Raya and the Last Dragon

[Palanan]

Teaser trailer now out:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BPMTr-NS9s



"Disney does Tomb Raider" is how most of this feels, although that sequence is probably only a few minutes out of the full movie.

What I find most interesting is that Disney is apparently setting this in a separate world, rather than light fantasy versions of regions in our own world. I haven't done any outside reading on this, so no idea what the full concept is, but intriguing so far.

[Clertar]

It felt more like "Disney makes Avatar (the last airbender/Korra)" to me, with the different peoples in conflict and one person destined to united them, plus her character design.

[Palanan]

That's fair. I've never watched any of the Avatar series (only a few minutes of the awful live-action movie) so I don't have any feel for that property or its story.

I'm curious about the world this takes place in. They're rather optimistically saying this will be in theaters next spring, but I'm wondering if they'll go the streaming-release route. Either way, quite intriguing.

[truemane]

I don't know, man. I saw the The Last Dragon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Crt4S1IZM)in 1985 so I don't know where they think this dragon is coming from.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

Thoughts in no particular order:


I can’t decide if I love that background music or hate it. :smallconfused: It’s different enough to be interesting but I can see that WOO-OO-OO getting irritating real fast.

The only article I’ve read on this so far called it a tentpole film and that seems optimistic for a number of reasons ranging from COVID to the fact that I’ve never heard of Raya before.

It looks cute but it’s coming out the same time as Morbius and if I had to choose between the two right now Morbius is going to win.

Disney+ seems a likely fate for it at this point.

[Berserk Mecha]

I, for one, welcome our new Disney ninja princess. It certainly doesn't look like a lot of Disney's other films. The setting looks sort of like a mixture of Cambodian and pacific islands. Definitely a nice change of pace from the traditional Renaissance European fantasy aesthetic.

I agree with that wailing noise in the background music. Sounds like a beached whale gasping for breath. I hope that's not in the movie too much.

Does anyone know if this is based on a story or if it's a completely new IP?

[Kitten Champion]

Honestly, the mix of non-specific fantastical Asian elements - though it's primarily Southeast Asia-inspired - and a figure moving through a sprawling desert environment with prolific hoodoos reminds me of Dragonball. I was going to say "includes anachronistic vehicles" too, but that's the pangolin-hedgehog she's riding I think -- which is also very Avatar-esque I suppose.

Comparisons to other media aside... sure, I'm interested. I love well-animated fantasy adventure stories, and this is going to be that. Though I don't really need much more consideration as it's maybe half a year away.

[False God]

It checks a lot of boxes I think I'll enjoy, not that I've been to a theater to see anything even before covid in a long time.

But I also worry it checks a lot of boxes because it takes too much from stuff I like and will thus feel less like an original creation, and more like a bag of random dice that just happen to be in the same general shades of color.

[Dire_Flumph]

Not sure what to make of it just from the teaser, but I like Kelly Marie Tran enough that I hope this is a big win for her.

I just hope I'm going to theaters in March.

[ben-zayb]

Nice. Looks like Southeast Asian Tomb Raider will be the new choice for the next Halloween costume. I'm genuinely surprised Rick Jaffa, Elizabeth Martin, Amanda Silver, and Lauren Hynek aren't writing this time for characters that look like me.