What’s it about?
Disney’s latest stunning animated feature follows Raya, a warrior from Kumandra, a realm of warring nations divided by mistrust. When the bickering tribes break a magical orb and unleash an evil power that turns people to stone, Raya begins an epic quest to find the last dragon, reunite the missing pieces and right the wrongs of the past.
‘The world’s broken. You can’t trust anyone.’ — Raya
‘Maybe it’s broken because you don’t trust anyone.’ — Sisu
From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes the epic adventure Raya and the Last Dragon, set in the fantasy world of Kumandra, where long ago humans and dragons lived together in harmony. But when an evil force threatened the land, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity.
Now, 500 years later, that same evil has returned and it’s up to a lone warrior, Raya, to track down the legendary last dragon to restore the fractured land and unite its divided people.
‘Everything’s been taken away from Raya,’ explains producer Osnat Shurer. ‘She’s totally on her own. She’s got nothing left save for her father’s sword, her friend, Tuk Tuk, and a shard of something that might be magical. And she sets out into Kumandra seeking the last dragon, Sisu, with the hope of restoring peace to her land.’
But along her journey, Raya will learn that it’ll take more than a dragon to save the world. ‘This is Raya’s journey of learning to trust,’ says director Don Hall, ‘after her trust was so deeply broken when she was a child.’
‘You can’t really get to unity without trust, and for Raya it will take trusting a group of strangers if she is ever going to have a united Kumandra,’ adds Carlos López Estrada, who shares directing duties with Don Hall.
Raya’s quest to find the last dragon, destroy the Druun and save her world is also a journey of self-discovery – a quest filled with danger, adventure, humor and new friendships, yet tinged with regret, loss and anger born of the need to avenge a wrong. What Raya learns, and comes to believe, is bigger than all of us: we can trust, wecan work together, we can unite. And, most importantly, we must.
Production notes
RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON
Directed by: Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada
Director, Pre-production: Dean Wellins
Co-directed by: Paul Briggs, John Ripa
©: Disney Enterprises Inc.
Production Company: Disney
Created and Produced at: Walt Disney Animation Studios
Executive Producers: Jennifer Lee, Jared Bush
Produced by: Osnat Shurer, Peter Del Vecho
Associate Producers: Nathan Curtis, Jennifer Christine Vera
Production Manager: Albert V. Ramirez
Senior Production Supervisors: Kristin Leigh Yadamec, Ruth Strother
Production Finance Manager: Laurie Au
Head of Post-production: Bérénice Robinson
Post-production Supervisor: David Okey
Technical Supervisor: Kelsey Hurley
Casting by: Jamie Sparer Roberts
Casting Associate: Grace C. Kim
Screenplay by: Qui Nguyen, Adele Lim
Story by: Paul Briggs, Don Hall, Adele Lim, Carlos López Estrada, Kiel Murray, Qui Nguyen, John Ripa, Dean Wellins
Based on story ideas by: Bradley Raymond
And [Based on] Additional Story Contributions by: Helen Kalafatic
Head of Story: Fawn Veerasunthorn
Director of Cinematography Layout: Rob Dressel
Director of Cinematography Lighting: Adolph Lusinsky
Visual Effects Supervisor: Kyle Odermatt
Heads of Animation: Amy Lawson Smeed, Malcon B. Pierce III
Edited by: Fabienne Rawley, Shannon Stein
Production Designers: Paul Felix, Mingjue Helen Chen, Cory Loftis
Art Director Characters: Shiyoon Kim, Ami Thompson
Head of Characters and Technical Animation: Carlos Cabral
End Title Design: Mingjue Helen Chen, Rob Dressel, April Liu
Original Score by: James Newton Howard
Vocal Soloist: Loire Cotler
Choir: London Voices
Orchestra Leader: Bruce Dukov
Score Conducted and Orchestrated by: Pete Anthony
Sound Designer: Shannon Mills
Co-sound Designer: Nia Hansen
Re-recording Mixers: David E. Fluhr, Gabriel Guy
Original Dialogue Mixers: Gabriel Guy, Paul McGrath, Doc Kane
Supervising Sound Editor: Shannon Mills
Supervising Dialogue Editor: Brad Semenoff
Sound Effects Editors: Samson Neslund, David C. Hughes
Fight Reference Choreographer: Maggie Macdonald
Additional Fight Reference Choreography: Qui Nguyen
Kumandran Language Creator: David J. Peterson
Voice Cast
Kelly Marie Tran (Raya)
Awkwafina (Sisu, the dragon)
Izaac Wang (Boun)
Gemma Chan (Namaari)
Daniel Dae Kim (Benja, Raya’s father)
Benedict Wong (Tong, the giant)
Jona Xiao (young Namaari)
Sandra Oh (Virana, Raya’s mother)
Thalia Tran (Little Noi)
Lucille Soong (Dang Hu, leader of Talon)
Alan Tudyk (Tuk Tuk)
Gordon Ip (merchant 2)
Dichen Lachman (General Atitaya, Spine warrior)
Patti Harrison (Tail chief)
Jon ‘Dumbfoundead’ Park (Chai)
Sung Kang (Dang Hai)
Sierra Katow (merchant, Fang officer)
Ross Butler (Spine chief)
François Chau (Wahn)
Paul Yen (merchant 1)
USA 2021
107 mins
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Programme notes and credits compiled by the BFI Documentation Unit
Notes may be edited or abridged
Questions/comments? Contact the Programme Notes team by email