Movies

Raya and The Last Dragon Trivia | 50 facts about the new Disney animated film

“Raya and The Last Dragon” is the new Disney film that is premiering on Premier Access on Disney+ and in cinemas.

So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about the new film.

Raya and the Last Dragon is a 2021 American computer-animated action-adventure fantasy film
The film is produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Animation Studios
It is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
It is the 59th film produced by the studio
The film is directed by Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada
It is co-directed by Paul Briggs and John Ripa
Raya is produced by Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho
The film is written by Qui Nguyen and Adele Lim
Music for the film was composed by James Newton Howard
The film features a predominantly Asian American cast
Including the voices of Kelly Marie Tran as the titular Raya and Awkwafina as Sisu, the titular dragon
Along with Izaac Wang, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, Benedict Wong, Sandra Oh, Thalia Tran, Lucille Soong and Alan Tudyk
Raya and the Last Dragon was released theatrically on March 3, 2021 in the Netherlands and Indonesia
It was released in the United States on March 5, 2021 by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in standard 2D, 3D, Dolby Cinema, and IMAX formats
The film’s release was also simultaneously available on Disney+ with Premier Access
It will become free to subscribers on June 4, which is in response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s negative impact on movie theaters across the United States and other countries, with many of them remaining closed
On May 24, 2018, That Hashtag Show reported that Walt Disney Animation Studios was developing an animated film titled Dragon Empire
This would be the directorial debut of story artists Paul Briggs and Dean Wellins, written by Kiel Murray
In October of the same year, Deadline reported that Adele Lim was hired to retouch the script, and that Osnat Shurer had been hired to produce the movie
On August 24, 2019, Disney officially announced the film during their D23 Expo Walt Disney Animation Studios’ presentation panel
In August 2020, it was announced that Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada, the latter who had joined Disney Animation in 2019, were now taking over the reins as directors, with Briggs remaining as co-director and John Ripa joining him
In addition, Qui Nguyen joined Lim as co-writer and Peter Del Vecho joined Shurer as producer
On August 2, 2019, during the D23 Expo, Awkwafina and Cassie Steele were announced to have been cast in the film as Sisu and Raya, respectively
On August 27, 2020, it was revealed that the role of Raya had been recast, with Kelly Marie Tran replacing Steele
The recasting was due to creative shifts in the character and story
On the eve of the film’s release in March 2021, Hall finally revealed the exact reason for why the production team had decided to recast the lead role: Raya was originally a “stoic loner,” but then the team began to infuse her with elements of “levity” and “swagger” similar to the character of Star-Lord in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Tran was selected for her “lightness and buoyancy, but also badassery”
Tran had to go through a process of learning to trust the production team, since she had participated in the original round of auditions for Raya, without success
By January 2020, when she stepped into the role formerly occupied by Steele, she was well aware that Disney Animation “had already turned her down and removed another actor from the project”
On January 26, 2021, it was announced that Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, Sandra Oh, Benedict Wong, Izaac Wang, Thalia Tran, Alan Tudyk, Lucille Soong, Patti Harrison, and Ross Butler all have parts in the film
The film is set in a fantasy land called Kumandra, inspired by the Southeast Asian cultures of Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines
To do background research, the filmmakers and production team traveled to all these countries except Myanmar, Malaysia, and Brunei
Thai artist Fawn Veerasunthorn served as the head of story for the film
The filmmakers formed the Southeast Asia Story Trust, a collective of cultural consultants for the film which included Dr. Steve Arounsack, an associate professor of Lao Anthropology at California State University, Stanislaus
James Newton Howard composed the score for Raya and the Last Dragon
The film marks the fourth time he has scored an animated film by Walt Disney Animation Studios, having previously composed for Dinosaur, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and Treasure Planet
The score was released on February 26, 2021
Jhené Aiko wrote and performed a song for the end-credits, titled “Lead the Way”
In the United States and Canada, Raya and the Last Dragon was released alongside Chaos Walking
The film is projected to gross around $6-7 million from 2,000 theaters in its opening weekend
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 95% of 204 critics have given the film a positive review
With an average rating of 7.70/10
The website’s critics consensus reads, “Another gorgeously animated, skillfully voiced entry in the Disney canon, Raya and the Last Dragon continues the studio’s increased representation while reaffirming that its classic formula is just as reliable as ever”
On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100
Based on 40 critics
Indicating “generally favorable reviews”
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “A” on an A+ to F scale
The film was criticized for the lack of Southeast Asian representation in the cast, as the film’s setting is set in a fictional land that represents Southeast Asia
Most of the cast are of East Asian heritage, with the exception of K. Tran, Butler, T. Tran, Wang and Harrison
The film’s theme song “Lead the Way” is performed by Aiko, who is also East Asian and of Japanese descent