The lead character, Bo Bayani, is Filipino-American, making this the first time Disney kids animation featuring a Filipino as its lead. The show doesn't play coy when it comes to Filipino representation or diversity for that matter.
MANILA, Philippines — Apart from being the first Black Filipino Disney Princess, there is more to H.E.R. than just being Belle in in the ABC TV special “Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration,” which will be available on Disney+ in January 2023. Fil-Am H.E.R.
It was revealed that the movie is set up in an imaginary world but the world is similar to regions of South East Asia like Vietnam, Philipines, Thailand etc. Hence people get the misconception that the movie is filipino while it's not.
Earlier this month, Disney released “From Our Family to Yours,” a short film advertisement in support of the Make-A-Wish foundation. The heartfelt advertisement features a different Christmas experience — a story told through the lens of a Filipino family.
As its environment model supervisor, Filipino animator John Aquino was in charge of the team that created Rosas, the wonderful world depicted in the new disney film “Wish.” The cast is led by Oscar winner Ariana Debose as Asha and Chris Pine who plays Magnifico.
Raya and the Last Dragon is inspired by traditional Southeast Asian cultures. The production team consulted with Southeast Asia Story Trust experts to ensure an accurate cultural representation in the film, and they emphasized the importance of avoiding stereotypical portrayals of Asian characters.
The Bakunawa is a serpent-like dragon in Philippine mythology. It is believed to be the cause of eclipses, earthquakes, rains, and wind. The movements of the Bakunawa served as a geomantic calendar system for ancient Filipinos and were part of the rituals of the babaylan priestess.
In Raya And The Dragon, “binturi” is an insult that basically means “traitor” – hence why it's Raya's preferred term for Namaari. It's part of the Kumandran dialect which was created specifically for the movie by language creator David J.
During the late 1920s, Filipino writer Romualdo Ramos and Filipino visual artist Antonio “Tony” Velasquez created the cartoon character named Kenkoy. It appeared in the pages of the Tagalog-language Liwayway magazine as a weekly comic strip entitled Mga Kabalbalan ni Kenkoy or "Kenkoy's antics".
The film is a landmark moment for Southeast Asian representation in Hollywood: Raya is Disney's first Southeast Asian princess, and is voiced by Kelly Marie Tran, the first Southeast Asian actor to lead an animated feature from the studio.
But perhaps the most interesting find in the trailer (and in the film, in general) is the reference to the bakunawa, the sea-serpent dragon in Filipino myths. In Visayan mythology, the god of death Sidapa who resides under a tall tree in Mt. Madjaas in Panay island saw the seven moons dancing in the sky.
Tuk Tuk is a character in Raya and the Last Dragon. He is a third-pill bug, third-armadillo and third-pug hybrid, he is Raya's pet, with the ability to roll into a ball as a means of transportation. When he was younger, he was quite small.
The fictional kingdom Fang draws on geometric architecture from Indonesia, while Talon is made up of floating markets reminiscent of those in Thailand. The titular last dragon, Sisu (voiced by Awkwafina), is modeled after naga, serpent-like creatures from Southeast Asian folklore.
[Only IN Hollywood] Fil-Am animator on working on 2 Golden Globe-nominated Disney films. LOS ANGELES, USA – Mikee Sevilla's first time ever to work on a Disney animated film was with Raya and the Last Dragon. For his second Disney film, the Filipino-American helped animate Encanto.
Who is the Filipino animator in The Little Mermaid?
Aquino. Ruben Azama Aquino (born December 18, 1953) is a Japanese-Born Filipino-American Disney animator who's formerly worked at Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Armand Serrano Armand is a Filipino American visual development artist who is known for his works in animated feature film studios such as Walt Disney Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Sony Pictures Animation, and Skydance Animation. He has been in the animation industry for more than three decades.
