Mulan/Awesome

"Mushu: You missed! How could you miss?! He was THREE FEET IN FRONT OF YOU! SFX: boom"
 * "I'll Make a Man Out of You". Possibly one of the greatest musical montages in the history of Walt Disney Animation.
 * Particularly, after Shang tells Mulan to leave, she refuses to give up and passes the Secret Test of Character that had previously beaten everyone else in the camp. She could have gone home at that point without the fear of losing her father to the war, but she decided not to.
 * And everyone cheers her on, and are inspired by her example to stop sucking at being soldiers.
 * The eponymous heroine single-handedly buries the Hun army by

""Looks like you're out of ideas." "Not quite.""
 * Her knowing smirk as Shan-Yu looks behind him to see what's going on is the icing on the cake.
 * Especially when paired with his epic Oh Crap expression.
 * At the film's climax, Ooh, shiny!
 * Right before the above example:

"Guard: Who're you? Mushu: Your worst nightmare!"
 * The sequence in which Mulan cuts her hair, and the accompanying music.
 * Followed by her defeat of Shan Yu - in particular, facing him down with nothing but a paper fan against his sword and succeeding in disarming him - is a Moment of Awesome not only for the character herself but for Disney's animated heroines as a whole.
 * Made even more awesome when you realize that the fan is one of the ultimate symbols of femininity!
 * After attempting to disarm someone with a metal fan (which is entirely possible and was practiced by the samurai, but difficult), this troper can attest to the fact that this feat, while hardly probable with a paper fan, is definitely epic.
 * The emperor, and subsequently all of China, bows for her. The end.
 * Which builds on a previous Moment of Awesome where the emperor shows Shan Yu just how much his military prowess is really worth: "No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it." OWNED.
 * Shan-Yu then tries to kill the Emperor in rage, and Shang blocks his blow just in the nick of time. Despite this all happening behind him, the Emperor calmly and indifferently walks out of the way as though he knew it was going to happen the whole time. Now that's composure.
 * How about the scene in which Mushu straps fireworks to his back in winged costume and launches himself in fiery red glory?


 * That had me simultaneously awed and giggling.
 * It does say something about that scene that I remembered it from watching the movie as a kid as not "Tiny funny Mushu straps himself to some rockets" but "Mushu turns into a huge firebreathing dragon with bat wings".
 * What about the charge of the Huns on the mountains?
 * The sheer, complete shock that Mulan gives Shan Yu by simply tying up her hair: "The soldier from the mountains...!"
 * Chien Po pulling EVERYONE up.
 * Including the horse!
 * In terms of animation quality, it's amazing in its own right that they were able to make Mulan look male while still retaining feminine qualities. The audience can recognize her instantly while still believing that the other soldiers thought she was male.
 * The entrance of the Hun army (granted, in the scene before they're completely obliterated, but still) in the mountains. THAT is how you make an entrance; it was a (thankfully averted) "Oh Crap" moment for all of China.
 * The entrance of the Hun army (granted, in the scene before they're completely obliterated, but still) in the mountains. THAT is how you make an entrance; it was a (thankfully averted) "Oh Crap" moment for all of China.