35,079
COATS: He finally loses his selfishness
'cause he keeps it...

1229
01:04:35,163 --> 01:04:37,873
COOK: He has those traits
still throughout.

1230
01:04:37,958 --> 01:04:41,293
COATS: He'll never really be a saint.
COOK: That's part of his character.

1231
01:04:41,378 --> 01:04:45,339
At Ieast he's committed now
to her well-being and not just his own.

1232
01:04:45,423 --> 01:04:48,592
BANCROFT: This scene is really great.

1233
01:04:49,302 --> 01:04:51,053
We fought to keep this one in,

1234
01:04:51,137 --> 01:04:53,055
'cause we had a Iot of
discussions about,

1235
01:04:53,139 --> 01:04:55,099
couldn't you just surprise the audience,

1236
01:04:55,183 --> 01:04:57,476
and Shan-Yu ends up, Iater on...

1237
01:04:57,561 --> 01:04:59,061
COATS: Do we
have to show he survived?

1238
01:04:59,145 --> 01:05:00,813
BANCROFT: Do we have to
see aII this?

1239
01:05:00,897 --> 01:05:03,899
But what l love about it is,
it says to the audience

1240
01:05:03,984 --> 01:05:08,362
that this guy is so bad,
this one's one bad mamba jamba,

1241
01:05:08,446 --> 01:05:13,242
that he's going to
still go on with his goal

1242
01:05:13,326 --> 01:05:16,161
of killing The Emperor
with only five guys.

1243
01:05:17,664 --> 01:05:20,666
There's no doubt in his mind
that he's not going to succeed.

1244
01:05:20,750 --> 01:05:24,420
Then, of course, the added value
of Mulan seeing this.

1245
01:05:24,504 --> 01:05:27,381
She's the onIy one
who knows he's stiII aIive

1246
01:05:27,465 --> 01:05:29,967
and on his track to kill The Emperor.

1247
01:05:30,051 --> 01:05:32,094
That's another added bonus.

1248
01:05:34,681 --> 01:05:37,016
COATS: Notice
in the rhythm of the story

1249
01:05:37,100 --> 01:05:39,101
is that in our traditional end of Act Two,

1250
01:05:39,185 --> 01:05:44,690
which was Mulan sitting around in
that campfire feeling at her lowest low.

1251
01:05:44,774 --> 01:05:47,401
One of the reasons
we needed Shan-Yu to emerge there

1252
01:05:47,527 --> 01:05:49,987
is she has to snap out of that
very quickly,

1253
01:05:50,071 --> 01:05:53,490
so that her discovery of him being alive

1254
01:05:53,575 --> 01:05:56,535
gets her out of feeling sorry for herself

1255
01:05:56,620 --> 01:06:01,957
and immediately continues to push us
into Act Three and into MuIan's...

1256
01:06:03,376 --> 01:06:05,669
lt gets her excited again

1257
01:06:05,754 --> 01:06:09,465
'cause we needed a reason
to pull her out of her doldrums.

1258
01:06:11,926 --> 01:06:15,429
BANCROFT: This is where technology
saved us, because we wanted...

1259
01:06:15,513 --> 01:06:19,099
This sequence came about
at the end of production,

1260
01:06:19,184 --> 01:06:21,352
when we had
very little money and time,

1261
01:06:21,436 --> 01:06:24,063
but luckily we had
the ability and technology

1262
01:06:24,147 --> 01:06:26,732
to develop these wonderful
crowd behaviors.

1263
01:06:26,816 --> 01:06:30,194
Eric GuagIione and his group
helped develop them.

1264
01:06:30,278 --> 01:06:33,322
They're all hand-drawn,
two-dimensional characters,

1265
01:06:33,406 --> 01:06:36,617
but the computer is able
to reproduce them

1266
01:06:36,701 --> 01:06:39,578
so that it Iooks Iike
thousands of crowds.

1267
01:06:39,663 --> 01:06:42,206
lt gives a very lush feel to this parade,

1268
01:06:42,290 --> 01:06:45,000
and later on when we get into the court.

1269
01:06:45,085 --> 01:06:47,836
COATS: We couldn't have done
that sequence without those guys.

1270
01:06:47,921 --> 01:06:52,341
l don't know that we planned it. Did we
plan this or did they come up with it?

1271
01:06:52,425 --> 01:06:55,010
COOK: Eric came up with this idea
to help us out.

1272
01:06:55,095 --> 01:06:58,055
Also, l wanted to talk
about the art direction here.

1273
01:06:58,139 --> 01:07:02,059
Ric SIuiter worked hard on this.
We had talked about an idea of,

1274
01:07:02,143 --> 01:07:05,688
there's no electricity then,
but l just love the magical feel

1275
01:07:05,772 --> 01:07:11,443
when we were in Hong Kong at night,
the streets, the lights

1276
01:07:11,528 --> 01:07:14,655
and the green glow of the city
when we were flying in there.

1277
01:07:14,739 --> 01:07:19,284
l wanted to try to get these green,
almost like neon-feel to that street,

1278
01:07:19,369 --> 01:07:23,914
but do it with the traditionaI Chinese
lanterns, and it does have that nice...

1279
01:07:23,998 --> 01:07:28,836
lt does have that feel to it,
like one of those action-cop movies.

1280
01:07:28,920 --> 01:07:30,337
BANCROFT: We wanted it
to be Las Vegas

1281
01:07:30,422 --> 01:07:32,965
without actually being in Las Vegas.

1282
01:07:33,049 --> 01:07:38,387
COATS: We are historically accurate.
The Chinese did invent fireworks.

1283
01:07:38,471 --> 01:07:41,807
So we are accurate in that regard.

1284
01:07:42,684 --> 01:07:47,563
Just to see those sea of people that are
in a very short period of time,

1285
01:07:47,647 --> 01:07:51,233
going to turn around and they're
going to honor this woman who has,

1286
01:07:51,317 --> 01:07:56,363
according to the "then" laws of society,
done everything wrong.

1287
01:07:57,323 --> 01:08:02,077
COOK: Of course, we know there
are bad guys in that big paper dragon.

1288
01:08:02,162 --> 01:08:03,871
BANCROFT: Or do we?

1289
01:08:03,955 --> 01:08:07,416
China will sleep safely tonight.

1290
01:08:07,500 --> 01:08:10,294
Thanks to our brave warriors.

1291
01:08:10,378 --> 01:08:12,296
(CROWD CHEERING)

1292
01:08:12,380 --> 01:08:14,590
Sir, the Emperor's in danger.

1293
01:08:14,674 --> 01:08:15,758
(HARRUMPHS)

1294
01:08:15,842 --> 01:08:17,301
But the Huns are here.

1295
01:08:17,385 --> 01:08:21,555
COATS: From a story point of view,
we talked about this a lot,

1296
01:08:21,639 --> 01:08:25,392
because, remember, we had Mulan
feeling badly for herself.

1297
01:08:25,477 --> 01:08:27,269
She knew she had to go do something.

1298
01:08:27,353 --> 01:08:31,815
lmmediately, she goes in and she tries
to get other people to do it for her.

1299
01:08:31,900 --> 01:08:35,360
She had Iost the sense of seIf
that she could accomplish it.

1300
01:08:35,445 --> 01:08:39,114
That sequence was about turning
to all these people

1301
01:08:39,199 --> 01:08:40,532
and no one would help her.

1302
01:08:40,617 --> 01:08:43,952
COOK: And they don't trust her.
Shang doesn't trust her.

1303
01:08:44,037 --> 01:08:46,872
COATS: She's "a woman." No one
trusts her. No one beIieves in her.

1304
01:08:48,208 --> 01:08:51,502
You saw that look, right back then,
this is a woman.

1305
01:08:51,586 --> 01:08:53,504
You see her get the idea.

1306
01:08:53,588 --> 01:08:57,382
She's going to make yet another

1307
01:08:57,467 --> 01:09:02,095
very smart usage of her brain
and her physical ability

1308
01:09:02,180 --> 01:09:04,640
to help save the day.

1309
01:09:07,101 --> 01:09:08,811
COOK: Of course now,
the Chinese army too,

1310
01:09:08,895 --> 01:09:11,021
has reduced down to about five guys.

1311
01:09:12,106 --> 01:09:14,817
We don't talk about that very much.

1312
01:09:14,901 --> 01:09:16,819
BANCROFT: You'll see that
we start out...

1313
01:09:16,903 --> 01:09:20,572
COOK: With 100 guys
in that Iast shot.

1314
01:09:20,657 --> 01:09:23,450
COATS: We start out with
more of our army than we end up with,

1315
01:09:23,535 --> 01:09:26,370
but we're hoping that no one
really notices that.

1316
01:09:26,746 --> 01:09:29,289
COOK: Now they'll know it.
Had to open my mouth.

1317
01:09:30,333 --> 01:09:32,918
They'll never reach the Emperor in time.

1318
01:09:33,002 --> 01:09:34,795
(BATTERING CONTINUES)

1319
01:09:35,630 --> 01:09:37,798
COOK: What's she up to?

1320
01:09:37,882 --> 01:09:40,092
BANCROFT: Not only are they
saying they'll trust her,

1321
01:09:40,176 --> 01:09:41,844
she says, "l have an idea."

1322
01:09:41,928 --> 01:09:43,804
Her ideas have paid off for them,

1323
01:09:43,888 --> 01:09:46,348
so you see why
they would trust her in this,

1324
01:09:46,432 --> 01:09:49,852
but the other fun thing about this is...

1325
01:09:49,936 --> 01:09:51,687
COATS: Again, men in drag.

1326
01:09:51,771 --> 01:09:54,898
BANCROFT: Men in drag
are always funny, basically.

1327
01:09:55,316 --> 01:09:59,361
COOK: We make it look as if they're
giving armor to Mulan,

1328
01:09:59,445 --> 01:10:04,199
so that she can now get some armor on
and help them fight.

1329
01:10:04,450 --> 01:10:06,493
COATS: ln reality,
she's dressing them up.

1330
01:10:06,578 --> 01:10:08,996
COOK: She's taking their cIothes
'cause they're going to change.

1331
01:10:09,080 --> 01:10:12,040
BANCROFT: The fun thing about this is

1332
01:10:12,125 --> 01:10:14,418
we're turning
the whole thing upside-down.

1333
01:10:14,502 --> 01:10:19,089
These ultra macho guys that we heard
singing about the role of a woman

1334
01:10:19,716 --> 01:10:21,967
are themseIves
being dressed as a woman,

1335
01:10:22,051 --> 01:10:24,761
and she's more true to herseIf
than she's ever been,

1336
01:10:24,846 --> 01:10:30,058
because she's not the made-up
Matchmaker modeI that we had earIier

1337
01:10:30,143 --> 01:10:32,895
that wasn't being true to herself,
she's somewhere in between.

1338
01:10:32,979 --> 01:10:35,314
COATS: She's not in armor.

1339
01:10:35,815 --> 01:10:37,566
BANCROFT: Now you know
you have to build

1340
01:10:37,650 --> 01:10:39,610
this guy up as being one bad guy

1341
01:10:39,694 --> 01:10:42,863
when only just the presence of him

1342
01:10:42,947 --> 01:10:46,241
popping out
scares thousands of people.

1343
01:10:46,618 --> 01:10:49,536
Because otherwise, you'd start to think,

1344
01:10:49,621 --> 01:10:53,123
"Why couldn't they get some soldiers
up there and wipe these guys out?"

1345
01:10:53,207 --> 01:10:55,208
COOK: He's obviously got a reputation.

1346
01:10:55,335 --> 01:10:57,961
BANCROFT: We had a great
fight choreographer

1347
01:10:58,046 --> 01:10:59,671
that worked with us named B.H. Barry,

1348
01:10:59,756 --> 01:11:02,633
who helped us choreograph
a lot of these fight scenes.

1349
01:11:02,717 --> 01:11:04,343
COOK: Stage and screen.

1350
01:11:04,427 --> 01:11:06,303
BANCROFT: Very popular
in stage and screen

1351
01:11:06,387 --> 01:11:08,889
that helped us
with all the fight choreography.

1352
01:11:08,973 --> 01:11:11,600
We wanted stuff that wouId be
humorous and fun

1353
01:11:11,684 --> 01:11:13,435
and lend themselves to,

1354
01:11:13,519 --> 01:11:16,313
not only the training they had
that we saw earlier,

1355
01:11:16,397 --> 01:11:19,066
but also be driven by their personalities.

1356
01:11:19,150 --> 01:11:21,693
Everybody likes a naked chicken joke.

1357
01:11:21,986 --> 01:11:23,862
(COOK CHUCKLING)

1358
01:11:24,113 --> 01:11:26,323
COOK: And that banana
out of his bIouse.

1359
01:11:26,407 --> 01:11:30,661
l don't know what that was about, but l
insisted on it and it's stiII in the movie.

1360
01:11:30,745 --> 01:11:33,163
BANCROFT: lt's an in-joke
Barry thought was funny.

1361
01:11:33,247 --> 01:11:35,290
COOK: Nobody else did.
BANCROFT: l don't think so.

1362
01:11:35,375 --> 01:11:37,668
COOK: l saw that they had a fruit bowl...

1363
01:11:37,752 --> 01:11:40,587
COATS: They picked
whatever was in the bowI.

1364
01:11:41,464 --> 01:11:42,798
BANCROFT:
Everybody has round things...

1365
01:11:42,882 --> 01:11:44,883
COOK: Except he got stuck
with a banana.

1366
01:11:45,593 --> 01:11:47,302
l don't know, we had to use it.

1367
01:11:47,387 --> 01:11:49,554
BANCROFT: lt keeps Barry
laughing late at night.

1368
01:11:49,639 --> 01:11:51,098
To this day.

1369
01:11:52,183 --> 01:11:55,811
Then you will kneel in pieces!

1370
01:12:00,233 --> 01:12:03,485
COATS: There's our great
score composer, Jerry GoIdsmith.

1371
01:12:03,569 --> 01:12:05,404
BANCROFT: Jerry, the silver fox.

1372
01:12:05,488 --> 01:12:08,490
We love him and what he brought
to this picture. Boy!

1373
01:12:08,574 --> 01:12:13,036
COOK: Holy moly, we felt very fortunate
to get someone of his caliber.

1374
01:12:14,539 --> 01:12:16,081
(GRUNTING)

1375
01:12:17,083 --> 01:12:18,291
No!

1376
01:12:22,755 --> 01:12:25,590
BANCROFT: Look at this guy.
Oh! That's gotta hurt.

1377
01:12:26,009 --> 01:12:28,093
COATS: We talked about this
in story a lot,

1378
01:12:28,177 --> 01:12:31,013
because the cutting of the rope
was symbolic.

1379
01:12:31,097 --> 01:12:33,348
It forced Shan-Yu up there

1380
01:12:33,433 --> 01:12:37,769
for a one-on-one,
tête-à-tête with MuIan.

1381
01:12:39,105 --> 01:12:41,189
COOK: lt also got her trapped there.

1382
01:12:41,274 --> 01:12:44,818
She knew that to save The Emperor,
she'd have to put herself in danger.

1383
01:12:44,902 --> 01:12:47,612
BANCROFT: She had to stay there
'cause she didn't

1384
01:12:47,697 --> 01:12:50,073
have time to get down and cut the rope.

1385
01:12:50,158 --> 01:12:53,910
lt changes his drive,

1386
01:12:53,995 --> 01:12:57,289
because he knows
he can't get to The Emperor anymore.

1387
01:12:57,373 --> 01:13:00,709
COOK: He pulls out this dagger,
which is supposed to look cool,

1388
01:13:00,835 --> 01:13:02,919
but it always got a laugh.

1389
01:13:03,212 --> 01:13:06,339
COATS: lt looks so tiny,
and in scaIe, compared to Shan-Yu.

1390
01:13:06,466 --> 01:13:07,883
COOK: It's Iike, "Oh, gosh."

1391
01:13:08,217 --> 01:13:09,384
You bringing out a butter knife?

1392
01:13:09,469 --> 01:13:12,721
-You going to butter him to death?
-(ALL LAUGHING)

1393
01:13:12,805 --> 01:13:14,890
BANCROFT:
Now he's focused on revenge.

1394
01:13:14,974 --> 01:13:17,476
He's going to take out the person
that's responsible.

1395
01:13:17,560 --> 01:13:20,854
She says, "I'm the one responsibIe,
so don't hurt Shang."

1396
01:13:20,938 --> 01:13:24,024
lt's a great moment
where she's selfless,

1397
01:13:24,108 --> 01:13:26,359
and it changes his direction.

1398
01:13:26,444 --> 01:13:27,903
COATS: Now this sequence
was boarded

1399
01:13:27,987 --> 01:13:30,363
by our head of story, Chris Sanders,

1400
01:13:30,448 --> 01:13:32,449
who worked hard at trying to

1401
01:13:32,533 --> 01:13:35,952
find a baIance
between MuIan and Shan-Yu,

1402
01:13:36,037 --> 01:13:40,499
because Mulan is a tiny thing
and Shan-Yu is a very big guy.

1403
01:13:40,583 --> 01:13:43,502
He struggled a long time with,

1404
01:13:43,586 --> 01:13:46,922
"How am l going
to have her believably defeat him?"

1405
01:13:47,006 --> 01:13:52,511
You'll notice it's a combination of using
her brain and her physical ability

1406
01:13:52,595 --> 01:13:54,805
in order to get rid of the villain.

1407
01:13:54,889 --> 01:13:58,266
COOK: Who are those two buffoons
in the fireworks tower?

1408
01:13:58,851 --> 01:14:00,811
BANCROFT: Why, l think
that was you and l, Barry.

1409
01:14:00,895 --> 01:14:03,605
COOK: We dive to our deaths,
just for fun.

1410
01:14:03,689 --> 01:14:05,774
BANCROFT: l didn't think we died.
COATS: You dived...

1411
01:14:05,858 --> 01:14:08,276
COOK: We dive to our death.
BANCROFT: l wouldn't die, though.

1412
01:14:08,361 --> 01:14:12,656
COOK: lt was symbolic
for the need for some rest.

1413
01:14:12,990 --> 01:14:14,366
-(GRUNTING)
-(GASPING)

1414
01:14:20,748 --> 01:14:23,708
COATS: Remember, guys,
we really didn't want

1415
01:14:23,793 --> 01:14:26,586
our villain to die by falling to his death.

1416
01:14:26,671 --> 01:14:29,297
-So we made sure...
-BANCROFT: So we exploded him.

1417
01:14:29,382 --> 01:14:32,384
COATS: ...that he didn't die
by falling to his death.

1418
01:14:33,094 --> 01:14:35,762
BANCROFT: lt's a Disney tradition
that viIIains faII to their death.

1419
01:14:35,847 --> 01:14:39,850
We were adamant about not killing off
Shan-Yu in that way.

1420
01:14:40,726 --> 01:14:42,602
We weren't sure
how he was going to die

1421
01:14:42,687 --> 01:14:45,522
until we came up
with this firework thing.

1422
01:14:47,066 --> 01:14:48,316
(GASPS)

1423
01:14:50,736 --> 01:14:51,862
(SCREAMS)

1424
01:14:51,946 --> 01:14:54,406
Get off the roof, get off the roof,
get off the roof.

1425
01:14:54,490 --> 01:14:55,907
(SCREAMING)

1426
01:15:04,333 --> 01:15:06,251
BANCROFT: That was a little lame.

1427
01:15:07,420 --> 01:15:09,337
Shang just running from the castIe.

1428
01:15:09,422 --> 01:15:11,590
COATS: Okay, it was a IittIe convenient.

1429
01:15:11,674 --> 01:15:13,008
BANCROFT: Shang just running
from the palace

1430
01:15:13,092 --> 01:15:15,343
and Mulan falling on his head.

1431
01:15:15,428 --> 01:15:18,054
At least we got them together again.

1432
01:15:18,431 --> 01:15:19,639
(CROWD CHEERING)

1433
01:15:19,724 --> 01:15:21,766
BANCROFT: Everybody loves
a good fireworks show,

1434
01:15:21,851 --> 01:15:25,103
so it kind of echoes
in the triumph of her.

1435
01:15:25,188 --> 01:15:27,606
Chi Fu's never happy, though.
Here he comes.

1436
01:15:27,690 --> 01:15:30,108
They do that particular show
over Epcot now.

1437
01:15:30,193 --> 01:15:31,276
Stand aside!

1438
01:15:32,361 --> 01:15:34,237
COATS: There he goes
with the advertisements.

1439
01:15:34,322 --> 01:15:35,488
COOK: l know.

1440
01:15:35,573 --> 01:15:36,781
I Iive in FIorida and...

1441
01:15:36,866 --> 01:15:38,617
BANCROFT: Let's see,
who pays your check?

1442
01:15:38,701 --> 01:15:42,996
l live in Florida and my check comes
from Walt Disney World.

1443
01:15:44,290 --> 01:15:49,085
COATS: So this sequence,
coming up here, was much debated.

1444
01:15:49,795 --> 01:15:53,423
A lot of times when we screened it,
just like l mentioned earlier,

1445
01:15:53,507 --> 01:15:57,886
where we didn't want MuIan to touch
her father when she was leaving.

1446
01:15:57,970 --> 01:16:00,764
The sequence in which
she hugs The Emperor,

1447
01:16:00,848 --> 01:16:04,142
we got a lot of notes from people

1448
01:16:04,227 --> 01:16:06,478
that saw the movie
before it was reIeased

1449
01:16:06,562 --> 01:16:09,898
in the Eastern culture,
which is, "That would never happen."

1450
01:16:09,982 --> 01:16:11,983
That was precisely our point.

1451
01:16:12,068 --> 01:16:13,902
BANCROFT: Or the fact
that he bows to her.

1452
01:16:13,986 --> 01:16:16,738
-Which is a reason that...
-COOK: The bow and the hug.

1453
01:16:16,822 --> 01:16:21,952
BANCROFT: We didn't make his bow
quite as deep as everybody else's, too,

1454
01:16:22,036 --> 01:16:25,747
which was even just the slight nod
that he gives her

1455
01:16:25,831 --> 01:16:29,918
is enough to say that that's a big deal.
So Chi Fu freaks out.

1456
01:16:30,002 --> 01:16:32,587
That's my scene of Chi Fu.
l animated him bowing.

1457
01:16:32,672 --> 01:16:33,713
(CHUCKLING)

1458
01:16:33,798 --> 01:16:38,843
COATS: This is really important,
wrapping up

1459
01:16:38,928 --> 01:16:40,637
what we were trying to say
with the movie.

1460
01:16:40,721 --> 01:16:43,765
This is a woman who,
because she was true to her heart

1461
01:16:43,849 --> 01:16:45,183
and true to herself,

1462
01:16:45,559 --> 01:16:49,229
she actually altered
the way society thought.

1463
01:16:50,189 --> 01:16:52,274
COOK: Mushu's
even choked up about it.

1464
01:16:52,400 --> 01:16:56,695
My little baby is all grown up
and savin' China.

1465
01:16:56,779 --> 01:16:58,697
You have a tissue?

1466
01:16:59,198 --> 01:17:01,533
COATS: We came up with
a special technique for that bow.

1467
01:17:01,701 --> 01:17:04,703
Do you want to talk about
what Jeff Dutton did through there?

1468
01:17:04,996 --> 01:17:08,456
COOK: Jeff Dutton did something
amazing with traditional animation,

1469
01:17:08,541 --> 01:17:12,460
but a way to multiply it
using various levels.

1470
01:17:12,545 --> 01:17:15,380
lt would have been, in older techniques,

1471
01:17:15,464 --> 01:17:19,050
it would have been thought of
as a multiplane type shot.

1472
01:17:20,720 --> 01:17:24,431
But to create...
l don't know exactly how he did it,

1473
01:17:24,557 --> 01:17:26,308
but it worked out good.

1474
01:17:26,726 --> 01:17:29,686
BANCROFT: He had a lot of
witches' brews around at the time.

1475
01:17:29,770 --> 01:17:32,731
COOK: When you have a real problem,

1476
01:17:33,065 --> 01:17:34,816
Jeff Dutton
can usually help you find a solution.

1477
01:17:34,900 --> 01:17:36,901
COATS: He's our artistic coordinator
on the movie.

1478
01:17:37,153 --> 01:17:41,364
The artistic coordinator is actually,
in my opinion, the director's best friend.

1479
01:17:41,449 --> 01:17:45,869
Jeff Dutton
is an enormous artistic talent,

1480
01:17:45,953 --> 01:17:48,997
and he's also got
a great technical grasp

1481
01:17:49,081 --> 01:17:50,623
of what it takes to make
one of our movies.

1482
01:17:50,708 --> 01:17:54,669
So he works with the directors
in helping them get their vision

1483
01:17:54,754 --> 01:17:58,256
in the most economical way possible.

1484
01:17:58,466 --> 01:17:59,924
BANCROFT:
Does things with Elmer's glue

1485
01:18:00,009 --> 01:18:01,801
that you've never seen before.

1486
01:18:01,969 --> 01:18:04,304
COOK: But we won't go into that.
BANCROFT: No, that's another story.

1487
01:18:04,388 --> 01:18:09,684
COATS: You're at the end and our goal
was to have aII these characters

1488
01:18:09,769 --> 01:18:11,770
likeable enough that you needed
to pay them off.

1489
01:18:12,396 --> 01:18:14,022
COOK: A curtain call.

1490
01:18:14,106 --> 01:18:15,190
COATS: We needed our
Gang of Three moment.

1491
01:18:15,274 --> 01:18:18,360
We needed Chi Fu
to get some comeuppance.

1492
01:18:18,444 --> 01:18:23,615
You needed to end here
with the tension of,

1493
01:18:23,949 --> 01:18:27,494
"Will they get back together?"

1494
01:18:27,578 --> 01:18:31,039
Because Shang and MuIan's exit
was awkward.

1495
01:18:31,123 --> 01:18:33,750
We rewrote that scene a Iot of times.

1496
01:18:33,834 --> 01:18:36,628
BANCROFT: That was purposeful,
because we felt like if you didn't...

1497
01:18:36,712 --> 01:18:41,007
lf he wasn't such a geeky guy here
and kind of screw up...

1498
01:18:41,092 --> 01:18:45,387
He thinks he's giving her a compliment
by saying she's a great warrior.

1499
01:18:45,471 --> 01:18:47,138
"You fight good."

1500
01:18:47,264 --> 01:18:48,640
COOK: Which should be "well,"
according to

1501
01:18:48,724 --> 01:18:50,392
the English teachers and we knew that.

1502
01:18:50,476 --> 01:18:52,477
COATS: We got notes on that, too.

1503
01:18:53,354 --> 01:18:54,396
BANCROFT:
We thought it would be funnier

1504
01:18:54,480 --> 01:18:55,814
if it came out blunt and wrong.

1505
01:18:55,898 --> 01:18:58,358
That keeps the audience going.

1506
01:18:58,442 --> 01:19:01,069
They wonder, "ls that
where the romance between them

1507
01:19:01,153 --> 01:19:02,153
"is going to end?"

1508
01:19:02,446 --> 01:19:04,823
Of course, no, there's more to see.

1509
01:19:06,575 --> 01:19:09,327
COOK: Tony West animated
that blossom falling,

1510
01:19:09,495 --> 01:19:13,331
very much inspired by a sequence

1511
01:19:13,457 --> 01:19:15,375
from the original Fantasia.

1512
01:19:15,793 --> 01:19:20,088
Again, this is where Chris Sanders
brought it all home

1513
01:19:20,172 --> 01:19:23,675
with the bookend of the scene
where they were first under the tree.

1514
01:19:24,301 --> 01:19:29,180
AIso the whoIe idea
that we wanted early on

1515
01:19:29,265 --> 01:19:31,474
that really got us on track for the story

1516
01:19:31,725 --> 01:19:37,856
is how this relationship resolved
between the father and the daughter.

1517
01:19:41,235 --> 01:19:43,736
BANCROFT: Mark Henn animated this
where a tear

1518
01:19:43,821 --> 01:19:45,697
comes to her eye and he wipes it away.

1519
01:19:45,948 --> 01:19:50,618
ln the storyboards,
all that was there was one drawing

1520
01:19:50,703 --> 01:19:54,289
that was held for a long time during
the dialogue of them hugging.

1521
01:19:54,373 --> 01:19:57,459
We thought, "That's going to be
boring, acting-wise,

1522
01:19:57,543 --> 01:19:59,169
"that they're just holding onto
each other

1523
01:19:59,253 --> 01:20:00,670
"while they're saying these things."

1524
01:20:00,880 --> 01:20:07,886
Mark, in his wisdom, had them pull out
of the hug, which l was resistant to.

1525
01:20:08,554 --> 01:20:10,972
He pulls away from the hug
to do the tear,

1526
01:20:11,056 --> 01:20:12,640
and then goes back into the embrace,

1527
01:20:12,725 --> 01:20:16,311
and l think it just makes
for all the more lump in your throat.

1528
01:20:17,229 --> 01:20:19,981
COOK: Shang comes back
with his Iame excuse

1529
01:20:20,065 --> 01:20:22,525
that she left some equipment behind.

1530
01:20:25,029 --> 01:20:27,238
Typical guy.

1531
01:20:28,991 --> 01:20:31,701
BANCROFT: For all his skill
and athleticism,

1532
01:20:31,785 --> 01:20:33,703
he doesn't have
much prowess around women.

1533
01:20:33,787 --> 01:20:36,581
COOK: No, he's a little nerdy.

1534
01:20:38,667 --> 01:20:42,504
And Mushu, the braggart,
here he comes, "What about me?"

1535
01:20:44,548 --> 01:20:47,342
BANCROFT: We really fought
with how to end the film,

1536
01:20:47,426 --> 01:20:49,177
and, "Did it have too many endings?"

1537
01:20:49,261 --> 01:20:53,723
That's always a big issue on a
Disney film, and particularly in this one.

1538
01:20:53,807 --> 01:20:56,601
We fought with,
"ShouId we end with her?

1539
01:20:57,645 --> 01:20:58,853
"The bow moment at the palace?

1540
01:20:58,938 --> 01:20:59,896
"Do we need to come back home?"

1541
01:20:59,980 --> 01:21:02,649
"We need to resoIve
the story with Dad."

1542
01:21:02,733 --> 01:21:06,444
"ShouId we end after the moment
with the hug with Dad?"

1543
01:21:06,612 --> 01:21:09,531
"No, we need something fun
with Mushu, too."

1544
01:21:09,615 --> 01:21:11,366
lt was a matter of finding...

1545
01:21:11,450 --> 01:21:13,201
COOK: "Do we want
to see the ancestors?"

1546
01:21:13,285 --> 01:21:15,119
COATS: We cut it
about five different ways.

1547
01:21:15,204 --> 01:21:17,872
We'd cut it different ways
and we wouId screen it.

1548
01:21:17,957 --> 01:21:20,750
We'd watch it and go,
"Okay, that's how it feeIs

1549
01:21:20,834 --> 01:21:24,379
"to end with the MuIan
and Dad moment under the tree."

1550
01:21:24,463 --> 01:21:28,633
We liked the idea of ending it
with an upbeat.

1551
01:21:28,968 --> 01:21:32,220
-You have aII of this soft stuff...
-BANCROFT: lt had to be a party.

1552
01:21:32,304 --> 01:21:36,224
lt was important that the audience
leave on a high point,

1553
01:21:36,308 --> 01:21:38,309
that they're gettin' down
with the characters

1554
01:21:38,394 --> 01:21:39,769
as they boogie out of the theater.

1555
01:21:39,853 --> 01:21:41,771
COOK: Right.
BANCROFT: That was fun for us.

1556
01:21:41,855 --> 01:21:45,900
COOK: One thing, too,
that your audience,

1557
01:21:45,985 --> 01:21:47,610
as you start making these films,

1558
01:21:48,237 --> 01:21:52,490
as your crew grows and as you get
further down the line in production,

1559
01:21:52,700 --> 01:21:53,741
your audience grows.

1560
01:21:53,826 --> 01:21:57,662
At first, you're just showing drawings
to one another,

1561
01:21:57,746 --> 01:22:01,416
a small group of people, getting
the idea to put a movie together.

1562
01:22:01,500 --> 01:22:05,211
Then more artists come on,
so your audience begins to grow.

1563
01:22:05,296 --> 01:22:08,715
But the way you think about it
as you're working is,

1564
01:22:08,841 --> 01:22:11,342
whoever Iooks at it
is part of the audience,

1565
01:22:11,427 --> 01:22:13,761
part of the growing audience
for the fiIm.

1566
01:22:13,846 --> 01:22:20,852
Any filmmaker wants to please
the audience with their movie.

1567
01:22:21,020 --> 01:22:24,689
Eventually the audience
grows worldwide, which is fun.

1568
01:22:24,773 --> 01:22:27,692
You're constantly showing it
and trying to make it better

1569
01:22:27,776 --> 01:22:30,862
until you have to release it
into the theaters.

1570
01:22:32,823 --> 01:22:36,075
COATS: Having worked on the movie
for five years,

1571
01:22:36,160 --> 01:22:42,540
watching it reminds me of why l made
that initial decision to go to Florida.

1572
01:22:43,167 --> 01:22:50,131
From a female standpoint, l loved
the message this movie was sending

1573
01:22:50,424 --> 01:22:55,261
to our little girls all over the world.

1574
01:22:55,346 --> 01:22:59,724
And this is a movie that you can do
anything you want to do,

1575
01:22:59,892 --> 01:23:01,559
be true to who you are

1576
01:23:01,727 --> 01:23:04,395
and you can accomplish
really great things in the world.

1577
01:23:04,563 --> 01:23:09,192
l remember after the movie came out,
a lot of dads stopped me.

1578
01:23:09,276 --> 01:23:12,654
l'm sure you guys got the same thing,
but they said, "Do you know what?

1579
01:23:12,738 --> 01:23:16,449
"Thank you very much
for giving me this movie to watch

1580
01:23:16,533 --> 01:23:20,036
"with my daughter and giving her
such a positive role model."

1581
01:23:20,245 --> 01:23:25,291
Because this isn't a woman
who's wrapped up in how she looks.

1582
01:23:25,501 --> 01:23:30,254
This is a woman who is completely
consumed with following her heart,

1583
01:23:30,339 --> 01:23:34,384
doing the right thing
for the right reasons.

1584
01:23:34,468 --> 01:23:37,261
Actually, that really means a lot to me.

1585
01:23:37,429 --> 01:23:41,307
COOK: For me and Tony, too, l know
you've talked about it lots of times,

1586
01:23:41,392 --> 01:23:46,771
but there really is something as fathers
of daughters, which we both are,

1587
01:23:46,855 --> 01:23:51,234
this story means a lot to us and
along the way meant a lot to us,

1588
01:23:51,610 --> 01:23:57,031
to explore that relationship,
that's a big part of it.

1589
01:23:57,116 --> 01:24:02,537
To see, for me, too, one of the things
that l hate the most nowadays

1590
01:24:02,621 --> 01:24:07,709
is the casting of most fathers in most
film roles, father types,

1591
01:24:08,043 --> 01:24:13,381
are pretty big lug heads, and buffoons
and idiots, especially on television.

1592
01:24:13,465 --> 01:24:16,843
The dad's always the knucklehead.

1593
01:24:16,927 --> 01:24:20,638
l thought this was a way
to show something, too,

1594
01:24:21,140 --> 01:24:25,143
that father and daughter
aren't always going to get along,

1595
01:24:25,227 --> 01:24:30,314
but to find the understanding
of each other is so important.

1596
01:24:30,399 --> 01:24:34,569
BANCROFT: l'll say for myself
that Mulan meant a lot to me,

1597
01:24:34,695 --> 01:24:38,156
not only because of the reasons that
both Pam and Barry are mentioning,

1598
01:24:38,490 --> 01:24:40,742
about what it meant to give something
to my daughters,

1599
01:24:40,826 --> 01:24:43,870
who I knew wouId watch
this from years to come,

1600
01:24:43,954 --> 01:24:49,834
but also as a first-time director, it was
an incredible learning experience.

1601
01:24:50,377 --> 01:24:54,589
All the things that we talked about
in the making of this film were things

1602
01:24:54,673 --> 01:24:56,507
that l'd learned from doing them.

1603
01:24:56,592 --> 01:25:02,096
I Iearned from the taIented crew that
we had in FIorida and in CaIifornia.

1604
01:25:02,306 --> 01:25:06,559
I wiII remember this fiIm.
l'm starting to get a little verklempt.

1605
01:25:06,852 --> 01:25:09,353
I wiII remember this fiIm
for the rest of my life.

1606
01:25:09,438 --> 01:25:14,192
lt's funny, l think what'll happen and,
of course, history will see this out,

1607
01:25:14,568 --> 01:25:18,738
but l'll probably look back when l'm 80
and say that Mulan was the best film

1608
01:25:18,822 --> 01:25:21,449
that l ever worked on,
the film l'm the most proud of,

1609
01:25:21,700 --> 01:25:23,993
and yet it was my first directing feature.

1610
01:25:24,077 --> 01:25:29,165
COATS: We had such an incredible
group of talented people to work with.

1611
01:25:29,291 --> 01:25:33,377
COOK: Right. And so much of it is when
you're working on a project for so long,

1612
01:25:33,670 --> 01:25:37,882
you really have to enjoy it day-to-day.

1613
01:25:38,217 --> 01:25:43,888
lt's not so much completing it
and what it does after you're finished.

1614
01:25:43,972 --> 01:25:49,310
But more important, you find is
the experience you had of doing it,

1615
01:25:49,394 --> 01:25:53,314
and taking the journey with the rest
of the crew and other artists

1616
01:25:53,398 --> 01:25:55,983
and the things
you went through together.

1617
01:25:56,485 --> 01:25:58,528
BANCROFT: Many of us
would have given our right arm

1618
01:25:58,612 --> 01:26:00,279
to make sure this came out right.

1619
01:26:00,364 --> 01:26:02,824
lt's funny how you fall in love
with something.

1620
01:26:02,908 --> 01:26:04,951
COOK: The whole Florida studio did.

1621
01:26:05,035 --> 01:26:06,661
They took a great
deal of pride in the fact

1622
01:26:06,745 --> 01:26:10,331
that it was their first complete feature
to be produced there.

1623
01:26:10,415 --> 01:26:13,417
AIthough we had heIp from CaIifornia,
we couId never have finished it

1624
01:26:13,502 --> 01:26:19,507
without animators and stuff here,
but they really took it as their own

1625
01:26:19,591 --> 01:26:25,012
and really worked harder than l've ever
witnessed a crew work on a film,

1626
01:26:25,097 --> 01:26:27,598
at least had more passion
about what they were doing.

1627
01:26:27,766 --> 01:26:32,603
lt was a great atmosphere
in production, a really good time.

1628
01:26:33,313 --> 01:26:35,314
BANCROFT: l would like
to take this time to thank you

1629
01:26:35,399 --> 01:26:37,525
forjoining us on this journey

1630
01:26:37,609 --> 01:26:40,361
through what is our history on Mulan.

1631
01:26:40,445 --> 01:26:42,196
We enjoyed having you be a part of it,

1632
01:26:42,281 --> 01:26:44,824
and l hope you learned something
along the way.

1633
01:26:44,950 --> 01:26:46,701
COATS: Thanks forjoining us.

1634
01:26:46,785 --> 01:26:50,204
COOK: Thanks for taking the time
to listen to the audio commentary,

1635
01:26:50,289 --> 01:26:52,707
and see you again next movie.