Jackie Chan is famous for his action and comedy movies, but his surprising role in Disney's animated classic Mulan is less well-known. Chan made his film debut aged just eight years old as an extra in the 1962 kung-fu movie Big and Little Wong Tin Bar, and a decade later he started to work as a stuntman alongside Bruce Lee. In the 1990s, Jackie Chan's talents found mainstream appeal in Hollywood, where he became the co-star of the Rush Hour franchise with Chris Tucker.
Released during the Disney renaissance, the original Mulan broke the Disney princess rules and remains one of the company's most popular animated movies, thanks to its inspiring story and memorable songs. Mulan is based on the legendary Chinese tale where the titular hero takes the place of her father in the army by disguising herself as a man. The English-speaking edition of Mulan stars Ming-Na Wen and Eddie Murphy, but less well-known to a large number of viewers is Jackie Chan's role in the movie.
Jackie Chan voiced General Li Shang, the leader of the group of soldiers Mulan joins, in the Cantonese, Taiwanese Mandarin, and Mainland Chinese language versions of Mulan. Chan even sings Li Shang's "I'll Make A Man Out Of You," the iconic anthem that plays during a training montage that was controversially left out of the Mulan remake. It's not the first time that Jackie Chan has sung, the action star has had a successful second career as a singer, having released 12 albums since the 1980s, largely in Cantonese and Mandarin.
Mulan is not the only movie Jackie Chan has brought his singing talent to. The action star has an impressive track record of performing the theme songs to his films, having done so on more than 40 occasions. Despite his experience in the music industry, Mulan is one of the only musical films that Jackie Chan has been part of. The only other similar role that Chan has had is in Disney's 1991 Beauty And The Beast, where he provided the voice and singing of the Beast in the Mandarin dub of the movie.
Now in his late 60s, Jackie Chan doesn’t do many American action movies anymore, and he has taken more voice acting roles in the last decade. His biggest voice acting appearances since Mulan include Master Monkey in the Kung Fu Panda series and Master Wu in The LEGO Ninjago Movie. Jackie Chan has an impressive filmography, which earned him the Academy Honorary Award for his extraordinary achievements in film. Still, perhaps his most surprising role is his singing performance as General Li Shang in Mulan.