title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: The Huns, who are led by the ruthless Shan Yu, invade imperial China by breaching the Great Wall. In the Imperial City, the Emperor orders a general mobilization, with conscription notices requiring one man from each family to join the Imperial Chinese Army. To the South, Fa Mulan is an adventurous and active young woman to the dismay of her family, who hope for her to bring honor to the family. She is arranged to meet a matchmaker to demonstrate her fitness as a future wife; but following a few mishaps, the matchmaker deems her a disgrace to the family.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: Mulan's elderly father Fa Zhou - the only man in their family and an army veteran - is conscripted. She tries to dissuade him from going, but he protests that he must do his duty. Fearing for his life, she cuts her hair and takes her father's sword and armor, disguising herself as a man so that she can enlist in his stead. Quickly learning of her departure, Mulan's grandmother prays to the family's ancestors for Mulan's safety. In the local temple, Mushu, a small red dragon, is a disgraced former family guardian who is demoted to the role of awakening the spirits of the ancestors. The "Great Ancestor" decides that the powerful stone dragon guardian should guide Mulan; and sends Mushu to wake him. After accidentally destroying the guardian's statue, Mushu travels to Mulan's aid himself, desiring to redeem himself to the ancestors by making Mulan a war hero.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: Reporting to the training camp, Mulan passes as a man named "Fa Ping", with Mushu providing encouragement and clumsy guidance throughout her deception. Under the command of Captain Li Shang, she and her fellow recruits—including three named Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po—gradually become trained soldiers. The Emperor's belligerent counsel, Chi-Fu, threatens to dissuade the Emperor from allowing Shang's men to fight. Mushu then crafts a fake letter from Shang's father, General Li, ordering Shang to follow the main imperial army into the mountains. The reinforcements set out and arrive at a burnt village, discovering that the Huns have massacred General Li and his troops.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: As the soldiers march up a mountain pass, they are ambushed by the Huns. Mulan cleverly uses a Huolongchushui cannon to cause an avalanche, which buries the entire Hun army. Angered, Shan Yu wounds Mulan during the battle, and her deception is revealed when the wound is bandaged. Instead of executing Mulan as the law requires, Shang spares her life and expels her from the army. Mulan is left behind as the other soldiers depart for the Imperial City to report the Huns' defeat. However, Shan Yu and several of his warriors have survived, and Mulan sees them heading towards the city.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: Mulan enters the city and warns Shang. The Huns then capture the Emperor and seize the palace. Mulan, Yao, Ling, Chien-Po, and Shang enter the palace and defeat Shan Yu's men. Shang prevents Shan Yu from attacking the Emperor, and Mulan lures the Hun leader onto the roof, where she pins him there with his own sword. Acting on Mulan's instructions, Mushu fires a large skyrocket at Shan Yu; the rocket strikes and propels Shan Yu into a fireworks launching tower, where he dies in the resulting explosion.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: The Emperor initially reprimands Mulan, but then he and the city's assembled inhabitants praise her for having saved them, and they bow to her in honor. She accepts the Emperor's crest and Shan Yu's sword as gifts but declines his offer to be on the royal council. Mulan returns home and presents these gifts to her father, but he ignores them, happy to have her back. Having become enamored with Mulan, Shang also arrives and accepts her invitation to stay for dinner. Mushu is reinstated as a Fa family guardian as the ancestors celebrate.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: Kelly Chen, Coco Lee and Xu Qing voiced Mulan in the Cantonese, Taiwanese Mandarin and Mainland standard versions of the film respectively, while Jackie Chan provided the voice of Li Shang in all three Chinese versions and appeared in the version of promotional music videos of "I'll Make a Man Out of You". Taiwanese comedian Jacky Wu provided the voice of Mushu in the Mandarin version.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: In 1989, Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida had opened with 40 to 50 employees, with its original purpose to produce cartoon shorts and featurettes. However, by late 1993, following several animation duties on "Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin", and "The Lion King", Disney executives were convinced to allow the Feature Animation Florida studios to produce their first independent film. Around that same time, Disney Feature Animation developed an interest in Asian-themed legends, beginning with the optioning of several books by children's book author Robert D. San Souci, who had a consulting relationship with Disney executive Jay Dyer. Also around that time, a short straight-to-video film titled "China Doll" about an oppressed and miserable Chinese girl who is whisked away by a British Prince Charming to happiness in the West was in development. Thomas Schumacher asked San Souci if he had any additional stories, in response to which San Souci turned in a manuscript of a book based on the Chinese poem "The Song of Fa Mu Lan". Ultimately, Disney decided to combine the two separate projects.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: Following the opening of the Feature Animation Florida studios, Barry Cook, who had served as a special-effects animator since 1982, had directed the Roger Rabbit cartoon "Trail Mix-Up" produced at the satellite studio. At a lunch invitation with Thomas Schumacher, Cook was offered two projects in development: a Scottish folk tale with a dragon or "Mulan". Knowledgeable about the existence of dragons in Chinese mythology, Cook suggested adding a dragon to "Mulan", in which a week later, Schumacher urged Cook to drop the Scottish project and accept "Mulan" as his next project. Following this, Cook was immediately assigned as the initial director of the project, and cited influences from Charlie Chaplin and David Lean during production. While working as an animator on the gargoyles for "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", Tony Bancroft was offered to co-direct the film following a recommendation from Rob Minkoff, co-director of "The Lion King", to Schumacher, in which he accepted. He joined the creative team by early 1995.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: In 1994, the production team sent a select group of artistic supervisors to China for three weeks to take photographs and drawings of local landmarks for inspiration; and to soak up local culture. Key members of the creative team at the time—Pam Coats, Barry Cook, Ric Sluiter, Robert Walker, and Mark Henn—were invited to travel to China as a research trip to study the landscape, people, and history of the original legend. From June 17 to July 2, 1994, the research trip flew to Beijing, China, which is where Coats became inspired by the placement of flags on the Great Wall. They also toured Datong, Luoyang, Xi'an, Jiayuguan, Dunhuang, and Guilin.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: In its earliest stages, the story was originally conceived as a "Tootsie"–inspired romantic comedy film where Mulan, who was a misfit tomboy who loves her father, is betrothed to Shang, whom she has not met. On her betrothal day, her father Fa Zhou carves her destiny on a stone tablet in the family temple, which she shatters in anger, running away to forge her own destiny. In November 1993, Chris Sanders, who had just finished storyboard work on "The Lion King", was hoping to work on "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" until Schumacher appointed him to work on "Mulan" instead. Acting as Head of Story, Sanders grew frustrated with the romantic comedy aspect of the story, and urged producer Pam Coats to be more faithful to the original legend by having Mulan leave home because of the love for her father. This convinced the filmmakers to decide to change Mulan's character in order to make her more appealing and selfless.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: Sequence Six—in which Mulan takes her father's conscription order, cuts her long hair, and dons her father's armor—served as a pivotal moment in the evolution of Mulan's character. Director Barry Cook explained that the sequence initially started as a song storyboarded by Barry Johnson and redrawn by character designer Chen-Yi Chang. Following the story changes to have Mulan leave to save her father, the song was dropped. Storyboard artist and co-head of story Dean DeBlois was tasked to revise the sequence, and decided to board the sequence with "minimal dialogue". Assisted with an existing musical selection from another film score courtesy of Sanders, the sequence reel was screened for Peter Schneider and Thomas Schumacher, both of whom were impressed. DeBlois stated, "Sequence Six was the first sequence that got put into production, and it helped to establish our 'silent' approach." Additionally, General Li was not originally going to be related to Shang at all, but by changing the story, the filmmakers were able to mirror the stories of both Shang's and Mulan's love for their fathers. As a Christian, Bancroft declined to explore Buddhism within the film.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: Because there was no dragon in the original legend, Mulan did not have animal companions; it was Roy E. Disney who suggested the character of Mushu. Veteran story artist Joe Grant created the cricket character, Cri-Kee, though animator Barry Temple admitted "the directors didn't want him in the movie, the story department didn't want him in the movie. The only people who truly wanted him in the movie were Michael Eisner and Joe Grant – and myself, because I was assigned the character. I would sit in meetings and they'd say, 'Well, where's the cricket during all this?' Somebody else would say, 'Oh, to hell the cricket.' They felt Cri-Kee was a character who wasn't necessary to tell the story, which is true." Throughout development on the film, Grant would slip sketches of Cri-Kee under the directors' door.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: Before production began, the production team sought out Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, or Korean vocal talents. Tia Carrere was an early candidate to voice the title character. However, Lea Salonga, who had been the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in "Aladdin", was initially cast to provide both Mulan's speaking and singing voices, but the directors did not find her attempt at a deeper speaking voice when Mulan impersonated Ping convincing, so Ming-Na Wen was brought in to speak the role. Salonga returned to provide the singing voice. Wen herself landed the role after the filmmakers listened to her narration at the beginning of "The Joy Luck Club". Coats reflected on her decision, stating, "When we heard Ming-Na doing that voice-over, we knew we had our Mulan. She has a very likable and lovely voice, and those are the qualities we were looking for."


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: For the role of Mushu, Disney was aiming for top Hollywood talent in the vein of Robin Williams's performance as the Genie in "Aladdin". The filmmakers initially approached Joe Pesci and Richard Dreyfuss until Michael Eisner considered Eddie Murphy. After accepting the role, Murphy initially balked when he was asked to record at the Disney studios, but then asked to record the voice in his basement at his Bubble Hill mansion in Englewood, New Jersey.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: For the speaking voice of Captain Li Shang, BD Wong was hired, although his singing voice, for the song "I'll Make a Man Out of You", was performed by Donny Osmond, who had previously auditioned to be the speaking voice of the title character in "Hercules". Osmond's casting originated from a suggestion from the casting director, and throughout recording, Osmond studied Wong's dialogue tapes, and aimed to match his inflections and personality. Osmond commented that his sons decided that he had finally "made it" in show business when he was in a Disney film. Likewise for the role of Grandmother Fa, June Foray provided the speaking voice, and Marni Nixon supplied the singing voice.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: To achieve a harmonious visual look, producer designer Hans Bacher and art director Ric Sluiter, along with Robert Walker and Head of Backgrounds Robert Stanton collaborated to establish a proper chronological location for the film in Chinese history. Since there was no general consensus on the time of Mulan's existence, they based the visual design on the Ming and Qing dynasties. An important element of Bacher's design was to turn the art style closer to Chinese painting, with watercolor and simpler design, as opposed to the details of "The Lion King" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". Bacher further studied more than thirty-five film directors ranging from the silent era German Expressionism, British and American epics of the 1950s and 60s, and the Spaghetti Westerns for inspiration for composition, lighting, and staging that would establish settings that enhanced the characters. Additional inspiration was found in the earlier Disney animated films such as "Bambi", "Pinocchio", and "Dumbo" to establish a sense of staging.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: In October 1997, the Walt Disney Company announced a major expansion of its Florida animation operations constructing a 200,000-square-foot, four-story animation building and the addition of 400 animators to the workforce.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: To create 2,000 Hun soldiers during the Huns' attack sequence, the production team developed crowd simulation software called "Attila". This software allows thousands of unique characters to move autonomously. A variant of the program called "Dynasty" was used in the final battle sequence to create a crowd of 3,000 in the Forbidden City. Pixar's photorealistic open API RenderMan was used to render the crowd. Another software developed for this movie was "Faux Plane", which was used to add depth to flat two-dimensional painting. Although developed late in production progress, "Faux Plane" was used in five shots, including the dramatic sequence which features the Great Wall of China, and the final battle sequence when Mulan runs to the Forbidden City. During the scene in which the citizens of China are bowing to Mulan, the crowd is a panoramic film of real people bowing. It was edited into the animated foreground of the scene.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: In March 1994, Stephen Schwartz was attached to compose the lyrics and music for the songs for the film. Following the research trip to China in June 1994, Schwartz was contacted by former Disney studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg to compose songs for "The Prince of Egypt", which he agreed. Peter Schneider, then-president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, threatened to have Schwartz's name removed from any publicity materials for "Pocahontas" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". Michael Eisner phoned Schwartz, and urged him to back out of his commitment to DreamWorks, but he refused and left the project. After Schwartz's departure, his three songs, "Written in Stone", "Destiny", and "China Doll", were dropped amid story and character changes by 1995. Shortly after, Disney music executive Chris Montan heard Matthew Wilder's demo for a stage musical adaptation of Anne Rice's "Cry to Heaven", and selected Wilder to replace Schwartz. In July 1997, David Zippel joined to write the lyrics. The film featured five songs composed by Wilder and Zippel, with a sixth originally planned for Mushu, but dropped following Eddie Murphy's involvement with the character.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: Although Danny Elfman and Thomas Newman were considered to score the film, English composer Rachel Portman was selected as the film composer. However, Portman became pregnant during production, and decided to back out. Following Portman's departure, Randy Edelman—whose "Dragonheart" theme was used in the trailer—and Kitarō were considered, until Jerry Goldsmith became available and signed on after dropping out of a project. The film's soundtrack is credited for starting the career of pop singer Christina Aguilera, whose first song to be released in the U.S. was her rendition of "Reflection", the first single from the "Mulan" soundtrack. The song, and Aguilera's vocals, were so well received that it landed her a recording contract with RCA Records. In 1999, she would go on to release her self-titled debut album, on which "Reflection" was also included. The pop version of "Reflection" has a Polish version ("Lustro" performed by Edyta Górniak) and two Spanish versions, for Spain (performed by Malú) and Latin America (performed by Lucero). Other international versions include a Brazilian Portuguese version by Sandy & Junior ("Imagem"), a Korean version performed by Lena Park, and a Mandarin version by Coco Lee.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: The music featured during the haircut scene, titled "Mulan's Decision", is different in the soundtrack album. The soundtrack album uses an orchestrated score while the movie uses heavy synthesizer music. The synthesizer version is available on the limited edition CD. Salonga, who often sings movie music in her concerts, has done a Disney medley which climaxes with an expanded version of "Reflection" (not the same as those in Aguilera's version). Salonga also provided the singing voice for Mulan in the film's sequel, "Mulan II".


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: The film's teaser trailer was released in November 1997, attached to the theatrical releases of "The Little Mermaid" and "Flubber". Teaser spots were shown during CBS's coverage of the 1998 Winter Olympics.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: Because of the disappointing box office performances of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "Hercules", Disney restricted its marketing campaign for "Mulan", spending $30 million on promotional advertisements compared to more than $60 million for "Hercules" the year before. Rather than holding a lavish media event premiere like those of the past few years, such as premiering "Pocahontas" in Central Park and bringing the Main Street Electrical Parade parade to Fifth Avenue for "Hercules", Disney opted to premiere the film on June 5, 1998 at the Hollywood Bowl, complete with Chinese lanterns and fortune cookies. Two days before the general release, McDonald's launched its promotional campaign by including one of eight toys free with the purchase of a Happy Meal. The promotion also included Szechuan sauce for its Chicken McNuggets, which would be referenced in a 2017 episode of the Adult Swim series "Rick and Morty" and subsequently brought back by McDonald's as a promotional item related to that show.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: In collaboration with Disney, Hyperion Books published "The Art of Mulan" authored by Jeff Kurtti, which chronicled the production of the film. In addition with its publication, Hyperion Books also issued a collector's "folding, accordion book" of the ancient poem that inspired the film. On August 18, 1998, around 3,700 backpacks and 1,800 pieces of luggage were recalled back to their manufacturer, Pyramid Accessories Inc., when it was discovered they contained lead-based paint.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: The film was first released on VHS on February 2, 1999, as part of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection lineup. "Mulan" was released on DVD on November 9, 1999, as a Walt Disney Limited Issue for a limited sixty-day time period before going into moratorium. On February 1, 2000, it was re-released on VHS and DVD as part of the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection lineup. The VHS and DVD were accompanied by two music videos of "Reflection" and "True to Your Heart" while the DVD additionally contained the theatrical trailer and character artwork. The Gold Collection release was returned into the Disney Vault on January 31, 2002. On October 26, 2004, Walt Disney Home Entertainment re-released a restored print of "Mulan" on VHS and as a 2-disc Special Edition DVD.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: In March 2013, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released "Mulan" and "Mulan II" on Blu-ray and DVD to coincide with the film's 15th anniversary.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: In September 2017, "Mulan" became available to Netflix users through their streaming service. In November 2019, "Mulan" became available for streaming on Disney+. A year later, "Mulan" was released on 4K Blu-ray.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: "Mulan" grossed $22.8 million in its opening weekend, ranking second behind "The X-Files". It went on to gross $120 million in the United States and Canada combined, and $304 million worldwide, making it the second-highest grossing family film of the year, behind "A Bug's Life", and the seventh-highest-grossing film of the year overall. While "Mulan" domestically out-grossed the previous two Disney animated films which had preceded it, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "Hercules", its box office returns failed to match those of the Disney films from the first half of the Renaissance such as "Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin", and "The Lion King". Internationally, its highest grossing releases included those in the United Kingdom ($14.6 million) and France ($10.2 million).


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of , based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's consensus reads, "Exploring themes of family duty and honor, "Mulan" breaks new ground as a Disney film, while still bringing vibrant animation and sprightly characters to the screen." In a 2009 countdown, Rotten Tomatoes ranked it twenty-fourth out of the fifty canonical animated Disney features. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 71 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film a rare "A+" grade.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: Roger Ebert, reviewing for the "Chicago Sun-Times", gave "Mulan" three-and-a-half stars out of four in his written review. He said that ""Mulan" is an impressive achievement, with a story and treatment ranking with "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King"". Likewise, James Berardinelli of "ReelViews" awarded the film three-and-a-half stars out of four praising the lead character, its theme of war, and the animation. He concluded that "Adults will appreciate the depth of characterization while kids will love Mulan's sidekick, a colorful dragon named Mushu. Everyone will be entertained [by] the fast-moving plot and rich animation." Todd McCarthy of "Variety" called the film "a female empowerment story par excellence, as well as a G-rated picture that may have strong appeal for many adults." McCarthy further praised the voice cast and background design, but overall felt the film "goes about halfway toward setting new boundaries for Disney’s, and the industry's, animated features, but doesn't go far enough." Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" graded the film a B+ writing, "Vividly animated, with a bursting palette that evokes both the wintry grandeur and decorative splendor of ancient China, "Mulan" is artful and satisfying in a slightly remote way."


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: Gene Siskel of the "Chicago Tribune" described the film as "a big disappointment when compared with the studio's other recent films about a female hero searching for independence." He was further critical of Mulan's characterization in comparison to Ariel and Belle, and claimed the "design of the film does not take advantage of the inspiration provided by classic Chinese artists, and the songs are not memorable." Similarly, Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" criticized the lack of detail in the background art and described it as "the most inert and formulaic of recent Disney animated films." Reviewing the film for the "Los Angeles Times", Kenneth Turan wrote ""Mulan" has its accomplishments, but unlike the best of Disney's output, it comes off as more manufactured than magical." While he praised the title character, he highlighted that the "by-now-standard hip patter (prepare for jokes about cross-dressing) is so tepid that not even five credited writers can revive it, and the songs by Matthew Wilder and David Zippel (with Lea Salonga and Donny Osmond singing for the leads) lack the spark that Zippel's lyrics brought to the underappreciated "Hercules"." Ed Gonzalez of "Slant Magazine" criticized the film as "soulless" in its portrayal of East Asian society.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: This movie was also the subject of comment from feminist critics. Mimi Nguyen says the film "pokes fun at the ultimately repressive gender roles that seek to make Mulan a domesticated creature". Nadya Labi agreed, saying "there is a lyric in the film that gives the lie to the bravado of the entire girl-power movement." She pointed out that Mulan needed to become a boy in order to accomplish what she did. Kathleen Karlyn, an assistant professor of English at the University of Oregon, also criticized the film's portrayal of gender roles: "In order to even imagine female heroism, we're placing it in the realm of fantasy". Pam Coats, the producer of "Mulan", said that the film aims to present a character who exhibits both masculine and feminine influences, being both physically and mentally strong.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: In 2008, the film was one of 50 nominees listed on the ballot for the American Film Institute's top 10 greatest American animated movies.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: Disney was keen to promote "Mulan" to the Chinese, hoping to replicate their success with the 1994 film "The Lion King", which was one of the country's highest-grossing Western films at that time. Disney also hoped it might smooth over relations with the Chinese government which had soured after the release of "Kundun", a Disney-funded biography of the Dalai Lama that the Chinese government considered politically provocative. China had threatened to curtail business negotiations with Disney over that film and, as the government only accepted ten foreign films to be shown in China each year, "Mulan"s chances of being accepted were low. Finally, after a year's delay, the Chinese government did allow the film a limited Chinese release, but only after the Chinese New Year, so as to ensure that local films dominated the more lucrative holiday market. Box office income was low, due to both the unfavorable release date and rampant piracy. Chinese people also complained about Mulan's depiction as too foreign-looking and the story as too different from the myths.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: A Windows, Macintosh, and PlayStation point-and-click adventure interactive storybook based on the film, "" (titled "Disney's Story Studio: Mulan" on PlayStation), was released on December 15, 1999. The game was developed by Media Station for computers and Revolution Software (under the name "Kids Revolution") for PlayStation. The game was met with generally positive reception and holds a 70.67% average rating at the review aggregator website GameRankings.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: Walt Disney Pictures first expressed interest in a live-action adaptation of "Mulan" in the 2000s. Zhang Ziyi was to star in it and Chuck Russell was chosen as the director. The film was originally planned to start filming in October 2010, but was eventually canceled.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: In 2015, Disney again began developing a live-action remake. Elizabeth Martin and Lauren Hynek's script treatment reportedly featured a white merchant who falls in love with Mulan, and is drawn into a central role in the country's conflict with the Huns. According to a "Vanity Fair" source, the spec script was only a "jumping-off point" and all main characters will in fact be Chinese. "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" and "Jurassic World" screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver are to rewrite Hynek and Martin's screenplay with Chris Bender, J. C. Spink and Jason Reed producing. In February 2017, it was announced that Niki Caro will direct the live-action adaptation of the 1998 animated film.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: The casting process of a Chinese actress to portray the heroine began in October 2016. The film was originally scheduled to be released on November 2, 2018, but it was later taken off the release schedule with "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms" taking its old slot. On November 29, 2017, Liu Yifei was cast as the titular character. The film had its Hollywood premiere on March 9, 2020. Disney originally scheduled the film to be released in theaters on March 27, 2020; however, this was pushed back to July 24, and then August 21. The film's theatrical release was canceled in the United States and would instead have its premiere for a premium fee on Disney+ on September 4, 2020. It will still be released theatrically in countries where theaters have re-opened, such as China, as well as in other countries that do not have Disney+.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: Donnie Yen was cast as Commander Tung, a mentor and teacher to Mulan. Following him, Jet Li joined the film as the emperor of China, Gong Li was cast as the villain, a witch, and Xana Tang was announced to play Mulan's sister. The next month, Utkarsh Ambudkar was cast as Skatch, a con artist, and Ron Yuan was cast as Sergeant Qiang, the second in command of the Imperial Regiment. In June, Yoson An was cast as Chen Honghui, "a confident and ambitious recruit" who becomes Mulan's love interest. In July, Jason Scott Lee joined the cast as Bori Khan, a secondary villain and warrior seeking revenge. In August 2018, Tzi Ma, Rosalind Chao, Cheng Pei-Pei, Nelson Lee, Jimmy Wong and Doua Moua were added to the cast.


title: Mulan (1998 film)

text: Although she is royalty neither by birth nor marriage (her husband is merely a high-ranking military officer), "Mulan" is part of the Disney Princess media franchise. Mulan was the last addition to the lineup until Princess Tiana from "The Princess and the Frog" was added in 2009, 11 years later. In the film "Lilo & Stitch", Nani has a poster of Mulan in her room. "Mulan" is also present in the Disney and Square Enix video game series "Kingdom Hearts". In the first "Kingdom Hearts" and in "", Mushu is a summonable character, and in "Kingdom Hearts II", the movie is featured as a playable world named "The Land of Dragons", with the plot being changed to accommodate the game's characters (Sora, Donald and Goofy) and Mulan (both as herself and as "Ping") able to join the player's party as a skilled sword fighter. Actress Jamie Chung plays a live-action version of Mulan in the second, third, and fifth seasons of the ABC television series "Once Upon a Time". The video game "Disney Magic Kingdoms" includes some characters of the film and some attractions based on locations of the film as content to unlock for a limited time.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: Enos Stanley Kroenke (; born July 29, 1947) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the owner of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, which is the holding company of Arsenal F.C. of the Premier League and Arsenal W.F.C. of the WSL, the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL, Denver Nuggets of the NBA, Colorado Avalanche of the NHL, Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer, Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League, the Los Angeles Gladiators of the Overwatch League, and the Los Angeles Guerrillas of the Call of Duty League.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: The Nuggets and Avalanche franchises are held in the name of his wife, Ann Walton Kroenke, to satisfy NFL ownership restrictions that forbid a team owner from having teams in other markets. Ann is the daughter of Walmart co-founder James "Bud" Walton. Kroenke was estimated to be worth US$10.7 billion by "Forbes" in 2022.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: Kroenke's holding company for sports teams has been controversial. In 2016, he relocated the St. Louis Rams to Los Angeles, turning the team into the Los Angeles Rams. In 2021, Kroenke was involved in an aborted effort to end the traditional European football system by creating a closed European Super League which would have included Arsenal and several other teams.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: In the four major U.S. sports, Kroenke's teams have won four championships under his ownership (either partial or full), with the Rams winning two Super Bowls, and the Avalanche winning two Stanley Cups. He also has an MLS Cup to his credit as owner of the Rapids, and two National Lacrosse League Championships as owner of the Mammoth.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: Kroenke grew up in Mora, Missouri, an unincorporated community with a population of approximately two dozen, where his father owned Mora Lumber Company. His first job was sweeping the floor at his father's lumber yard. By age 10 he was keeping the company's books. At Cole Camp (Missouri) High School, he played baseball, basketball and ran track.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: Kroenke married Ann Walton, a Walmart heiress, in 1974. He founded the Kroenke Group in 1983, a real estate development firm that has built shopping centers and apartment buildings. He has developed many of his plazas near Walmart stores.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: He is also the chairman of THF Realty, an independent real estate development company that specializes in suburban development. He founded this corporation in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1991. In 2016, THF's portfolio was valued at more than $2 billion, including more than 100 projects totaling 20 million square feet, primarily in retail shopping centers.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: In 2006, Kroenke, in partnership with the money manager Charles Banks, acquired Screaming Eagle, a winery in Napa Valley. In April 2009, Banks stated he was no longer personally involved with Screaming Eagle.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: Kroenke is a major owner of working ranches, owning a total of 848,631 acres. "The Land Report" magazine ranked him as the United States' ninth-largest landowner in 2015. Among notable purchases is his February 2016 acquisition of the famous Waggoner Ranch in Texas, the largest ranch within one fenceline.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: In August 2017, he came under fire for launching a British outdoor sports television channel that will show regular hunting programmes that includes killing elephants, lions, and other vulnerable African species.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: Founded in 1999, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment owns Ball Arena in Denver, home of the Nuggets, Avalanche and Mammoth, and co-owns Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, home of the Rapids. Both venues were built by his development company. In 2004, Kroenke launched his own competitor to FSN Rocky Mountain (now known as AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain), Altitude, a new regional sports network which became the official broadcaster for both of Kroenke's teams on launch. Kroenke also established TicketHorse, a ticket company that provides in-house sales for all of his teams.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: In 2000, Kroenke became full owner of both the National Basketball Association's Denver Nuggets and the National Hockey League's Colorado Avalanche, purchasing the teams from Charlie Lyons's "Ascent Entertainment Group".


title: Stan Kroenke

text: In 2002, Kroenke partnered with Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen and former Bronco quarterback John Elway to become part-owner of the Arena Football League's Colorado Crush.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: Kroenke continued to grow his sports empire in 2004 when he purchased the National Lacrosse League's Colorado Mammoth and Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids from Phil Anschutz.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: On April 13, 1995, Stan Kroenke helped Georgia Frontiere move the National Football League's Los Angeles Rams from Anaheim to St. Louis by purchasing a 30% share of the team.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: In 2010, Kroenke exercised his right of first refusal to purchase the remaining interest in the Rams from the estate of late owner Georgia Frontiere. On August 25, 2010, he became full owner of the Rams by unanimous consent of the NFL. To gain approval from NFL owners, Kroenke agreed to turn over control of the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche to his son, Josh, by the end of 2010, and he had to give up his majority stake in both teams in December 2014. The NFL does not allow its owners to hold majority control of major league teams in other NFL markets. On October 7, 2015, the NFL approved transfer of his ownership stake of the Avalanche and Nuggets to his wife, Ann Walton Kroenke.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: In April 2010, as he was trying to gain full ownership of the team, and knowing of an escape clause in the Rams lease at the Edward Jones Dome, Stan Kroenke said: "I'm going to attempt to do everything that I can to keep the Rams in St. Louis."


title: Stan Kroenke

text: In February 2013, the Rams and the City of St. Louis went to arbitration over a clause in the Rams' lease that stated the Rams current stadium must be in the top tier of NFL stadiums. The arbitrators agreed with the Rams, giving the Rams the ability to break their original lease and assume a year-to-year lease agreement.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: Saying that he was willing to work with Missouri officials and to give the governor a "complete understanding" of the stadium situation, on November 30, 2015, Stan Kroenke met with Missouri Governor Jay Nixon at Rams Park in Earth City, Missouri.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: On January 5, 2015, it was announced that the Kroenke Group was teaming up with Stockbridge Capital Group to build a 70,000-seat NFL stadium and venue in Inglewood, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, threatening the Rams' future in St. Louis. In response, St. Louis countered with National Car Rental Field, a proposed open-air stadium in the north riverfront in downtown St. Louis with the hope of the Rams staying in St. Louis. At the NFL relocation presentation, Kroenke stated that St. Louis was no longer a viable market for the NFL, and was best served by only two teams. Kroenke also questioned the financial future of the team. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell stated that the St. Louis funding did not meet the criteria set by the NFL. St. Louis officials countered that Kroenke was misrepresenting the city and defended that St. Louis was being misrepresented at the owners' meetings.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: The Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers had also been unhappy with their old stadiums (Oakland Coliseum in Oakland and Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, respectively) lacking updated amenities, and had been proposing a stadium in Carson, California (another suburb of Los Angeles) in competition with Kroenke's Inglewood proposal.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: On January 4, 2016, all three teams applied for relocation to Los Angeles for the 2016 NFL season. The following day, the Rams and Stan Kroenke released their proposal for relocation. Some of the Rams' conclusions were disputed by the Mayor of St. Louis Francis Slay (in a letter to Roger Goodell), the St. Louis Regional Chamber, and Forbes. However, some said that staying in St. Louis was ultimately a bad deal for the city and the city is better off with them leaving.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: On January 12, 2016, the NFL approved the Rams' application to relocate from St. Louis back to Los Angeles with a 30–2 vote and Kroenke was praised by other NFL owners afterwards. In 2017, the Chargers announced that they would move to Los Angeles for the 2017 season, with the intention of initially playing games in Carson, but then moving into Kroenke's Inglewood Stadium, pending completion. The Raiders subsequently announced a move to Las Vegas, Nevada.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: On April 12, 2017 it was reported that the City of St. Louis, St. Louis County, and the Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority filed a 52-page lawsuit against the NFL and all 32 NFL clubs as defendants (including Stan Kroenke) and seeks damages and restitution of profits. On July 12, 2017, the Los Angeles Rams filed three motions seek to: dismiss the case for failure to state a claim, dismiss the case for lack of personal jurisdiction, and appeal to have the case determined through arbitration rather than in front of a St. Louis based jury. The motions in the case will be decided upon by Judge Christopher McGraugh. On April 20, 2020, the Supreme Court denied Kroenke and the NFL's appeal of the lawsuit. On November 24, 2021, after four years of litigation, it was announced that the NFL, Kroenke, and the various St. Louis parties had agreed to a $790 million dollar settlement to end the lawsuit.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: Kroenke is the owner of Arsenal Holdings plc which owns association football clubs Arsenal F.C. of the Premier League and Arsenal W.F.C. of the WSL. Arsenal already had a technical link-up with Kroenke's Colorado Rapids when in April 2007 Granada Ventures, a subsidiary of ITV plc, sold its 9.9% stake in Arsenal Holdings plc to Kroenke's KSE UK inc. Kroenke went on to buy further shares in the club, taking his total stake up to 12.19%. The club's board initially expressed skepticism that a bid would be in its best interests, but gradually warmed to him as part of counteracting Alisher Usmanov's rival bid for the club.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: By June 2008, the board had prepared to let Kroenke take over, and on September 19, 2008, it was officially announced that Kroenke had joined the board of directors. Kroenke had a beneficial interest in, and controlled voting rights, over 18,594 shares, representing 29.9% of the issued shares. Nearing the maximum 29.99% threshold, beyond which an offer for all remaining shares would be forced to be made.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: On April 10, 2011, it was reported that Kroenke was in advanced talks to complete the takeover. The following day, it was announced that he increased his shareholding to 62.89% by purchasing the stakes of Danny Fiszman and Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith, and agreed to make an offer for the rest of the club at £11,750 per share, valuing the club at £731M.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: In August 2018, he made an offer that was accepted of around £600m valuing the total shareholding at £1.8bn, to Alisher Usmanov, to bring his ownership of shares beyond 90% and forcing the compulsory purchase of the remaining shares.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: In April 2021, Arsenal were announced as a founding member of the European Super League, which would have effectively ended the pyramid system of European football and placed Arsenal in a closed league without prospects for meritocratic relegation and promotion. Arsenal and the five other English clubs involved backed out within two days after a strong backlash. After the aborted attempt to end the European football system, Arsenal fans protested and called for the Kroenke family to sell the club. The Kroenke family released a statement saying they would not sell the club.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: In late 2017, Kroenke Sports and Entertainment developed a new esports team franchise named the Los Angeles Gladiators in the newly founded Overwatch League; their inaugural season began on December 6.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: In 2019, Kroenke Sports and Entertainment developed their second esports team. They founded the Los Angeles Guerrillas of the Call of Duty League. They, along with the Los Angeles Gladiators of the Overwatch League, are based out of Hollywood Park next door to where Kroenke's Rams play.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: On a ski trip to Aspen, Colorado, Kroenke met his future wife, Ann Walton, a Walmart heiress. They married in 1974. Already wealthy from real estate, he became even wealthier when he and Ann inherited a stake in Walmart upon the 1995 death of her father, James "Bud" Walton. As of September 2015, that stake was worth $4.8 billion.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: Kroenke is a somewhat reclusive man who prefers to avoid the spotlight. He is popularly known as "Silent Stan" because he almost never gives interviews to the press. He rarely interferes in his teams' day-to-day operations.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: During the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, he donated $100,000 to the Hillary Victory Fund. He subsequently donated $1 million to Donald Trump's inaugural committee.


title: Stan Kroenke

text: In 2022, Kroenke experienced a unique feat with three of his teams winning championships in the same calendar year - the Rams winning the Super Bowl (February), the Mammoth winning the NLL Championship (June), and the Avalanche winning the Stanley Cup (June).


title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

text: Diary of a Wimpy Kid is an American children’s book series and media franchise created by author and cartoonist Jeff Kinney. The series follows Greg Heffley, a middle-schooler who illustrates his daily life in a diary (although he constantly tells the audience that it is a journal).


title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

text: Kinney spent 8 years working on the book before showing it to a publisher. In 2004, FunBrain and Kinney released an online version of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid". The website made daily entries from September 2004 to June 2005. The online version had received almost 20 million views by 2009. Nonetheless, many online readers requested a printed version. In February 2006, during the New York Comic Con, Kinney signed a multi-book deal with publisher Abrams Books to turn "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" into a printed book series. The first installment was released in April 2007 and received immediate success. In April 2009, "Time" magazine named Kinney in the "Time" 100 most influential people.


title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

text: Seventeen books in the series have been released as of 2022, an activity book has also been released. A spin-off series, centering on the character Rowley Jefferson, has three installments as of 2021. The first, , and installments have been adapted into films by 20th Century Fox; two books have been released chronicling the production of the films.


title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

text: Since the release of the online version, most of the books have garnered positive reviews and commercial success. As of 2022, more than 275 million copies have been sold globally, making it the sixth best-selling book series of all time.


title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

text: A spin-off series has been published, written from Rowley's perspective. The first installment, "", was released on April 9, 2019, and is a series of anecdotes about Greg and Rowley's friendship. The second, "Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Adventure", is in the style of a fantasy adventure and was released on August 4, 2020. The book's original release date was April 7, 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The third, "Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories", was released on March 16, 2021.


title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

text: Audiobooks have been released for each main installment in the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series. The Recorded Books versions are read by Ramon de Ocampo, while the Penguin Books versions are read by Dan Russell, who has done so since "The Third Wheel", and in 2018 he re-narrated the first 6 books for the markets where Penguin publish the series.


title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

text: "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" was well received from "The Princeton Review", "Gold Card Association", "The Dallas News", "The TRR Editors", "The NW Press", and "The JJ Printing Company". "The New York Times", which ranks children's serials collectively on a "Series Books" bestseller list, has included the "Wimpy Kid" series for 664 weeks as of December 8, 2021. "USA Today", which ranks best sellers based on sales alone regardless of genre or intended audience, has listed "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" in its top 150, peaking at number 8, for 141 weeks as of April 4, 2010.


title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

text: As of the same date, "Rodrick Rules" has been on the list for 117 weeks (peaking at number 4), "The Last Straw" has been on the list for 65 weeks (peaking at number 1), "Dog Days" has been on the list for all 25 weeks of its publication (peaking at number 1), and "The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary" has been listed for all three weeks of its publication, peaking at number 2.


title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

text: The series has sold over 200 million books in 56 languages and 65 editions throughout the world. The series has also generated over $500 million in revenue.


title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

text: Jeff Kinney announced that a film based on the first book would be produced by 20th Century Fox. The film was released on March 19, 2010, moved up from an April 2 release date. It was directed by Thor Freudenthal, who also directed "Hotel for Dogs". The film starred Zachary Gordon as Greg, Robert Capron as Rowley (Greg's best friend), Steve Zahn as Frank (Greg's father), Rachael Harris as Susan (Greg's mother), Devon Bostick as Rodrick (Greg's older brother), Connor and Owen Fielding as Manny (Greg's younger brother), Chloë Grace Moretz as a new character named Angie, and Grayson Russell as Fregley.


title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

text: There is a second film in the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" film series that was released on March 25, 2011, which was based on the second book "Rodrick Rules", with Zachary Gordon returning as Greg Heffley. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules" was also filmed in Vancouver, BC, Canada. The film also contains some scenes from "The Last Straw".


title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

text: The third film combines the third and fourth books "The Last Straw" and "Dog Days", taking stories from both, but mainly from "Dog Days", from which it took its title. The decision to blend the two films was made to keep up with the ages of the actors. The film was released on August 3, 2012.


title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

text: The likelihood of a fourth live-action film was slim. Kinney has announced the possibility for an animated film to be based on "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever" as the next installment. In an interview for the book "Hard Luck", Jeff Kinney stated he was working with Fox on a half-hour special of "Cabin Fever", which was to be aired in late 2014, but as of 2021 no updates on the special have been announced. In September 2016, Jeff Kinney announced officially the production of a fourth film, "", on his Twitter account. The film was released in May 2017 and was based on "The Long Haul", "Hard Luck", and "The Third Wheel". On August 6, 2019, Disney announced they would reboot "Diary of a Wimpy Kid", "Home Alone" and "Night at the Museum" for their streaming service, Disney+.


title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

text: On December 10, 2020, Disney announced at their 2020 Investor's Day that an animated "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" film would be coming to Disney+ on December 3, 2021.


title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

text: A musical titled "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Musical" was produced by the Children's Theatre Company in 2016.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: Kathleen Hochul ( ; née Courtney; born August 27, 1958) is an American politician serving as the 57th governor of New York since August 24, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, she is New York's first female governor, as well as the first governor from upstate New York since George Pataki.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: After serving on the Hamburg town board and as deputy Erie County clerk, Hochul was appointed Erie County clerk in 2007. She was elected to a full term as Erie County clerk in 2007 and reelected in 2010. In May 2011, Hochul won a four-candidate special election for New York's 26th congressional district to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of then-Representative Chris Lee, becoming the first Democrat to represent the district in 40 years. She served as a U.S. representative from 2011 to 2013. Hochul was defeated for reelection in 2012 by Chris Collins after the district's boundaries and demographics were changed in the decennial reapportionment process. Hochul later worked as a government relations executive for the Buffalo-based M&T Bank.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: In the 2014 New York gubernatorial election, Andrew Cuomo selected Hochul as his running mate; after they won the election, Hochul was inaugurated as lieutenant governor. Cuomo and Hochul were reelected in 2018. Hochul took office as governor of New York on August 24, 2021, after Cuomo resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment. She won a full term in 2022 against the Republican nominee, U.S. Representative Lee Zeldin.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: Hochul was born Kathleen Courtney in Buffalo, New York, the second of the six children of John P. "Jack" Courtney, then a college student and clerical worker, and Patricia Ann "Pat" (Rochford) Courtney, a homemaker. The family struggled financially during Hochul's early years and for a time lived in a trailer near a steel plant. By the time Hochul was in college, however, her father was working for the information technology company he later headed. Her family is of Irish Catholic descent.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: Hochul became politically active during her college years at Syracuse University, leading a boycott of the student bookstore over high prices and an unsuccessful effort to name the university stadium after alumnus Ernie Davis, a star running back who died of cancer before he could join the National Football League. Hochul successfully lobbied the university to divest from apartheid South Africa. In the spring of 1979, the student newspaper "The Daily Orange" awarded her an "A," citing the campus changes as evidence for the grade. She received a Bachelor of Arts with a major in political science from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University in 1980 and a Juris Doctor from the Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C. in 1984.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: After graduation from law school, Hochul began working for a Washington, D.C., law firm, but she found the work unsatisfying. She then worked as legal counsel and legislative assistant to U.S. Representative John LaFalce and U.S. Senator Daniel Moynihan, and also for the New York State Assembly, before seeking elected office.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: Hochul became involved in local issues as a supporter of small businesses facing competition from Walmart stores and, in the process, caught the attention of local Democratic leaders. On January 3, 1994, the Hamburg Town Board voted to appoint her to the vacant seat on the board caused by Patrick H. Hoak's resignation to become town supervisor. She was elected to a full term in November 1994, on the Democratic and Conservative lines, and was reelected in 1998, 2002, and 2006. She resigned on April 10, 2007, and was succeeded by former state assemblymember Richard A. Smith. While on the board, she led efforts to remove toll booths on parts of the New York State Thruway system.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: In May 2003, Erie County Clerk David Swarts appointed Hochul as his deputy. Governor Eliot Spitzer named Swarts to his administration in January 2007 and appointed Hochul to succeed Swarts as county clerk in April 2007. In an intervention that raised her statewide profile, she opposed Spitzer's proposal to allow undocumented immigrants to apply for a driver's license without producing a social security card, and said that if the proposal went into effect she would seek to have any such applicants arrested. She was elected later in 2007 to fill the remainder of Swarts's term. She ran for reelection on four ballot lines: Democratic, Conservative, Independence and Working Families Party, defeating Republican Clifton Bergfeld in November 2010 with 80 percent of the vote.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: Following Hochul's departure as county clerk, a backlog of mail was discovered by newly elected County Clerk Chris Jacobs, who later said that $792,571 in checks were found in the backlogged mail. As county clerk, Hochul had been in the process of implementing a new system for handling real estate documents when she left after being elected to Congress. Jacobs said that $9,000 were spent in overtime to deposit checks and file unopened documents that had accumulated in the interim period after Hochul's departure, while the office was adjusting to the new system.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: Hochul ran in the May 24, 2011, special election to fill the seat in New York's 26th congressional district left vacant by the resignation of Chris Lee. She was the Democratic Party and Working Families Party nominee. Hochul's residence in Hamburg, just outside the 26th district, became an issue during her campaign, though it did not disqualify her from seeking the seat. One month after her victory, she moved into the district.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: The Republican and Conservative Party nominee, State Assemblymember Jane Corwin, was at first strongly favored to win in the Republican-leaning district, which had sent a Republican to Congress for the previous four decades. A late April poll had Corwin leading Hochul by 36% to 31%; Tea Party candidate Jack Davis trailed at 23%. An early May poll gave Hochul a lead of 35% to 31%, and shortly thereafter the nonpartisan "Rothenberg Political Report" called the race a toss-up. Additional polling in the days immediately before the election had Hochul leading by four- and six-point margins.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: A "Washington Post" article noted that in the face of a possible Hochul victory, there was already a "full blown spin war" about the meaning of the result. The article said that Democrats viewed the close race as a result of Republicans' budget proposal "The Path to Prosperity", and, in particular, their proposal for Medicare reform. Republicans viewed it as the result of Davis's third-party candidacy.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: The campaign featured a number of negative television ads, with FactCheck accusing both sides of "taking liberties with the facts". In particular, FactCheck criticized the Democrats' ads for claiming that Corwin would "essentially end Medicare", even though the plan left Medicare intact for current beneficiaries. The organization also faulted the Republicans for ads portraying Hochul as a puppet of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and for claiming that Hochul planned to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: Hochul was endorsed by EMILY's List, a political action committee that supports Democratic women candidates who support abortion rights. She was the fifth largest recipient of EMILY's List funds in 2011, receiving more than $27,000 in bundled donations. The Democrat and Chronicle endorsed Hochul "for her tenacity and independence", while "The Buffalo News" endorsed her for her positions on preserving Medicare and her record of streamlining government.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: Before the 2012 election, Hochul's district was renumbered the 27th during the redistricting process. The district was redrawn in a manner that caused it to be more heavily Republican. Hochul was endorsed by the National Rifle Association. She lost to Republican Chris Collins, 51% to 49%.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: In Hochul's first few weeks in office, she co-sponsored bills with Brian Higgins to streamline the passport acquisition process. She also met with then-President Barack Obama about the economy and job creation and introduced a motion to restore the Republican cuts to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. She looked for ways to reduce the federal budget deficit and expressed support for reducing Medicaid spending as long as the reductions would not be achieved in the form of block grants offered to states, as proposed in the Republican budget blueprint. She also spoke with Obama about ending tax breaks for oil companies and protecting small businesses.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: While campaigning for Congress, Hochul called herself an "independent Democrat". In an interview with the "Lockport Union-Sun & Journal", she cited as examples of her independence her opposition to then-Governor Eliot Spitzer's driver's license program for illegal immigrants and her opposition to then-Governor David Paterson's 2010 proposal to raise revenue by requiring all vehicle owners to buy new license plates.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: Hochul was one of 17 Democrats to join Republicans in supporting a resolution finding United States Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress relating to the ATF gunwalking scandal, a vote on which the NRA, which supported the resolution, announced it would be scoring lawmakers. Later in 2012, Hochul "trumpeted" her endorsement by the NRA and noted that she was just one of two New York Democrats to receive its support.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: On September 17, 2011, Robert J. McCarthy noted that Hochul and her election opponent Jack Davis agreed on their opposition to free trade. "We saw what happened with NAFTA; the promises never materialized," she said of the North American Free Trade Agreement. "If I have to stand up to my own party on this, I'm willing to do so."


title: Kathy Hochul

text: In June 2011, Hochul opposed legislation that would cut funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) by 44%, on the grounds that the CFTC curbs speculation in oil and the resulting layoffs of CFTC personnel would "make it easier for Big Oil companies and speculators to take advantage of ... consumers".


title: Kathy Hochul

text: While running for Congress, Hochul supported raising taxes on those making more than $500,000 per year. She opposed new free trade agreements then under consideration, saying, "We don't need to look any further than Western New York to see that these policies do not work." She believes that free trade agreements such as NAFTA and CAFTA have suppressed U.S. wages and benefits and caused job loss in the U.S.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: Hochul acknowledged during her campaign that substantial cuts must be made in the federal budget, and said she would consider cuts in all entitlement programs. But she expressed opposition to the Republican plan that would turn Medicare into a voucher system, saying it "would end Medicare as we know it". She said money could be saved in the Medicare program by eliminating waste and purchasing prescription drugs in bulk, and that the creation of more jobs would alleviate Medicare and Social Security budget shortfalls due to increased collections of payroll taxes.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: On November 19, 2011, Brian Tumulty of WGRZ reported that Hochul had voted for a balanced budget amendment, which she called "a bipartisan solution"."


title: Kathy Hochul

text: Hochul expressed support for the Affordable Care Act passed by the 111th Congress and said during her campaign that she would not vote to repeal it. In response to a constituent's question during a town-hall meeting in February 2012, she was booed for saying that the federal government was "not looking to the Constitution" under the Obama administration requirement that employers provide their workers with insurance coverage for birth control. A spokesman later said she had misspoken, but did not clarify her answer.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: After her departure from Congress, Hochul worked as a government relations executive for the Buffalo-based M&T Bank.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: In 2014, Robert Duffy announced that he would not run for reelection as lieutenant governor. Incumbent Governor Cuomo was running for a second term. After Duffy's announcement, Cuomo named Hochul as his choice for lieutenant governor. On May 22, 2014, the delegates to the state Democratic convention formally endorsed Hochul for lieutenant governor.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: In September, Cuomo and Hochul won their Democratic primary elections, with Hochul defeating Timothy Wu. They were also the Working Families Party nominees. (In New York, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor are nominated separately, but run as a ticket in the general election.) In November, the Cuomo/Hochul ticket won the general election. Hochul was sworn in as lieutenant governor on January 1, 2015.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: In the 2018 Democratic primary for lieutenant governor of New York, Hochul defeated Jumaane Williams, a member of the New York City Council, 53.3%–46.7%. In the November 6 general election, the Cuomo-Hochul ticket defeated the Republican ticket of Marc Molinaro and Julie Killian, 59.6%–36.2%.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: Cuomo tasked Hochul with chairing the 10 regional economic development councils that are the centerpiece of the administration's economic development plan. The councils' goal is to build upon the strengths of each region to develop individualized long-term strategic plans.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: Cuomo appointed Hochul to chair the Task Force on Heroin and Opioid Abuse and Addiction. In this capacity, she convened eight outreach sessions across New York State to hear from experts and community members in search of answers to the heroin crisis and works to develop a comprehensive strategy for New York.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: Hochul spearheaded Cuomo's "Enough is Enough" campaign to combat sexual assault on college campuses beginning in 2015, hosting and attending more than 25 events. In March 2016, Cuomo named her to the New York State Women's Suffrage 100th Anniversary Commemoration Commission.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: In 2018, Hochul supported legislation to provide driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants, which she had opposed as Erie County Clerk in 2007. While Hochul had said in 2007 that she would seek to have any such applicants arrested if the proposal was implemented, in 2018 she said circumstances had changed.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: On May 30, 2018, State Senate Democrats hoped to force a vote on an abortion rights bill known as the Reproductive Health Act. Hochul was prepared to cast a tie-breaking vote on a hostile amendment; with one Republican senator away from Albany on military duty, the Senate Republican Conference and the Senate Democratic conference each had 31 members in the chamber. But Senate Republicans "abruptly shut down business and pulled all the bills for the day" when Hochul entered the Senate chamber. She called the GOP's actions "reprehensible" and "cowardly", adding, "The governor and I are offended by the actions taken here today in the Senate."


title: Kathy Hochul

text: Hochul presided over the Senate chamber on June 5, 2018, when Senate Republicans called for the override of Cuomo's veto of a bill relating to full-day kindergarten classes. The override passed by a large margin, and was the first veto override to occur during Cuomo's gubernatorial tenure.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: At a July 2018 rally with Planned Parenthood, Hochul called upon the Republican-led State Senate to reconvene in Albany to pass abortion rights legislation. She asserted that the potential confirmation of then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh made this necessary.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: In a press briefing on August 10, 2021, Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation as governor, effective August 24. Cuomo was accused of multiple instances of sexual misconduct. Hochul said Letitia James's report into Cuomo's behavior "documented repulsive and unlawful behavior" and praised his decision to resign. Of her time as lieutenant governor and relationship with Cuomo, Hochul has said: "I think it's very clear that the governor and I have not been close."


title: Kathy Hochul

text: Hochul was sworn in as governor at 12:00 AM Eastern Time (ET) on August 24 by New York Chief Judge Janet DiFiore in a private ceremony. A public ceremonial event was held later that morning at the State Capitol's Red Room. Hochul is the state's first female governor. She is also the first New York governor from outside New York City and its immediate suburbs since 1932 (when Franklin Delano Roosevelt left office). Hochul also became the first governor from north of Hyde Park since Nathan L. Miller in 1922, in addition to being the first governor from Western New York since Horace White in 1910 and the first governor from Buffalo since Grover Cleveland in 1885. On August 12, Hochul confirmed that she planned to run for a full term as governor in 2022. She was the first Democrat to announce a 2022 gubernatorial candidacy after Cuomo said he would resign.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: In August 2021, "The Daily Beast" and "The Buffalo News" reported on a potential conflict of interest between Hochul's role as governor and the high-level executive position held by her husband, William Hochul, at Delaware North, a Buffalo-based casino and hospitality company. Delaware North has stated that William Hochul will be prohibited from working on any matter that involves state business, oversight, or regulation. A spokesman for Kathy Hochul has said that she had a recusal policy as lieutenant governor and would maintain that policy as governor.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: On August 26, 2021, Hochul appointed State Senator Brian Benjamin to the position of lieutenant governor of New York. Benjamin was sworn in on September 9, 2021.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: In November 2021, Hochul pushed to end remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic and to return workers to offices. That same month, Hochul offered her plans to redevelop Manhattan's Pennsylvania Station and the surrounding neighborhood. In her plans, she called for reducing density in the area.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: In December 2021, Hochul announced the reinstatement of an indoor mask mandate amid the spread of the Omicron variant.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: In January 2022, she expanded an existing vaccine mandate for healthcare workers to include a booster shot requirement. Also in January 2022, Hochul confirmed that New York's eviction moratorium would expire on January 15. She announced that she would sign on to a letter with other governors to the federal government asking for more rent assistance, after New York received only $27.2 million of its nearly $1 billion request. Tenant advocates and other politicians have pushed her and state lawmakers to pass the Good Cause eviction bill, which would give tenants the right to a lease renewal in most cases, cap rent increases, and require landlords to obtain a judge's order to evict tenants.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: In March 2022, Hochul reached an agreement with the Buffalo Bills to have taxpayers pay $850 million for the construction of a new stadium, as well as commit to maintain and repair the stadium. It was set to be the largest taxpayer contribution ever for a National Football League facility. The agreement was released four days before the state budget was due to be passed, making it hard for lawmakers to scrutinize. Critics of the agreement characterized it as corporate welfare. Part of the funding for the stadium came from a payment from the Seneca Nation of New York, whose bank accounts had been recently frozen as part of a long-running dispute between the Seneca Nation and the State of New York over the Seneca Nation's refusal to pay certain fees related to casino gaming despite being ordered to do so by multiple judicial bodies.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: On April 12, 2022, Brian Benjamin resigned as lieutenant governor after having been indicted earlier that day on federal charges of bribery, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and falsification of records. The crimes of which Benjamin is accused were allegedly committed during his State Senate tenure. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: On May 3, 2022, Hochul selected U.S. Representative Antonio Delgado to serve as lieutenant governor of New York. Delgado was sworn in on May 25.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: On June 22, 2022, Hochul announced a $300 million plan to rebuild infrastructure in western New York communities with public and private funding.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: In 2022, a citizens' group called Uniting NYS and a group of state legislators sued Hochul in the New York State Supreme Court in "George M. Borrello et. al. v. Kathleen C. Hochul et. al." to prevent implementation of a recently created state department of health policy enabling health practitioners to refer even asymptomatic patients suspected of having been exposed to a contagious illness for possible involuntary detention backed by law enforcement, with the option of holding detainees incommunicado. The policy had been created without consulting the state legislature and did not require an emergency to be implemented. New York Supreme Court Justice Ronald Ploetz ruled against Hochul on the grounds of unconstitutionality under the separation of powers doctrine of both the state and federal constitutions, as well as on the grounds that the policy was cruel and lacked due process. The New York state attorney general and Hochul are filing an appeal to retain the regulations, and the appeal is being challenged.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: In late 2022, Hochul delayed the signing of the Digital Fair Repair Act, a bill that received rare bipartisan support. This delay is allegedly due to major equipment manufacturers' lobbying efforts.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: On February 17, 2022, the New York State Democratic Convention endorsed Hochul for governor. As of February 2022, Hochul had raised $21 million in campaign funds.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: Hochul is married to William J. Hochul Jr., the former United States Attorney for the Western District of New York, who is also the senior vice president, general counsel, and secretary to Delaware North, a hospitality and gambling company. They have two children. Hochul is Catholic.


title: Kathy Hochul

text: Hochul is a founder of Kathleen Mary House, a transitional home for women and children who are victims of domestic violence. She has served on the organization's board. She also co-founded the Village Action Coalition, and, as of 2011, was a member of the board of trustees of Immaculata Academy in Hamburg, New York.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: Men in Black (stylized as MIB: Men in Black) is a 1997 American science fiction action comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, produced by Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald and written by Ed Solomon. Loosely based on the Marvel comic book series of a similar name created by Lowell Cunningham and Sandy Carruthers, the film stars Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith as two agents of a secret organization called the Men in Black, who supervise extraterrestrial lifeforms who live on Earth and hide their existence from ordinary humans. The film featured the creature effects and makeup of Rick Baker and visual effects by Industrial Light & Magic.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: The film was released in the United States on July 2, 1997, by Columbia Pictures, and grossed over $589.3 million worldwide against a $90 million budget, becoming the year's third highest-grossing film. It received positive reviews, with critics praising its script, set pieces, and the performances of Jones and Smith. The film received three Academy Award nominations—Best Art Direction, Best Original Score, and Best Makeup—winning the lattermost award.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: The film spawned the "Men in Black" franchise, including two sequels, "Men in Black II" (2002) and "Men in Black 3" (2012); a standalone sequel, "" (2019); and an .


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: At the Mexico–United States border, two men in black suits, Agent K and Agent D, interrupt a border patrol sting. They take one of the men attempting to cross the border, who is an extraterrestrial in disguise. When it tries to attack one of the patrol officers, K is forced to shoot it and erase the memories of everyone in the group, creating a cover story of an explosion in an underground gas pipeline. Deciding that he is too old to continue working, D chooses to retire and has K erase his memory.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: NYPD officer James Darrell Edwards III catches an unnaturally agile fleeing criminal and sees his eyes blink unusually before he leaps from the roof of the Guggenheim Museum. During his interrogation, K arrives and scouts James as a potential new partner, impressed by his ability to chase down an alien. K explains to James that their organization, the Men in Black, was founded after first contact was made with aliens in 1961; at this time Earth was established as a politically neutral zone for alien refugees.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: The MIB is a secret organization that monitors and polices these aliens and uses neuralyzers to erase the memories of anyone who witnesses alien activities. James agrees to join, taking a new identity as Agent J, and his civilian identity is erased from government records.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: Meanwhile, an alien crash-lands in upstate New York, kills a farmer named Edgar, and begins wearing his skin as a disguise. J and K investigate the crash site and discover this alien is a "bug," an extremely dangerous, cockroach-like species. The bug kills two disguised aliens, who are sent to a police morgue overseen by coroner Laurel Weaver. J and K inspect the bodies, and J and Laurel accidentally open the head of one, revealing a small, injured alien in a control cockpit. The alien tells them "To prevent war, the galaxy is on Orion's belt." before dying.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: K neuralyzes Laurel and tells J that the other dead alien, Rosenberg, was a member of the Arquillian royal family. They question an informant, Frank the Pug, who explains that Rosenberg was the guardian of a galaxy that is a precious source of sub-atomic energy; the bug killed Rosenberg to acquire it so the bugs may destroy the Arquillians. Frank also tells them that the galaxy is on Earth and is very small. An Arquillian warship enters Earth's orbit, issuing an ultimatum to MIB to give them the galaxy.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: J deduces the galaxy is in a jewel on the collar of Rosenberg's cat, Orion, which is in Laurel's care. The bug reaches the same conclusion and arrives at the morgue first; it seizes and swallows the galaxy and flees with Laurel. The Arquillians, who are willing to destroy the galaxy rather than let the bugs have it, warn MIB that they will destroy Earth in one hour unless the galaxy is returned.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: With all other transports locked down, J realizes the bug's only escape is the observation towers of the New York State Pavilion at Flushing Meadows, which was built for the 1964 New York World's Fair to disguise two real flying saucers. The bug attempts to take off, but J and K shoot down the ship, and the bug sheds Edgar's skin to reveal its true form. It swallows J and K's guns, and K goads it to swallow him as well. The bug begins to board the second ship. J steps on cockroaches from a dumpster to antagonize it, stalling it until K finds his gun in its stomach and shoots it from inside. The remains of the bug attack the two, but Laurel destroys it with J's gun.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: After recovering the galaxy from the bug's remains, K admits to J that he is ready to retire from MIB and has been training J as a replacement rather than a partner. J neuralyzes K, creating a cover story that he was in a coma for 35 years. Laurel joins MIB as J's new partner, Agent L. The entire Milky Way galaxy proves to be contained within a marble that a giant alien is using to play a game.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: The film is loosely based on Lowell Cunningham and Sandy Carruthers's comic book "The Men in Black". Producers Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald optioned the rights to "The Men in Black" in 1992, and hired Ed Solomon to write a very faithful script. Parkes and MacDonald wanted Barry Sonnenfeld as director because he had helmed the darkly humorous "The Addams Family" and its sequel "Addams Family Values". However, Sonnenfeld was attached to "Get Shorty" (1995), so they instead approached Les Mayfield (best known for his remake of "Miracle on 34th Street"). Mayfield was briefly attached before it fell through. John Landis and Quentin Tarantino were asked to direct but each declined. As a result, "Men in Black" was delayed so as to allow Sonnenfeld to make it his next project after "Get Shorty".


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: Much of the initial script drafts were set underground, with locations ranging from Kansas to Washington, D.C. and Nevada. Sonnenfeld decided to change the location to New York City, because the director felt New Yorkers would be tolerant of aliens who behaved oddly while disguised, terming the movie as ""The French Connection" with aliens". He also felt much of the city's structures resembled flying saucers and rocket ships. One of the locations Sonnenfeld thought perfect for the movie was a giant ventilation structure for the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, which became the outside of the MIB headquarters.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: Principal photography began in March 1996. Many last-minute changes ensued during production. First, the scene where James Edwards chasing a disguised alien was to be filmed at Lincoln Center, but the New York Philharmonic decided to charge the filmmakers for using their buildings, prompting Sonnenfeld to film the scene at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum instead. Then, five months into the shoot, Sonnenfeld decided that the original ending, with a humorous existential debate between Agent J and the Bug, was unexciting and lacking the action that the rest of the film had. Five potential replacements were discussed. One of these had Laurel Weaver being neuralyzed and K remaining an agent. Eventually it boiled down to the Bug eating K and fighting J, replacing the animatronic Bug Rick Baker's crew had developed with a computer-generated Bug with an appearance closer to a cockroach. The whole action sequence cost an extra $4.5 million to the filmmakers.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: Further changes were made during post-production to simplify the plotline involving the possession of the tiny galaxy. The Arquillians would hand over the galaxy to the Baltians, ending a long war. The Bugs need to feed on the casualties and steal the galaxy in order to continue the war. Through changing of subtitles, the images on M.I.B.'s main computer and Frank the Pug's dialogue, the Baltians were eliminated from the plot. Earth goes from being potentially destroyed in the crossfire between the two races into being possibly destroyed by the Arquillians themselves to prevent the Bugs from getting the galaxy. These changes to the plot were carried out when only two weeks remained in the film's post-production, but the film's novelization still contains the Baltians.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: Production designer Bo Welch designed the MIB headquarters with a 1960s tone in mind, because that was when their organization is formed. He cited influences from Finnish architect Eero Saarinen, who designed a terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport. As the arrival point of aliens on Earth, Welch felt the headquarters had to resemble an airport.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: Rick Baker was approached to provide the prosthetic and animatronic aliens, many of whom would have more otherworldly designs instead of looking humanoid. For example, the reveal of Gentle Rosenberg's Arquillian nature went from a man with a light under his neck's skin to a small alien hidden inside a human head. Baker would describe "Men in Black" as the most complex production in his career, "requiring more sketches than all my previous movies together". Baker had to have approval from both Sonnenfeld and Spielberg: "It was like, 'Steven likes the head on this one and Barry really likes the body on this one, so why don't you do a mix and match?' And I'd say, because it wouldn't make any sense." Sonnenfeld also changed a lot of the film's aesthetic during pre-production: "I started out saying aliens shouldn't be what humans perceive them to be. Why do they need eyes? So Rick did these great designs, and I'd say, 'That's great — but how do we know where he's looking?' I ended up where everyone else did, only I took three months." The maquettes built by Baker's team would later be digitized by Industrial Light & Magic, who was responsible for the visual effects and computer-generated imagery, for more mobile digital versions of the aliens.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: Two different soundtracks for the film were released: a score soundtrack featuring music composed by Danny Elfman and an of songs used in and inspired by the film, featuring Will Smith's original song "Men in Black" based on the film's plot.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: Elfman's music was called "rousing" by the Los Angeles Times. Variety called the film a technical marvel, giving special credit to "Elfman's always lively score." Elfman was nominated for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score at the 70th Academy Awards for his score.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: Elfman recalled in 2017 how he was chosen to compose the soundtrack as "strange." He was on the set of "The Frighteners" with Peter Jackson when D'Onofrio, who was shooting "Men In Black" on the other set, walked in and invited both men to watch him perform the final scene. Then on the way home, Elfman got a call from his agent saying that he was hired to compose the soundtrack, even though there was no discussion about it prior.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: Elvis Presley's cover of "Promised Land" is featured in the scene where the MIB's car runs on the ceiling of Queens–Midtown Tunnel.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: In advance of the film's theatrical release, its marketing campaign included more than 30 licensees. Galoob was the first to license, in which they released various action figures of the film's characters and aliens. Ray-Ban also partnered the film with a $5–10 million television campaign. Other promotional items included Hamilton Watches and Procter & Gamble's Head & Shoulders with the tagline "Keeping the Men in Black in black".


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: An official comic adaptation was released by Marvel Comics. The film also received a third-person shooter developed by Gigawatt Studios and published by Gremlin Interactive, which was released to lackluster reviews in October 1997 for the PC and the following year for the PlayStation. Also, a very rare promotional PlayStation video game system was released in 1997 with the Men in Black logo on the CD lid. Three months after the film's release, an based on "Men in Black", produced by Columbia TriStar Television alongside Adelaide Productions and Amblin Television, began airing on The WB's Kids' WB programming block, and also inspired several games. A "" role-playing game was also released in 1997 by West End Games.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: "Men in Black" was first released on a THX certified VHS in standard and widescreen formats on November 25, 1997. A LaserDisc version was released that same day. The home video release was attached to a rebate offer on a pair of Ray-Ban Predator-model sunglasses. The film was re-released in a collector's series on VHS and DVD on September 5, 2000, with the DVD containing several bonus features including an interactive editing workshop for three different scenes from the film, extended storyboards, conceptual art, and a visual commentary track with Tommy Lee Jones and director Barry Sonnenfeld; an alternate two-disc version was also released that had a fullscreen version on the first disc. The Deluxe Edition was also released on DVD in 2002. A Blu-ray edition was released on June 17, 2008. The entire "Men in Black" trilogy was released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on December 5, 2017, in conjunction with the film's 20th anniversary.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: "Men in Black" earned $4.8 million from Tuesday night previews and went on to gross $14 million on its opening day, bringing the total to $18.8 million. During its opening weekend, it generated $51.1 million, making it the third-highest opening weekend of all time, behind "Batman Forever" and "". The film then grossed $84.1 million during its five-day Wednesday opening. It surpassed "Independence Day" for having three records. These were the biggest three-day Fourth of July opening weekend, the largest July opening weekend and the highest opening weekend for a non-sequel film. The film would hold the latter two records for three years until 2000 when "X-Men" took them. Two years later, its successor "Men in Black II" broke the record for having the highest three-day Fourth of July opening weekend. Moreover, "Men in Black" held the record for having the highest opening weekend for an action-packed comedy film until "Rush Hour 2" surpassed it in 2001. It would remain in the number one spot at the box office for three weeks until it was beaten by "Air Force One". The film also competed against "Hercules" and "Batman & Robin" during its theatrical run.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: "Men in Black" grossed $250.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $338.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $589.3 million. It would hold the record for being the highest-grossing Sony film until it was surpassed by "Spider-Man" five years later in 2002. The film grossed a record $10.7 million in its opening weekend in Germany, beating the record held by "Independence Day".


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: Despite its grosses, writer Ed Solomon has said that Sony claims the film has never turned a profit, which is attributed to Hollywood accounting.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, "Men in Black" holds an approval rating of 91% based on 92 reviews, and an average score of 7.50/10. The site's critical consensus reads "Thanks to a smart script, spectacular set pieces, and charismatic performances from its leads, "Men in Black" is an entirely satisfying summer blockbuster hit." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: Gene Siskel of the "Chicago Tribune" gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, praising the film as "a smart, funny and hip adventure film in a summer of car wrecks and explosions." Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film three stars out of four, giving particular praise to the film's self-reflective humor and Rick Baker's alien creature designs. Janet Maslin, reviewing for "The New York Times", wrote the film "is actually a shade more deadpan and peculiar than such across-the-board marketing makes it sound. It's also extraordinarily ambitious, with all-star design and special-effects talent and a genuinely artful visual style. As with his "Addams Family" films and "Get Shorty," which were more overtly funny than the sneakily subtle "Men in Black," Mr. Sonnenfeld takes offbeat genre material and makes it boldly mainstream."


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: Writing for "Variety", Todd McCarthy acknowledged the film was "witty and sometimes surreal sci-fi comedy" in which he praised the visual effects, Baker's creature designs and Elfman's musical score. However, he felt the film "doesn't manage to sustain this level of inventiveness, delight and surprise throughout the remaining two-thirds of the picture." Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" graded the film a C+, writing ""Men in Black" celebrates the triumph of attitude over everything else – plausibility, passion, any sense that what we're watching actually matters. The aliens, for all their slimy visual zest, aren't particularly scary or funny (they aren't allowed to become characters), and so the joke of watching Smith and Jones crack wise in their faces quickly wears thin." John Hartl of "The Seattle Times", claimed the film "is moderately amusing, well-constructed and mercifully short, but it fails to deliver on the zaniness of its first half." While he was complimentary of the film's first half, he concluded "somewhere around the midpoint they run out of energy and invention. Even the aliens, once they stop their shape-shifting ways and settle down to appear as themselves, begin to look familiar."


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: "Men in Black" won the Academy Award for Best Makeup, and was also nominated for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score and Best Art Direction, losing the latter two awards to "The Full Monty" and "Titanic" simultaneously. It was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy.


title: Men in Black (1997 film)

text: On "Empire" magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Movies of All Time, "Men in Black" placed 409th. Following the film's release, Ray-Ban stated sales of their Predator 2 sunglasses (worn by the organization to deflect neuralyzers) tripled to $5 million.


title: Björn Ironside

text: Björn Ironside, according to Norse legends, was a Norse Viking chief and Swedish king. According to the 12th- and 13th-century Scandinavian histories, he was the son of notorious Viking king Ragnar Lodbrok and lived in the 9th century, being dated between 855 and 858. Björn Ironside is said to have been the first ruler of the Swedish Munsö dynasty. In the early 18th century, a barrow on the island of Munsö was claimed by antiquarians to be "Björn Järnsidas hög" or Björn Ironside's barrow.


title: Björn Ironside

text: Medieval sources refer to Björn Ironside's sons and grandsons, including Erik Björnsson and Björn at Haugi. Icelandic sagas claim that Björn was the ancestor of the house of Munsö, the line of kings that ruled in Sweden until c. 1060.


title: Björn Ironside

text: "Berno" was a powerful Viking chieftain and naval commander. He appears in contemporary sources such as "Annales Bertiniani" and the "Chronicon Fontanellense". He is first mentioned in the summer of 855. The oldest text that details his origins is the Norman history of William of Jumièges (c. 1070). According to William, the Danes had a custom of requiring the younger sons of kings to leave the kingdom, to reinforce the king's authority; thus, after Ragnar Lodbrok became king, he ordered Björn to leave his realm. Björn left Denmark with a considerable fleet and started to ravage in West Francia. The contemporary annals show that he cooperated with another Viking called Sigtrygg and sailed up the Seine in 855, from which his and Sigtrygg's forces raided the inland. Their combined forces were beaten in Champagne by Charles the Bald of West Francia in the same year, but not decisively. Sigtrygg withdrew in the next year, but Björn received reinforcement from another Viking army and could not be expelled from the Seine area. He and his men took up winter quarters at the so-called Givold's Grave, which served as base for an assault against Paris, which was plundered around the new year 856–857. Björn constructed a fortification on the island Oissel above Rouen which he kept as his stronghold for years. He certainly swore fealty to Charles the Bald in Verberie in 858 but it is not clear if he kept his pledge. King Charles eventually resolved to meet the unruly Seine Vikings with all his available forces and besieged Oissel in July. The siege failed badly, for the pirates defended the fortification with vigour. Moreover, Charles's brother Louis the German of East Francia invaded his lands and many vassals fell from him. Thus the siege was broken off in September.


title: Björn Ironside

text: After Björn's meeting with Charles in Verberie his name is not found in contemporary sources. However, the Viking warriors in the Seine continued their raids during the following years and even plundered Paris again in 861. In his despair Charles the Bald tried to use another Viking chief, Veland, whose men operated in the Somme region, to attack the Seine Vikings at Oissel. However, this scheme backfired since the two Viking armies made a deal and united their forces. The Norsemen were encamped by the lower Seine in 861–862, but then split again. Veland agreed to become a Christian and joined royal service, while the Seine Vikings went to sea. Some of them joined the fighting between the ruler of Bretagne and some Frankish counts.


title: Björn Ironside

text: A number of Frankish, Norman, Arab, Scandinavian and Irish sources mention a large Viking raid into the Mediterranean in 859–861, co-led by Hastein, Björn Ironside and possibly one or more of his brothers. After raiding down the Iberian coast and fighting their way through Gibraltar, the Norsemen pillaged the south of France, where the fleet stayed over winter, before landing in Italy where they captured the city of Pisa. Flush with this victory and others around the Mediterranean (including in Sicily and North Africa) during the Mediterranean expedition, the Vikings are recorded to have lost 40 ships to a storm. They returned to the Straits of Gibraltar and, at the coast of Medina-Sidonia, lost 2 ships to fire catapults in a surprise raid by Andalusian forces, leaving only 20 ships intact. The remnants of the fleet came back to French waters in 862. Björn Ironside was the leader of the expedition according to the later chronicle of William of Jumièges. The early 11th century "Fragmentary Annals of Ireland" say that two sons of Ragnall mac Albdan, a chief who had been expelled from Lochlann by his brothers and stayed in the Orkney Islands, headed the enterprise.