Disney's Animated Storybook: Mulan

Disney's Animated Storybook: Mulan

CD cover art
Developer(s) Media Station (PC)
Revolution Software (PS1)
Publisher(s) Disney Interactive (PC)
NewKidCo (PS1)
Series Disney's Animated Storybook
Platform(s) Windows, Macintosh, PlayStation
Release date(s)

PC: September 14, 1998[1]
PS1:

  • NA: December 20, 1999
Genre(s) Point-and-click adventure, interactive storybook
Mode(s) Single-player

Disney's Animated Storybook: Mulan is the ninth entry in the Disney's Animated Storybook point-and-click adventure interactive storybook video game series, based on theatrical and home video releases. This game, based on the Walt Disney Animation Studios film Mulan, was developed by Media Station and published by Disney Interactive. It was first released for Windows and Macintosh on September 14, 1998.[1] A PlayStation version entitled Disney's Story Studio: Mulan was developed by Revolution Software,[2] and published by NewKidCo on December 20, 1999. The game received generally mixed reviews, with critics both praising its interactivity and design, and criticizing its repetitiveness and the difficulty of activities.

History

Conception

The vision of Marc Teren, VP of entertainment for Disney Interactive, was to create games with a "true and fair representation of the original property",[3] and aim to capitalise as "ancillary products to successful theatrical and home video releases".[4] To achieve this, Teren helped ensure the games were animated by Disney animators.[3] From December 1994 to February 1995, the company had hired 50 new employees.[5] Children's Business suggests the series came into fruition because in the contemporary entertainment market, it was "customary now for entertainment companies to release CD-ROMs to support a film or TV show".[6]

Development

Disney and Media Station collaborated to create more than 12,000 frames of digital animation for each game, as well as 300 music and vocal clips. Digital music and sound effects were composed, orchestrated, arranged, edited, mixed and synchronized at Media Station.[7] The games had hundreds of clickable hotspots that produced animated gags, as well as many mind-challenging interactive games.[8] The voice cast sometimes consisted of actors from the films reprising their roles;[9] meanwhile, at other times voice soundalikes were used.[10] This game was targeted toward a young female demographic ages four to eight.[11]

Gameplay

The animated storybook contains more gameplay than other titles within the series; players look for scrolls across locations such as Mulan's house, the army camp, Tung Shao Pass, and the Imperial City. After the player finds all five and gives them to the emperor, they are made an official Imperial Storymaker, and are then given the ability to create original scrolls; their own animated storybooks using the software.[12]

Commercial performance

According to PC Data of Reston, Mulan Animated Storybook Disney was the top-selling home education software at 11 software retail chains, representing 47 percent of the U.S. market, for the week ending July 25.[13]

Critical reception

The game received mixed reviews from critics.

AllGame reviewer Brad Cook gave the computer version of Mulan a rating of three stars out of five, commenting that it brought the film it was based on to life.[12] David Bloom of Daily News said the game was "well-done", and thought the "greater strength of the program" was the inclusion of additional activities and games beyond the storybook, such as a dress-up room for Mulan to try on traditional clothing.[14] Meanwhile,The Boston Herald thought the game was a mixture of "absurdly simple tasks" and "practically impossible ones" while finding the dialogue "repetitive" and "irritating".[15] Joseph Szadkowski of The Washington Post's favourite part of the game was the printable and customisable calendar.[11] Another reviewer from that newspaper wrote that the animated storybook video game was "thoughtfully designed product marred by a few miscalculations that lessen its impact."[16]

Tara Hernandez of AllGame gave the PlayStation version a rating of 3.5 stars, praising the graphics, sound, and characters; the site noted that achieving the title of Imperial Storymaker requires both "imagination and creativity" from the player.[17] IGN gave the game a rating of 7.7, deeming it "curious" that Disney broke away from its previous platformer formula for its console games.[18]

Reception
Review score
PublicationScore
PCPS
AllGame[19][17]

References

  1. 1 2 Cook, Brad (2010-10-03). "Disney's Mulan Animated StoryBook – Overview". allgame. Retrieved 2013-05-16.
  2. ↑ "Revolution Software Ltd.". Moby Games. Retrieved 2016-09-20.
  3. 1 2 Nielsen Business Media, Inc (1995-02-18). "Billboard": 69.
  4. ↑ "Disney jumps into interactive software: McBeth to lead new unit with ambitious CD-ROM, game plans. (Steve McBeth, president of Disney Interactive) (Telemedia Week: The Interactive World of Video, Voice and Data)". 1994-12-12.
  5. ↑ "MOVIE STUDIOS FOCUS ON BUILDING INTERACTIVE DIVISIONS". 1995-02-13.
  6. ↑ "E3 preview: state of the edutainment market. (educational entertainment)". 1997-06-01.
  7. ↑ "Media Station develops "Disney's Animated Storybook: The Lion King" for Disney Interactive. – Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
  8. ↑ Media, Working Mother (July–August 1996). "Working Mother".
  9. ↑ "CD-ROM ROLES PULL STARS INTO CYBERSPACE. – Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
  10. ↑ Bob Strauss (1996-05-17). "Disney's Animated Storybook: Toy Story Review". EW.com. Retrieved 2013-05-16.
  11. 1 2 "Pre-Kindergartners Get Head Start on Learning". 1998-07-28.
  12. 1 2 "Disney's Mulan Animated StoryBook – Overview – allgame". 2010-02-05. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
  13. ↑ "BESTSELLERS". 1998-08-10.
  14. ↑ "DISNEY'S MULAN COMPUTER GAME HAS 'EM CLICKING. – Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
  15. ↑ "Disney duo deliver fun, games.". 1998-12-13.
  16. ↑ "Screen Shots". 1998-08-14.
  17. 1 2 "Disney's Story Studio: Mulan – Review – allgame". 2014-11-14. Archived from the original on 2014-11-14. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
  18. ↑ "Disney's Story Studio: Mulan (PlayStation)". IGN. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
  19. ↑ Cook, Brad (2010-10-03). "Disney's Mulan Animated StoryBook – Overview". allgame. Archived from the original on 2010-02-05. Retrieved 2013-05-16.
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