Disney had released 35 animated feature films before Mulan became its 36th in 1998.
Mulan is officially counted as the 36th film in Walt Disney Animation Studios’ animated feature canon. The count begins with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, released in 1937, and includes the studio’s major theatrical animated features through the 1990s.
The number can be confusing because Disney also released package films, live-action productions, direct-to-video sequels, and films made by other Disney-owned studios. Those categories are not always counted in the same way. The “36th animated feature” label refers to the main Walt Disney animated-feature lineup.
Mulan arrived during the Disney Renaissance, the period that included The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, and Hercules. Its release therefore placed a Chinese-inspired story within a long-running sequence of theatrical Disney animations.