Tuesday Couch Potatoes: Favorite Disney Fairy Tale

Cover of Mulan (Special Edition)

I had to really refresh my thoughts with this one. There are lots of stories that we all grow up with and now I intend to share with my kids. Then, after thinking long and hard, I came up with the one that had the most impact - culturally to me. My pick for Favorite Disney Fairy Tale is Mulan.

Mulan is a story close to my heart first and foremost because the female character is Chinese. I'm not sure if I've already shared it with you but my grandfather is pure Chinese. I have never met him and I didn't go to Chinese school so I missed out on a lot of things but this movie did show me how Chinese daughters are expected to act.

In a sentence, the plot of Mulan centers on a young woman who disguises herself as a man to take the place of her elderly father in the army. She doesn't want her father to take part in the war, so she goes in his stead. My favorite part in the movie is when she's asked to go home and quit. She retrieves the arrow from the totem pole by doing something ingenious. The brass amulets become intertwined and she got to use it as a force to propel her upward from the totem pole. I just love the scene when she throws down the arrow at Captain Shang's feet.


Well, I love the fact that a woman saves the day and I'm all for women empowerment and this fairy tale was it. I also love damsels in distress but then this one touched me more than all the rest of the fairy tales.