Legendary Pictures: Raya and The Last Dragon Is An Emotional Animated Adventure

Seeing Raya and The Last Dragon in theaters this past month was a very powerful experience for me. After more than year and a half away from the movies due to a world wide pandemic, I finally made my way back to my local theater. For months, I had wanted to see Raya and The Last Dragon but intentionally resisted paying the cost of streaming it so I could see the film on the big screen. Watching the film in the darkened theater, I was overwhelmed by the experience. The art style and animation of the film were beautiful, and the film had one of my favorite worlds in the Disney catalog. The story of Raya and her companion spoke to me, touching on the themes of trust, compassion, and unity.

Additionally, Raya’s journey through the gorgeous fantasy world reminded me of my favorite video game series: The Legend of Zelda. With gorgeous animations, a heartfelt story, lovable side characters, and a powerful score, Raya and The Last Dragon is an excellent hero’s journey that has so much to offer fans of the Zelda series.

 

Background/Set Up – Spoilers For The First 10 Minutes of The Film

Raya and The Last Dragon takes places in Kumandra, a world inspired by the cultures of South East Asia. Thousands of years before the events of the film, the land was threatened by a ceaseless hunger known as the Druun. These creatures, which are reminiscent of the Malice/Calamity Ganon in Breath of the Wild, turn people to stone. The Druun are representations of chaos and discord within the world. In crisis, the dragons of Kumandra sacrificed themselves to protect the world, with the water dragon Sisu leaving a gem to protect the world before she disappeared.

At the start of movie, Raya is a fearless youth who represents The Heart, one of the five peoples that populate Kumandra. Raya lives in a divided world, with the five tribes all being suspicious of one another and jockeying for power. Raya’s father summons people from each nation (Heart, Spine, Fang, Tail, and Talon) to rekindle a sense of unity in the world. At the event, hosted in the lush land of the Heart people, Raya becomes friendly with Fang princess Namaari. Raya, welcoming a fellow “Dragon Nerd” into her life, takes Namaari to see the Dragon Gem, the last of Sisu’s magic. Namaari betrays Raya, calling her people to take command of the gem. In the issuing struggle, the gem is broken, releasing the monstrous Druun.

The main story takes place six years after Namaari’s betrayal with Raya is searching for Sisu, the last dragon. Raya believes that Sisu can fix the world and turn back the Druun’s evil. Meanwhile Namaari is pursuing the girl she once betrayed, trying to prove herself to the Fang people. When Raya finally finds Sisu, the dragon is not what she expected. Together, Raya and Sisu must find the remaining pieces of the Dragon Gem, the key to defeating The Druun. With a motley crew of friends from across the different tribes, Raya and Sisu must confront not only the outward threats of The Druun and the Fang Tribe, but their own fears and doubts.

 

Art Style and Animation

Raya and the Last Dragon is one of the most beautiful animated films I’ve ever seen. The artists and designers used the highly advanced tools at their disposal to create a film that I believe will age well into the future.

One of the best things about the film is its visual contrast and diversity in environments. The artists and designers created a full range of biomes and environments for the film. Whether it is sun-drenched deserts, a snow-covered bamboo forests, or lush lakes and rivers, each scene is filled with detail. The lush foliage of the Heart Tribe is extremely detailed and vibrant. Water is another huge highlight of the film, with special symbolism given to water and rivers. The effects used for Sisu the water dragon are incredibly beautiful with floating water droplets and shimmering streams. Lighting is another huge highlight for the film. There is some dazzling use of lighting with wide shots of sunrises, fire, and glowing lanterns looking vibrant. More than a few shots throughout the film left me awestruck.

There are several regions within the film that are reminiscent of areas in different Zelda games. The lush tropical landscape where the Heart tribe makes their home has many similarities to the Faron region in Breath of the Wild. There are even some enormous stone dragon statues in the Heart temple areas like the bird statues that dot the Faron region. Additionally, the dusty desert region of Tail is reminiscent of the different deserts in the Zelda series including the Gerudo Desert in Twilight Princess and Breath of the Wild. I would love to see the Zelda series create its own version of Raya’s Spine region which is a vast arctic forest. It would be a spectacular setting to explore in a future Zelda game.

 

Raya’s Journey In The Film

Raya is one of the best character that Disney has created in recent years. While I love a variety of recent Disney’s female characters, Raya has the advantage of being a bit older and more mature than some of her counterparts in other Disney films. Additionally, Raya has some rough edges that help bring her to life and add depth to her internal conflicts throughout the film. The character has a justified anger and resentment towards the Fang tribe and their princess Namaari, who she blames for the disaster with the Druun. Raya’s journey to trusting others, aided by the fiercely optimistic Sisu, is an important part of the film.

The relationship between Raya and Fang princess Namaari is one of the best aspects of the film. Both characters are fierce and strong-willed young women who believe they are doing what is right for themselves and their people. This firm convictions in their beliefs make their clashes that much more intense. Both the animations of the characters and the fight choreography do a great job of highlighting the emotional nature of the conflict. Both characters have hurt each other, and watching the two characters struggle to reconcile their differences forms one of the major arcs of the story. While watching the film, I even felt that there were hints of romantic tension at the core of their experience with each other.

As a Zelda fan, I found Raya’s arc really breathtaking. I have been beating a drum for a Princess Zelda-focused game for the past few years, and Raya’s story demonstrates there is so much potential for this idea. Whether princess or not, both Zelda and Raya feel a strong sense of responsibility for their community and are filled with a sense of duty to those they care about. Watching Raya grow and change was a powerful experience and the team that worked on the film deserve a great deal of credit for making Raya’s journey feel meaningful to the audience.

 

An Incredible Score That Sets The Tone

One of the biggest reasons why you should see Raya and The Last Dragon in a movie theater (if and when you feel safe to) is the incredible soundtrack by James Howard Newton. Newton, who has worked on a variety of scores including The Dark Knight (co-written with Hans Zimmer), Blood Diamond, Treasure Planet, and The Hunger Games crafts an evocative score that adds gravitas and emotional weight to the film’s key moments. The score mixes eastern instruments with electronic soundtrack and booming orchestra cues.

With no lyrics or Disney showtunes songs in the film, Newton’s music is crucial to setting the tone for the film and accenting the emotional moments. Much like Hans Zimmer’s unbelievable score for The Lion King, Newton’s score for Raya and The Last Dragon is extremely dynamic. The music transitions between different moods with incredible skill. While the story is generally serious, there are some funny moments and playful side characters and Newton crafts energetic music to fit the lighter aspects of the film. While it may not have the recognized show pieces that helped popularize films like Frozen and Moana, the score is a wonderfully diverse and dramatic.

Overall, the dramatic soundtrack by Newton highlights some of the differences between film and video game scores, and why film music can be so powerful. Often times, music in video games needs to be looped over and over again for as long as a player is in an area, but film soundtracks are designed to fit into important moments and actions in a story. I think that video game music sits in a strange position of trying to emulate film scores in key moments and cutscenes while forging their own path during gameplay.

 

Why Zelda Fans Will Enjoy It

Raya and The Last Dragon has so many things that Zelda fans will enjoy. The world is a huge highlight of the film. The world of Kumandra is an extremely vivid fantasy world which is reminiscent of the worlds of The Legend of Zelda, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and a variety of other fantasy/mythologies. Each of the five tribes within Raya and The Last Dragon have their own distinct biomes and landmarks, like areas in a Zelda game. The variety in environments, which include a massive snowy bamboo forest and a town built atop a lake. These incredible environments ensure that the viewer will be constantly awed as they follow Raya through her journey.

In addition to the incredible art direction and environments, Raya’s journey will be familiar to many fans of the Zelda series. Raya journey to gather pieces of the Dragon Gem, find the mythic dragon Sisu, and repair the world, fit well within formulas seen in the Zelda series. In particular, the events of the film connect well with the adult timeline of Ocarina of Time, with both Link and Raya working to repair their worlds and absolve their past failures. Raya’s internal struggle with trust and human connections are equally compelling, and the story has some genuinely emotional moments that moved me deeply.

Lastly, the cast of characters of Raya and the Last Dragon are extremely fun and enjoyable. Sisu, who has a role similar companion character like Midna, Fi, or Navi, is a fun foil for the serious and often exasperated Raya. These two characters are joined by a host of odd-ball comrades that would fit perfectly as NPCs in a Zelda game. The voice acting is wonderful with a world-class cast of actors including Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, Benedict Wong, and Sandra Oh.

 

Conclusion – A Wonderful Adventure

Raya and the Last Dragon is a wonderful film and one of my favorite Disney films in years. With a beautiful art design and animation, an evocative story, and a fantastic musical score, the film is truly a legendary picture. The film scales well in terms of age groups, with a story that speaks to children, teens, and adults. The film does skew slightly older as Disney films go, with dramatic sword fights and some dark moments.

The movie is currently on Disney+ (now available with the regular subscription after being premium only for months), but if you can see the film in theaters I highly recommend it. The incredible animation and art style are done more justice on the massive screen and the score truly shines with the high quality speakers. Make no mistake, this was a film meant to be seen on the big screen, even if the events of our world did not work out that way. Zelda fans won’t be disappointed.

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Legendary Pictures is a series that focuses on tales from across film history that share the same DNA as The Legend of Zelda, where we discuss a film’s strengths and identify similarities to the various games in the Zelda series.

Sean Gadus is an Associate Editor at Zelda Dungeon. His first Zelda game was Ocarina of Time and he loves the classic 3D Zelda games from 1998-2011. He is currently of the opinion that Omega from The Bad Batch is a better character than Baby Yoda. He is also excited for the NBA playoffs and Cleveland baseball season. He is also looking forward to the 2021 Zelda Dungeon Marathon.