Raya and the Last Dragon

[JeanGreyForever]

Of course not, but since Disney is practically stuck with that stereotype more than ever, it's hard for them to not make a female lead a Princess, even though it's shoehorned in, regardless of it's impossibility (*cough, Tiana, cough*). And besides, weren't Disney supposed to stop adding new Princesses to their lineup?

Moana's another example who sorta gets stuck with the princess title in the film (even if she rejects it) but even if you don't consider her a princess in film, Disney's certainly treating her as one in real life since they added her to the franchise.

[DisneyFan09]

Word.

[DisneyFan97]

I wonder if there will be an older mentor or grandparent type character in the role. Like the character Jackie Chan voiced the Ninjago movie or Moana's grandma ?

I am also curious who or whom the villain and or villains are ?


I pray to god it won't be a big twist like it has been in so many recent Disney and Pixar movies. It's gettting so old and it leads to the antagonist being both underdevolopved and unmemorable beacome they appear(as actually villains ) so late in the story. There no time to either flesh them our or for them to give a a memorable inspiration !

[Disney's Divinity]

They could always do the villain-who's-not-really-a-villain thing again, like Moana. Sad to think that Disney's villains were once regarded as one of their strengths...

[unprincess]

I don't know why Disney has decided that they need to drop old school villains completely. The only reason I could think of is that all their films since Wreck it Ralph have been successful so audiences must be responding positively to the lack of traditional villains and there is no need to go back to them.

even Frozen 2 wont supposedly have any villains, just personal or physical conflicts the characters have to overcome. How boring.

[UmbrellaFish]

With Lasseter out of the picture, my biggest hope is that Walt Disney Animation Studios begins to deviate from Pixar’s formula. It’s exactly why all the villains have been so lackluster in recent years. I’m not sure if “Raya” will be the movie that breaks the mold.

[Farerb]

I'm sorry.

[unprincess]

lol
I really wish she didn't look so much like a Deviantart OC.

[Sotiris]

Interesting they went from the more gender neutral original title to one that emphasizes a female lead.

Could it have been a trademark issue? There's a Dragon Empire book series so the title may had already been registered.

I much prefer this new title. It sounds like a lost legend or fable.

I would have preferred if it was just Raya like Moana or Mulan. Raya is a pretty and distinct name and while I don't hate the "and the Last Dragon" part, I think it would have been simpler and more elegant for the title to just have been her name. I mean, this is really Raya's story despite Sisu being her comedic companion through her journey. I know I wouldn't have liked it if Mulan was called "Mulan and the Tiny Dragon".

A real title and looks like Raya WILL be a princess!

There's nothing from the information released so far to indicate that Raya is royalty. Of course, that never stopped Disney so it's more than likely that she will be inducted into the DP franchise provided the film isn't popular enough to launch its own brand. If that happens it will make Raya the third Asian princess in the line-up after Jasmine and Mulan.

What’s interesting is this is beginning to sound like a buddy comedy...between two women. Which I think is a first for a Disney movie and a rarity in film in general.

Even though there were three characters instead of two, I think Home on the Range qualifies too.

Seems like an odd choice for a dragon character. The design for Sisu is really odd... She almost looks like a unicorn.

Maybe the Last Dragon is related to the Last Unicorn.

I'm mixed about the dragon's design, it looks too...girly to me...like she was created for a girl's preschool series on Disney Jr. and yes its true she does look like a unicorn.

You may have a point there. Its color scheme does remind me that of Nella, the Princess Knight. I don't mind the dragon's design that much. I think it's alright. They're clearly going with a more comedic than imposing look so the design chosen is adequate for that purpose. I don't like her horn though; I think she would look better without it.

Well, to give my thoughts about the leaks and the new information: I like that it's named after the lead character, yet I'm not so fond of the logo.

I'm not fond of the logo either. They shouldn't have put the dragon detail on Raya's name since she's the human character. The should have put it on the "D" in dragon or have the "R" in dragon shaped like a dragon tail. I don't like the color they picked either.

I'm glad that the premise will be inspired of South East Asian cultures, yet the mashup just scream Big Hero 6 and Moana all over it.

I hate it when they do that. Couldn't they have picked a Southeast Asian country and made up a fictional kingdom in it? I think they do this in order to appeal to a wide variety of geographically-close or culturally-similar countries and evade scrutiny if elements in the film are not entirely accurate to a specific location. Regardless of reasoning, I find this practice offensive. Different countries and cultures are homogenized and treated interchangeably this way.

It's interesting and pretty daring that this movie is going to be a non-musical, since this Revival era has established this norm with their female leads all over again.

I wouldn't say it's daring. It's always easier to market non-musicals as there a lot of people who hate them. Also, a film being a musical makes it appear "girly" which can alienate the male demographic. Personally, I'm disappointed it's not a musical. Animation and musicals go together like peanut butter and jam.

I didn't know the actress who voices Raya before, but according to Wikipedia she's also a singer and a songwriter, so maybe there'll be songs in the movie after all.

I doubt it unless they have a song during a montage sequence or something. And of course, there will be an end credits song. Deadline reported that this project "is not musically-infused like Moana".

Do you think Raya will have a sassy grandma?

Isn't Sisu going to function as that considering she's an old woman in her human form?

But we were also promised we would see a new animation style with Moana. While the movie looked good, I didn't notice anything new except from the usual evolution regarding effects and such.

That's true. I'm sure Disney will start again hyping up the supposedly new, innovative techniques used in the film, only for it to turn out like your average, conventional-looking CG product.

How old Sisu looks like in her human form please?

I can answer that for you.

I would say she's about as old as grandma Tala is when Moana is young, so at the beginning of the film. She is dressed as a peasant woman, not colorful or out there in any way.

Source: https://all-those-disneydolls.tumblr.co ... h-a-lot-of

They could always do the villain-who's-not-really-a-villain thing again, like Moana. Sad to think that Disney's villains were once regarded as one of their strengths...

I think they'll either have no villain at all or a misunderstood/redeemed villain like Te Fiti or Gabby Gabby.

[DisneyFan97]

I have a big question !

Will Awkwafina voice Sisu even as an old lady ? or will they hire an actually older actress to voice Sisu in that form ?

[Sotiris]

Will Awkwafina voice Sisu even as an old lady ? or will they hire an actually older actress to voice Sisu in that form?

I believe Awkwafina will be voicing Sisu as an old woman as well.

[DisneyFan97]

Will Awkwafina voice Sisu even as an old lady ? or will they hire an actually older actress to voice Sisu in that form?

I believe Awkwafina will be voicing Sisu as an old woman as well.

Okey. I guses they want to get the most out of her.

But would have been nice it was an actually old lady. And old asian veteran actress to add some more prestige.

[D82]

I didn't know the actress who voices Raya before, but according to Wikipedia she's also a singer and a songwriter, so maybe there'll be songs in the movie after all.

I doubt it unless they have a song during a montage sequence or something. And of course, there will be an end credits song. Deadline reported that this project "is not musically-infused like Moana".

Yeah, I guess it's unlikely. If it was a musical, they would've announced the composer(s) at the Expo. On the one hand, a female-led Disney film without songs it's refreshing, but I hope it has at least a couple of songs. Or if they don't want to make a traditional musical, they could also have songs not sung by the characters like in Tarzan.

I'm not fond of the logo either. They shouldn't have put the dragon detail on Raya's name since she's the human character. The should have put it on the "D" in dragon or have the "R" in dragon shaped like a dragon tail.

I personally like it, but I hadn't thought of that detail. Yes, it would've been better if the dragon detail was on the word dragon.

[blackcauldron85]

I have no insider info + it's just a thought I had, but maybe the logo is like that because Raya becomes the last dragon to allow Sisu to stay a human...? or something...or it could be just their logo design choice...

[Disney's Divinity]

I have no insider info + it's just a thought I had, but maybe the logo is like that because Raya becomes the last dragon to allow Sisu to stay a human...? or something...or it could be just their logo design choice...

I think you might end up being right. I went back and read the early synopsis, and they say Raya goes on an adventure to bring light back to her world (her name can't help but make me think of a "ray" of light, although Google says the name can mean "friend" or "heaven"). Moreover, Sisu's design looks sort of like a moon-related character? Another poster said she has the design of a water dragon and water is often connected to the moon, too. Perhaps Raya realizes she herself is a dragon hidden in human form, and she and Sisu will turn out to operate as a moon and sun / yin and yang kind of relationship destined to bring unity back to Kumandra. The story details also say a dragon can bring light or destruction, pretty much setting up a binary there. If we're going to be saddled with a buddy film anyway, I wouldn't mind there being some sort of story significance for the film focusing on a dyad for once. I don't think they'd have the guts to make Sisu a twist villain at the end, even if that would fit for me.

I don’t think “Raya” would be a strong enough title. Some protagonist’s names just don’t work well-enough to be the title on their own, plus I like having a longer title again. Besides, “Raya” would make the film seem even more similar to Moana for audiences from the outset.

[DisneyFan09]

Close-up of Raya.

I find her to be somewhat generic-looking, to be honest. But perhaps she'll look better in her full CGI form.

I wouldn't say it's daring. It's always easier to market non-musicals as there a lot of people who hate them. Also, a film being a musical makes it appear "girly" which can alienate the male demographic. Personally, I'm disappointed it's not a musical. Animation and musicals go together like peanut butter and jam.

Fair enough, but I'll say that it's still daring, since this Revival era has practically milked the Princess musical formula, so it's daring to even break from that trope. But is it truly confirmed that it won't be a musical?

[JeanGreyForever]

I find her to be somewhat generic-looking, to be honest. But perhaps she'll look better in her full CGI form.

Honestly, she'll probably look worse in CGI like the previous heroines. Her design is okay but I see too much resemblance to Mulan facially and frankly she looks like a character from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

[unprincess]

I actually like her design! I dont think she looks like Mulan at all, her face isn't a perfectly round shape like Mulan's. I also love the choppy hair. I hope she gets to wear something more traditional looking in the film, something like a Vietnamese ao dai or Thai sinh & sabai.

[JeanGreyForever]

Her head shape and nose are different but the eyes, eyebrows, and lips remind me a lot of Mulan. Particularly from some old concept art and book illustrations.

[D82]

Close-up of Raya.

Do you happen to have the full image in that size, Sotiris? I've tried to find a hi-res version of that concept art, but I haven't found any with the same quality as yours.

Of course, this is just a concept art, so maybe she doesn't end up looking exactly like that, but I personally like Raya's design there. She looks more mature than most female Disney leads to me. Similar to Pocahontas in that regard, and I like that. I don't think she resembles any previous Disney character too much. I find her outfit and its combination of colors nice too. And she definitely looks more like a warrior than any other Disney heroine.