I'll Make a Man Out of You

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This article is about the Disney song. For the World War I recruiting song, see I'll Make a Man of You.

"l'll Make a Man Out of You"
Song by Donny Osmond
from the album Mulan: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack
ReleasedJune 2, 1998 (1998-06-02)
GenrePop
Length3:21
LabelWalt Disney
Composer(s)Matthew Wilder
Lyricist(s)David Zippel
Producer(s)

"I'll Make a Man Out of You" is a song written by composer

Yao, Chien-Po and Ling
, respectively. In addition, Mushu has a speaking line unlike the other characters in the song.

"I'll Make a Man Out of You" was written to replace the song "We'll Make a Man of You" after the film's original songwriter

Hercules in Disney's Hercules (1997), a role for which he was ultimately turned down by the directors because they felt that he sounded too old. Disney eventually cast Osmond as the singing voice of Shang because his singing voice is similar to Wong's speaking voice. An up-tempo military-style song that incorporates both Eastern and Western musical styles, "I'll Make a Man Out of You" is performed by Shang during a rigorous training montage in which his young, inexperienced soldiers attempt to justify their worth. The song's title is considered ironic because Mulan, who relies on intelligence, ultimately proves more competent than her male comrades, including Captain Li Shang, who takes a liking to her, while its lyrics explore hyper-masculinity
contradicted with Mulan's gender.

"I'll Make a Man Out of You" has received mostly positive reviews from film and music critics, some of whom dubbed it the film's best song, while praising Osmond's performance. Critics have also drawn comparisons between the song and Disney's Hercules, while likening Mulan's role and transformation to actress

G. I. Jane (1997). The song has since appeared on several "best of" Disney songs lists, including those of Total Film and the New York Post. Discussed by film critics, film historians, academic journalists and feminists, the song has gone on to be recorded and covered in several different languages—namely Mandarin, Cantonese and Spanish—by entertainers Jackie Chan and Cristian Castro
, respectively.

Writing and recording

"I'll Make a Man Out of You" was written by composer

training montage that was funny without being obvious, while remaining in character at all times.[6] In an unlikely situation, the filmmakers universally enjoyed the song from its very first draft.[6]

Wilder described himself as using "an everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach" to composing its music, explaining, "I knew I wanted it to sound large and I knew what the tempo and the cadence of the piece was."[6] Combining Eastern and Western styles, Wilder borrowed "drum cadences from traditional Chinese drums and then marrying that with military snares", upon which he continued building until "it became this cacophonous effect of a Chinese marching American band".[6] Wilder and Zippel decided to incorporate drums into the track to demonstrate a sense of masculinity and musculature, identifying the song as very odd in structure but appropriate for its lyrics.[6] Zippel's incorporation of "naturalistic descriptions of masculinity" into the song's lyrics – raging fire, coursing river, great typhoon – was used in an attempt to "get inside Shang's head space", elaborating, "I was just trying to be in character for the captain and how an Asian captain would lead his group differently than how a Western captain would call his troops," identifying as an opportunity "to put some specificity into it."[6] Wilder recorded the song's demo himself, which was arranged into a composition featuring a 100-piece orchestra and male choir conducted by musician Paul Buckmaster.[6]

Before Mulan, American singer Donny Osmond had auditioned for the lead role in Hercules, a role for which he was ultimately not cast because the directors felt that his voice sounded "too old" and "too deep" for the character.[7] Osmond later revealed in an interview with People that he was so embarrassed by his Hercules audition that he had nearly considered ending his singing career prematurely.[8] A few months later, Disney contacted Osmond with interest in casting him as the singing voice of Shang after comparing his audition tapes to BD Wong and determining that both actors have "very similar voices."[9] In one scene, Osmond's character, Shang, is hit in the stomach while singing "I'll Make a Man Out of You". In order to sound as realistic as possible, Osmond punched himself in the stomach several times while recording the song.[10]

Context and use in Mulan

"I'll Make a Man Out of You" is performed by Captain Li Shang during Mulan's training montage,

concubines in order to infiltrate the palace and rescue the emperor while "I'll Make a Man Out of You" reprises in the background.[20]

Screenshot of Mulan (left), disguised as "Ping", being reprimanded by Shang (right) during the "I'll Make a Man Out of You" sequence due to her incompetence.

Critics have observed ways in which the scene explores Mulan's growth and transformation as the character evolves from a clumsy, inexperienced recruit into one of the army's most skilled soldiers, in spite of her gender. According to the book Literacy, Play and Globalization: Converging Imaginaries in Children's Critical and Cultural Performances, the montage depicts Mulan's gender as "an obstacle to overcome."[21] Author Phyllis Frus wrote in her book Beyond Adaptation: Essays on Radical Transformations of Original Works, "The need for inexperienced young men to go through a rigorous training results in a sequence common to many films," and that the scene "shows the challenges Ping/Mulan faces due to her" inexperience.[19] As observed by Juanita Kwok in the book Film Asia: New Perspectives on Film for English, the irony of the scene lies within the fact that "Mulan proves herself more competent than any of the men."[22] The author also observed that the scene's first refrain accompanies shots of Shang, while its second "coincides with Mulan climbing to the top of the pole."[23] Additionally, while the earlier, all-female musical number "Honor to Us All" "functions as an account of the constructedness of female gender," "I'll Make a Man Out of You" "juxtaposes and makes explicit the contention that gender is a cultural product," according to Johnson Cheu, author of Diversity in Disney Films: Critical Essays on Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexuality and Disability.[24] The Representation of Gender in Walt Disney's "Mulan" believes that the song emphasizes desirable masculine traits, namely "discipline ... tranquility, celerity, strength and fearlessness,"[25] while Shang, according to Putting the Grail Back into Girl Power: How a Girl Saved Camelot, and why it Matters, "views [femininity] as comparable to weakness."[26] In her article Disney's "Mulan"—the "True" Deconstructed Heroine?, Lisa Brocklebank argued the song explores themes such as othering, ostracism and abjection.[27] Hannah Yasharoff, writing for USA Today, believes Mulan is used to counter the idea that masculinity is "the only way to become strong enough to win the war".[28]

Comparing the song to other training sequences such as

G. I. Jane (1997).[11] In the book Ways of Being Male: Representing Masculinities in Children's Literature, author John Stephens wrote that although both Mulan and Hercules depict "the active male body as spectacle," Mulan's is less "straight-forward" due to the character's gender.[23] Michael Dequina of The Movie Report observed that "Mulan's transformation is highly reminiscent of Demi Moore's in last year's Disney drama G.I. Jane, but Mulan oneups that film's hour-long toughening process by efficiently covering the same ground during a single, rousing musical number."[29]

Music and lyrics

I'll Make a Man Out of You
A twenty-nine second sample of "I'll Make a Man Out of You".
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Written in

Filmtracks.com.[35] Similar to the song "A Girl Worth Fighting For", the "ironically titled"[36] "I'll Make a Man Out of You" "play[s] off Mulan's secret" because Shang is unaware that she is actually a girl, as observed by Jeffrey Gantz of The Phoenix.[37] Johnson Cheu, author of Diversity in Disney Films: Critical Essays on Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexuality and Disability, received the song as a counterpart to the all-female musical number "Honor to Us All".[24] Going into the last verse, the song's key shifts up to F minor and later towards the end, "the backing track falls into silence and [Osmond's] vocals come to the fore."[38] Osmond's vocal range spans one octave, from D3 to G#4[39] Beginning with two verses, followed by a bridge, a refrain, a final verse and repeated choruses,[40] the song is a total of three minutes and twenty-one seconds in length.[41]

Entertainment Weekly identified the number as the film's "rambunctious peak."[42] According to Victoria Flanagan, author of Into the Closet: Gender and Cross-dressing in Children's Fiction: Cross-Dressing and the Gendered Body in Children's Literature and Film, "I'll Make a Man Out of You" is "a playful parody of conventional masculinity."[18] USA Today's Hannah Yasharoff described the song as "a tongue-in-cheek comment on sexism".[28] Lyrically, Zippel described the track as a song about "hyper-masculinity" that is disturbed by "the whole idea of Mulan", identifying the song as an opportunity "to have those two issues head-to-head."[6] The lyric "I'll make a man out of you" is constantly repeated and reinforced by Shang.[37] According to author John Stephens of Ways of Being Male: Representing Masculinities in Children's Literature, the song's lyrics "initially define masculinity in opposition to femininity,"[23] with its first verse beginning, Let's get down to business To defeat the Huns / Did they send me daughters / When l asked for sons ?"

macho-sounding choir repeatedly chanting "Be a man!",[13][44] a call and response preceded by three chords intertwined with lyrics such as "you must be swift as the coursing river" and "with all the force of a great typhoon."[6] Entertainment Weekly's Maureen Lee Lenker identified the "Be a man" chorus as the song's most iconic moment.[6]

International versions

Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan dubbed the song in Mandarin and Cantonese for the film's editions released in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China; Chan's rendition has been met with generally positive reviews.

ComingSoon.net called Chan's rendition "a fun addition for Chan fans,"[47] while Nancy Churnin of The Dallas Morning News wrote that he performed the song "very ably."[48]

The special edition DVD release of the movie also features a multi-lingual version of the song "I'll Make a Man Out of You" sung in 16 of the 30 versions originally released for the movie.[49]

Critical response

"I'll Make a Man Out of You" has been met with mostly positive reviews from both

sing along anytime we hear it."[30]

Despite dubbing the film's songs its "weak link,"

Amazon.ca's Jason Verlinde commented, "Unfortunately, the voice of Donny Osmond, relegated to anthems such as 'I'll Make a Man Out of You' doesn't really enhance the story line".[31]

Live performances and covers

In April 2017, Osmond performed "I'll Make a Man Out of You" live on the

Val Chmerkovskiy's pasodoble.[55] The competitors were ultimately he highest-scoring couple of the evening, earning a score of 49 from the judges.[56]

In October 2014, a parody of "I'll Make a Man Out of You" was uploaded to

Meowth in lieu of Mulan, while Ash occupies the role of Shang as his trainer, according to Smosh.[58] Another parody of the song, based on the Dragon Ball franchise was uploaded to YouTube by TeamFourStar.[59] Although the 2020 remake of Mulan leaves out, "I'll Make a Man Out of You," a fanedit by Blue Hippo Films uses the movie's new training scenes to convincingly add the song back.[60]

On April 16, 2020, Donny Osmond gave an at-home performance of the song during The Disney Family Singalong.[61]

Impact and legacy

Comedy Central Josh Pappenheim called "I'll Make a Man Out of You" "one of the most iconic Disney songs of all time".[65] Hannah Yasharoff, writing for USA Today, dubbed the track "an iconic moment in pop culture."[28]

On

Empire's list of the twenty "Most Awesome Training Montages In Cinema History", "I'll Make a Man Out of You" was ranked 14th. The author identified it as "a solid training montage in which Mulan and her friends go from hapless duffers to fearless warriors in just over two minutes."[66] Similarly, Men's Fitness also ranked "I'll Make a Man Out of You" among the greatest training montages in film history.[52] Stephen Fiorentine of Sneaker Report wrote that "Training montages aren't limited to just live-action movies. With movies like Mulan and Hercules, Disney mastered the art of the montage in their animated films."[67]

In 2018, Entertainment Weekly contributor Maureen Lee Lenker wrote that the song has successfully "endured since the film's release" and remained "a perennial favorite" despite being more upbeat than typical Disney songs.[6] Actress Daisy Ridley said that she listens to the song to prepare for action sequences in film roles,[68] particularly for her performance in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015).[69] Ridley explained that the song "makes me feel empowered" and revive her energy, comparing her character Rey finding her strength to Mulan.[69] Media publications have lamented the fact that the 2020 live-action adaptation of the film might not include any songs, particularly "I'll Make a Man Out of You", with Yasharoff writing, "Any excuse to make that song relevant again is more than welcome," and ranking the song second on their reasons "Why the live-action version should replicate the animated musical".[28] While the song itself was not sung in the live-action film, lines from it were repeated during Mulan's training at the camp as a rallying call for the recruits.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the website Discogs.[70]

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[71] Gold 400,000‡
United States (RIAA)[72] 2× Platinum 2,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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External links

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