In the opening sequences of the film, Mulan is depicted with white powdered makeup typical of a Japanese geisha and she is also wearing a Kimono, a style of clothing not typical in China but instead in Japan. Despite the sacredness of ancestral rites, the movie uses the Fa family's ancestors as an object of ridicule.
Geisha are traditional and professional Japanese entertainers who act as hostesses during meals, banquets and other occasions. They are skilled in traditional Japanese arts, such as dance and music, as well as in repartee.
Mulan (traditional Chinese: 木蘭; simplified Chinese: 木兰) is a fictional folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century AD) of Chinese history. According to the legend, Mulan takes her aged father's place in the conscription for the army by disguising herself as a man.
When Mulan returns, she finds her father has died while she was away, and her mother has remarried. She is ordered to become a concubine and, unwilling to face such a dishonour, she kills herself.
Many know about the Japanese geisha but this tradition, and even its name, came from China. While the geisha tradition continues in Japan, the remarkable Chinese courtesan culture has passed into history. Despite the claims of Mao Zedong to have eliminated prostitution, only the culture was eliminated.
Geisha cannot get married. The rule of this profession is “being married to the art, not a man”. If they want to get married, they have to quit the job. Once they quit, it's usually impossible to come back, however they can debut from the beginning in a different city, under a different name and rules.
In Japan, geisha are very highly respected because they spend years training to learn the traditional instruments and dances of Japan. Although some western media portray geisha as prostitutes, that's just a myth.
Mulan runs away to fight in her father's place without telling her family in the Disney films. In those versions of the story, she knows they will try to stop her so she leaves in the night while her family sleeps, leaving behind her comb in place of the scroll commanding her father to appear to join the Imperial Army.
Mulan broke gender roles because she proved that women can be tough and endure the pain and sacrifice men did when going to war. She challenged the idea about what makes a man. Mulan not only fought for her father, but she also fought for herself because she wanted to proved that she was more than just a housewife.
Hua Mulan (traditional Chinese: 花木蘭; simplified Chinese: 花木兰) is a legendary folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century CE) of Chinese history. According to legend, Mulan took her aged father's place in the conscription for the army by disguising herself as a man.
China blocked the release of Disney's animated “Mulan” for eight months in the late 1990s after the company backed Martin Scorsese's “Kundun,” a film seen as sympathetic to the Dalai Lama. The animated “Mulan” bombed in China as a result.
the real reason is probably because of Geisha's makeup and Disney didn't know the difference between Chinese and Japanese culture and didn't bother to do proper research on Mulan. Here's the long answer if you're interested: So Geisha makeup is rooted in Tang Dynasty women's makeup.
Although Moana is from the fictional island Motunui some 3,000 years ago, the story and culture of Moana is based on the very real heritage and history of Polynesian islands such as Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga, and Tahiti. In fact, once you start looking for ties to Polynesian culture in Moana, it's hard to stop!
Fiona Graham is the first Caucasian woman to be accepted into the ancient Japanese geisha tradition. Now known only as Sayuki, she tells Anna Seaman about her new life.
The first geisha were actually male, appearing around the year 1730. It was only about 20 years later that female geisha began to appear in the forms of odoriko (踊り子, meaning dancers) and shamisen players, and they quickly took over the profession, dominating it by 1780.
In ancient times, there was no electricity in Japan, and most facilities were only lit by candlelight. Since candlelight was not bright enough, Geishas painted their faces white to enhance their skin tones and to contour their faces, making their faces more visible and recognizable.
Mulan chooses to reveal herself
In the animation, Mulan is injured in battle after saving Li Shang. When the doctor checks her over it becomes clear she's a woman. In the 2020 movie, Mulan chooses to reveal herself.
Specifically, in Mulan 2020, male-coded characters are portrayed as more “feminine” through their talk, while female-coded characters—particularly Mulan and Xianniang—are portrayed as more “masculine”, further highlighting a recent trend for more nuanced portrayals of gender in Disney movies.
Mulan awakens to learn that the façade has been lifted. The whole camp now knows that she's a woman. Yet it isn't for being a woman that Shang rejects her service.
But in the original, we see her at only one age for the duration of the film. Mulan's surname is tweaked from Fa, the Cantonese pronunciation of her name, to Hua, which makes it truer to the name of the original ballad. However, both names have the same basic meaning.
While the social and cultural milieu of the Northern Wei dynasty provided the context for the tale's origins, there's no corroborative evidence to confirm that Mulan was ever a real person. Over time, the story and character's nomadic and tribal origins have significantly changed from the original.
In the animated movie, a pivotal scene sees Mulan slashing her hair off with a sword so she can pass for a man when she joins the army to protect her father from conscription. In the 2020 version of the film, she stands tall and proud, long hair blowing in the wind.
The geisha system was traditionally a form of indentured labour, although some girls, attracted by the glamour of the life, volunteered. Usually, a girl at an early age was given by her parents for a sum of money to a geisha house, which taught, trained, fed, and clothed her for a period of years.
Today there are only about 1,000 geisha in Japan. They can be found in several major cities including Tokyo, and Kanazawa but most of them work in Kyoto. They are often attending gatherings at tea houses and ryoutei —a kind of luxurious Japanese restaurant.