For as long as I can remember, my family has been a massive Disney family. I think at this point I've been to Disney World thirteen times. Also, for as long as I can remember, I have adored Fa Mulan. It wasn't until recent years that I really started analyzing why I love Mulan so much.

For a very long time, I was highly agitated that Mulan was not included in the photos on merchandise with the other princesses. Truthfully, I still am, for the simple fact that it's hard to find things with Mulan on them. However, it dawned on me one day that Disney doesn't include her in merchandise because she is not a princess. She is a warrior. She went to war for twelve years and saved China. She brought honor to her family and saved her father. In other Disney movies, the princesses tend to rely on the men for things, but Mulan provides solely for herself and her family.

Speaking of family, Mulan's main concern is her family. The whole reason anything happened with Mulan was so she could bring honor to her family. She wanted to get married because she thought that was the right thing to do. She went to battle to spare her father, who was weak. After she saved China, she went home. Not because she accepted her fate as a woman, deemed for housework and bearing children, but because she had completed what she set out to do: bring her family honor and save her father.

Mulan is not an ordinary Disney character. She overcomes obstacles no other character has to face. She saves the entirety of China through intuition and perseverance. She struggles with her true identity because she wants to do the right thing, but she also wants to bring her family honor. Through everything, she stands strong and comes out the other side victorious. The entire time, she does this with only the help of a tiny dragon.

All of this being said, I think it's time we all started appreciating Mulan more. Let's encourage everyone to watch the film and understand why Mulan is more than just a Disney princess in distress.