Disney's back at it again with the live action remakes and "Mulan" is next in the production line. The film has been fast-tracked to be released in 2018, and while the excitement is real, the pressure to #makemulanright rides heavy on both the creators and the audience.

Here's a little backstory...

Back in October, details of the working script written by Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin were leaked into the hands of blogger AngryAsianMan. The script centered mostly around the relationship between Mulan and a white male savior, diminishing the female warrior's independence and spotlight. Enraged by the remake script, the blogger posted an "An Open Letter to the Creators of Disney's Live Action Feature Film 'The Legend of Mulan'" urging Disney to reconsider the script and casting calls for the remake, and notably closing his statement with #makemulanright. Following the blog post, a 16,000-signature petition emerged rallying behind the hashtag, prompting Disney to release a statement disclosing that they will feature an all-Chinese cast with no white male love interest. Disney then hired Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver to write a new script for the film.

Here's my rant...

While I'm stoked that Disney decided to recreate the Asian princess, the reasons for choosing Mulan are directly linked to the recent backlash against Hollywood whitewashing and Hollywood's effort to expand their market to China's audiences. Sony also decided to pick up Mulan for the same reasons, indicating how little Asian story material is popularly known. Moreover, to expand their audience reach to China, both film companies would be inclined to cast a well-known Chinese actress to play Fa Mulan, leaving out the already neglected Asian American community and further tacking foreignness to every Asian role that exists in Hollywood.

This is a smack in the face for Asian Americans everywhere. Disney's Mulan rocked the box office of 1998 in America and completely flunked in China because Disney's Mulan was portrayed with largely American values: a strong need for independence, personal identity, and a denouncement of traditional woman's roles. These values specifically resonated with Chinese American millennials and not the Chinese because there exists a fundamental difference in upbringing and principles between the two. To satisfy both the American audience and the Chinese audience will require a strenuous amount of planning and careful execution. And an all white production team doesn't help.

Disney will need to carefully balance the wishes of both communities in the reenactment of this Chinese AND now American classic tale. Sony is developing a much more Chinese industry based version of Mulan currently, so we have hope that Disney will try to do right by both audience groups.

So what do we want? A girl worth fighting for.