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Raya and the Last Dragon
Aug. 7th, 2022 11:08 amAt long last the Disney rewatch is catching up to the present! Yesterday evening we watched Raya and the Last Dragon, a charming confection with a classic fantasy journey. In order to save the world, our heroine Raya and her faithful steed Tuk-tuk (a giant furry pillbug-type creature) must visit all five warring nations on the fantasy map, gathering the missing pieces of a magical doohickey and also incidentally a ragtag band of companions!
Actually, I don’t think “wander the fantasy map while gathering the pieces of the magical doohickey” plots are all that common anymore? That story was written so many times that SFF fans collectively got sick of it, and it has lain fallow long enough that it felt fresh and exciting here.
Of course, good execution can make almost any story feel fresh and exciting, and the execution here was excellent. The worldbuilding is charming, visually delightful, and nuanced enough to make the point that the five warring nations are more complicated than the stereotypes suggest (without beating either Raya or the audience over the head with this fact). Raya’s companions are introduced so organically that it wasn’t till the final showdown that I realized, “Hey, Raya has gathered a companion from each of the warring lands, hasn’t she?”
And one of these companions is Raya’s nemesis, Namaari, with whom she has an epic antago-flirtation! (I was a bit surprised when I checked AO3 to see that there aren’t a ton of fics - for a Disney movie, I mean, in the grand scheme of things 500 odd fics is quite a few.)
I loved all the companions - actually quite a feat! Most Disney movies have at least one character I find desperately annoying! - but my very favorite was… okay, possibly my very favorite was Tuk-tuk, but a close second goes to Sisu, the charmingly incompetent dragon who thinks the best way to gather the shards of the magical doohickey is to bring presents to the keepers of the shards! Oh my. Sisu is overwhelmed but Doing Her Best and it’s so delightful to see her revel in each new magical power she gets whenever this ragtag band of misfits recovers another shard.
Also she looks very soft and fluffy and I want to pet her beautiful teal and lavender fur.
Actually, I don’t think “wander the fantasy map while gathering the pieces of the magical doohickey” plots are all that common anymore? That story was written so many times that SFF fans collectively got sick of it, and it has lain fallow long enough that it felt fresh and exciting here.
Of course, good execution can make almost any story feel fresh and exciting, and the execution here was excellent. The worldbuilding is charming, visually delightful, and nuanced enough to make the point that the five warring nations are more complicated than the stereotypes suggest (without beating either Raya or the audience over the head with this fact). Raya’s companions are introduced so organically that it wasn’t till the final showdown that I realized, “Hey, Raya has gathered a companion from each of the warring lands, hasn’t she?”
And one of these companions is Raya’s nemesis, Namaari, with whom she has an epic antago-flirtation! (I was a bit surprised when I checked AO3 to see that there aren’t a ton of fics - for a Disney movie, I mean, in the grand scheme of things 500 odd fics is quite a few.)
I loved all the companions - actually quite a feat! Most Disney movies have at least one character I find desperately annoying! - but my very favorite was… okay, possibly my very favorite was Tuk-tuk, but a close second goes to Sisu, the charmingly incompetent dragon who thinks the best way to gather the shards of the magical doohickey is to bring presents to the keepers of the shards! Oh my. Sisu is overwhelmed but Doing Her Best and it’s so delightful to see her revel in each new magical power she gets whenever this ragtag band of misfits recovers another shard.
Also she looks very soft and fluffy and I want to pet her beautiful teal and lavender fur.
