Review : The Art of Mulan

I was lucky enough to find this gem at my local library a few weeks ago; I've been trying to read as many 'Art of' books as possible this summer, but so far this one has really stood out for me. It's also very difficult to find older 'Art of' books, such as those from 90s films, since most of them are out of print now, so I snatched this one up the minute I saw it. Here are my thoughts on The Art of Mulan:

To begin with, Jeff Kurtti has just such a fantastic job of covering every aspect of the process of creating Mulan, from the production team's research trip to China to animating effects and each individual character. The book is jam packed with artwork of all sorts as well, and did a bang up job of helping the reader in understanding what the creators were trying to convey through this film.

What is so unique about Mulan in particular is that it is based on a Chinese legend, rather than a fairytale (for example, the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Anderson). In essence, it is based on a story that many Americans are not familiar with, and the creators of Mulan had to find the perfect balance between respecting the original tale and adapting it for a more Western audience.

The Art of Mulan begins with a retelling of the original Mulan story, and follows with the creative team's trip to China. It describes each location, and how they would eventually contribute to the film, from inspiring visuals to aspects of Chinese culture as told by its own people. The research into the film takes up nearly a third of the entire book, but it really provides great insight and understanding into where the filmmakers were coming from when they made creative decisions.

One of my favourite parts of the book were the sections on story and character design. I absolutely loved reading about the different versions of Mulan's story, many of them as told by Chris Sanders who was head of story (and, as you probably know, the director of films such as Lilo and Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon). The book describes Mulan's evolution as a character, and how they adapted the many different versions of her story into one that modern audiences could relate to. Many of the final character designs were heavily influenced by the style of Chen-Yi Chang. Included in the book are countless images not only of rough drawings of the characters in their final forms, but of Chang's vision for them as well, making it clear to see how much of an impact he had on their designs. I also really appreciated how the book delves into the slightly lesser known parts of making an animated film, such as hand-drawn special effects, layout design and visual development.

Art by Chen-Yi Chang for Mulan

Most importantly, this book emphasizes above all the strong connection each of the filmmakers had with the story of Mulan, and how dear she is to all of them. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves animation, Mulan, or just pretty pictures in general, as this book is jam packed with everything you'd want to know about the making of Mulan.

Hopefully I will do more such reviews in the future, to keep an eye out!