Buy it... if you enjoy Joel McNeely's often underrated work and are open to his large-scale orchestral efforts for an otherwise miserable Disney sequel.

Avoid it... if you can find absolutely no merit in any aspect of a Disney sequel, especially one that follows a revered Jerry Goldsmith score.

McNeely

Mulan II: (Joel McNeely) There have been some truly terrible products coming out of the sequel division at Walt Disney Pictures over the past eight or so years. The quality of these sequels is so wretched that each one serves as proof that the studio is about profit first and artistry second, draining every last dollar out of any and every original idea that someone else at the studio has conjured in the past. If only Disney would take this money in the sequel division and pump it into fresh new feature films, then maybe the studio would achieve the same quality and respect for its product that it received in the early 1990's. Let us not forget that Beauty and the Beast was nominated for a best picture Oscar. In the string of modern, animated musical features, Mulan came right at the end of Disney's dominance in the 1990's, providing a strong Jerry Goldsmith score and popular Matthew Wilder songs that officially ushered out the Alan Menken era. Most critics would argue to some extent that it's been down the toilet for Disney's quality in the genre ever since, and it's no coincidence that this current era of poorer Disney output coincides with the release of atrocities like The Little Mermaid 2 and The Return of Jafar (or, if you want to see the absolute worst, try the Tarzan and Atlantis sequels with re-used footage from television cartoons!). The rumor mill has speculated for some time that two Mulan sequels were in the works, although delays and rewrites on this first one have suspended the second sequel for the time being. While Disney attempts to occasionally send these sequels to the theatres, Mulan II is another "straight to video" (or DVD, these days) venture, which is Disney's way of admitting, according to some, that their product stinks.

The problem with these sequels, specifically, is that the money doesn't exist to rehire the original songwriters, composers, actors, and other crew that often made the original a success. While some of the cast returned for Mulan II, the musical aspect of the project was a complete turnover, leaving Goldsmith's score and Wilder's songs largely in the dust. Enter composer Joel McNeely, whose career is almost as frustrating as one of these Disney sequels. Joining the likes of Mark McKenzie and Cliff Eidelman, McNeely is among the younger generation of composers who has immense talent, has shown it at certain times, but has never been able to burst through into major Hollywood pictures on a consistent basis. Even more so than the others, McNeely's career has been all over the map, with his compositions over the past ten years including television shows, mini-series, IMAX pictures, animated sequels, light comedies that nobody has heard of, and even some additional music for feature projects with mainstream composers. His entry into the world of Disney is intriguing in its consistency and quality of output, but he is stuck in that sequel division of the studio that we all love to hate. His scores to Return to Neverland and The Jungle Book 2 in 2002 and 2003 have led to Mulan II and Pooh's Heffalump Movie in 2004 and 2005. Perhaps the frustrating aspect of this entire scenario is that McNeely's work is really quite good for these awful films, and it goes to show that Disney hasn't completely cut off their budget in the music area of these sequels. McNeely's work for them is orchestral on a large scale, and could easily suit a feature film. But he has the immediate disadvantage on something like Mulan because any aware adult or pre-teen will recognize that the songs and score themes from the first film are absent from the second. This again plays to the notion that young children don't care, and why suffer from a screaming child in the back of your SUV when you can slide Mulan II into the roof player as an effective pacifying device? Does artistic continuity really matter at that moment?

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For score collectors, it does. If you do care about the continuity of the music (and let's not even get into the controversy about the voices), then something like Mulan II will always leave a slightly sour taste in your mouth. In this case, one of Wilder's songs ("A Girl Worth Fighting For") has been shortly reprised and none of the now late Jerry Goldsmith's material is adapted or present. The songs for Mulan II are written by Jeanine Tesori, composer of the plays "Thoroughly Modern Millie", and "Caroline, or Change" (recognized in 2004 for being the first female composer to have two hit musicals running concurrently on Broadway), and despite her talents, her work for three songs in Mulan II does not compare to Wilder's originals. McNeely does seem to have studied the score from the feature film, and does his best to skirt the probable legalities that hinder direct transferring of Goldsmith themes by incorporating ideas similar to Goldsmith's in clever ways. He does compose a magnificent new title theme for his score, though, and its song version, "Here Beside Me," is superior in melody, vocal performance, and depth of orchestral accompaniment to the other songs on the album. Its feature film quality carries over to the score, which exists at considerable length in the absence of the normal number of songs. While not as robust as Goldsmith's original score, McNeely once again holds his own, showering the sequel scene with work worthy of far better films. He maintains the oriental spirit of Mulan and incorporates a chorus into his ensemble to maximize the non-vocal renditions of the film's song material. Thematically pleasant and occasionally powerful with immense scope, McNeely provides always competent and sometimes outstanding work for Mulan II. On album his score occupies two-thirds of the total running time, which is far more generous than the one equally strong, but sadly inadequate McNeely score cut available on the concurrent album for Pooh's Heffalump Movie. Overall, for film score collectors, and especially those of you who bemoan the absence of Joel McNeely from the spotlight, Mulan II is a surprisingly rewarding score despite the weakness of the film and its songs. ****

Bias Check:

For Joel McNeely reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.25 (in 12 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.23 (in 6,609 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.