Why did Disney decide to create a Chinese princess, and set it in Chinese history? In recent years, with cross-cultural communication and the global pandemics of culture, consumption of cultural products such as movies has gradually gained public popularity and attention (Chen, R., Chen, Z., & Yang, Y., 2021). The reason why Disney attempts to reflect diverse cultures and races in its characters and stories is a crucial strategy for Disney to develop overseas markets. The more Disney reflects diverse cultures and races the more people from different countries will be interested in those movies, which can lead to the long-term sustainable development of the Disney film series (Chen, R., Chen, Z., & Yang, Y., 2021).
Therefore, the main reason for Disney's creation of the "Mulan" movie focusing on China can be seen as an attempt to create a Chinese character and enter the Chinese market. The film successfully entered the Chinese market and at the same time spread Chinese culture to other countries' audiences, and also in fact, China is a big market, so it made sense for Disney to attract a Chinese audience (Amer, N, 2022). Another reason may be Disney tries to emphasize character diversity in terms of culture and race when they make stories and characters. In recent years, Disney's repertoire of animated films has shifted from predominantly white-western characters such as Cinderella and Snow White to more recently developing various cultural norms, including European and Asian, such as Aladdin and Mulan (Amer, N, 2022).