Disney Prince Review: Shang, Mulan

"Number one in his class, extensive knowledge of training techniques.... an impressive military lineage....I believe Li Shang will do an excellent job." 

By some Mulan is considered to be one of the last great films of the Disney Renaissance, the last great breath before the Post-Renaissance era full of mostly lackluster movies. Mulan as a film improves on the Disney Princess line in a way that every other film in the Renaissance did but this time and for the first time in a while the Disney Princess was a lead in a wildly popular movie. As a character Mulan herself stands above many of her peers but at times Shang is often left forgotten. This is ultimately understandable but Shang's story does happen right beside Mulan's and he is a foil to her. Where the other men and women we see mostly reflect gender roles and the absurdity of them, Shang feels more grounded within the movie.

From the moment we meets Shang we see that he is humble about receiving his promotion to captain but also has high hopes for the "finest troop in all of China". He takes command seriously and knows that there is a standard he the troop has to reach before anything else. Some would view his sending "Ping" home as a matter of arrogance but Ping doesn't show signs of improving or that he can handle what comes next, and he is pleasantly surprised when he sees him improving. At the same time we also see that Shang does care about his father's approval, as Chi-Fu says that the men aren't ready and he won't leave anything out in his report to the general, the idea that he's failed his father is something that he thinks about, if his men fail it's because he failed. In regards to his father we could argue that their relationship reflects that of Mulan and her own father. Not only are Mulan and Shang close to their fathers but Shang's father died fighting the Huns, something Mulan was trying to prevent with her own father. It's also interesting to see how he reacts to his father's death, he is composed but you can see that he's hurt but he doesn't let it distract him from his duty, he chooses to honor his father by finishing the mission, the mission.

We honestly don't get a lot of his personality in the first film but in the second film, as out of character he appears in the bulk of the film we do see that he's pretty straight arrow. He's a bit like Joe from Digimon, he's a simple, almost bland kind of guy, not even preferring enjoying spicy foods. He is very much a by the books kind of guy and Mulan sort of serves as a person to help him loosen up. He's very much George Banks from the Father of the Bride movies, simplicity is best. I think it mostly comes from his military structure, very organized, and he will follow it come hell or high water. He likes things to be perfect and Mulan just helps him relax though it does seem he has some issues with her not listening but that was building up primarily from Mushu bad mouthing him as Mulan. He also doesn't quite know how to talk to the ladies or at least ladies like Mulan as he is constantly at a loss of how to talk to her at the end of the first movie.

When it comes to his relationship with Mulan/Ping the fan community is a bit divided with the idea that Shang may be gay which is why he was so upset that "Ping" was revealed to be a woman. I honestly disagree because he  treats Ping pretty much like any soldier for a while and he only begins to really trust "him" after the battle in the mountains. When Shang finds out the truth, it is hard to tell how Shang feels but more than anything, as upset as he is, he doesn't really let how he feels get in the way,  The law says she must die but she did save his life and as far as they know, kill the Hun army so he lets her live though we do see that doesn't want anything more to do with her. Afterwards he finds himself very awkward talking to her and even afterwards, he does like her but I don't think he liked Ping as anything other than a fellow soldier who has earned his trust. In regards to Shang being gay, I kind of look at it with the same disdain as I do with Mulan, it comes off as lazy because the only evidence is how Mulan doesn't fit some sort of mold so by default she has to be something else.

Shang is ultimately a decent guy. He comes off as a very real person, like out of all the Disney Princes at this time, he and Aladdin are more akin to someone you've met or would meet. I would call him the first great support character for Disney, at least in the Renaissance Era. He isn't as bland as John Smith and he isn't as over the top as the Beast.

The Often Unseen 

So I at first thought Zuko was a good choice for Shang's counterpart from Avatar the Last Airbender but Zuko as a character only has a few similarities to Shang. Going a step further and into the more obscure, I kind of felt that Iroh from Legend of Korra was a better choice. Iroh comes off as disciplined, optimistic, and wanting to bring honor to his family as well as Aang, his grandfather's best friend. Like Shang, Iroh follows the rules but at the same time is willing to tweak the rules if he needs to. I think Iroh in a lot of ways showcases the untapped potential that also lay with Shang, both of them already established. Another example would of course be Sokka, namely in the Day of Black Sun episode where Sokka has to lead the men into battle.

Next time, we will be going over some of the princes that the Renaissance may have forgotten in its last days.