‘Raya and the Last Dragon’, the 59th animated feature in the Disney canon, follows the adventures of the headstrong protagonist, Raya, as she teams up with nervous but loveable water dragon Sisu and a host of other memorable characters to defeat an evil force, known as the Druun, and restore the fictional kingdom of Kumandra.
In the opening of the film, we as the audience learn a lot about the historical backdrop of Kumandra; namely how humans and dragons once co-existed harmoniously, before the appearance of the Druun, an evil force with the power to turn living creatures to stone, resulted in all but one of the dragons being petrified. Thankfully for the human population, the dragons made a ‘final stand’ before being turned to stone, and concentrated their magic in a single stone, known as the Dragon Gem. This stone was entrusted to Sisu, the last remaining dragon, who used it to vanquish the Druun and save humanity.
Fast forward five hundred years, and the once unified kingdom of Kumandra is no more, with a power struggle having developed between the five separate kingdoms of Talon, Spine, Tail, Fang, and Raya’s own kingdom of Heart. With Sisu having disappeared, Heart has become the de facto guardian of the Dragon Gem, much to the chagrin of the other kingdoms, all of which distrust one another. When an attempt to steal the Dragon Gem goes horribly wrong, resulting in the re-emergence of the Druun and a personal loss and betrayal for Raya, the stage is set for her quest to find Sisu, reunite the broken fragments of the Dragon Gem, and restore Kumandra.
Disney has been known in recent years for shifting the focus of its storytelling away from the traditional fairytale romances, and focusing more on developing strong, independent female protagonists - we can see the beginnings of this in ‘The Princess and the Frog’ and ‘Tangled’, with more recent films such as ‘Frozen’ and ‘Moana’ choosing to concentrate on family relationships, friendship, and the personal development of the leading female characters. In some respects, ‘Raya’ takes this trend one step further, in that the main female characters, Raya and her nemesis Namaari, are clearly shown to be sharp, determined, and capable of surviving on their own, from the outset. When watching the scenes of Raya travelling through the sand dunes of Tail at the beginning of the film, I could not help but draw the comparison with Ray from the ‘Star Wars’ franchise - both characters commence their journeys as ‘lone wolves’, fiercely independent, and slowly learn to form trust and friendship with others.
The animation in ‘Raya’ is simply stunning, with the scenes in the lantern lit, market shantytown of Talon being a particular highlight. The film also includes some gripping, beautifully animated, fight sequences between Raya and Namaari, including a climatic showdown between the two in Naamari’s kingdom of Fang.
The plot of the film, which involves Raya travelling to each of the five kingdoms to retrieve the broken pieces of the Dragon Gem, gives the story a suitably epic feel, as the audience is given a visual introduction to each new location, almost like a chapter heading. In each kingdom, we also see Sisu acquire a new power as another piece of the Dragon Gem is retrieved, from shape shifting to the ability to summon mist and rain. Our main duo of Raya and Sisu also end up forming new friendships as they travel to the different kingdoms, and having new characters join their “fellowship of Druun butt kickery.” This not only adds to the pace of the film, but also ups the emotional stakes in the story, as each of the crew has their own backstory, and family members they have lost to the Druun.
At its core, ‘Raya’ is a film about learning to place faith and trust in others, even if it means being willing to take that first risky step yourself. It is a message that is delivered with plenty of warmth and spirit and, in the tradition of Disney films, left me feeling uplifted and satisfied.
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