Who voiced Grandmother Fa in Mulan (1998)?
Answer
June Foray
June Foray voiced Grandmother Fa in Mulan (1998).
Foray supplied the character’s speaking voice, giving Mulan’s grandmother her lively, mischievous personality. Grandmother Fa appears as a spirited elder in Mulan’s family and is especially memorable for her comic confidence, concern for Mulan, and belief in family tradition.
A common mix-up is that Foray did not provide every vocal performance associated with the character. Marni Nixon supplied Grandmother Fa’s singing voice, including the musical number “Honor to Us All.” Disney sometimes used separate speaking and singing performers in animated musicals when different vocal qualities suited dialogue and songs.
June Foray was a major voice-acting figure whose career included animation, television, commercials, and radio. She was widely known for voicing Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Natasha Fatale in Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show. Her casting also connected Grandmother Fa’s dialogue voice with Nixon’s singing voice more closely than the earlier casting arrangement had.
Mulan’s principal cast likewise used separate performers in some musical roles: Ming-Na Wen voiced Mulan while Lea Salonga sang for her, and B. D. Wong spoke for Shang while Donny Osmond sang “I’ll Make a Man Out of You.”