Students cuddled for warmth and comfort during the opening scene of “Mulan” as a chilly breeze whipped across Norris University Center’s East Lawn and the animated Hun soldiers’ grappling hooks soared menacingly over the Great Wall of China.
About 500 students attended Mayfest’s third annual Disney sing-along throughout the course of the night, said Mayfest co-chairwoman Katie Halpern. She said the event has been popular since 2008, when students sang along with “The Lion King.” Last year, about 200 students sang to the music of “Aladdin,” she said.
“We like it because it’s sort of a preface to the outdoor madness that is Dillo Day,” Halpern said.
She said the event was originally aimed at a different population of Northwestern-those who wanted to sing rather than just watch a performance-but the musical opportunity to relive the childhood glory years has proven popular among many different types of students.
Clad in spaceship-themed footie pajamas, Medill freshman Lauren Manning said the event was a much better alternative to other Sunday night activities.
“I came partly because I’m kind of a Disney fanatic and partly because I don’t want to be doing my homework right now,” Manning said. “One of my friends said, ‘You’re only in college once and you’ll have the rest of your life to work,’ so we came.”
During the beginning of the movie’s first song, “You’ll Bring Honor to Us All,” audience members laughed nervously while just a few gung-ho attendees sang the lyrics in the closed captioning. After the song’s dramatic key change, the singing picked up a bit of strength.
Communication senior Katelin Buell said it was her first time attending the Mayfest sing-along, but she and her friends said they had watched “Mulan” relatively recently.
“We watched it in our dorm as freshmen,” she said. “Before that it must have been middle school.”
The most anticipated song among audience members was the epic crowd-pleaser “I’ll Make a Man Out of You.”
“It’s kind of like ‘the’ song,” said Weinberg senior Lindsey Parker.
When the movie began, lines like “Who spit in her bean curd?” elicited polite laughter. By the time the introductory strains of the eagerly awaited musical number came around and the movie’s romantic male lead shed his shirt, the audience hooted raucously.
Whereas students sang along quietly to the other songs, including the classic diva ballad “Reflection,” they belted “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” in earnest. The song’s conclusion met with enthusiastic applause and cheering.
