Disney Has Finally Found Its Mulan And She's Perfect!

In case you’re not familiar with just about every 90s kid’s best childhood memories, Mulan is an animated movie about a young Chinese woman, Hua Mulan, who disguises as a man to take her ailing father’s place in the battlefield in 5th century China.

The 1998 film was so well-received by critics and the public, earning USD304 million (RM1.24 billion) worldwide as well as Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations.

So after almost two decades and a string of live-action adaptations that Disney lined up, it goes without saying that Mulan was one of the must-have reboots.

Initial reactions that followed were just tweet after tweet of excitement from the news.

MULAN IS THE BEST DISNEY MOVIE WITH A FEMALE LEAD

— tina (@lizzbelcher) November 30, 2017

Mulan is my favourite Disney film, I'm so excited!!!!

— Caroline (@QueenGrumps) November 30, 2017

mulan is the best disney princess so they better make this the best live-action remake

— ? (@bleuvaIentine) November 29, 2017

Then, came the concern about who’s going to play the Chinese heroine because the fans are not ready to handle another series of Hollywood whitewashing in Asian roles.

Mulan they can't whitewash, of course.

— Love Lorne (@Love_Lorne) November 30, 2017

You know, when Scarlett Johansson played a Japanese character in Ghost in the Shell and Matt Damon’s lead role in Chinese historical movie The Great Wall.

But we’ve got good news because Disney has finally found their new Mulan after a year-long search, and she is 100 per cent Chinese!

Chinese actress Liu Yifei has been chosen to star as the female warrior in the upcoming remake.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the casting directors travelled to five continents in search for the perfect candidate who is ethnically Chinese and equipped with martial arts skills, the ability to speak English, and of course, star quality.

#Mulan in action#LiuYiFei pic.twitter.com/5grsjCcO9V

— Andersen Chang (@AndersenET) November 30, 2017

In the end, Disney found the complete package in Liu, who stood out among nearly 1,000 hopefuls.

Besides being fluent in English having spent some years living in New York, the 30-year-old is also one of the most successful actresses of this generation.

Some of the English movies she has starred in include 2008’s The Forbidden Kingdom alongside Jackie Chan and Jet Li, and 2014’s Outcast opposite Nicolas Cage and Hayden Christensen.

She has also worked with Emile Hirsch in The Chinese Widow, which opened in the Shanghai International Film Festival in June this year.

Fans went straight to the internet to voice out their excitement about the news and celebrated Disney for staying true to the Chinese culture and history.

LOOK AT OUR MULAN SHE’S SO BEAUTIFUL THIS IS THE PERFECT CASTING EVER LIU YIFEI IS THE MULAN THAT WE DESERVE pic.twitter.com/h37emU7x5E

— INFINITY WAR (@rcgerstark) November 29, 2017

Disney actually casted a chinese person as mulan, not a white person, japanese, or korean person omg pic.twitter.com/wH9yBgrI8M

— laryssa (@peachyjunhui) November 29, 2017

No one understands how happy I am about this honestly Mulan has been my fav movie ever since I was a child, now all we need is a Chinese Shang to go side by side with Liu Yifei and I’ll be content (I want the music too) ☺️☺️☺️ https://t.co/REvXoBQEQo

— 아디사 (@AdisaMatovic) November 30, 2017

99% of the cast for Mulan should be Chinese. The 1% is Eddie Murphy playing Mushu

— jas (@jasminehangg) November 30, 2017

I always thought that #LiuYifei has this ethereal beauty quality that makes her perfect in Chinese historical dramas?and now that she's #Mulan, I can't wait to see her badassery. You casted the perfect actress #Disney????

— Jeanne (@jmiejeanny) November 30, 2017

Now, the next important question is: Who will play the hunky Captain Li Shang?