Editing Mulan (1998 film) (section)

===Development===
In 1989, [[Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida]] had opened with 40 to 50 employees,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Pack|first=Todd|date=January 13, 2004|title=Disney Animation Unit Fades Away in Orlando|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-2004-01-13-0401130269-story.html|work=[[Orlando Sentinel]]|access-date=May 25, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213202231/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2004-01-13/news/0401130269_1_feature-animation-walt-disney-feature-magic-of-disney|archive-date=December 13, 2014}}</ref> with its original purpose to produce cartoon shorts and [[featurette]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hinman|first=Catherine|date=November 19, 1990|title=Disney Dips into Local Inkwell Florida Animation Team Lends Hand To 'Rescuers' 'rescuers'|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1990-11-19-9011180479-story.html|work=Orlando Sentinel|access-date=May 25, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119155236/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1990-11-19/lifestyle/9011180479_1_rescuers-bernard-and-miss-miss-bianca|archive-date=November 19, 2015}}</ref> However, by late 1993, following several animation duties on ''[[Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)|Beauty and the Beast]]'', ''[[Aladdin (1992 Disney film)|Aladdin]]'', and ''[[The Lion King]]'', Disney executives were convinced to allow the Feature Animation Florida studios to produce their first independent film.<ref>{{Cite web|last=King|first=Jonathon|date=December 26, 1993|title=New Home, Same Magic|url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1993-12-26-9312060472-story.html|work=[[Sun-Sentinel]]|access-date=March 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330144511/https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1993-12-26-9312060472-story.html|archive-date=March 30, 2019}}</ref> Around that same time, Disney Feature Animation developed an interest in Asian-themed legends, beginning with the optioning of several books by children's book author [[Robert D. San Souci]], who had a consulting relationship with Disney executive Jay Dyer.{{sfn|Kurtti|1998|p=27}} Also around that time, a short [[straight-to-video]] film titled ''China Doll'' about an oppressed and miserable Chinese girl who is whisked away by a British [[Prince Charming]] to happiness in the West was in development. [[Thomas Schumacher]] asked San Souci if he had any additional stories, in response to which San Souci turned in a manuscript of a book based on the Chinese poem "[[Hua Mulan|The Song of Fa Mu Lan]]". Ultimately, Disney decided to combine the two separate projects.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Brown|first1=Corie|last2=Shapiro|first2=Laura|title=Women Warrior|magazine=[[Newsweek]]|format=|via=|access-date=|date=June 8, 1998|url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-20790971|archive-date=July 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210713231139/https://www.gale.com/databases/questia|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Whipp|first=Glenn|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403112511/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/%60MULAN%27+BREAKS+THE+MOLD+WITH+GIRL+POWER%3B+NEWEST+HEROINE+ISN%27T+TYPICAL...-a083827546|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/%60MULAN'+BREAKS+THE+MOLD+WITH+GIRL+POWER%3b+NEWEST+HEROINE+ISN'T+TYPICAL...-a083827546|title='Mulan' Breaks the Mold with Girl Power; Newest Heroine Isn't Typical Disney Damsel Waiting for Her Prince to come.|url-status=dead|work=[[Los Angeles Daily News]]|publisher=[[TheFreeDictionary.com#TheFreeLibrary.com|TheFreeLibrary.com]]|archive-date=April 3, 2015|date=June 19, 1998|access-date=June 3, 2015}}</ref>

Following the opening of the Feature Animation Florida studios, [[Barry Cook]], who had served as a special-effects animator since 1982,<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1992-07-15-9207140581-story.html | last=Hinman | first=Catherine | title=How The Disney Film Short 'Off His Rockers' Made It to the Big Screen: A Little Project That 'blew Up.' | newspaper=Orlando Sentinel | date=July 15, 1992 | access-date=May 25, 2022 | archive-date=May 12, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512203039/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1992-07-15/lifestyle/9207140581_1_rockers-world-of-disney-florida-studio | url-status=live }}</ref> had directed the [[Roger Rabbit]] cartoon ''[[Roger Rabbit short films#Trail Mix-Up|Trail Mix-Up]]'' produced at the satellite studio. At a lunch invitation with Thomas Schumacher, Cook was offered two projects in development: a Scottish folk tale with a dragon or ''Mulan''. Knowledgeable about the existence of dragons in Chinese mythology, Cook suggested adding a dragon to ''Mulan'', in which a week later, Schumacher urged Cook to drop the Scottish project and accept ''Mulan'' as his next project.{{sfn|Kurtti|1998|p=30}}  Following this, Cook was immediately assigned as the initial director of the project,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Abbott|first=Jim|date=June 21, 1998|title=Florida Animation Studio Comes of Age with Mulan|url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1998-06-21-9806190194-story.html|work=Sun-Sentinel|access-date=March 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119022905/https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1998-06-21-9806190194-story.html|archive-date=November 19, 2018}}</ref> and cited influences from [[Charlie Chaplin]] and [[David Lean]] during production.<ref name="classic" /> While working as an animator on the gargoyles for ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996 film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'', [[Tony Bancroft]] was offered to co-direct the film following a recommendation from [[Rob Minkoff]], co-director of ''The Lion King'', to Schumacher, in which he accepted.<ref name="bancroft">{{cite interview | url=http://animatedviews.com/2008/tony-bancroft-balances-the-yin-and-the-yang-in-directing-mulan/ | title=Tony Bancroft balances the yin and the yang in directing Mulan | subject=[[Tony Bancroft]] | interviewer=Jérémie Noyer | date=August 14, 2008 | access-date=June 3, 2015 | archive-date=February 27, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227144729/http://animatedviews.com/2008/tony-bancroft-balances-the-yin-and-the-yang-in-directing-mulan/ | url-status=live }}</ref> He joined the creative team by early 1995.{{sfn|Kurtti|1998|p=38}}
[[File:Temple of Heaven, Beijing (March 8 2005).jpg|thumb|The crew toured various parts of China for inspiration.]]
In 1994, the production team sent a select group of artistic supervisors to China for three weeks to take photographs and drawings of local landmarks for inspiration; and to soak up local culture.<ref>{{cite video|title="Discovering Mulan" |location=''Mulan'' DVD|type=Documentary film|publisher = [[Walt Disney Home Entertainment]] | date = 2004 }}</ref> Key members of the creative team at the time—[[Pam Coats]], Barry Cook, Ric Sluiter, [[Robert Walker (animator)|Robert Walker]], and [[Mark Henn]]—were invited to travel to China as a research trip to study the landscape, people, and history of the original legend. From June 17 to July 2, 1994, the research trip flew to [[Beijing, China]], which is where Coats became inspired by the placement of flags on the [[Great Wall of China|Great Wall]]. They also toured [[Datong]], [[Luoyang]], [[Xi'an]], [[Jiayuguan City|Jiayuguan]], [[Dunhuang]], and [[Guilin]].{{sfn|Kurtti|1998|pp=46–67}}