raya and the last dragon full movie 2021

So it's dispiriting, if not exactly surprising, to see some less-than-enthusiastic reactions from critics of Southeast Asian descent, ranging from the film's broad, salad-bar approach to the five nations it depicts (a bit of Muay Thai here, a Vietnamese floating market there, some Indonesian architecture there, etc.) to the fact that much of its main voice cast is composed of East Asian actors. The crucial difference, of course, being that European and Scandanavian cultural mashups are thick on the ground, while depictions of Southeast Asian culture(s) in American media remain few and far between. basically, all of Europe ( Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, Tangled). This is a company with a long history of throwing different cultures into its narrative Cuisinart, whether Maori and Polynesian ( Moana) or Swedish, Norse, Danish and Icelandic ( Frozen) or.

Sharply observed and knowingly deployed cultural details are what transform the broad and abstract concept of onscreen representation into vivid, living stories with the power to reach into us and make us feel that our experiences are not simply valid and worthy, but that they have the potential to inspire others who may not share those experiences.īut Disney, at the end of the day, is gonna Disney. And specificity, of course, is what seals the deal. What's more, the specific setting of Raya - a land divided into five nations - potentially allows for a degree of specificity, with respect to discrete Southeast Asian cultural touchstones. Nationally and globally, that means more enthusiastic butts in (real or virtual) seats. Kids yearn to see themselves onscreen more representation of different cultures means more kids can more directly avail themselves of the Disnefied thrills that white kids have taken for granted for decades.

That's a noble goal, and an unalloyed Good Thing - but of course it also happens to be good for Disney's bottom line. Much will, and deservedly should, be made of the setting of the gorgeously wrought Disney film Raya and the Last Dragon: A fantasy world drawn from a variety of Southeast Asian cultures.įor a company that's been setting so many stories in the same Generically European Fairy Tale Kingdom since 1937 (most recently in 2010's Tangled) it's another in a series of long-overdue steps toward making the world depicted onscreen look more like the world off of it.

Raya (voiced by Kelly Marie Tran) faces off with her lifelong foe (voiced by Gemma Chan) in the rich, gorgeously wrought Disney film.

Raya and the last dragon full movie 2021