Creative and beautiful: Disney’s ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’
It’s no secret Disney has started building their storytelling around powerful female leads, but “Raya” features the most female-based cast yet. At the beginning of the movie, the only male lead is Raya’s dad. Women are the focus of “Raya,” and I am not mad about it. If you contrast Raya to some of the classic Disney princesses, you will find that she represents a more accurate version of women, thereby empowering girls to be themselves.
Raya’s character is a vulnerable fighter, who struggles to practice everything her father teaches. In a world torn by division and anger, Raya’s father teaches Raya that healing division requires surrender and kindness. He tells her the leaders of the world need to drop their weapons and unite regardless of differences. The struggle to trust after betrayal plays a big part in Raya’s world and her story.
One of the best parts about “Raya and the Last Dragon” was the animation. Disney has never done an animated movie in a Southeast Asia-inspired setting, which gave Disney artists the chance to be really creative. The art and attention to detail in this movie were insane. The colors were vibrant, and the characters were each so unique and diverse in contrast to anything Disney has done before.
Unfortunately, the thematic move to use Raya as an untrusting person was not one that I found to be successful. There was a great opportunity to create emotional depth that would move audiences to be more sympathetic for Raya, but I think Disney missed the mark. To be fair, it’s hard to create a strong character who is also vulnerable and emotional because of the way we’ve been taught to view emotion. But in this case, I think Disney got too cliche on Raya’s character. She gets betrayed and isolates herself and obsesses over fixing her one mistake… it’s a very familiar narrative. Too familiar.
The best movies you watch are the best because they touch you with brief moments of humanity on screen — those moments are only in Disney movies half of the time. Sometimes, for the sake of their target audience, Disney sacrifices realism for cheap humor which can distract from gut-punch moments more mature audiences crave. Raya just happens to be one of those Disney movies that just missed the emotional, gut-punch mark.
“Raya and the Last Dragon” was semi-disappointing for me. The movie had the potential for so much emotional power and has so much relevance. As far as emotional depth and thematic resonance, Disney was unsuccessful. However, the animation was vibrant and captivating and the casting could not have been better. Awkwafina and Kelly Marie Tran were excellent in their roles as Sisu and Raya.
Overall, I would rate “Raya and the Last Dragon” as a 6 out of 10. While Raya is empowering, adventure-packed and exquisitely animated, it’s also lacking in pivotal moments and a powerhouse theme.
Emily White is a junior studying English and print journalism. She is currently serving as the senior writer for the Lifestyles section of the Statesman.
–emily.white@usu.edu