I'll Make A Man Out Of You

Album: Mulan soundtrack (1998)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In the 1998 animated Disney movie Mulan, "I'll Make A Man Out Of You" is performed by the character Li Shang, a captain in the Chinese imperial army, in a scene where he trains a group of inexperienced recruits, including Mulan, who is passing herself off as a man and using the name Ping.

    As the valiant and muscular Li Shang leads the training, he quickly sees he has a Herculean task ahead. "How could I make a man out of you?" he asks as they struggle through his challenges.

    But of course, this ragtag group gets it together and becomes a powerful fighting force, led by Mulan, who impresses with her cunning and tenacity. Li Shang never has to make a man out of her because she's perfectly competent as a woman.
  • Donny Osmond was starring in the touring production of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat when he got the call from Mulan producer Pam Coats about performing this song. In a Songfacts interview with Osmond, he told the story: "I had two days off, I flew from Chicago to LA, go to the studio, lay my vocal down. They show me some pictures of Li Shang, and they said, 'This is the character you will be playing. It's the emotion that we want in the song.'

    I sang it a few times, and they said, 'You nailed it. This is perfect!' So I thought, Cool. I'm in a little Disney animated film. Little did I know it would be one of the classics."
  • Like the rest of the Mulan soundtrack, "I'll Make A Man Out Of You" was written by Matthew Wilder, Jerry Goldsmith and David Zippel. Wilder is best known for his '80s hit "Break My Stride."
  • Donny Osmond included this song in his Las Vegas show as Harrah's, which he started in 2021. He got permission from Disney to use footage from Mulan, which plays on the screen behind him as he and his dancers do martial-arts choreography with bo staffs, mirroring the film in places.

    Disney was totally on board with this production; they sent Osmond a first-generation copy of the film to edit for the segment, along with the sound effects that go with it.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Frankie Valli

Frankie ValliSong Writing

An interview with Frankie Valli, who talks about why his songs - both solo and with The Four Seasons - have endured, and reflects on his time as Rusty Millio on The Sopranos.

The Girl in That Song

The Girl in That SongFact or Fiction

Billie Jean, Delilah, Sara, Laura and Sharona - do you know who the girls in the songs really are?

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

Actors With Hit Songs

Actors With Hit SongsMusic Quiz

Many actors have attempted music, but only a few have managed a hit. Do you know which of these thespians charted?

Charles Fox

Charles FoxSongwriter Interviews

After studying in Paris with a famous composition teacher, Charles became the most successful writer of TV theme songs.

Rock Revenge Songs

Rock Revenge SongsMusic Quiz

John Lennon, Paul Simon and Lynyrd Skynyrd are some of the artists who have written revenge songs. Do you know who they wrote them about?