DVDizzy Forum

Disney artist Jeff Merghart has shared a lot of concept art from when the movie was called Dragon Empire that I think is very interesting. It confirms some of the info from that article from That Hashtag Show was true. Apart from the early title (which I don't know if had been already confirmed or not), it confirms Bolin was the name of an earlier version of Sisu. It's already a female in these concepts, but maybe it was originally a male character as that report said. And she's really old in one of these concepts, like they said Bolin was. There was also a character named "old Chong", which apparently was a shapeshifting dragon too (or was he also an earlier version of Sisu?), a matriarch, and winged leopards (probably early versions of Namaari's pet). It also looks like Raya was called Kaya at one point and the gem was already part of the story from quite early.

Rumpelstiltskin wrote:You sure put a lot of hard work and effort into the posts. It makes it a lot easier to keep ourselves updated.

That's such a nice compliment that I didn't know how to respond. Thanks, Rumpelstiltskin. I do it very gladly and it's really not that much effort for me since I'd search for that info for me anyway. I also post many things that probably are not interesting for many people, like so many reactions from critics, for example, or too many articles (I find it hard to decide what's important and what's not), but it means a lot to me to know that people benefit from my posts. That said, I wanted to say that if any of you find anything before I do, please don't wait for me to post it. I love when other people participate too and sometimes I feel it's my fault they don't do it more.

farerb wrote:I heard that as well, but I wasn't sure it that was true, I also saw 117 minutes but I have no idea what the source is. Anyway it seems that 90 minutes is just a placeholder, the same happened with Soul.

Yes, I think you're right it was a placeholder.

bruno_wbt wrote:I'm going to watch it tomorrow! (at the press premiere)

My invitation says that the movie plus the short are 114 minutes total.

I'm going to confirm it tomorrow. Can't wait!

I'm so jealous! But I'm very happy for you. Enjoy the movie!

Regarding the running time, I renewed my Disney+ subscription to be able to watch Raya and there it says the film is 1 hour and 47 minutes long. That's 107 minutes. And the short must be 6 or 7 minutes long, so 114 minutes has to be the movie plus the short, as your invitation says. That's still quite long for a WDAS movie, isn't it?

Yes, it is. However it won't be the longest.

Fantasia is 126 minutes (2 hours and 6 minutes).
Ralph Breaks the Internet is 112 minutes (1 hour and 52 minutes).
Zootopia is 108 minutes (1 hour and 48 minutes).
Moana is 107 minutes (1 hour and 47 minutes).
Raya will have the same running time as Moana's.

^Thanks for posting that list. I didn't remember Ralph Breaks the Internet was so long! Raya will still be the fifth longest WDAS film then (tied with Moana). Well, I'm glad it's a long movie. Hopefully, it won't feel rushed then and all the characters will be developed enough.

D82 wrote:Disney artist Jeff Merghart has shared a lot of concept art from when the movie was called Dragon Empire that I think is very interesting. It confirms some of the info from that article from That Hashtag Show was true. Apart from the early title (which I don't know if had been already confirmed or not), it confirms Bolin was the name of an earlier version of Sisu. It's already a female in these concepts, but maybe it was originally a male character as that report said. And she's really old in one of these concepts, like they said Bolin was. There was also a character named "old Chong", which apparently was a shapeshifting dragon too (or was he also an earlier version of Sisu?), a matriarch, and winged leopards (probably early versions of Namaari's pet). It also looks like Raya was called Kaya at one point and the gem was already part of the story from quite early.

Rumpelstiltskin wrote:You sure put a lot of hard work and effort into the posts. It makes it a lot easier to keep ourselves updated.

That's such a nice compliment that I didn't know how to respond. Thanks, Rumpelstiltskin. I do it very gladly and it's really not that much effort for me since I'd search for that info for me anyway. I also post many things that probably are not interesting for many people, like so many reactions from critics, for example, or too many articles (I find it hard to decide what's important and what's not), but it means a lot to me to know that people benefit from my posts. That said, I wanted to say that if any of you find anything before I do, please don't wait for me to post it. I love when other people participate too and sometimes I feel it's my fault they don't do it more.

That is so cool---- thank you for sharing all of that art!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "The Disney That Never Was" is my favorite topic, so you just made my day!!! And, I was going to reply to Rumpelstiltskin's praise of you, but couldn't find the words, but since you addressed, it-- yes, I agree 100%- thank you for posting all the stuff that you do! I haven't had time to check out all the goodies that you and Sotiris post (thanks to you, too, Sotiris!), but I'm glad they're listed here for me to look when I have time! When I was younger I had all the time in the world to check out Disney stuff, but that was website-based (and a lot of those sites don't exist now). You guys go onto social media and sites to find the good stuff, and I am very grateful!

On those ArtStation pictures-- did they add the Raya title after-the-fact, or were they going between the two titles for a while? And with "Kaya" in the mix, was that during Dragon Empire, and it was never "Kaya and the Last Dragon?" I wonder if Bolin + Sisu + Old Chong in Dragon Empire = Sisu in R&tLD... Old Chong's dragon form looks like the one marked "Sisu," so was his dragon form called "Sisu," or they renamed the character "Sisu" after scrapping Old Chong?! In that very last picture, is that a baby monkey or a baby flying leopard? Is that young Raya in the picture, or someone else completely? When did Tuk Tuk come along since he's not in any art (or is that pig-nosed creature Raya is riding an early Tuk Tuk??)? There's a baby with the Matriarch, so I wonder if she was the inspiration for Noi. SO MANY QUESTIONS!

D82 wrote: Regarding the running time, I renewed my Disney+ subscription to be able to watch Raya and there it says the film is 1 hour and 47 minutes long. That's 107 minutes. And the short must be 6 or 7 minutes long, so 114 minutes has to be the movie plus the short, as your invitation says.

Yes! I just received the movie and the short,

Running times:

I'm glad they got rid of Bolin. That name would've been another connection to Avatar (the character from Legend of Korra). Plus, I like that her mentor (ish?) is a female character.

And, yes, thank you to D82, Sotiris, and blackcauldron85 for posting information. I guarantee I would not see or hear about the majority of this stuff otherwise.

EDIT: Btw, does anyone have any idea about what date this movie will be released on Blu-ray? Does July sound about right or would it be later than that?

thanks to everyone who is posting the concept art links. The art book for this film is going ot be amazing!

yes I agree, many thanks to DVDizzy's forums info gurus D82, Sotiris, and blackcauldron85, you guys are just so essential to why this place is so great.

D82 wrote:

DisneyFan97 wrote:
On WDAS's website, it says their design is inspired by the serval and the caracal, two wild cats. But, judging by their fangs and tongues (and maybe also their tails) in this concept art, I think they might be part snake as well, just like the Ongis are part fish and Tuk Tuk part insect.

thanks for that info! that's odd b/c neither of those two cat species are found in SEA(they're mostly African and the caracal is also found in India and Middle East.)
There are some neat Asian wild cats they could have used for inspiration as well as the more familiar tiger and leopard. Though the winged leopard concept was probably dropped b/c it was too similar to the jaquins from Elena of Avalor.

As for Sisu, theres concept art that has a much more SEA dragon look, but I think what happened was the movie was already so lacking in typical girly elements(including most of the female characters themselves) that they felt they had to make something that would appeal more to that audience so they picked the dragon b/c it would be the safest to pretty up. Even though again, she just sticks out so much from the rest of the more subdued grounded "actiony" aesthetic of the cast.

I am not somebody who watches the Tomato-meter religiously with new movies, but 95% with 79 reviews is really good, right? https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/raya_a ... ast_dragon

UmbrellaFish wrote:I am not somebody who watches the Tomato-meter religiously with new movies, but 95% with 79 reviews is really good, right? https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/raya_a ... ast_dragon

Yes, though there should be another 200 reviews and it can change dramatically and I think it gets certified only after 100 reviews I think, but I don't expect any dramatic changes like there were with WW84, so in my opinion it won't go down below 90%.

New clip, featurette and character posters:


Source: https://twitter.com/DisneyMalaysia/stat ... 6161044482

UmbrellaFish wrote:I am not somebody who watches the Tomato-meter religiously with new movies, but 95% with 79 reviews is really good, right? https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/raya_a ... ast_dragon

It really is! Like farerb said, I don't think the score will change dramatically. I'm so glad it's getting so good reviews! Some of the more recent reactions made me fear they wouldn't be that good, so I'm very relieved.

bruno_wbt wrote:Yes! I just received the movie and the short,

Running times:

Thanks for confirming! Did you like the movie?

blackcauldron85 wrote: That is so cool---- thank you for sharing all of that art!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "The Disney That Never Was" is my favorite topic, so you just made my day!!! And, I was going to reply to Rumpelstiltskin's praise of you, but couldn't find the words, but since you addressed, it-- yes, I agree 100%- thank you for posting all the stuff that you do! I haven't had time to check out all the goodies that you and Sotiris post (thanks to you, too, Sotiris!), but I'm glad they're listed here for me to look when I have time! When I was younger I had all the time in the world to check out Disney stuff, but that was website-based (and a lot of those sites don't exist now). You guys go onto social media and sites to find the good stuff, and I am very grateful!

Thanks for your kind words, blackcauldron85! I'm also very grateful to you and Sotiris and everybody else who shares things here. There are so many interesting things you post that I wouldn't have learned if it wasn't for you. And you do great detective work and put a lot of work into your posts too. I finally didn't comment on it, but one particular thing I was impressed with is the job you did transcribing big parts of the Art of Hercules book for us. That was incredible. I haven't commented on the articles you've posted recently about The Black Cauldron, for example, either, but I read several of them and I found them really interesting too.

And thanks, Disney's Divinity and unprincess! You're both so kind. But I think your contribution sharing your opinions, information, rankings, taking part in interesting discussions, creating polls, etc. is just as essential to why this place is so great or even more.

blackcauldron85 wrote:On those ArtStation pictures-- did they add the Raya title after-the-fact, or were they going between the two titles for a while? And with "Kaya" in the mix, was that during Dragon Empire, and it was never "Kaya and the Last Dragon?" I wonder if Bolin + Sisu + Old Chong in Dragon Empire = Sisu in R&tLD... Old Chong's dragon form looks like the one marked "Sisu," so was his dragon form called "Sisu," or they renamed the character "Sisu" after scrapping Old Chong?! In that very last picture, is that a baby monkey or a baby flying leopard? Is that young Raya in the picture, or someone else completely? When did Tuk Tuk come along since he's not in any art (or is that pig-nosed creature Raya is riding an early Tuk Tuk??)? There's a baby with the Matriarch, so I wonder if she was the inspiration for Noi. SO MANY QUESTIONS!

I have many of the same doubts too. I'm not sure if they added the new title later or not, but I think it's quite likely. Regarding Kaya, I've checked the name again and I think I probably confused the initial letter for a "K", and it's Raya what it says there. What do you think?



As for Bolin/Sisu/Old Chong, I think you're probably right they were all early versions of Sisu. I think the character most likely started as male, like in the leaked info, and later they changed it into a female one. I believe it's a monkey in the last picture. The kid looks more like a boy to me, but he/she seems to wear a necklace, so maybe it could be young Raya. And yes, I think the creature Raya is riding is probably an early version of Tuk Tuk.

By the way, I've noticed the artwork has been removed from both ArtStation and the artist's own Tumblr page. I guess he shared it too soon. From what I've seen, I think they normally aren't allowed to do it until the film has been released. I'm glad I saved the images. Though, maybe he'll post them again soon.

unprincess wrote:thanks for that info! that's odd b/c neither of those two cat species are found in SEA(they're mostly African and the caracal is also found in India and Middle East.)
There are some neat Asian wild cats they could have used for inspiration as well as the more familiar tiger and leopard. Though the winged leopard concept was probably dropped b/c it was too similar to the jaquins from Elena of Avalor.

When I searched for info about those wild cats, I also thought it was strange they weren't from Asia. That leopard also looks similar to Pepita, the winged creature from Coco.

unprincess wrote:As for Sisu, theres concept art that has a much more SEA dragon look, but I think what happened was the movie was already so lacking in typical girly elements(including most of the female characters themselves) that they felt they had to make something that would appeal more to that audience so they picked the dragon b/c it would be the safest to pretty up. Even though again, she just sticks out so much from the rest of the more subdued grounded "actiony" aesthetic of the cast.

I think part of why the final version is not more like the traditional dragons from the region is that they're a bit scary for one of the good guys and a bit too detailed. Plus, they look quite different from what Western people expect a dragon to look like. But, I think what you said was probably the main reason.

D82 wrote: It really is! Like farerb said, I don't think the score will change dramatically. I'm so glad it's getting so good reviews! Some of the more recent reactions made me fear they wouldn't be that good, so I'm very relieved.

Yes, I'm really glad it's getting good reviews, mainly for Osnat Shurer, who seems to really put her heart in this film so I'm glad for her, but also Disney seems to be back on the Revival path after the not so good reactions to Frozen II. They really should just do original films only.
I'm also glad that you're excited for this film, I hope you enjoy it

Thanks you guys- I hardly post breaking news these days-- I can't take much credit!

unprincess wrote:Though the winged leopard concept was probably dropped b/c it was too similar to the jaquins from Elena of Avalor.

When I saw the concept art, I was thinking Elena too, but I wasn't thinking that they'd drop it for that reason, but I bet you are right!

D82 wrote:That leopard also looks similar to Pepita, the winged creature from Coco.

Yes! I can't believe I forgot Coco! That makes me wonder: How common is it that Disney or Pixar changes something in their films due to what the other studio is doing?

farerb wrote:I think it gets certified only after 100 reviews I think

Ooooh...I had no idea that "Certified Fresh" had an actual meaning.

D82 wrote:New clip, featurette and character posters:

That clip is beautiful!! So if Sisu's family is able to come back to life, will Sisu be the only one with all of the powers, or will her only power left will be that she's a strong swimmer? Or do all the dragons have magical powers but they had to unleash them all somehow? SO MANY QUESTIONS!!! And how come sometimes she's marketed as just "Noi," other times "Little Noi," and other times "Baby Noi?" (She is "Baby Noi" sometimes, right?)

D82 wrote:There are so many interesting things you post that I wouldn't have learned if it wasn't for you. And you do great detective work and put a lot of work into your posts too. I finally didn't comment on it, but one particular thing I was impressed with is the job you did transcribing big parts of the Art of Hercules book for us. That was incredible. I haven't commented on the articles you've posted recently about The Black Cauldron, for example, either, but I read several of them and I found them really interesting too.

Thank you very much! <3 I'm always happy to post stuff people might be interested in!

D82 wrote:And thanks, Disney's Divinity and unprincess! You're both so kind. But I think your contribution sharing your opinions, information, rankings, taking part in interesting discussions, creating polls, etc. is just as essential to why this place is so great or even more.

YESSSS!!!!! I think we have a great group here, and I'm really grateful for the discussions that we have, and yes, everyone bringing their insight and opinions makes this place go round. *Group hug*

D82 wrote:I think I probably confused the initial letter for a "K", and it's Raya what it says there. What do you think?

It *looks* like "Kaya" because they didn't put the "hat" on the letter R...but maybe they just scribbled it and was lazy? Will we never know!!? I wish the art book came out first...maybe it will mention Dragon Empire or Kaya (if Kaya is a thing ).

D82 wrote:By the way, I've noticed the artwork has been removed from both ArtStation and the artist's own Tumblr page. I guess he shared it too soon. From what I've seen, I think they normally aren't allowed to do it until the film has been released. I'm glad I saved the images. Though, maybe he'll post them again soon.

I left the page up to save the pics, so thanks for the head's up! I've been sleeping in and haven't had time to save them. I'm glad you saved them, too!!!!

According to Rotten Tomatoes:

Certified Fresh status is a special distinction awarded to the best-reviewed movies and TV shows. In order to qualify, movies or TV shows must meet the following requirements:

A consistent Tomatometer score of 75% or higher.
At least five reviews from Top Critics.
Films in wide release must have a minimum of 80 reviews. This also applies for films going from limited to wide release.
Films in limited release must have a minimum of 40 reviews.
Only individual seasons of a TV show are eligible, and each must have a minimum of 20 reviews.
The above requirements for Certified Fresh status are only the bare minimum a film must achieve to qualify for the distinction. A film does not automatically become Certified Fresh when it meets those requirements. The Tomatometer score must be consistent and unlikely to deviate significantly before a film or TV show is marked Certified Fresh.

A Certified Fresh movie or TV season whose score drops and remains consistently below 70% will lose the Certified Fresh designation. The certification removal might not happen as soon as the score drops below 70%; as with CF designation, removal will take place when the score settles.

A movie or TV season that loses Certified Fresh status can regain it by reaching a consistent score of 75% or more and meeting the other minimum requirements.

So apparently the movie needs above 80 reviews and not 100 like I thought, and Raya and the Last Dragon has it so now it is "Certified Fresh".

That is a lot of criteria!! Thanks for sharing that!

D82 wrote:https://i.imgur.com/qsF7tBd.jpg

This is my favorite clip-art image of Sisu so far (of her dragon form, I mean). I like the Namaari poster, too.

There's a drive-in theater near where I live that I might see this film at. The only problem is I'm guessing the film won't be playing there until maybe the second month or so? I dunno. If it does show it, that would be fantastic to be able to see it without having to go in to a theater right now. I do plan to get the vaccine eventually when there more easily available for my age group. Hopefully things will be closer to normal this Fall.

This is heartbreaking to know Disney has churned out a winner but theatres are closed and audiences can't experience it in the best way possible.

Is it possible that movies like Raya & Soul could be re-released into theaters in the fall or next year? Or no, because that would take away slots from new movies?

rodis wrote:This is heartbreaking to know Disney has churned out a winner but theatres are closed and audiences can't experience it in the best way possible.

It's a shame really since theaters are closed here and we don't have Disney Plus, there really wasn't any marketing for this movie and most people I know (friends, family, colleagues) don't have any idea that a Disney movie is being released this week, that has never happened.

D82 wrote:

bruno_wbt wrote:Yes! I just received the movie and the short,

Running times:

Thanks for confirming! Did you like the movie?

Yes! I really enjoyed it.

I should be seeing this in a movie theater next week. Fingers crossed it stays open until then!