Mulan Moves In

"In the East Market she buys a spirited horse,
In the West Market she buys a saddle,
In the South Market she buys a bridle,
In the North Market she buys a long whip."
Ode of Mulan — Anonymous (c. 5 A.D.)size>

Not your ordinary shopping junket on Fifth Avenue, but Mulan was no ordinary girl. CBS This Morning reports on the first Disney animated feature to explore a legend from the Eastern Hemisphere.

Mulan was a young heroine from a previous millennium who saved her father's life by taking his place in the Chinese army...dressed as a man. She was such a great warrior that the Emperor himself commended her, and only much later was her true identity discovered.

Every Chinese youngster has heard the story of the brave soldier-girl who answered the draft notice for her dad. Actress Ming-Na Wen is the voice of Mulan in the Disney film, which opened today. She remembers how she first heard about the character she plays: "I was a little girl when my mother would tell me stories about Mulan, and it's one of those stories that's been passed down from generation to generation in China, because it' a beautiful story about a young girl who sacrifices for her parents, so what parent wouldn't want to pass this story on down?"

Mulan, which was six years in the making, also features the voices of B. D. Wong, Donny Osmond, Lee Salonga, Harvey Fierstein, Gedde Watanabe and Eddie Murphy.

Written by Curtis Grisham