Raya and the Last Dragon could change this, he says. Raya and the Last Dragon, Nguyen talks about the representation in form of clothing, festivals and even architecture, stating, “that nuance is kind of special.” He recalls asking his child about his favourite Asian hero and there being no response to this. Looking forward to how popular culture will be impacted by It does huge things for issues of representation and role-modelling and the future, it now becomes inclusive of that group.” When you think of Disney movies, they helped define our childhood now Southeast Asians – and Asians in general – will now be a part of those kids’ experiences. Taking on a leadership role as Chief Benja in his community, Kim elaborates on inclusivity for a new generation of audiences, “For children in particular, the universe that Disney creates is one that many of them see as a totality of the world while they're children. Still of TukTuk (Andy Tudyk) and Raya (Kelly Marie Tran) in ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ Doing it for the kids Kelly chimes in, revering the way the film will be “breaking a barrier, “I grew up at least with the sort of narrow perception of what a hero looks like or what a hero spoke like, and to be part of something that's changing that feels powerful.” I thought it was a live-action because the water and the rain were insane visually it's so stunning.” She adds, “In the process, you see little sketches here and there – not a lot of the stuff. When Awkwafina heard that Kelly was set to play Raya, and thatĬrazy Rich Asians screenwriter Adele Lim was also on board, she knew that it would be a pretty special project. They were joined by actors Kelly (Raya), Awkwafina (Sisu), Daniel Dae Kim (Chief Benja), Thalia Tran (Little Noi) and Izaac Wang (Boun).Īlso Read | Get ‘First Day First Show’, our weekly newsletter from the world of cinema, in your inbox. On behalf of the film’s crew are co-directors Carlos López Estrada and Don Hall, writers Qui Nguyen and Adele Lim, and producer Osnat Shurer. With the film finally set to release on March 5 in theatres, the excitement around the virtual press conference is palpable. Raya and the Last Dragon was officially announced, and Sutheast Asia went into even more of a frenzy when Awkwafina and Kelly Marie Tran were announced as lead actors. However, during the 2019 D23 Expo by Disney, Throw in a fluid foot-chase through Talon and a booby-trapped gauntlet-run in Tail (complete with explosive-farting beetles), and Raya is a rare family film with genuine action-blockbuster chops.In 2018, when Southeast Asia’s first Disney film since Mulan was announced as ‘Dragon Empire’, social media expressed equal measures of speculation and enthusiasm. Veteran Disney director Don Hall ( Big Hero 6) and Blindspotting’s Carlos López Estrada deliver impressively impactful fight sequences that hit harder than typical Disney fare - using crash-zooms and speed-ramping to accentuate the fighting techniques of Raya and her nemesis Namaari ( Gemma Chan) while invoking the cinematic language of Asian action cinema. The complex mythology does make Kumandra feel properly epic, and every stop on Raya’s journey - the desert wasteland of Tail, the lantern-lit market-town of Talon, the dense, foggy forest of Spine - has a distinct, gorgeously realised identity. But the screenplay - from Crazy Rich Asians co-screenwriter Adele Lim and Vietnamese-American writer Qui Nguyen - is pacy and propulsive, punctuating the necessary narrative groundwork with bursts of action and excitement. It’s a lot of lore, and the opening act of Raya has plenty to unfurl – there’s a prologue to a prelude, exposition to dispense about dragon magic and the five factions of Kumandra (Tail, Talon, Spine, Fang, and Raya’s homeland of Heart), and a MacGuffin-driven mission to establish, along with the introduction of Awkwafina’s anxious water dragon Sisu. A rare family film with genuine action-blockbuster chops.