Why didn't the Great Stone Dragon (in Mulan) awaken?

[vishna]

The other ancestors were awakened but the most powerful was not?

any theories from you guys?

Mushu broke the statue and it couldn't awaken

It(GSD) was giving Mushu the chance

I don't know

Other Explanation

I want to see poll answers

[Anonymous]

My father was an animation designer and also one of the 40 storyboard creator for the film during the mid 90s when Disney was trying to increase their earnings against their increasing variable expenses with R&D computers. I had asked him the same question when the studio along with other members of the design teams family were given pre-screenings to children of the sum team. He had told me that the consulting prime managers wanted an "oriental underdog story" (Mushu & Mulan) rising up against the status quo of Wei dynasty. Their idea of "awakening the stone dragon" did had an original plot - stone dragon comes to life and aids Mulan against the invaders with its long precarious tail - but that was scratched in favor of the Snake Dragon (Mushu) performing trivial family fun gimmicks instead of a serious Celestial Dragon being the fear of all Mongols and every 1000 year awakening in crisis.

[ketfoen]

Mushu beheaded him, before he had the chance to wake him up. Epic fail on Mushu's part. I wonder who would speak for the Great Stone Dragon if he had awoken, probably Sylvester Stallone.

[vishna]

haha, that would have been the weirdest thing ever...I don't think a lot of kids would have understood what the great stone dragon was saying

[snowangle]

Well the GSD was a guardian, not an ancestor, and technically none of the other guardians awakened either. Other than that, I really don't have an answer haha.

[vishna]

that's true...none of the guardians did...hmmmmm

[LadyAlois]

They didn't wake up because Mushu never got a chance to do it. During the scene before he was suppose to wake the dragon up, he couldn't wake the other guardians up because the ancestors were all grabbing at him and pointing him at the different guardian statues, and telling him to ring his gong. However, each time, right before be was about to wake one of them up, an ancestor would grab Mushu and point him to a different guardian.

[vishna]

That's right. But why oh why with all the ringing of the drum/gong did the GSD never awaken?
@LadyAlois

[LadyAlois]

I like to think that it's because the Dragon was no longer in the statute, but in Mulan since she basically became the "dragon" that protected everyone. Or at least, that's one of the thoughts inhad when I first saw the movie. After all, the emperor did give her a necklace near the end with a dragon symbol on it, though it could've been soley for design purposes. Other things that I thought of when watching it was that maybe the dragon was never really there, and was just something the family looked up to and believed actually existed for some sort of symbol of strength and protection. Though actually when I watched the movie for the first time my very first thought was that the dragon now showing up was it's way of saying "Hey, I believe in Mulan! I'm not doing diddly squat!" And decided to give Mulan a chance to prove herself to her family. I mean, who knows. But I like the thought of Mulan being the dragon n. n

[vishna]

You were so much more analytical about the movie. I was so oblivious, I just couldn't get over when he was squished under its head. It still gets me to this day, haha. But you make very good points. I think maybe it was just a figment of the family's imagination. But all the others were real, it's so debatable. Disney should have definitely answered this.

[itsmarisoll96]

I believe he was just a legend. Maybe the ancestors heard storied about him and believed them to be true but he was just a statue all along?

[vishna]

That's a good theory too

[Anonymous]

I am not familiar with this...but Henry Cavill is hotttttttt!

[sintherage]

During the scene when Mulan decides to go to war instead of her father, she decides to do it while sitting on the foot of the Great Stone Dragon. The image of the dragon looking over Mulan is repeated several times during the sequence, each time a bolt of lightning strikes in the background when Mulan takes the note and prays to her ancestors, and is inscribed on the sword Mulan uses to cut her hair. The reason Mushu couldn't wake up the dragon is because the dragon was no longer there, Mulan is implied to be the great dragon that protects her family.

[Anonymous]

I always wondered about that. I really don't know. I'd need to rewatch the movie before commenting on any of your theories, because it's been a few years since I watched it.

[martyfellow]

The movie was so boring he refused to wake up and get involved in it.

[HeatherJane]

I believe he wasn't real he was just the belief of what they should embody displayed as real so people could easier understand how to act.

[Hehehehehehehe]

Mulan went to war to protect her father and family when she did this she then became the great stone dragon. Kind of the same as the avatars for the last air bender.

[vishna]

Interesting, how do you compare the avatars?

[tiredofwaiting]

I am not entirely sure I will watch it again to try to figure that.