The dragons who protect Kumandra from the Druun (evil purple mist which turn people to stone) are all lost in the final battle, their vestigial magic being preserved in a gem. The once harmonious nation fractured into five regions at odds with each other. Chief Benja of Heart, guarding the gem, wishes to re-establish a whole nation, but things go horribly wrong, the gem fractures and the pieces are scattered, and the Druun return. Only Benja's daughter Raya is left five years later to try to recover the gem pieces from a wasted land against the opposition of the Druun and, indeed, her fellow countrymen. Still at least she his "helped" by Sisu, the last surviving dragon (with the unlikely voice of Awkwafina).

This Disney CGI feature dropped through the cracks in the Covid floorboards, and I have only just caught up with it. The story is enyoyable, albeit not hugely original. And Disney's leaning towards cute animal sidekicks is in full flow although, to be fair, the critters here - big and small - do have some work to do plotwise.

The voice cast is largely made up of actors of Asiatic origin, although you would never be able to tell this by listening to them - the voicework is resolutely present-day American, even from English performers.

Importantly, the movie is gorgeous, one of the most beautiful films I have seen in recent years, and is worth seeing on that basis alone.

This is a great animated movie. Visually beautiful with a good story, heart, and some pretty cool action (the fight scenes were really good!). I was emotionally invested in the characters and the outcome of the story. Very funny. Awkwafina did a great job, elevating her character. I really enjoyed it and would watch it again. Oh and I liked the musical score. (1 viewing, 11/6/2021)

This is very much a standard Disney Princess movie for our time: not only is Raya self-assertive, a-la-Rapunzel in Tangled, and resisting traditional societal expectations for girls, a-la-Mulan, or Merida in Brave (or even Elsa in Frozen); she seems not to need such resistance at all, but simply walks into a warrior role, leading an action-adventure, a-la-Moana, that, 30 years ago, would normally have been conducted by a boy/man. Raya's main enemy is another warrior-princess and her mother; there is no love interest (a-la-Elsa and Moana),but a strong relationship with her father, which she attempts to restore by turning him back from stone.

Another interesting aspect of this movie is its marketing as Southeast Asian. From what I can tell by reading articles about it, the mythology is not strongly tied to a particular Southeast Asian country, language/tradition, or myth, but draws on many, as is also reflected in the creative team and voice actors. That is very similar to the pan-South American approach found in another animated project released this year, Maya and the Three. And both are very much like Game of Thrones, which draws on a vaguely European mythology, without being closely beholden to any particular aspect of it. And that, I think, is as it should be, even if more faithful representations of myths and traditions should have their place in entertainment too.