Mulan is coming to cinemas across the UAE at the end of the month and we can’t wait for the live-action remake.
Families in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi will be able to catch the Disney film on the big screen from Thursday March 26.
To get you in the mood for this epic story about one of the greatest warriors China has ever known, we’ve got ten fun facts to set the scene.
1) To achieve the extraordinary battle scenes, the filmmakers brought in specialised stunt teams from China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, New Zealand and Australia. Fight scenes typically involved several lead actors, an army of 100 extras, with a number of sequences involving horses.
2) Fifty trick riders from Kazakhstan and Mongolia performed thrilling stunts on horseback for the battle scenes. These expert riders could even ride backwards while firing bows with arrows! With actual riders and horses, the battles come to life in a very real way.
3) A total of 90 horses were used in the film, including the horse who doubled as Mulan’s steed Black Wind. Several months of training went into ensuring the horses were prepared for the filming of the battle scenes.
4) A barding team was brought in to design the saddles, covers and blankets to look authentic, fit safely and work for the horses, plus a specialist hair and make-up team came on that applied false manes and tails on the horses when necessary.
5) The complicated sword work in the film was a type of Wushu style, which is very difficult to master.
6) About 20 locations were used in China, including Hubei province in central China, the so-called Singing Sand Dunes in the Mingsha Shan Desert in Xinjiang Province in the northwest, Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park in north central China, Flame Mountain in the north, Mazar Village and Dunhuang and Jiuquan in Gansu province in the northwest, as well as studios in Zhejiang province in eastern China.
7) Approximately 4000 weapons were made for the film. They were made out of a number of different materials: some were made of aluminum with urethane handles, some were soft versions for cast-on-cast fights.
8) The armoury for Mulan included shields for the infantry, spears, bows and arrows, double-edged Jian swords, the broader Dao sword and Kapinga dagger that Böri Khan wields, and the fearsome daggers used by Xianniang.
9) Animal imagery designed for the armour was based on research of what would have been used in the Tang Dynasty. Commander Tung’s armour, helmet and belt, for example, are adorned with images of turtles. For the Emperor, it was dragons and clouds emblazoned on the green tunics.
10) Approximately 40 people worked on the costumes over three months, 1104 headwear items were made, 250 hats were manufactured in China, 1114 complete outfits for extras were made, 590 complete costumes were made for the Imperial City, 100 complete costumes made for the Tulou village scenes, 281 sets of Chinese army armour were made, 730 items of Rouran armour were made and between three and five costumes were made for each of the 50 main actors. Over 1000 costumes were made in total!
Mulan is in cinemas across the UAE from Thursday March 26.
