New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Walt Disney Records has released the original motion picture soundtrack to Disney's new movie "Mulan," streaming exclusively to Disney+ subscribers with Premier Access. Directed by Niki Caro ("The Zookeeper's Wife," "McFarland, USA"), the movie and soundtrack feature score composed, conducted and produced by Harry Gregson-Williams. Multi-platinum and global award-winning superstar singer/ songwriter
Christina Aguilera performs a new original song, "Loyal Brave True," and "Reflection (2020)." The digital soundtrack is available today.
A welcome challenge for the composer was writing music to underscore a film that was grounded in Chinese legend and history. Gregson-Williams said, "The idea for the music was that it would be a fully orchestral score that had an additional layer of featured Chinese instruments woven into its DNA. Ancestry and heritage are both really important to the story, so I immersed myself in that world and sought out specific musicians who could contribute using their knowledge of Chinese music." He adds, "At the heart of the score is a full-bodied symphony orchestra and a big choir. But on the periphery, we have a lot of Chinese colors."
Caro says, "The score by Harry Gregson-Williams is every bit as epic and emotional and thrilling as the movie itself. However, it was really important to me to honor the animation by bringing in the most revered song—'Reflection.'" Written by
Matthew Wilder and
David Zippel, the brand-new recording of "Reflection (2020)" is performed by
Christina Aguilera and produced by Harry Gregson-Williams.
"
Loyal Brave True" is a new original song written especially for the film by Jamie Hartman, Harry Gregson-Williams, Rosi Golan and Billy Crabtree, and produced by Jamie Hartman. Aguilera recorded the song in both English and Spanish.
Music videos for both tracks featuring Aguilera were directed by Caro.
Music from both songs is featured in Gregson Williams' underscore with Aguilera's full-length versions appearing in the film's custom main-on-end title design.
Yifei Liu, who is also a singer, recorded "
Reflection" in Mandarin as well. The Mandarin version of the song was produced by Matthew Wilder, who originally co-wrote and produced the song for the animated film.
Harry Gregson-Williams is one of Hollywood's most sought-after and prolific composers. He was the composer on all four installments of the animated blockbuster "Shrek" franchise, garnering a BAFTA Award nomination for the score for the Oscar-winning "Shrek." He received Golden
Globe and Grammy Award nominations for his score for Andrew Adamson's "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." He has collaborated multiple times with a number of directors, including Ben Affleck on "Live by Night," "The Town" and "Gone Baby Gone"; Joel Schumacher on "Twelve," "The Number 23," "Veronica Guerin" and "
Phone Booth"; Tony Scott on "Unstoppable, "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3," "Déjà Vu," "Domino," "Man on Fire," "Spy Game" and "Enemy of the State"; Ridley Scott on "The Martian," "Prometheus", "Exodus: Gods and Kings" and "Kingdom of Heaven"; Bille August on "Return to Sender" and "Smilla's Sense of Snow"; Andrew Adamson on the "Shrek" series, the first two "Narnia" movies and "Mr. Pip"; and Antoine Fuqua on "The Replacement Killers," "The Equalizer" and "The Equalizer 2." Recent film projects include "The Meg" directed by Jon Turteltaub, "Early Man" directed by Nick Park for which he received an
Annie Award nomination and Disneynature's "Penguins." He previously worked with "Mulan" director Niki Caro on "The Zookeeper's Wife."
Acclaimed filmmaker Niki Caro brings the epic tale of China's legendary warrior to life in Disney's "Mulan," in which a fearless young woman risks everything out of love for her family and her country to become one of the greatest warriors China has ever known. When the Emperor of China issues a decree that one man per family must serve in the Imperial Army to defend the country from Northern invaders, Hua Mulan, the eldest daughter of an honored warrior, steps in to take the place of her ailing father. Masquerading as a man, Hua Jun, she is tested every step of the way and must harness her inner-strength and embrace her true potential. It is an epic journey that will transform her into an honored warrior and earn her the respect of a grateful nation...and a proud father.
"Mulan" features a celebrated international cast that includes: Yifei Liu as Mulan; Donnie Yen as Commander Tung; Tzi Ma as Zhou, Jason Scott Lee as Böri Khan; Yoson An as Honghui; Ron Yuan as Sergeant Qiang; with Gong Li as Xianniang and Jet Li as the Emperor. The film is directed by Niki Caro from a screenplay by Rick Jaffa &
Amanda Silver and
Lauren Hynek &
Elizabeth Martin, suggested by the narrative poem "The Ballad of Mulan." The producers are Chris Bender, p.g.a., Jake Weiner, p.g.a., and Jason Reed, p.g.a., with Bill Kong, Barrie M. Osborne, Tim Coddington and
Mario Iscovich serving as executive producers.
