LOS ANGELES-With the live-action feature version of Disney's Mulan slated for release in March, the official trailer has been screened to an appreciative audience. Its director Niki Caro and Disney executives discussed the film at the company's D23 Expo last weekend.

The blockbuster, starring Liu Yifei in the lead role, is based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan and is a live-action remake of Disney's 1998 animated film of the same name.

Mulan, a beautiful, spirited young woman seeking to spare the life of her ailing father, disguises herself as a man to go to war in his place. Smart, brave and determined, she flouts tradition to embrace her true potential, blazing a courageous trail in the fight against the enemy.

"I'm most excited for the audience to see this movie, which is on a truly epic scale," Caro told the attendees at D23. "What drew me to this project was Mulan herself, her journey from village girl to soldier, to warrior, to hero," she said. Caro is the second female director hired by Disney to direct a film budgeted at over $100 million. Mulan is one of Disney's biggest budget films ever, with a reported purse of $300 million.

Adroitly sidestepping any concerns of potential "whitewashing" of the role, Disney auditioned more than 1,000 actresses of Chinese descent to find just the right lead to play Mulan, someone who had the perfect mix of acting talent, martial arts training and likability.

They picked Chinese-American actress Liu and cast other leading Chinese actors, Donnie Yen, Jet Li and Jason Scott Lee, and actress Gong Li.

As the world's second-largest movie market, China is a major territory for Disney. China's box-office revenue grew 9 percent to around 61 billion yuan ($8.5 billion) in 2018, becoming an essential part of the success of many Hollywood blockbusters.

Tackling a beloved legend from another culture can be fraught with public relations peril if handled badly. Disney executives explain how they approached a movie like Mulan to ensure cultural integrity and authenticity.

"Initially, we spent a lot of time with scholars, experts and people from the region, before spending a great deal of time in China," says Sean Bailey, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, adding that the studio not only has a Chinese cast but also brought in a Chinese producer to make the movie with them.

"What I've found, when trying to make an authentic movie about China or the Middle East or Boston, is that if you put a lot of knowledgeable people in front of and behind the camera, they will tell you, 'Hey, I think this is a little off,' or 'I think you can improve this a little'," he explains.

Disney takes its mission to make universally accessible and culturally accurate movies very seriously, as evidenced by its treatment of movies such as Coco and Moana.

Alan Horn, co-chairman and chief creative officer of The Walt Disney Studios, says: "In today's social media environment, we get a lot of feedback. And we listen to it. We are aware of the importance of keeping a finger on the pulse of what's happening out there."

Bailey adds: "We do a lot of work to populate the production as well as we can with knowledgeable people in front of and behind the camera."

He continues, clearly enthusiastic about Disney's productions, "I love it when these movies go out into the world... I love the values the stories promote and the impact they have on a huge audience."

Horn points out filmgoers have a certain expectation of the Disney brand, no matter what culture they depict, "Audiences may not always know what they are going to see, but they know what they are not going to see. The Disney brand conveys a certain responsibility to the public, to parents and families, to make them feel safe."

When asked if Disney has any plans to do more Chinese stories, Horn says: "The China market is obviously a large and important one, and we care about the Chinese people and their history and traditions, so we will certainly continue to explore what other Chinese stories and legends might have universal appeal that we could bring to the screen."

He says: "We could run out of Marvel stories, so we are interested in stories from all over the world that can show us something different and special."

He notes that it's important to make movies that "have lasting value, that mean something and that touch people". Smiling, he adds, "And it never hurts to be funny."