Originally to have been an assignment for Rachel Portman, but thankfully for us Jerry Goldsmith was sort out instead at the last minute and no doubt relished the opportunity to take a break from the adult thrillers and action movies he is known for. Mulan is a delightful Disney animated epic about a young Chinese girl who masquerades as a male warrior to restore her family's honour and goes off to fight the Huns with her country men. Ironically then, Goldsmith is called upon to provide some major action for some rather intense battles and sword fights (Attack At The Wall and The Huns Attack in particular are pure Goldsmith - capturing the grandeur of Rambo action along the way).

Not surprisingly the centre piece though is another gorgeous theme, capturing Mulan's femininity, her ties with her family and her burgeoning bravery. With Goldsmith a master at 'ethnic scoring' then it's not surprising this powerful statement for Mulan fits her as well as her warrior uniform. Goldsmith then calls up electronics, ethnic instrumentation and traditional orchestral forces, especially snare drums, cymbals and horns for the military aspects and warm strings and soaring brass to counter this violence. But it's not all serious and Goldsmith does get a chance at some traditional Disney 'Mickey Mousing' and some melancholy moments (Blossoms). But it's the epic qualities of the story that shine through in Goldsmith's scoring as he precedes to mix Asian with European on a massive palate juxtaposed with a sumptuous recording that all adds up to a spellbinding score.

In typical Disney fashion the soundtrack album is a mix of songs and score and in that regard is an accurate representation of the music from Mulan. For soundtrack fans and especially Jerry Goldsmith's this is not a good representation as it does miss out on numerous score cues that are worthy of inclusion here. Still there is a lot of good score to enjoy and the UK version included an additional score cue.

For details on the Academy Promo - complete score version click here.