‘Mulan’ Star Ming-Na Wen Gets Netflix to Fix Cast List After Omitting Asian-American Leads
Zack Sharf
Ming-Na Wen, the actress who voiced the title character in Disney’s animated classic “Mulan,” rang in the New Year by calling out Netflix on social media for omitting her name from the credits list featured on the streaming giant’s “Mulan” page. Neither of the movie’s Asian-American lead voice actors (Ming-Na Wen and BD Wong) were included on Netflix’s “Mulan” homepage. Wen called her and Wong’s omission screwed up and encouraged “Mulan” fans to tweet at Netflix about the “major oversight.”
The Netflix credits bar on a film’s streaming homepage rarely features the entire cast, and in most cases it contains the names of only three or four cast members. Ming-Na Wen’s omission was first spotted by radio producer Dave Sanchez, who watched “Mulan” for the first time on New Year’s Eve and couldn’t believe the streaming giant made no mention of the lead voice actress in its credits section. The “Mulan” homepage featured three other actors in its credits section: Miguel Ferrer, Harvey Fierstein, and June Foray.
Netflix took note of Wen’s request and announced January 2 it had corrected the issue. “Thank you and [Dave Sanchez] so much for pointing this out to us,” the streaming giant wrote to Wen on Twitter. “It’s now been fixed. You and [BD Wong] are legends!”
Wen voiced Mulan in the 1998 animated film and its 2004 direct-to-video sequel, “Mulan II.” The actress has already been heard as the Disney princess in the video game “Kingdom Hearts II” and recently reprised the character for a cameo appearance in “Ralph Breaks the Internet.” Wen handled all the spoken dialogue for Mulan in the original animated movie, with Lea Salonga providing vocals for the songs. Wong voiced the role of Captain Li Shang.
“Mulan” is now streaming on Netflix. A live-action remake of the animated film is currently in production from director Niki Caro. IndieWire has reached out to Netflix for further comment.
Yeah, that’s EFF-ed up, @netflix!
I also believe another AsianAm lead voice should also be on the credit. #bdwong How about all the #Mulan fans out there tweet @netflix about this major oversight? Thanks! 💋👍 https://t.co/xRzcGL9qqq
— Ming-Na Wen (@MingNa) January 1, 2019
Thank you and @kroqkom so much for pointing this out to us!! It’s now been fixed ❤️ you and @BD_WONG are legends!
— Netflix US (@netflix) January 2, 2019
