Among the various accomplishments you can lay at the feet of the original Mulan—increased representation in Disney’s roster of animated characters, a real feather in Donnie Osmond’s cap, cricket awareness—its role in the rise of Christina Aguilera is hard to discount. Aguilera’s pop cover of “Who am I?” anthem “Reflection” (sung by Lea Salonga in the film itself, but simultaneously released alongside the movie by Disney) helped propel Aguilera into the teen-star stratosphere, convincing RCA to take a chance on her with a full contract. The superstar might not owe her career to Mulan, but it was definitely instrumental in her rise to her current tier of musical performance.
And now it sounds like Aguilera is coming back to that formative film, confirming—via Entertainment Weekly—that she’s recorded a new version of “Reflection” to coincide with the release of the movie’s upcoming live-action remake. Niki Caro’s take on the Chinese legend (in theaters March 27) is going light on the songs itself, omitting any actual musical numbers in favor of more martial action. But Aguilera confirmed during a concert tonight that she’s recorded both a new version of the song, plus some “new material” for the film. (She then proceeded to bust out the original version of the song for her fans, because, even 22 years on, Christina knows exactly how to give the people what they want).
