I was already in my late 20s when the animated original first came out. So what made me decide to collect Mulan “action figures”?
A Lifelong Disney Fan
I’ve been collecting toys for almost my entire life.
And before Star Wars came along, hijacking both my imagination and my allowance money, there was The Wonderful World of Disney, which I’d tune into each week without fail.
My early toy collection was dominated by Mickey, Donald, and Pluto. My bedroom was decked out in Winnie the Pooh decor from the Sears Wishbook. And some of my oldest surviving toys are a Pinocchio coin bank from the early 70s and a vinyl Donald Duck figure released in the late 60s.
But once Star Wars toys hit shelves in 1978, my interests veered towards sci-fi and action movies — that is, until the Katzenberg era of Disney animated features in the late 80s and early 90s revived my affection for Disneyana.
The Little Mermaid. Beauty and the Beast. Aladdin. The Lion King.
If there were any toys, pencil toppers, or PVC figurines from these movies, I’d buy them — even from forgettable films like The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Hercules.
Sometimes, you don’t know what you’re missing until you finally have it. Even a small hint of representation filled a void in my young spirit.
And until Mulan came out, I never really thought about how none of my beloved Disney characters looked like me. Growing up, I just got used to having no representation in the media.
At least, not positive representation.
Remember when this was the closest thing Disney had to “Asian” characters?
Does Representation Matter?
It wasn’t always easy being an Asian kid in 1970s Ohio. (I’ll spare you the details since this is a toy blog.)
Movies, television, and toys were my escape from the harsh realities of the outside world, but I hadn’t thought about the fact that none of the characters looked like me until 1984, when Storm Shadow was released as part of Hasbro’s GI Joe line and Marvel Comics tie-in.
It was the first time I had an action figure based on an Asian American character—the Vietnam War veteran-turned-Cobra Ninja, Tommy Arashikage.
Sometimes, you don’t know what you’re missing until you finally have it. Even a small hint of representation filled a void in my young spirit.
Mulan was far from perfect, but it was a start. It was a turning point for me as a fan of movies, toys, and all things Disney—and as a twentysomething Asian American trying to find my place in the world.
There’d be a handful of other toys of Asian characters over the years, most notably, Miyagi, Sato, and Chozen from Remco’s Karate Kid line, and Kimo and Tabe from Kenner’s Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos, but they were all secondary characters.
Then, over a decade later, came Disney’s Mulan.
Not only was Mulan based on an Asian legend, featuring Asian main characters who weren’t just stereotypical villains or comic relief, it starred a number of Asian-American actors such as Ming-Na Wen, Pat Morita, B.D. Wong, James Hong, Gedde Watanabe, Jerry Tondo, and George Takei, speaking in their normal voices without having to use ridiculous fake accents.
Mulan Action Figures by Mattel
Mulan was far from perfect, but it was a start. It was a turning point for me as a fan of movies, toys, and all things Disney–and as a twentysomething Asian American trying to find my place in the world.
So when Mattel released a line of toys based on the original animated Mulan, I bought them all.
Even this set:
Matchmaker Mulan
We’ll have you washed and dried
Ancient Chinese proverb. I think.
Primped and polished
Till you glow with pride
Trust my recipe for instant bride
You’ll bring honor to us all.
The Matchmaker Mulan set includes figures of Grandmother (voiced by June Foray) and Mulan (voiced by Ming-Na Wen) with removable robe and sash, along with accessories including a folding screen, tub, fan, pail, tray, bowl, perfume bottles, and a mirror for Mulan to gaze into while singing Reflections in Lea Salonga’s voice.
After her bath, Mulan gets all gussied up to present herself as—
Maiden Mulan
The Maiden Mulan figure comes with accessories including Cri-Kee the lucky cricket (like I said, the movie isn’t perfect), cage, stand with base, fan, parasol, and parasol handle.
This is the getup Mulan ditches before sneaking off to war with her family sword and horse, which brings us to—
Fearless Rider Mulan
Fearless Rider Mulan comes with a sword and Khan, the Fa family horse, with reins, saddle, and straps.
The fixed pose of the arms, which are articulated only at the shoulders, makes it difficult to place the reins in Mulan’s hand. It’s still a gorgeous toy, though, with Khan’s sculpt capturing the elegant lines of its character design.
When she arrives at the training camp, she meets her brothers-in-arms—
Ling and Yao
Ling (voiced by Gedde Watanabe) and Yao (voiced by Harvey Fierstein) came as a set that includes a staff, saber, and two-piece block of wood to chop.
This set of two still doesn’t contain enough plastic to match our next figure: their buddy—
Chien Po
Chien Po, the gentle giant voiced by Jerry Tondo, includes a wooden pail to do his training chores and a halberd with which to cleave the Huns.
Or maybe he uses it to slice beef, pork, and chicken. Yum.
Together with Mulan, whom they know as Ping, the quartet fall under the command of—
Fearless Rider Li Shang
Fearless Rider Li Shang (voiced by B.D. Wong unless he’s singing, in which case, it’s the voice of Donny Osmond) with his unnamed horse. This set includes a halberd, saddle, reins, and straps.
In his training gear, he whips his recruits into shape before leading them as—
Captain Li Shang
Captain Li Shang suits up for battle with helmet, armor, sword, rocket launcher, and two dragon-head rockets.
He’s getting down to business to defeat the Huns, who are led by—
Shan Yu
Shan Yu, the villainous Hun who apparently doesn’t get out in the sun much. He’s cast in a deathly grey with yellow eyes. The hulking Shan Yu figure includes his sword, shield, and pet falcon whose name is apparently the very Japanese Hayabusa.
Shan Yu would meet his match in the soldier from the Tung Shao pass…
Warrior Mulan with Mushu
Mulan’s warrior gear includes a helmet, two-piece suit of armor, sword, two stone weights for training, and the guardian dragon, Mushu (voiced by Eddie Murphy, who would reprise his role three years later — as the talking animal sidekick in Shrek).
Overall Impressions
Highs: The Mulan figures by Mattel are solidly constructed of a durable plastic that has not become brittle, bent, or sticky over the past two decades. The sculpting and paint jobs on these figures capture the characters rather well.
Lows: These figures are not very poseable. For a martial-arts themed toy, I’d hope for articulated elbows to allow them to wield their weapons in more dynamic poses and hands that can better grasp their accessories. Then again, these toys probably weren’t made to be true “action figures.” They’re more like miniature fashion dolls.
Yet, I’m not ashamed of having them. Should I be?
