Raya and the Last Dragons Review - Jade J. used to creating. In Raya, we can identify some traits of Mulan and Merida - two iconic Disney feminist figures preceding this daring princess. The Southeast Asian setting - the only Asian setting, in fact, apart from Mulan - is also an interesting choice, contributing to the cultural diversity of Disney protagonists.
Raya the warrior princess and Sisu the dragon Raya and the Last Dragon, the most recently released Walt Disney animated film, came out in March 2021, following Frozen II as the newest Disney hit. It was directed by Don Hall , featuring Star Wars star Kelly Marie Tran as the iconic character of Raya, and Chinese-American actress Awkwafina as Sisu the dragon. The plot takes place in ancient Southeast Asia in the fictional kingdom known as Kumandra, a land where dragons and humans once coexisted peacefully until the attack of the druun, a plague turning everything it touched into stone. The plague was stopped by the last standing dragon, Sisudatu, with her powerful gem. Since the plague, peoples of Kumandra have been divided into five enemy tribes fighting for possession of the dragon gem. Each tribe is named after a dragon feature - Tail, Talon, Spine, Fang and Heart.
The truly impactful aspect of this film is the touching theme of trust it depicts. The story begins with a betrayal: Namaari, princess of Fang, tricks Raya into showing her the dragon gem so that she could steal it from Heart. Since then, Raya has vowed to never trust anyone anymore. Sisu, on the other hand, disagrees. One of the key moments in the movie takes place when Raya tells Sisu that “The world has broken, so you can’t trust anyone’, while the dragon retorts that “maybe the world is broken because you don’t trust anyone”. Kumandra might be a fictional setting, but we can all hear the tragic truth in Sisu’s words reflected in our own world where numerous conflicts and discriminations persist due to a lack of trust. At the end of the movie, the druun is defeated thanks to a restoration of trust between the five tribes, when Raya and Namaari put their pasts behind them, combine their gem pieces and destroy the plague together. As Sisu puts it, trust ‘may seem impossible, but sometimes, you just have to take the first step’.
*Warning: Spoiler alert! * The story takes place five hundred years after the plague attack and is centered around Raya, the princess of Heart. One night, the tribes wrestle for control of the dragon gem, causing it to shatter into pieces which brings back the druun. To save her people, Raya seeks for Sisu, the final living dragon, and finds her six years later. Together, they embark on a journey across Kumandra in the attempt to gather all pieces of the dragon gem to defeat the druun.
In my view, this movie definitely makes up another one of Disney’s masterpieces. It is packed with a plotfull of thrilling adventure and intense action, enriched by comic figures, namely the hilarious character of Sisu. It also presents profound themes, especially the theme of trust but also the value of friendship, family Raya and the Last Dragon will undoubtedly be an- and faith. Despite its Disney label, I believe it is toother Disney classic. The iconic character of Princess tally accessible and enjoyable by audiences of all age Raya represents a unique type of princess - the ad- groups. venturous, sword-wielding warrior woman diverging from the classic type of female protagonists Disney is
22
