Here's Why Mulan Live-Action Remake Won't Feature Any Musical Numbers

There's a lot of things that you won't get to see in the live-action Mulan remake. For instance, don't expect to see a tiny dragon that sounds like Eddie Murphy as Hua Mulan's biggest little cheerleader. In addition to that, you shouldn't hope to see the characters suddenly breaking into song like they're in a Bollywood production. But why has Disney decided against the musical numbers?

Some believe that it's simply not a Disney film if nobody spontaneously bursts into song. However, Mulan producer Jason Reed has told Collider that they specifically chose to avoid the song and dance numbers.

"It will not be traditional ‘break into musical' [songs]. They're not going to stop their workouts to do a big musical number to camera," Reed revealed.

This might be a disappointment for anyone who was expecting a live-action version of I'll Make A Man Out Of You (which reminds me, you won't get to see Li Shang in this movie, either). On the other hand, Reed promises that you'll still get to hear some of the tunes that you loved in Mulan.

"There are a number of songs that are iconic for the movie and tell a great version of the story and they are very helpful to us in how we're putting the movie together," he said.

But why get rid of the musical numbers? Reed pointed out that live-action is a little different than animation when it comes to getting the story across.

"It gets a little easier in animation to keep the tension and the reality in place and still have people break into song and sing to camera. We made the decision that we wanted to keep the world—even though it's a fantasy—more grounded, more realistic so those emotions really played and the threat is very real. So we are using music in a slightly different way," Reed concluded.

Reed's reasoning does make sense but the whole song and dance numbers in live-action worked perfectly for Beauty and The Beast. Still, it would be strange for the soldiers to suddenly start singing in the middle of a battle.

Mulan will premiere on March 27.

Related: Mulan: Here's Why Li Shang Won't Appear in Live-Action Disney Remake