The Locations

Originally composed in the 6th century AD, The Ballad of Mulan has been reimagined and embroidered through the years.

While the narrative is traditionally based in northern China, director Niki Caro chose to film her live-action remake of the 1998 Disney classic in the south of the country as well (in addition to shooting in her native New Zealand) in order to showcase the diverse beauty of the Chinese landscape.

Among the screensaver-worthy filming locations? The rainbow formations of Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park in Gansu; a range of sandstone hills known as the Flaming Mountains, where summer temperatures hover around 50 degrees Celsius; and the “singing” dunes of the Mingsha Shan Desert, which make a drum-like noise when the wind blows.

Also of note: a clay-and-earth Mazar village in the Tuyuk Valley, which has existed for more than 1,700 years.

The lighting

Cinematographer Mandy Walker travelled across China to get a sense of the country’s natural light before filming for Mulan began in New Zealand – allowing her to recreate the “delicate” lighting she had seen on her travels back in Auckland.

One of the most surreal ways she achieved her goal? Filming certain scenes with a lens that David Lean used when shooting Lawrence of Arabia in 1962– a major reference for Caro’s Mulan – and a Gauss lens made by Panavision from fragments of antique glass according to Walker’s specifications.

The Sets

Production designer Grant Major – who notably worked on The Lord of the Rings trilogy – recreated the Emperor’s vast Throne Room to scale based on the few remaining buildings from the Tang dynasty (618-907).

Walker collaborated with him to ensure that the set almost glowed on film thanks to traditional Chinese lanterns, dark polished floors, and vast bronze columns.

Meanwhile, the invader Böri Khan’s yurt is modelled on a 700 AD hut and filled with both wolf motifs (Khan is the leader of the “wolf” tribe) and glittering treasures that Khan would have plundered during his travels along the Silk Road.

The Weapons

Needless to say, there are plenty of battle scenes in Caro’s Mulan – meaning weapons master Joe Dunckley had his work cut out for him. More than 4,000 weapons were made in total, including double-edged Jian swords and curved Kapinga daggers.

There were also two copies of Mulan’s father’s sword, which is engraved with the words “Loyal, Brave, True”.

The first, made entirely from bronze and steel, weighs five kilos and appears only in close-ups – while the second is a much lighter weapon that features in the battle scenes.

The Costumes

Costume designer Bina Daigeler took inspiration from the symbolism behind different colours in China when developing the costumes for Mulan – sourcing natural fabrics such as linens, cottons, and silks that her team then dyed themselves.

Under the Tang dynasty, only the Emperor wore yellow – so Jet Li is seen in a robe made from layer upon layer of golden silk, which Daigeler had hand-embroidered in Denmark. Meanwhile, the witch Xianniang (Gong Li) appears largely in pale clothes – white being the colour of both death and purity – and Böri Khan (Jason Scott Lee) is fittingly always in all-black, indicating danger, terror, and an absence of love.

As for Mulan’s costumes? While Liu Yifei is seen largely in red – representative of both fire and joy – Daigeler chose to make the protagonist’s matchmaker dress in lilac in a nod to the 1998 film, embroidering depictions of a phoenix (a symbol of female energy) and magnolias (Mulan’s personal icon) onto the garment.