Wait...Jackie Chan can SING?!?! (Why did no one tell me this before?)

[liz_marcs]

(Reposted due to code borking...)

Maaaaaaaan, I love the Internet. Without it, I wouldn't be able to find out about stuff like this: Jackie Chan can sing.

In fact, he was the Cantonese and Mandarin speaking voice for General Li (which was voiced by Donny Osmond in the English version) in Mulan.

Of course, I'm all, "Wait, Jackie Chan can sing?"

Don't believe me? Here's Jackie Chan's dub of "I'll Make a Man Out of You" from Mulan (I think it's in Cantonese. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong).

(If you want to see the non-cartoon video version of Jackie Chan singing the song, go here and watch him do pretty-pretty martial arts with a staff while singing.)

For comparison purposes, here's Donny Osmond's version of "I'll Make a Man out of You."

AAAAAaand right now I feel like an idiot because it seems to me that I should have known that Jackie Chan could sing.

As a side note, does anyone out there have a recording of Jackie Chan singing "I'll Make a Man out of You?" Because right now, I need to get my hands on this song the way some people need oxygen.

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Now playing: Aretha Franklin - Come Back Baby
via FoxyTunes   

Comments

[innerbrat]

IIRC, Donny Osmond was Li's singing voice, not speaking. Which uh, doesn't actually affect your post, really.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Hunh. That I didn't know. It strikes me as...odd, especially since Osmond isn't a case of "famous actor who can't sing, or a singer who can't act."

I actually saw him in Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat when it came to Boston, and while I wouldn't say he'll be winning any Oscars, he certainly can hold his own on a stage.

Very, very odd the arrangements Disney makes these days for the singing/speaking voices. The fact that they did this in a case where you had someone who could do both makes it even more puzzling.

[innerbrat]

Donny had a higher billing, but I suspect it's because they wanted someone of Asian extraction to play Shang. Now, I know from BD Wong's IMDB page that he's American, it's possibly his ethnicity comes through just enough in his voice to sound 'Chinese' enough for them?

I have no ear for obvious accents, let alone be able to tell an Asian-American from a White-American, but accents do change with ethnicity, right?

Mulan's speaking voice was also an Asian-American, and her songs were sung by a white woman.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Actually, Lea Salonga is Filipino, and I believe they self-identify as Asian. :-)

Which...again...is a very, very weird choice to make Lea Salonga ONLY the singing voice instead of both singing and speaking because she is huuuuuuuuuuge in musical theater. Huge.

And she can act. I mean, REALLY ACT.

So, yeah, still completely mystified by their choices in splitting voices, as well as the voices they've chosen to split. (Although, B.D. is a Tony-award winning actor, but I see nothing on his resume that indicates that he can sing.)

[innerbrat]

Oops, my bad. I just assumed white.

But I think it was a case of casting people of Chinese/East Asian extraction in the speaking roles, then finding people who could sing to do the singing. I may be looking for the worst in Disney, but it makes sense to me.

[iko.livejournal.com]

Yes, Filipinos like myself self-identify as Asian. The only reason why I could imagine casting someone else to do the non-singing parts is the quality of her speaking voice.

[iko.livejournal.com]

Oh man, you should get the CD "When Pigs Fly" or something like that.

It's got Jackie Chan with Ani DiFranco singing "Unforgettable". Yes, the "Unforgettable" that you are thinking of. It is really amusing.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

You know, the whole brain-breakage thing...

You're totally not helping there.

[iko.livejournal.com]

*enables (http://www.amazon.com/When-Pigs-Fly-Various-Artists/dp/B000067FTM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1214454500&sr=1-2)*

Actually, I think Don Ho singing "Shock the Monkey" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5WOAxu28C0) is probably more brain-breaking.

Or Devo singing "Ohio" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAp_02ertnE).

Or Herman's Hermits doing "White Wedding".

It's brain-breaking in a really great way!

[leenah.livejournal.com]

WANT.

well, really, it sounds FRIGHTENING.

but still.

WANT!

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Right. There. With. You.

On both counts.

[iko.livejournal.com]

Found it (http://www.amazon.com/When-Pigs-Fly-Various-Artists/dp/B000067FTM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1214454500&sr=1-2)!

It's worth it just for the laughs!

[mochi-tsuki.livejournal.com]

Lesley Gore sings Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap! Too funny.

But the sample only had Ani, not Jackie.

[cuddlycthulhu.livejournal.com]

Many Chinese movie stars have their own music, actually. It's pretty common.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

See, this I didn't know. Then again, it makes sense, because under the studio system in Hollywood, American movie stars had to at least carry a tune and do a little soft-shoe, no matter how big they were.

And from what I understand, both Bollywood and the Hong Kong movie industry bear a striking resemblance to the old Hollywood studio system. So it would make sense if both Indian and Chinese actors have to be able to do a little bit of everything, especially when they're climbing the ladder to stardom.

[alymid.livejournal.com]

Being that he was trained for the Peking Opera as a child - its more surprising that we haven't heard him sing earlier.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

I'm just shocked that someone, somewhere hasn't taken advantage of that. Because, Jackie Chan? Is popular worldwide. Jackie Chan? Is totally multilingual and could sing in several languages (no doubt).

Jackie Chan? Seriously needs to do a movie musical. No. Stop laughing at me. I mean it.

[alymid.livejournal.com]

I read up on wikipedia after this - and apparently he has something like 20 albums out that are Mandarin-pop music and Hong Kong-pop music.

I suspect his unique accent has kept him from singing in english in an american production.

[moooleeesssaaa.livejournal.com]

i would totally pay to see this. & i have no doubt i would love it to itty bitty pieces.

[thepeopleseason.livejournal.com]

Confirming the initial embedded video is in Cantonese, but (and it shouldn't really be a surprise to someone who's a fan of Asian cinema, but it is), your link to his live-action Staff form video is in Mandarin.

[omegar.livejournal.com]

also, i thought he sang the end songs of his Hong Kong films, not so sure of his US films

[moooleeesssaaa.livejournal.com]

i quite enjoy his end credit performance in who am i. & now its stuck in my head.

[omegar.livejournal.com]

oh i hate having songs stuck in head. This is usually because i can never remember more than a couple of words.

So i am sorry

[moooleeesssaaa.livejournal.com]

plus since i don't know chinese i just get mumble mumble cha na na
guess i have to watch the movie now & get it out of my system

[omegar.livejournal.com]

Good option.

my personal choice is to escalate to a more annoying song. Say Kung Fu Fighting or worse.

[moooleeesssaaa.livejournal.com]

thats just evil

[omegar.livejournal.com]

It is. of course the big problem with this, is that i still don't know the words to Kung Fu.....

turns out i may be evil, just not very smart!

[lionphox]

He was also the voice of Beast, I think he only did the acting in that one. He does sing the end credits version, Beauty and the Beast. I think his voice really comes out in this song.

[entrenous88.livejournal.com]

Jackie Chan can do EVERYTHING!

[mochi-tsuki.livejournal.com]

Exactly what I was going to say. He has no limits.

[moooleeesssaaa.livejournal.com]

i seriously heart jackie. you don't even know how much. i loved jackie chan adventures & am waiting very impatiently for it to come out on dvd because its such a good blend of american & chinese & the whole abc thing & my mom likes to watch it with me. although it kinda pisses me off that he doesn't do the voice of jackie in the cartoon. but the dude doing the voice captures him nicely so i let it go.
i really like mulan but it irks me that they have the same five asians they have in every asian movie. don't get me wrong they're great actors. i love me some hong, wong, morita,takei & ming na but dude! there are other chinese actors out there i am sure! go! look! & hey japanese =/= chinese. we don't all look alike....
sorry... sometimes it irks me... just like it irks me that it seems like the only two ethnicities in the us are african american & caucasian american (are those the right terms? i can't keep up)
um... maybe i shouldn't go there. let me just end with I HEART JACKIE which is really what i wanted to say in the first place.

[yanagi-wa.livejournal.com]

Wow! Thanks for posting this. (I love Jackie Chan)

[jimbos.livejournal.com]

Jackie Chan has said in an interview that his movie heroes were Fred Astair and Gene Kelly because they were the complete package, and I know that he can dance pretty well too.

[tjalorak.livejournal.com]

Here's a couple Jackie Chan songs:

The Myth - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fmygsxu6f-A
Another version of I'll Make a Man Out of You - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XYV4z8dZozo

[http://users.livejournal.com/_finn_/]

also, if you want to convert a youtube video to an mp3 or other formats:

http://www.mediaconverter.org/index.php?s=convert

is very useful

[grey-bard.livejournal.com]

Oh hey, off topic but of interest to you. The Corn Refiners Association is about to start a big ad campaign trying to convince people that High Fructose Corn Syrup is natural and healthy.

http://community.livejournal.com/pollanesque/66300.html

[silentpheonix.livejournal.com]

You can learn all about Jackie's wonderful days in the Beijing Opera in his biography that was released several years ago. He usually sings the theme songs for his movies.