Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
A Disney original story.
Five hundred years ago, in the peaceful and prosperous sub-continent of Kumandra, humans and dragons live harmoniously alongside one another. Dragons brought the humans water, rain, and peace. One day Kumandra is ravaged by the Druun, mindless purple-and-black-colored spirits that turn every living thing in their path to stone. The dragons help fight the Druun but it wasn’t enough. The mighty Sisudatu, the last surviving dragon, concentrates her magic into the gem and blasts the Druun away, reviving Kumandra's people but not its dragons. A power struggle for Sisu’s gem divides Kumandra's people into five separate chiefdoms called Fang, Heart, Spine, Talon, and Tail, corresponding to their placement along a gigantic dragon-shaped river.
In the present, Chief Benja of the Heart tribe, whose family protects the dragon gem, trains his daughter, young warrior princess Raya to become a Guardian of the Dragon Gem. Firmly believing Kumandra can be reunited, Benja holds a feast for the leadership of all five tribes. During the feast, Raya befriends Namaari, daughter of Chief Virana of the Fang tribe and Fang's princess, who gives Raya a dragon pendant and tells her of a legend that says the dragon Sisu still exists and can be summoned through the power of the gem. Trusting Namaari, Raya shows her the gem's chamber. Namaari betrays Raya as part of a plot to help Fang steal the gem. Alerted to the attack, Benja and the other tribes arrive and start fighting over the gem, breaking it into five pieces in the scuffle. The gem's destruction creates a fissure which releases the Druun once more, quickly overtaking the Land of Heart. As every tribe leader steals a piece of the gem and flees, Benja notices that the Druun are repelled by water and sacrifices himself to save Raya's life by throwing her in the river before getting turned to stone by the Druun.
Six years later, Raya and her pet armadillo/pill bug, Tuk Tuk, treks across Kumandra searching for Sisu to have her create another gem and banish the Druun once more. She manages to summon her at a shipwreck in Tail where Sisu admits that she did not create the gem, but wielded it on behalf of her four siblings, who each contributed their magic to the gem. Sisu reveals that each dragon has their own unique magic, Sisu’s being that she’s a strong swimmer. Raya and Sisu resolve to take back the four stolen pieces of the gem, reassemble it and use it to banish the Druun and restore Raya's father and others who were turned to stone.
Raya and Sisu find the remnants of the Tail Chief who hoarded the gem and became a victim of her own traps. They successfully recover the fragment granting Sisu the ability to shapeshift but Namaari catches up to Raya, who had stolen a map from Fang that would lead to Sisu’s location. Raya, Tuk Tuk, and Sisu escape Namaari on a boat owned by young restaurateur of the Shrimp-orium Boun whose family was turned to stone by the Druun and who they befriend.
The group travels to Talon where they befriend baby con artist Little Noi and her three ongis who also her family to the Druun. They successfully obtain the Talon’s piece of the dragon gem from the Talon chief, granting Sisu fog abilities. At Spine, Raya and Sisu are captured by the warrior Tong but are rescued by Boun, Tuk Tuk, Little Noi, and the ongis. They discover that the rest of the Spine tribe were turned to stone trying to fight the Druun. Just then Namaari with the royal army of Fang arrives to capture Raya. Raya distracts Namaari while the others escape. Raya, who was not fully trusting their new companions, insists Sisu remain disguised as a human, but Sisu reveals herself to save Raya from Namaari. Tong gives Sisu the dragon piece from Spine which grants her the ability to control rain. Sisu brings Raya back to Heart and reveals that her siblings entrusted her with their abilities in the form of the gem and it was their faith in her that empowered her to make a difference hoping to persuade Raya to give Namaari a chance to make things right the peaceful way.
At Fang, Sisu persuades Raya to propose an alliance to Namaari rather than steal the final piece of the gem. As a gesture of trust, Raya returns the pendant Namaari gave her years ago. Namaari, torn between her responsibility to Fang and her wish to help defeat the Druun, threatens them with a crossbow. Sisu tries to calm Namaari but Raya attacks with her whipsword when she sees Namaari's finger on the trigger, causing the crossbow to fire and kill Sisu. Sisu's death drains away all the water of Fang, allowing the Druun to overrun the realm. Furious by Namaari's actions, Raya pursues Namaari, whom she finds grieving the petrification of her mother. They bitterly fight one another while Raya's companions use the gem pieces to evacuate the people of Fang. Raya defeats and prepares to kill Namaari, but stops when Namaari reminds Raya of her role in Sisu’s death due to her inability to trust others. Raya and Namaari go to aid the others. As the Druun gain on her group, Raya remembers how trust allowed Sisu to save the world. She urges the others to unite and reassemble the gem, showing her faith in Namaari by handing over her gem piece and allowing the Druun to turn her into stone. Boun, Tong, Noi, and the ongis follow suit, and Namaari reassembles the gem before the Druun petrify her as well. With the dragon gem reassembled, it unleashes a powerful shockwave that spreads throughout Kumandra, vanquishes all the Druun, and conjures up a magical rainstorm which revives everyone, alongside all the dragons who later revive Sisu.
The group reunites with their lost loved ones, including Raya and her father; the tribes and dragons gather at Heart to unify as Kumandra once again (“Lead the Way”).
TRIVIA
Visual Style
To respectfully pay tribute to the region, the studio established a Southeast Asia Story Trust—a coalition of specialists of various fields, including visual anthropology, linguistics, botany, choreography, architecture, and martial arts.
Inspired by Southeast Asian cultures such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodian, Vietnames, and Laos. The dragons are based on naga from Indonesian and Thailand mythology.
The fight scenes were inspired by martial art forms specific to Southeast Asia. Raya’s fighting style was inspired by Pencak Silat from Malaysia and Indonesia. The weapons she yields as a young child are from Kali & Arnis, martial arts forms in the Philippines. Her sword was inspired by the kris, a blade that is revered in countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia. Namaari’s fighting style was inspired by Muay Thai kickboxing and Krabi Krabong configurations from Thailand.
The ingredients in Chief Benja’s soup include shrimp paste, lemongrass, lime leaves, chili peppers, and palm sugar.
Easter Egg(s)
In the market scene in Talon, Hei Hei from Moana can be seen with his head covered by a basket.