Marketing
The film's teaser trailer was released in November 1997, attached to the theatrical releases of The Little Mermaid and Flubber.[57] Teaser spots were shown during CBS's coverage of the 1998 Winter Olympics.[58]
Because of the disappointing box office performances of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Hercules, Disney restricted its marketing campaign for Mulan, spending $30 million on promotional advertisements compared to more than $60 million for Hercules the year before.[59] Rather than holding a lavish media event premiere like those of the past few years, such as premiering Pocahontas in Central Park and bringing the Main Street Electrical Parade to Fifth Avenue for Hercules, Disney opted to premiere the film on June 5, 1998, at the Hollywood Bowl, complete with Chinese lanterns and fortune cookies.[59][60] Two days before the general release, McDonald's launched its promotional campaign by including one of eight toys free with the purchase of a Happy Meal.[61] The promotion also included Szechuan sauce for its Chicken McNuggets, which would be referenced in a 2017 episode of the Adult Swim series Rick and Morty and subsequently brought back by McDonald's as a promotional item related to that show.[62]
In collaboration with Disney, Hyperion Books published The Art of Mulan authored by Jeff Kurtti, which chronicled the production of the film. In addition with its publication, Hyperion Books also issued a collector's "folding, accordion book" of the ancient poem that inspired the film.[63] On August 18, 1998, around 3,700 backpacks and 1,800 pieces of luggage were recalled back to their manufacturer, Pyramid Accessories Inc., when it was discovered they contained lead-based paint.[64]
Home media
The film was first released on VHS on February 2, 1999, as part of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection lineup. Mulan was released on DVD on November 9, 1999, as a Walt Disney Limited Issue for a limited sixty-day time period before going into moratorium.[65] On February 1, 2000, it was re-released on VHS and DVD as part of the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection lineup.[66] The VHS and DVD were accompanied by two music videos of "Reflection" and "True to Your Heart" while the DVD additionally contained the theatrical trailer and character artwork.[67] The Gold Collection release was returned into the Disney Vault on January 31, 2002.[68] On October 26, 2004, Walt Disney Home Entertainment re-released a restored print of Mulan on VHS and as a 2-disc Special Edition DVD.[69]
In March 2013, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released Mulan and Mulan II on Blu-ray and DVD to coincide with the film's 15th anniversary.[70]
In September 2017, Mulan became available to Netflix users through their streaming service.[71] In November 2019, Mulan became available for streaming on Disney+. A year later, Mulan was released on 4K Blu-ray.[72]
