Raya and the Last Dragon

[Patricier21]

Pixar started to go downhill since Cars 2 while Lasseter was still in charge. They didn't have any critical success during that time except Inside Out and Coco. And when it comes to Disney Animation, the only movies people seem to care about are the Princess musicals and maybe Zootopia.

Finding Dory Also still got critical and fan success, I’ve actually encountered quite a few people who actually like Dory better than Nemo Big hero 6 Is also still widely regarded and got a TV show and some short films after all and I still see the first Wreck-It Ralph (Why the heck does everyone hate Ralph breaks the Internet so much?!It’s literally the only Walt Disney animation studios Sequel to actually live up to the original!) Still getting a lot of love

And of course, monsters University even if it’s mostly in hindsight is so praised by fans that literally everywhere I go not mention this song very forum again still very much praises it

[D23ExpoVisitor25]

And Encanto.

Encanto wasn't made during Lasseter's time.

I know, but that is another Disney Animation movie people still care about.

[PatchofBlue]

Yeah ... this kind of reads like a bunch of half-truths being weaponized to kick Disney when it's down and/or create sympathy for Lasseter, which we have continued to see even through established and prominent outposts. I suppose Lee is as liable as anyone to be a tyrant behind closed doors, but for Lasseter there isn't any question of what kind of person he was or the kind of culture he created at Disney and Pixar (and good heavens, he was not the only piece of the puzzle keeping Disney animation afloat during the 2010s STOP ACTING LIKE HE'S OUR LORD AND SAVIOR!)

[Disney's Divinity]

Yeah, that article sounds like nonsense, although it's true Raya was one of those films where they tried to draw in people involved with the culture to tell it and all that. But it's not the first time they've done it. They've always brought on culture "experts" with films they've done, from Moana all the way back to Pocahontas (which is funny considering how hated that film by certain crowds these days).

Also, the article taps into conservatives' trope of the "replacement theory" as far as Lee supposedly wanting to "replace" everyone with "female activists"--laughable. It's sort of the way everyone who disagrees with conservatives are called "groomers" these days, the rhetoric runs in circles to the point it doesn't mean anything anymore.

[Sotiris]

New artwork at Disneyland Hotel in Disneyland Paris.


Source: https://dlpreport.com/disneyland-paris- ... 0-16-2023/


Source: https://twitter.com/laughing_place/stat ... 1971820883

[Disney's Divinity]

I love the picture of Raya and Benja! It's always interesting to see 3D characters in fairly good hand-drawn form like this.

[carolinakid]

Will anyone be upset if I say Raya’s father, Chief Benja is one hot DILF??

[Jules]

Will anyone be upset if I say Raya’s father, Chief Benja is one hot DILF??

Not at all. Tell us what you'd do to him.

[carolinakid]

I’d love to, Jules, but I don’t think the language I would need to use is allowed!

Lord Tremaine too was one attractive daddy!
A sugar daddy too with all his !

Even though I think the percentage of posters on this site who would agree with me is about 99%!

[twihard]

I’d love to, Jules, but I don’t think the language I would need to use is allowed!

Lord Tremaine too was one attractive daddy!
A sugar daddy too with all his !

Even though I think the percentage of posters on this site who would agree with me is about 99%!

I like the dad from Inside Out. Diane Lane is one lucky woman.

[Sotiris]

Was Dreamworks's How To Train Your Dragon an inspiration for Raya And The Last Dragon? Also have you seen The Reluctant Dragon and Pete's Dragon?

Carlos Lopez Estrada: I have seen every dragon movie ever made.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comment ... t/o8ga6mn/

Q: Raya is supposed to represent the Southeast Asian diaspora right but why you guys didn't hire Lea Salonga, a literal Southeast Asian legend who's been singing for Mulan and Princess Jasmine to be in the movie?

Carlos Lopez Estrada: Lea Salonga is truly an icon and I really hope I get to work with her one day. But hey, Kelly Marie Tran is a SEA legend too!

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comment ... t/o8gdte6/

Q: What was a major difference between directing a live-action movie (Blindspotting) and an animated movie (Raya and the Last Dragon), and what did you learn from making Raya?

Carlos Lopez Estrada: It was honestly a lot more similar than you would imagine. Lots of technology had to be learned during the animation transition, but ultimately, the same concepts of directing apply to both. The acting, the pacing, the blocking, it all works exactly the same. I do think the rigor involved with animated movies taught me a lot. I just finished my first live action movie since making Raya and I think i was able to do things I would've never been able to do had I not worked in animation.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comment ... t/o8gnqbh/

Q: I have a question: how difficult was it to make the Raya movie compared to a live-action film? And what was it like working with Disney?

Carlos Lopez Estrada: Disney was so special and so hard. I was young and I was their first non-white director in the history of the studio (98 years at the time), which was in theory awesome but it came with some serious challenges too. Needless to say, I lasted only a few years there. But they were really great years. I wouldn't trade them for the world. But I do have some proper crazy Disney stories that I should share someday.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comment ... t/o8gu8z7/

Q: Big fan of Raya and the Last Dragon here! What was the process behind the world building for Raya and how did Covid impact working on the movie for the studio?

Carlos Lopez Estrada: Covid sucked. I was promised a world tour to promote the movie and instead sat in my tiny apartment with no AC eating huevos a la Mexicana from Millies 3 times a day. We produced 98% of the movie remotely which was so wild. The bright side was that it gave the whole crew (500+ people) something exciting to keep everyone distracted during the apocalypse. World building at Disney was such an awesome fever dream. You're surrounded by the best artists and technicians in the world and they're all just there trying to make cool shit. Also, for all the cultural oversights that shan't be ignored, Disney really did a pretty extraordinary job at bringing in so many cultural consultants (historians, musicians, anthropologists, engineers...) to help on the visual development. So much attention to detail.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comment ... t/o8gt43d/

Q: I just wanted to let you know Raya and the Dragon was the first Disney movies to affect me profoundly in an emotional way and no movie has done that to me before. I absolutely love it.

Carlos Lopez Estrada: That's so special. It's easy to feel cynical about Disney for all the obvious reasons, but when the movie came out, they put together this reel of reactions from people all over the world (particularly SEA) talking about the profound impact the movie had on them and man that was I think one of the most memorable experiences making that movie.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comment ... t/o8hh93h/

Q: Did Disney involve you in the process when they were deciding the Raya theatrical/streaming release? What was it like having it be such a huge hit on Disney Plus?

Carlos Lopez Estrada: No, they did not involve us at all. It was nice to see it do well on streaming! But it was really really sad to have such a limited theatrical release because of Covid.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comment ... t/o8hh7m0/

[PatchofBlue]

Nice finds from this conversation with Estrada!

I have wondered exactly what it was that COVID took from this film. I feel like in some ways, its real opponent wasn't actually the shutdown, but Disney+. Or rather, the streaming wars in general.

Like, had this exact movie premiered in the same landscape as like COCO and Moana, I think this movie would have continued Disney's Box Office supremacy. Like, it wouldn't have hit a billion or anything, but it would have done decent. Had this movie been released today without the shutdown but with the release strategy for all their films, it would likely do ELIO numbers and been written off as a failure, but because it was their first movie with a theatrical release after COVID, it was afforded its own space in this neutral zone where it wasn't really a hit but couldn't technically be counted as a flop. So I think in some ways, COVID actually gave this movie a bit of a grace card.

I rewatched it a few weeks ago, and while I do feel like there are some deep-seated issues, there is a lot in this movie that works really, really well, which is why I'd be happy to see it celebrated on a wider scale.

[Disney's Divinity]

So it was a considered a hit on streaming? That's something I had wondered for a long time. I wish this would get a sequel since I loved this one and you can tell it was already built with the idea of extended franchising in mind. No doubt Encanto will, but this one feels more up in the air. Maybe down the line it could get one. Frozen III and IV first, and probably Encanto 2 before it, too. It would be a much better gamble than WIR2 was, no idea why they considered a sequel there. And it would redeem the first film for landing during the start of the pandemic if the sequel was successful.

Now Wish on the other hand, I don't think it has a chance for sequels even though they were trying to leave the door open for them in the case the film took off with Magnifico simply being imprisoned rather than dying. And the first Strange World felt deliberately intended to be a flop one-and-done from the outset.