Disney dropped its first trailer for the live-action remake of its 1998 animated classic on Dec. 6.

If the trailer is anything to go by, the film, which is based on the "Ballad of Hua Mulan",  is going to be a gorgeous epic befitting its rumoured US$300 million (S$408 million) budget.

Watch it here and we'll break it down after the video.

The trailer opens with Hua Zhou (Tzi Ma), the father of Hua Mulan (Liu Yifei) asking her to bring honour to the family, presumably by marrying off and being a dutiful wife.

The scene then cuts to an official decree that every family must send a man to serve in the Emperor's Imperial Army to fight against Northern invaders (who by the way, look mighty skilled at climbing walls) led by Bori Khan (Jason Scott Lee).

The bloodthirsty Bori Khan is assisted by a witch, Xianniang (Gong Li) who is a shapeshifter and quite the fighter as well.

Hua Zhou volunteers to join the army, but his leg is weak. Mulan's mother Hua Li (Rosalind Chao) warns Mulan that she might never see her father again. Mulan steals her father's sword and rides off to join the army in her father's stead.

Here, fans of the animated film will be rewarded with a familiar tune.

While the show's director, Niki Caro, has said that there will be no songs in this upcoming remake, one of the animated film's most popular songs, "Reflections" makes an appearance in this trailer -- in the form of a soaring symphonic cover.

"My heart was soaring and then I immediately started singing along without meaning to," said a colleague when she first saw the trailer.

So, perhaps fans of the songs from the animated film can hope for more covers in the actual remake.

Back to the trailer, Mulan disguises herself as Hua Jun to join the army. We see Commander Tung (Donnie Yen) training his men while a soldier retorts, "We're going to make men out of every single one of you." -- again another throwback to the original "I'll Make a Man Out of You".

Towards the end of the trailer, we see Mulan letting her long hair down, before remarking, "I'm Hua Mulan who will bring honour to us all."

Looks like this is going to be quite an epic remake after all.

Top images: Disney