Disney releases new animated movie ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’

Allyson Jones, Staff Writer

Disney just released ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ on Disney+ and in limited theaters.

The fantasy movie explores Southeastern Asian mythology with humanity and dragons. The movie is good for all ages and just as entertaining. The movie follows Raya, a warrior princess, who must find the “last dragon” which has been at the center of fables and legends in her culture. Finding the last dragon will save her crumbling world from plague and the evil spirits who are turning people into stone.
Raya travels to kingdoms in search of the last dragon, Sisu, to restore her world. The land was once good, and the people lived in union with lots of dragons, but then purple cloud-monsters came and turned many to stone.
The last dragon remaining, Sisu, had unleashed a great power from a gem, which banished the purple monsters; however, Sisu had disappeared in the process. In the aftermath, the people divided into five nations named after different parts of a dragon — Talon, Fang, Spine, Tail and Heart. Heart is the homeland of Raya.
Five hundred years later, an attempt at peace results in the dragon gem getting shattered into five different pieces. Raya and her pet Pillbug mount Tuk-Tuk to set out to find Sisu and recover the five shards, reuniting the land and the people in the process. This movie is entertaining and has a good plot. This movie is more lifelike with the historical elements such as Asian temples and culture that are incorporated into the movie.
This is by far the most layered and detailed Disney story, Raya is complex, unlike most Disney princesses. Throughout the movie, Raya expresses her trust issues and her suspicions in others which makes the story even more compelling and relatable.