disney cements their place in the forefront of feature animation with the release of their latest animated adventure , mulan . 
while it adheres a bit too close to the disney formula to be perfect , it is nonetheless an entertaining film for both kids and adults . 
fa mulan ( ming-na wen , singing : lea salonga ) wants nothing more than to be a dutiful daughter and honor her family . . . it's 
just that she doesn't quite fit in with the chafing customs of her time . 
while most girls her age are trying to quietly and demurely seek the approval of the local matchmaker ( miriam margoyles ) , mulan would prefer speaking her mind . 
but there is trouble on the horizon . 
the evil huns , led by shan-yu ( miguel ferrer ) , are invading china . 
the emperor ( pat morita ) has decreed that each family must donate one man to serve in the army . 
the only male in mulan's family is her father , fa zhou ( soon-tek oh ) , who , old and with a bad leg , honorably accepts his fate . 
mulan , on the other hand , decides to save her father's life . . . by 
secretly masquerading as a man and taking his place on the battlefield . 
mulan , under the assumed name of ping , appears at camp where she , along with the other bumbling recruits , yao ( harvey fierstein ) , chien-po ( jerry tondo ) and ling ( gedde watanabe ) , are trained in the art of war by captain shang ( b . d . 
wong , singing : donny osmond ) . 
but she's not alone in her tasks . . . in 
typical disney fashion , she has three animal companions : her horse khan , a lucky cricket crickey , and a pint-sized " guardian " dragon called mushu ( eddie murphy ) . 
much like the gargoyles in the hunchback of notre dame , the humor in mulan is lukewarm and doesn't flow well with the rest of the more serious story . 
sure , some occasional comic relief is welcome , particularly in a film geared for the younger set , but mulan overdoes it . 
the overdose of humor turns what could have been a powerfully great film into a good , but schizophrenic experience . 
but , that commentary aside , this is a very well made film ( which makes the formulaic additions all the more regrettable ) . 
the animation is on par with some of disney's best . 
the story itself is interesting , and the action scenes are awe-inspiring . 
the musical score to the film is enjoyable , though , as has been the case with disney's recent work , the songs are mostly forgettable . 
at least , we're only subjected to four of them this time around . 
mulan boasts the highest death toll of any disney cartoon to date . 
most of the killing is off-screen and it's all highly depersonalized ( there's nothing to compare with the death of mufasa or bambi's mom ) . 
there's nothing graphic , and the film resides snugly inside a g rating . 
children will probably have more questions about the restrictive ancient customs than of the slaughter of armies . 
it's ironic that a film concerned with bucking tradition is hampered because of its strict adherence to disney tradition . 
if the filmmakers had the guts to lessen the humor , ax the compulsory songs , and remove the obligatory ( and somewhat unrealistic ) romance , they could have had a classic on their hands . 
instead , they merely deliver a very good time at the movies . 
