Disney has been making a concerted effort to be more inclusive, and we do applaud them for it. Though, given the entire Mulan fiasco, we are a little apprehensive about anything Disney puts out. However, this new trailer for Raya and the Last Dragon seems to kick off to a rather promising start.
The film was originally set to come out in November, but you know how Ms Rona loves to slow us down. The film is set to premiere in March 2021. The story is set in an ancient realm of Lumandra and is heavily inspired by Southeast Asian cultures. We don’t know much about the film yet, but we know our young and badass heroine Raya is on a quest to find the last dragon to restore peace to the warring clans.
Besides the beautiful animation, glorious fight scenes and the adorable armadillo sidekick, Tuk-Tuk. We love the Asian REPRESENTATION. From the elaborate costumes, the colours, and the soundtrack, we just can’t wait to watch it. 2021 can’t come soon enough.
Twitter was ablaze, and a lot of people were clearly ecstatic about Raya and The Last Dragon:
LOOK AT ALL THE SHADES OF BROOOOOOWN!!!!!
I'M LITERALLY SO HAPPY ABOUT THIS#representation #RayaAndTheLastDragon #disney #DisneyRaya pic.twitter.com/S3qKc2apqL
— fts (@transkohi) October 21, 2020
Representation is always important, and we love seeing different shades of skin, textures of hair and ethnic costumes.
i know she's Southeast asian inspired princess but she's using an ARNIS!!! OMG IM MORE EXCITED FOR THIS MOVIE #RayaAndTheLastDragon pic.twitter.com/59YXHvBm1Z
— sari (@creascene) October 21, 2020
A Southeast Asian heroine/ princess, the die-hard Disney girl inside me, is screaming both on the inside and outside.
I'm not the only one getting Korra vibes from Raya in the #RayaAndTheLastDragon trailer, right? pic.twitter.com/qgjPQkMb6O
— Storm💫 Hawkeye spoilers (@jedi_storms) October 21, 2020
And girl, a yes and yes those were my sentiments exactly when I was watching Raya and the Last Dragon trailer. Does little Raya not remind you of Korra from The Legend of Korra?
With every great movie, there will always be some criticism, and though it’s too early to tell, I’m praying that Disney does not screw this up.
i saw RAYA trailer and… Honestly…. If its the Southeast Asian vibe that theyre aiming for? Its… Not hitting it.
The first few seconds of the trailer, visual design choice immediately made me think 'why does this feels more like Chinese/Japanese but with darker skin asian' pic.twitter.com/rklti9zPGY
— mossy ☠ (@mossygator_) October 22, 2020
Well, just know that unlike Mulan, Raya and The Last Dragon has BOTH people of colour in front of the screen and behind it. Raya is voiced by Vietnamese-American actress, Kelly Marie Tran who also played Rose Tico in the Star Wars franchise. Plus, the film is also written by Malaysian, Adele Lim and Vietnamese-American, Qui Nguyen.
2021 can’t come soon enough, and till then I’ll be watching re-runs of Moana and the animated version of Mulan to pass the time. Watch the trailer here and decide for yourself.
