Raya and the Last Dragon: Disney's Cultural Appropriation

[@tedsowards]

Story is King. This story rubbed me the wrong way in several places. Yes, the whole trust everybody no matter what seemed very wrong to teach kids. But also, when the antagonist girl kills the dragon and then later she’s like “it’s just as much your fault as it is mine” I was like “no!! No, it’s not! You’re the one completely at fault.“

[@OpticalSorcerer]

Definitely think the narrative would've been stronger if Namaari was the main antagonist and the Druun, while more dangerous, served moreso as symbolic of the discord between the lands of Kumandra.

[@genericfriend2568]

Awkwafina is the sole reason I'm finding this era of animation insufferable.

[@thejoaquindead146]

She’s not a bad voice actress imo but she’s just getting cast in all the wrong rolls

[@DanCoder-h2u]

You can trust me (Betrayal) No seriously you can trust me this time (Betrayal) Why won’t you trust me? you’re just as responsible for her dying! This kids is what we call “gaslighting”

[@papermr.magolorguy7957]

“This Disney film has no romantic focus Unlike all the others.” Dude, the last film that Disney put under the fantasy princess umbrella that had a romance as one of the central themes was Tangled, (2010) released back about 14 years ago. Since then, in films like Frozen, Moana, Encanto, Luca, and many others, the emphasis on communities, family love, and friendship are front and center stage. To act like Raya is the first to do any of this feels very much bias on your part. Furthermore, there are still films since Raya (Wish 2023) that don’t have a romance at all too. Yet I feel like I miss a bit of that though.

[@ToonOfficialYT]

Good catch. To be fair, Tangled has been one of the better "late" Disney movies, perhaps it's this lack of romance that is currently killing some Disney movies that could've been great.

[@papermr.magolorguy7957]

@@ToonOfficialYT:0. Yeah. I feel like the problem is not romance, just the way it’s written! Pixar’s Elemental was able to resonate with people after all. Besides, a fairytale romance once in a while, isn’t always a bad thing, every now and then.

[@JustaBunchofGoofs]

Disney fans today: “not making Disney princess damsels in destress and all romance obsessed is a big step forward for feminism” Mulan kicking a$$ in the 90’s: “am I a joke to you!?”

[@vikasyeddu8864]

I don't really care too much about where the cast is based from, as long as the end product is good

[@Cindie4321]

when i watched raya i thought that it should have been a miniseries. even just eight episodes would have served the world and pacing IMMENSELY better than one hour and change of film

[@echoroco]

was exactly my thought when I saw the film too. The best thing about Raya was its world building, but the movie tried to do too much in its run time. Spreading it out over a mini series would have been much better for the story overall, plus it could have been a really great entry show for Disney+ since it was still brand new at the time.

[@samflood5631]

I hate to be that guy, but I did not like Raya the Last Dragon. The characters are all one note and forgettable, there are tropes all over this movie, the story is just a cookie cutter story of “trying to save the world”, the humor is terrible and worst of all, the moral of this story is horrible.

[@sonyakinsey4376]

This movie is mid. Not as bad a Wish, to be sure. But the world building is very cliched, the antagonistic is a completely lackluster 'darkness' and there is the extremely annoying dragon. Everything is so blended together that nothing actually stands out. Yes, plenty of detailed fabrics but why does the dragon look like a Pokemon or a prize I can win in a carnival claw machine? The script really is a problem, starting with a character who uses extremely contemporary quippy dialog in a stand-alone fantasy world, which is jarring and will age poorly, plus a weird message that contradicts itself.

[@nicholasdruce5346]

Not as bad as Home on the Range or Chicken Little.

[@WackyManJackpotPizza]

OK plz reply to me is it bad that I like this movie and want a sequel

[@ThePrincessCH]

If you want to see it from a cultural perspective, Xiran Jay Zhao gathered some South East Asian voices to discuss it.

[@OpticalSorcerer]

It's interesting that many SEAs said "it's not fully accurate, but it's not offensive/stereotypical/racist at least," and even now, that's a huge compliment for Hollywood.

[@Yasha_U]

​@@OpticalSorcerer SEA peep here and I really agree with the statement. culture in SE Asia is insanely varied. from country to country, from island to island, and hell, from area to area, you see a LOT of different cultures intertwine with each other. Distinctive, unique and identifiable. Here it feels a bit of a mix of almost everything that almost made sense but represents almost no one. sure for the outside of SEA might be 'ooo SE Asia!' but for us its a bit of 'huh sure i guess but what?' permeated me whilst watching it. It's like scoring a lowest passing score on an exam perhaps. calling it offensive/racist/stereotypical though is a stretch i'd say. and if im being petty here im surprised hollywood managed to get some of things right. then again they DID have a culture counselor thingy a while back.

[@OpticalSorcerer]

@@Yasha_U During the 2010s, Disney started founding cultural trusts for the films they do; a Colombian Trust for "Encanto," and SEA trust for "Raya," and an Oceanic cultural trust for "Moana." I imagine that helps significantly, especially if not all of the writers/directors are SEA. I watched a video that said "Raya" came off more as an introduction to eestern culture for SEA audiences than an introduction to SEA culture for western audiences. I think the mesh of cultures could've worked in the right context. For example, I'm not a fan of travel/"hopping" movies like RATLD was because you don't get to stay in one place very long and take everything in. The setting could've taken place in a major city where many cultures converged, explaining the overlap while still still making sure each culture was distinct. Plus it helps to establish Raya as a leader if she doesn't flee Heart to go on a quest, but just plots out stealing back the gem peaces by reuniting the leaders again like her father tried. As for the actual cultures: 1. I personally could've seen Heart as Vietnam: one of the co-writers is of Vietnamese descent, as is Raya's VA, Sisu looks akin to Vietnamese dragons, the Trung sisters being one of her influences, and "dep la" makes more sense to come from Raya's home, explaining why she'd still use it even after Namaari betrayed her (I doubt she'd still want to use it if it was Namaari's home's word). That said, Heart could also be Malaysia due to Raya being a Malay word and the other screenwriter of the film being Malaysian. 2. Talon could be Thailand based on the floating market they both have 3. Fang could be Indonesia based on architecture 4. Spine could Myanmar based solely on snowfall 5.Tail could be...IDK, since the desert thing was western-influenced. Maybe the Philippines since Filipinos are the largest SEA group in the United States. I also wish their colors were better used; Raya wears bland colors to blend in, but Heart's colors range from aqua green to sapphire blue, with certain ads leaning towards the aqua side. I'd kinda prefer she was ij green, since she doesn't need to be in blue (the water color) just because she's the main character. Fang also wears creams and yellow, but in some ads, their background color has been orange, which I think it much more dynamic. Sorry for the long response!

[@OpticalSorcerer]

This could've been my favorite Disney film if they'd made some changes: 1. Distinct SEA cultures, ie Heart representing Vietnam (just saying this because Raya's VA is Vietnamese and "dep la" being from Raya's culture would explain why Raya still uses it for Namaari; after the betrayal, I doubt she'd use it if it was from Fang) and Talon as Thailand (given that it was based on Thailand's floating market). And perhaps make it a centralized story rather than a travel story so we could learn more about the lands rather than speeding through them. 2. Making it a musical. The writer saying song would've taken away from the seriousness of the film have obviously never seen "The Prince of Egypt," "Mulan," "Pocahontas," and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." 3. A better message. Make Namaari regret hurting Raya rather than Sisu having to intervene and then Raya being blamed for it all going wrong. 4. Make Sisu more nuanced and wise, with her "siblings" being different heads (since SEA dragons are often multi-headed).

[@deeconstruction8163]

God, Disney's relentless quest to "bring us the first (insert race/gender/socioeconomic group) lead character in a major motion picture" and the bottomless knee-jerk reactions to it is exhausting. Nobody outside the one specific subgroup of humanity that Disney has decided to highlight for marketing purposes and the people who make their living posting about it on the internet (either positively or negatively) cares. The vast majority of us just want to see a good movie and "Raya and the Last Dragon" was a mediocre and completely forgettable rip-off of "The Last Airbender" series. Period. And here's some bonus advice for Disney: stop using Awkwafina. She's fucking awful.

[@ThePrincessCH]

Awkwafina is not just being used by Disney. DreamWorks has used her a couple of times, too.

[@orboakin8074]

As a Nigerian, I agree with you so much. Most of us don't give a hoot about any of this identity politics nonsense. We just want good entertainment.

[@zoeyk1455]

I almost got kidnapped because I was so trusting as a child. Now I trust hardly anyone. 😑

[@brianpembrook9164]

Wow... you are really lost if you think this was (is) a big thing...

[@giancarlofelicianocastaned9316]

At least this movie is entertainingly stupid where as Wish is just stupid.

[@welfare_king]

Most disney movies based in Europe aren't even accurate, so what tf do these Twitter activists expect? National geographic levels of cultural fidelity?

[@ThePrincessCH]

@welfare_king Yeah, but most of their films tend to take place strictly in their isolated kingdoms. "Raya and the Last Dragon" explores explores a wide array of kingdoms, and personally, I find that a better tactic to utilize in television shows than film since the former have more opportunities to explore the world.

[@Scrappy45]

I agree and think that when accuracy is the aim i think it's good and important to be held to HOWEVER i have never seen anyone in the world complain about american culture being misrepresented ever or many other world power countries (although im sure there's plenty of exceptions) but the point is highlighting that specifically accuracy not talking about sheer representation just accuracy only matters when it's a smaller country whose not on the world stage or a significant power comparatively U can argue as to y and if ur thinking oh typical American Germany is one of the biggest European countries and ive never heard someone genuinely upset over their portrayal in media

[@nicholasdruce5346]

Who was this movie for? Some Asian person who never met another Asian person?

[@txferretgirl]

honestly, the movie was just....boring. It's a shame it could have been awesome

[@whitesnake.]

I'd love this movie so much if the message was not so wrong. I can't still hate this movie because I really enjoyed it and I also enjoyed Sisu. But even I can see the huge problem with it's stupid message that made literaly no sence to me. Who tf thought this was a good idea.. Anyway. I still think that if they made this to be series, it could have worked much better

[@remuslazar2033]

More like Raya and the Last Jedi

[@CamCat13]

Glad I watched this. I'm making an ATLA theory fanfic of what would've been season 4. I want to feature aspects of different asian cultures along with middle eastern cultures. Last thing I want to do is homogenize that representation. Thanks for pointing out that so I'm not either racist nor ignorant in my writing as a white author. Thanks

[@celsetialarchives5909]

Tbf im glad it didn't get more content The film was amazing and i feel like disney would have dragged it out 2 much

[@cathycooke1240]

I like the dragon design

[@Chefeluaniscolina]

Next Is DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp

[@nikwalk94]

I don't care what the haters said I still enjoyed this movie.

[@nikwalk94]

Honestly the story would be better as a 10 episode limited series.

[@orboakin8074]

Do all Asians dislike the Siamese cats? Or is it just a minority of folks, like you, who do?🤔

[@wonderbread5841]

I've watched most of the videos on this channel and liked them all so far but the fact that the creator open admits to liking Awkwafina is making me rethink my admiration for the channel. I truly don't understand how the creator can like such an annoying voice. Awkwafina should only voice annoying comedic side characters, she should never voice an complex main character.

[@tuomaslassila163]

Still a good movie though.

[@loonytunescrazy]

I enjoyed it

[@qwerty77772]

As someone of Southeast Asian descent, I thought the film was good. Not my go to for Disney, but overall enjoyable and it gets better on rewatch. You can't shoulder one movie created by a company on a completely different continent to fit all the checkmark boxes of supposed cultural expectation, so calling it racist at worst is just ridiculous to me. I also see too much prominent merch and promotion from this film to call it a failure. It's somewhere along the 2nd tier of promoted franchises like Mulan or Hercules. Now a movie like Strange World, THAT deserves a video!

[@JACOBMORHAR]

Some People Did A Review On This Movie That They Have Watched So This Movie Doesn't Look To Bad It's Honestly Good I Might Considering Watch This Movie So This movie Could Be Fun To Watch

[@kennethadler7380]

First