مولان

Who am I fooling?

It’s going to take a miracle to get me into the army.

Did I hear someone ask for a miracle?

Let me hear you say”Aaah”!

Aaah!

That’s close enough.

A ghost.

Get ready, Mulan.

Your serpentine salvation is at hand!

For I have been sent by your ancestors to guide you through your masquerade.

Come on. If you’re gonna stay, you’re gonna work.

So heed my word! ‘Cause if the army finds out you’re a girl, the penalty is death!

Who are you?

Who am I? Who am I?

I am the guardian of lost souls.

I am the powerful, the pleasurable, the indestructible Mushu.

Pretty hot, huh?

Uh, my ancestors sent a little lizard to help me?

Hey, dragon, dragon, not lizard.

I don’t do that tongue thing.

You’re… um…

Intimidating? Awe-inspiring?

Tiny.

Of course.

I’m travel size for your convenience.

If I was my real size, your cow here would die of fright.

Down, Bessie. My powers are beyond your mortal imagination.

For instance, my eyes can see straight through your armor.

Oh! All right, that’s it! Dishonor!

Dishonor on your whole family.

Make a note of this. Dishonor on you, dishonor on your cow…

Stop. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m just nervous.

I’ve never done this before.

Then you’re gonna have to trust me.

And don’t you slap me no more.

We clear on that? All right.

Okey-dokey.

Let’s get this show on the road!

Cri-Kee, get the bags.

Let’s move it, Heifer.

Who am I fooling?

It’s going to take a miracle to get me into the army.

Did I hear someone ask for a miracle?

To fool means to trick or deceive someone.

Mulan is saying that she needs a miracle to be accepted in the army as she is not going to be able to trick them to believe that she is a man.

In cases like this one, the word miracle is used to refer to a very lucky event that is surprising and unexpected.

Let me hear you say “Aaah”!

Aaah!

That’s close enough.

A ghost.

Get ready, Mulan.

You’re serpentine salvation is at hand!

If you come from a Spanish speaking country you might be able to guess the meaning of the word serpentine.

This word is used to refer to something that curves and twists like a snake.

For I have been sent by your ancestors to guide you through your masquerade.

Come on. If you’re gonna stay, you’re gonna work.

A masquerade is a word used to refer to a situation in which you pretend to be something that you are not.

Mulan is a good example for this as throughout the movie she pretends to be a man in order to save her father.

Her ancestors, that is the members of her family who lived before her, sent Mushu the dragon in order to help her fulfill her task and return safely home.

So heed my word! ‘Cause if the army finds out you’re a girl, the penalty is death!

Heed means to listen and follow someone’s advice.

Let’s look at an example of the use of this word:

Hear my words.

And heed my warning.

And laugh if you dare.

Witches lives among us.

Mulan should definitely listen carefully to Mushu because as he says, the penalty [punishment] if she gets discovered is death.

Who are you?

Who am I? Who am I?

I am the guardian of lost souls.

I am the powerful, the pleasurable, the indestructible Mushu.

Someone who protects something is a guardian.

He is saying that he is the guardian of the lost souls.

Soul is a word used to refer to the spiritual part of a person that continues existing after their body has died, according to some religions.

Pleasurable is another way of saying enjoyable, in other words, he is saying that she is in pleasant company.

Pretty hot, huh?

Uh, my ancestors sent a little lizard to help me?

Hey, dragon, dragon, not lizard.

I don’t do that tongue thing.

This is a lizard.

Mulan is quite disappointed because he doesn’t seem very impressive.

Uh, my ancestors sent a little lizard to help me?

Hey, dragon, dragon, not lizard.

I don’t do that tongue thing.

Here we also have a great example of native reduction!

The preposition “to” often gets reduced simply to [tuh], as we see Mulan pronounce it here.

To [tuh] help me.

Let’s see some other examples of preposition reduction.

Remember, honey.

We have to [tuh] stay away from the undertow.

We have to [tuh] stay away from the undertow.

Which actually was really lucky because that gave us plenty of time to [tuh] think about what our new house is going to look like!

Plenty of time to [tuh] think about what our new house is going to look like!

You’re… um…

Intimidating? Awe-inspiring?

Tiny.

Of course.

I’m travel size for your convenience.

If I was my real size, your cow here would die of fright.

If you feel great respect towards someone and maybe a bit of fear you can say that that person is awe-inspiring.

That is, he or she inspires awe.

You might feel awe, for example, standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon.

This is actually not the case with Mulan, as she is definitely not intimidated nor feels awe when seeing Mushu.

You’re… um…

Intimidating? Awe-inspiring?

Tiny.

Of course.

I’m travel size for your convenience.

If I was my real size, your cow here would die of fright.

Something tiny is extremely small.

Which of these other words can you use with the same meaning?

Trick question! All of these mean the same thing.

Mushu is saying that his size is convenient, as he can be easily carried due to his small size.

You can afren hear this term travel-size with toiletries like these that are small enough to take on an airplane.

Down, Bessie. My powers are beyond your mortal imagination.

For instance, my eyes can see straight through your armor.

Down is a command given to an animal to tell it to lie down on the ground, as you might say to your dog.

Bessie is a nickname for a cow.

This is quite humorous because Mushu doesn’t know the difference between a horse and a cow.

Mortal is a word used in many mythologies to refer to living things (especially people).

It actually means that they are able to die, in contrast with gods or demi-gods who can live forever [immortal].

Oh! All right, that’s it! Dishonor!

Dishonor on your whole family.

Make a note of this. Dishonor on you, dishonor on your cow…

In many cultures honor is a very important value to live by.

It represents a mix of qualities such as respect, pride and honestly.

The loss of this quality is called dishonor, in some cultures bringing dishonor to your family could even be considered worse than death.

I am ready to serve the Emperor.

Father, you can’t go.

Mulan!

Please, sir, my father has already fought bravely…

Silence!

You would do well to teach your daughter to hold her tongue in a man’s presence.

Mulan, you dishonor me.

Mulan, you should already be in town.

We are counting on you…

To unhold the family honor.

Don’t worry, father.

I won’t let you down.

Prepare to fight.

If we die, we die with honor.

Stop. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.

I’m just nervous.

I’ve never done this before.

Then you’re gonna have to trust me.

And don’t you slap me no more.

We clear on that?

A slap is a quick hit with the palm of your hand.

By the way, did you hear how he said “Don’t you” here?

And don’t you slap me no more.

And don’t you slap me no more.

When we have a T plus a Y sound in English, we often pronounce it like CH.

So he did not say “don’t you.”, he said [don-chu].

Listen again and repeat after Mushu.

And don’t you [don-chu] slap me no more.

And don’t you [don-chu] slap me no more.

And don’t you [don-chu] slap me no more.

Let’s get down to business

To defeat the Huns

Did they send me daughters when I asked for sons?

You’re the saddest bunch I ever met but you can bet before we’re through

Mister, I’ll make a man out of you

Tranquil as a forest but on fire within

Once you find your center you are sure to win

You’re a spineless, pale, pathetic lot and you haven’t got a clue

Somehow I’ll make a man out of you

Let’s get down to business

To defeat the Huns

Get down to business is a great phrase to use when you want to start talking about a certain subject that needs to be discussed.

In this case, the main issue is how to defeat [win against] the Huns, which were a group of warriors of the 4th and 5th centuries.

All right, let’s give these babies something to cry about.

Good. Let’s get down to business.

Emma needs some makeup.

What? No… What?

Did they send me daughters When I asked for sons?

You’re the saddest bunch I ever met but you can bet before we’re through

A bunch is a group of something, in this case, soldiers.

Mister, I’ll make a man out of you

The expression to make (something) out of (someone) is quite common.

It is used to say that you will transform [chang] a thing or person into something else.

But if you send him back to the man village, they’ll ruin him.

They’ll make a man out of him.

We should send him back to the Wolf Pack.

To be a man means to act like a man should, which is a stereotype for being strong, unemotional and heroic.

However, these stereotypes are changing nowadays, so this phrase is not as common as it was before.

Tranquil as a forest but on fire within

Tranquil is a word used to say that someone is calm and peaceful.

Within is another way of saying “inside.”

In this verse he is saying that one should be calm but powerful on the inside.

Once you find your center you are sure to win

You’re a spineless, pale , pathetic lot and you haven’t got a clue

Somehow I’ll make a man out of you

What do you think it means to not have a clue?

To be informed.

To be up to date.

To be ignorant.

So not have a clue is a common expression to say that you have no knowledge about a certain subject.

We could say that this group of soldiers haven’t got a clue about how to fight in a battle, and that’s why they need to train.

Once you find your center you are sure to win

You’re a spineless, pale, pathetic lot and you haven’t got a clue

Somehow I’ll make a man out of you

In this sentence, he uses some harsh insults to describe them, let’s see their meaning:

Someone spineless has no determination and is unwilling to take risks.

When a person is very frightened, their skin looks pale, that is, with a lighter color than usual.

A lot is a group of people or things.

He refers to this lot as pathetic, which is a word used to say that they are sad and weak and that he even feels sorry for them.

Who am I fooling?

It’s going to take a miracle to get me into the army.

Did I hear someone ask for a miracle?

Let me hear you say”Aaah”!

Aaah!

That’s close enough.

A ghost.

Get ready, Mulan.

Your serpentine salvation is at hand!

For I have been sent by your ancestors to guide you through your masquerade.

Come on. If you’re gonna stay, you’re gonna work.

So heed my word! ‘Cause if the army finds out you’re a girl, the penalty is death!

Who are you?

Who am I? Who am I?

I am the guardian of lost souls.

I am the powerful, the pleasurable, the indestructible Mushu.

Pretty hot, huh?

Uh, my ancestors sent a little lizard to help me?

Hey, dragon, dragon, not lizard.

I don’t do that tongue thing.

You’re… um…

Intimidating? Awe-inspiring?

Tiny.

Of course.

I’m travel size for your convenience.

If I was my real size, your cow here would die of fright.

Down, Bessie. My powers are beyond your mortal imagination.

For instance, my eyes can see straight through your armor.

Oh! All right, that’s it! Dishonor!

Dishonor on your whole family.

Make a note of this. Dishonor on you, dishonor on your cow…

Stop. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m just nervous.

I’ve never done this before.

Then you’re gonna have to trust me.

And don’t you slap me no more.

We clear on that? All right.

Okey-dokey.

Let’s get this show on the road!

Cri-Kee, get the bags.

Let’s move it, Heifer.

Let’s get down to business

To defeat the Huns

Did they send me daughters when I asked for sons?

You’re the saddest bunch I ever met but you can bet before we’re through

Mister, I’ll make a man out of you

Tranquil as a forest but on fire within

Once you find your center you are sure to win

You’re a spineless, pale, pathetic lot and you haven’t got a clue

Somehow I’ll make a man out of you