"There was a key change to Raya's character. The original [voice actress], of course she's wonderful, and she was a perfect fit for Raya's character then, and then the character changed a lot, and so it was necessary to shift voice," Shurer told Cinema Blend.
In an interview with Cinema Blend, producer Osnat Shurer explained why the decision to hire Tran was made, saying that the character changed as production went on, and they realized they needed a new voice that better suited this evolved Raya. "There was a key change to Raya's character.
The reasoning for Kelly Marie Tran replacing Cassie Steele as Raya's voice was attributed to how much aspects of the movie shifted during production and post-production. Raya and the Last Dragon producer Osnat Shurer told CinemaBlend that Steele was a perfect fit for Raya when the project began.
Due to the limited amount of theaters open at the time, the movie could not reach the box office heights of past Disney animated films like Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, or Moana. It did receive positive reviews that praised its developed characters and fresh spin on the typical Disney movie.
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.
Raya and the Last Dragon - Is It Good Or Nah? (Disney Review)
Are Raya and Namaari lovers?
The voice actor of Raya, Kelly Marie Tran, claims she ships the duo. Kelly personally interpreted their relationship as romantic, and voiced Raya accordingly. Both commonly use nicknames for each other, including princess undercut, binturi(s), dragon nerd, and dep la.
The movie also features the studio's first Southeast Asian princess, Raya, who goes on a quest to find a dragon and reunite the tribes of Kumandra, a land that had been fractured by wars and a plague. Raya is voiced by Kelly Marie Tran, who is Vietnamese American.
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”.
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.
Physical appearance. Raya is an 18-year-old Southeast Asian girl of average height with a slender, slightly muscular build, tan skin, long black hair, and dark brown eyes.
Raya Isn't Based On A Legend — But It's Inspired By Real Women. 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.
Eventually losing the duel, Namaari tearfully expresses that she never meant to harm anyone and acknowledges being partly responsible for what happened to Sisu, just as she judges that Raya is also responsible for it because she did not trust Sisu until the end.
Kelly Marie Tran is a American actress from San Diego who is known for voicing Raya from Raya and the Last Dragon and playing Rose Tico from the Star Wars sequel trilogy. She also voiced Dawn Betterman from The Croods: A New Age. She reprised her role of Rose in Lego Star Wars specials and Forces of Destiny.
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.
The Druun are the main antagonists of Disney's 59th full-length animated feature film Raya and the Last Dragon. They are a race of mindless monsters and a plague that consumes life, turning everyone they touch into stone.
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.
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.
The lack of Hispanic characters in Disney has been noticed by the fans of these animated features. Since The Three Caballeros, there has not been a main character who has been Hispanic.
The MPAA rating has been assigned for “some violence, action and thematic elements.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a toddler's bare buttocks, several scenes of people fighting with swords and sticks with blades on them, many scenes of people being attacked by swirling monsters that turn them to stone, ...
The dragons in Raya and the Last Dragon are based off Nagas (in particular the Phaya Naga), serpentine creatures rumored to be dwelling in the Mekong River for centuries.
The film became the third-most-streamed film of 2021, and, excluding its Disney+ Premier Access revenue, grossed $130.4 million worldwide. Raya and the Last Dragon received generally positive reviews; critics praised the imagery and depth, but criticized the story and limited Southeast Asian representation.
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.
Namaari arrives just in time to hear Raya call her a binturi. She taunts Raya, calling her dep la (strangely beautiful) and demands to know why Raya is stealing Dragon Gem pieces.
