Raya and the Last Dragon maintains the tradition of Disney animated films that focuses on a strong heroine making her own identity and saving her people’s way of life. The film does indeed a great job of marking its own place within the Disney filmography, and owes a debt to animated films that have been released before, most notably with Moana.
Both the stories highlight cultures that have been largely ignored in mainstream Hollywood movies. The central plot in both cases revolves around a young woman who has to find a mythical being to help saving her homeland. Both the films feature Alan Tudyk voicing an animal. Also Raya and the Last Dragon does a good job of world-building and humanizing Raya (Kelly Marie Tran) as she is on a mission to not only save her family but find herself.
Raya along with her companions set out to reassemble the various orb pieces and reach the land of Talon. It’s a world filled with the hustle of people, animals, and street life. Fans of the film were enthralled to see their favorite poultry in a scene, but had a few questions about the presence of rooster. They have been also asking as how did the bird travelled all the way from Polynesia to South Asia?
All in all it just seems to be a nod to voice actor Alan Tudyk, who previously voiced Heihei in Moana and returned to voice Raya’s best friend, Tuk Tuk, in the latest release.
