Morning, geeks!
There seems to be some confusion about whether or not the new live-action MULAN is to be adapted from the 1998 animation or the original legend. With the addition of the characters Ling (now Jimmy Wong) and Chien Po (now Doua Moua), I think we can stop debating now. It has been reported previously by Deadline back in March that it IS in fact an adaptation of the animation. This does not mean that it’s going to be exactly the same, unlike BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. I can say this because we there are clearly characters in the live-action version that were not in the animation. Mulan has a sister (Xana Tang) in this one, for instance. And so far, there doesn’t seem to be a Shang. And no Mushu. Last time we speculated who would play a modern Mushu. Someone threw Kevin Hart’s name into the hat, and I’m for it.
I shouldn’t overlook that that same Deadline article reports two other new characters: Utkarsh Ambudkar will play Skatch, a con artist, while Ron Yuan is the fiercely loyal Sergeant Qiang, second in command of the Imperial Regiment.
Anyways, Deadline reported the casting of Ling and Po first as well!
But what the heck about the least forgettable of the trio, Yao? Voiced by Harvey Fierstein, was easily the most notable out of the three. The casting continues, so we may see that change soon. We may see...MUSHU. Disney is spending $290 million on this, they could afford a CG dragon buddy!
This cast is actually growing to be extremely diverse and LARGE, including Donnie Yen, Jet Li, and Jason Scott Lee. Let’s not forget Liu Yifei as Mulan herself! I hope everyone will get enough screen time.
Still If they don’t cast a Yao, I guess Disney just can’t handle the King of the Rock.
~Big Eyes
