Nothing could stop Disney from making live action movies, as it has made numerous box office films that were mostly based from classic fairy tales. Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Maleficent (2014) earned millions of dollars after hitting the theaters worldwide. Recently, the re-imagined Cinderella made $336.2 million worldwide. And now, Mulan is one of the live action movies that Disney is developing.
Disney bought from the screenwriting duo Elizabeth Martin and Lauren Hynek a script that focuses on a Chinese legend with a character named Hua Mulan, a female warrior who was also the lead in Disney's 1998 animated film.
The Mulan legend usually revolves around a young woman who disguises herself as a male warrior so she can take her father's place when the war breaks out. Fa Mulan, who has a dragon named Mushu made a great tandem, and Mulan becomes a skilled warrior making her one of the country's heroines.
As for the cast, a petition urged about the "whitewashing" of Disney. A librarian from Michigan named Natalie Molnar started the petition, and stated that whitewashing beloved characters of color tells children that if they're not white themselves, then they can't be the hero. "Pan" and "The Last Airbender" were cited in the petition as examples of films which have the same case in the past. "Taking away 'Mulan''s potentially breakout roles from Asian-American actors and actresses in favor of casting Caucasians would be nothing short of racist," Molnar said. Disney has not yet responded to the petition.
Disney has a long list of book-to-movie projects. Some remakes of animated features will be released in 2016, like The Jungle Book, Pete's Dragon, Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass, and finally Beauty and the Beast which will be in theaters in 2017. Also, Dumbo live action movie will also be in, as it is already in the works.
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