Disney Plays on Nostalgia With Two New Releases

Credit%3A+Wikimedia+Commons

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

In 2018, Disney will be receiving a lot of ticket sales from 90’s and early 2000’s kids trying to relive some of their favorite childhood memories.

Incredibles 2 (June 15, 2018) and a Mulan remake (November 2, 2018) are scheduled to be coming out in this upcoming year. Although the targeted age range for these movies are pre-teens, an older audience may be more enthusiastic about these movies for nostalgic reasons.

Incredibles, which came out in 2004 (directed by Brad Bird), is a fan favorite Disney movie about a superhero family trying to fit into a normal lifestyle, but must take action against incoming evil. Craig T. Nelson plays Mr. Incredible, the main protagonist and superhero dad of the movie. Other characters include: Dash, Frozone, and Elastigirl, played by Spencer Fox, Samuel L. Jackson, and Holly Hunter, respectively.

“I remember watching Incredibles as a young kid,” Nitish Raja ’18 said. “The fact that they are making another movie 14 years later is really exciting because Incredibles, as well as other Disney movies, played a large part of my childhood.”

Hopefully for Nitish and other movie fans, the Disney movie magic is still just as captivating in 2018 as it was years before.

Mulan came out in 1998, and showed an accurate depiction of old Chinese culture. It also depicted women in an empowered light, while still keeping the plot and storyline entertaining for younger children. In the movie, the daughter of an aging father recruited to the Chinese Imperial Army sneaks away from home and disguises herself as a man named Ping in the army to save her father’s life.

The movie will be directed by Niki Caro and the cast includes Ming-Na Wen as Mulan, Eddie Murphy as Mushu, BD Wong as Captain Li Shang, and Miguel Ferrer as Shan Yu.

The plot of Mulan was adapted from a poem called the Ballad of Mulan. In the story, Mulan took her old father’s place in the army, and fought for twelve years. Her true identity as a woman was not actually discovered until after the war. This poem was actually one of the first ever poems to promote gender equality, depicting Mulan as a strong warrior.

“I love Mulan,” post-grad Brandon McGill said. “My only concern is that they will not portray Mulan in real life the same as it was in the animated version. I hope the new version will have the same plot and not ruin a classic movie.”

Mulan II is a movie that has been pushed under the rug because of some negative backlash from Disney fans. Released on February 1, 2005, Mulan II was an hour and 19 minutes long and received a 2/5 by Common Sense Media. Some people are afraid that the new movie will incorrectly portray certain qualities such as the musical aspects, which made Mulan such a loved movie in the first place.

“Mulan is the best form of cinema the world has ever seen,” Kyle Caddo ’18 proclaimed. “It’s got it all. If they mess this up like they did Mulan II I’m going to be pissed.”