Mulan Is Disney’s Lowest-Rated Remake

The live-action Mulan is Disney's lowest-rated remake on IMDb, where the new movie shows the widest disparity in ratings when compared to the animated original. A viral chart examining the scores of Disney's animated films and their corresponding re-imaginings, as voted by registered IMDb users, reveals Mulan to be the worst-received remake since 1996's 101 Dalmatians. As of September 2020, only Mulan and the Glenn Close-starring adaptation of Walt Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians are below the 6.0 threshold on IMDb; the average rating for Disney remakes is a 6.5 when omitting spinoffs and sequels such as Maleficent and Alice Through the Looking Glass.

Mulan currently holds a 5.4 rating on IMDb, giving it a nearly 2.2 difference from its 1998 animated counterpart (7.6). The second-largest disparity is between The Lion King (8.5) and its Jon Favreau-directed CG remake (6.9), followed by 101 Dalmatians (5.7) and One Hundred and One Dalmatians (7.2). Via Reddit user u/Stefan0_:

Ratings of Disney Animated Classics Vs Live Action Remakes [OC] from r/dataisbeautiful

The best-received remake is Favreau's The Jungle Book (7.4), followed by 2017's Beauty and the Beast (7.1) and last year's Aladdin (6.9). Favreau's Lion King is in step with 2015's Cinderella (6.9), ahead of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp's Alice in Wonderland (6.4).

Ranked towards the bottom of the list is Burton's Dumbo (6.3) and then straight-to-Disney+ remake Lady and the Tramp (6.3), followed by 101 Dalmatians (5.7) and Mulan (5.4).

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, where Mulan holds a 75% certified fresh approval from critics, the film has an audience score of 51%. Of the remakes included in the above chart, Mulan's 51% score from verified Rotten Tomatoes users tops Dumbo (48%) and 101 Dalmatians (40%).

Directed by Niki Caro and starring Yifei Liu as the legendary Chinese warrior, Mulan released to Disney+ Premier Access priced at $29.99. Since its debut on September 4, the remake sparked controversy for thanking Xinjiang authorities in its end credits and faced a reignited boycott that started when Liu showed public support for the Hong Kong police.

Acclaimed filmmaker Niki Caro brings the epic tale of China's legendary warrior to life in Disney's Mulan, in which a fearless young woman risks everything out of love for her family and her country to become one of the greatest warriors China has ever known.

Also starring Donnie Yen, Jason Scott Lee, Gong Li, Ron Yuan, Tzi Ma, Yoson An, and Jet Li, Mulan is now streaming exclusively on Disney+ Premier Access.