In light of the upcoming release of the live-action remake of the Disney classic “Mulan”, a storm of controversies surrounds the removal of the original animation’s characters Li Shang, Mushu, and the collection of iconic songs. While the studio and the producer gave their reasoning behind making this decision, fans were not pacified.

The story of “Mulan” tells of a young woman who disguises herself as a man to fight in place of her elderly father. In the 1998 original film, Mulan develops a rather personal relationship with her superior, General Li Shang. However, due to the momentous traction that the #MeToo movement gained, Hollywood has reevaluated their films and the underlying messages they convey. Fueled by the Harvey Weinsten case in which the former film producer was sentenced to 23 years in prison for criminal sexual act and three years in prison for rape, the #MeToo movement encourages women to speak out against sexual harassment and assault.

In response to the monumental impact of the movement, producer Jason Reed has confirmed that Li Shang will not be included in the remake.

"I think particularly in the time of the #MeToo movement, having a commanding officer that is also [a] sexual love interest was very uncomfortable, and we didn't think it was appropriate," said Reed, according to a Collider article published in February of 2020.

In the new version of the film, Li Shang will be split into two separate characters: Commander Tung, Mulan’s mentor throughout the film, and Honghui, her comrade and equal in the unit. The producers’ goal with these new characters is to maintain Li Shang’s role as general while removing the romantic element from his relationship with Mulan.

Despite the fact that the decision to remove Li Shang comes from a place of consideration and respect, many Mulan fans are displeased and frustrated. Viewers feel that it is unnecessary to eliminate his character from the plotline.

“Li Shang was arguably the most healthy relationship Disney had to model to little girls. Mulan wasn’t looking for a prince. I cannot abide by the message that it’s better to be alone than with a man who is attracted to a powerful & intelligent woman,” tweeted an angry fan.

“Mulan was the one with a serious crush in this movie. She was the only one where 'the look' is given to the male love interest instead of the princess. He did nothing until she was no longer in his army. This is silly and another case of removing a strong woman's agency,” tweeted another.

Because the couple’s relationship was not formed based on Mulan’s beauty but rather off of her courage and intellect, many fans believe that Li Shang’s absence is in fact detrimental to the development of the story.

Nevertheless, Li Shang is not the only character that will be missing from the 2020 remake. The producers of the film have also decided to exclude Mushu, the lively dragon and close companion of Mulan. This angered the fans even more, since Mushu was adored for his witty comments and loyalty towards Mulan.

Although the discontent is understandable, it feels as though as time goes by and the comments start to pile up, the dissatisfaction for the removal of Li Shang is escalating towards overreaction.

The public should bear in mind when confronting Disney on their decisions that Li Shang is purely a fictional character designed by Disney screenplay writers while Mulan is an early-medieval Chinese legend, with a long ballad written about her story which is still being recited by schoolchildren in China today.

The director of the remake, Niki Caro spoke of the original ballad with admiration during her press Question & Answer in Hollywood back in early March. The New Zealand director reveals how she envisioned the remake of “Mulan.” However, as she disclosed during the Q&A, she was not planning for the film to be a remake at all, at least not one for the 1998 animation.

“I think for me it was a journey from village girl to male soldier to warrior and hero that felt like it spoke for all of us. It was a story that didn’t, in fact, originate with the 1998 animation, but it’s about 1500 years old and has been resonant and relevant for centuries – and nevermore so than now,” said Caro. “So, we tried to mine everything we could from the ballad and also just to be inspired by it.”

So now that Hollywood is working to accommodate social responses (the #MeToo movement) and explore meaningful cultural jewels (“The Ballad of Mulan”), we can only wait until the movie releases to see what kind of responses from the public lie ahead. Will people be able to accept these changes for the better, or will we lean towards the old adaptation because it’s familiar? Either way, one thing is for certain — the powerful image of Mulan as a strong female character will remain unchanged, and it’s not hard to predict that years from now, the tale of “the flower that blooms in adversity” will still inspire young girls to fight through their obstacles.