Raya is a fictional character in Walt Disney Animation Studios' animated film Raya and the Last Dragon (2021). Created by screenwriter Adele Lim, she is voiced by American actress Kelly Marie Tran. The daughter of the chief of the Heart tribe, Raya is a warrior princess who is appointed the guardian of the Dragon Gem.
Raya is voiced by Kelly Marie Tran, who is Vietnamese American. The film is inspired by diverse Southeast Asian cultures. The screenplay was written by Qui Nguyen and Adele Lim, who both trace their roots back to Southeast Asia.
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.
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.
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What race is Raya?
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.
Raya and the Last Dragon is a fantasy film set in the fictional land of Kumandra, but that world is inspired by the beautiful cultures of Southeast Asia. Writer Adele Lim emphasized that Kumandra is a fictional land, and that Southeast Asia served as its inspiration.
1. Raya was inspired by a history of strong female leaders in Southeast Asia. According to co-writer Qui Nguyen, some of his inspirations include the legend of the Trưng Sisters, fearless Vietnamese warriors who fought to liberate the country from China's rule centuries ago.
The story of Raya and the Last Dragon isn't taken from any specific legend or myth. But, as co-screenwriter Adele Lim, who is Malaysian, told IGN, Raya is symbolic of the Southeast Asian women she grew up with.
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.
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.
Kumandra is a fictional land in Raya and the Last Dragon, that's based on Southeast Asian cultures. It is comprised of five separate clans who form the Land of the Dragon together. Now that the dragons are gone, Kumandra was under attack by a "dark sinister force" that only a dragon can defeat.
Therefore, Raya and the Last Dragon is the first Walt Disney Animation Feature to have a transgender character. If the protocol at Disney remains in the way it has been presented, it may not be the last time.
In Disney's nearly 100-year history, there has been only one Black Disney princess — Princess Tiana in “The Princess and the Frog,” a 2009 animated feature starring Anika Noni Rose.
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.
While fans may mean no offense in drawing these comparisons, they actually do more harm than good; yes, the movie and the show are similar because they are based off of the same cultures. One is not a ripoff. They are not the same exact stories.
Of course, the kingdom – which is made up of five different areas that together form the shape of a dragon – is not actually a real place, but it does take inspiration from a number of different countries in Southeast Asia, including Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.
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 story of Raya and the Last Dragon isn't taken from any specific legend or myth. But, as co-screenwriter Adele Lim, who is Malaysian, told IGN, Raya is symbolic of the Southeast Asian women she grew up with.
Raya translates to “celebration” in Malay. It also translates to “one who leads” in Southern Thailand. When creating Raya, screenwriters Qui Nguyen and Adele Lim drew inspiration from female Vietnamese warriors like the Trung sisters. Nguyen also looked to his own mother for inspiration.
One problem: apart from Tran (whose parents are from Vietnam), most of Raya's voice cast are of Chinese or Korean descent – so east Asian, rather than south-east Asian. The move has inevitably drawn criticism online. One open letter to Disney from a California university dismissed Raya as “not real representation”.
Raya is the first of Disney to heavily feature Southeast Asian culture but the animation company isn't a stranger to productions with an Asian influence.
'Raya and the Last Dragon' is far from perfect though. To me, it is too safe with not a lot of risk taking and trying to be a little too closely indebted to older Disney conventions rather than doing something new. The pacing can be off, with some of the storytelling later on feeling over-crowded.
