“Raya And The Last Dragon” Gets A New Teaser Trailer

Disney Animation Studios has released a new teaser trailer for Raya And The Last Dragon, their newest animated adventure. The film stars Star Wars’ Kelly Marie Tran voicing Raya, the lead character.

It takes place in an alternate version of Earth inhabited by an ancient civilization that used to see dragons and humans coexist. But 500 ago, dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity.

As Disney’s official synopsis explains, Raya and the Last Dragon is about “a lone warrior who sets out to find the last dragon in existence and save the kingdom of Kumandra from the villainous Druun.” That last dragon is Sisu, is voiced by Awkwafina who earned a Golden Globe win last year for her moving performance in The Farewell. With this premise, Raya is positioned to be Disney's next headlining warrior princess as she ventures with her rollie-pollie companion, Tuk-Tuk.

I don’t know why, but watching this trailer, I got strong Star Wars vibes from the settings - not that anything in particular is blatantly ripped off from the mega-franchise, but perhaps heavily inspired by it. Regardless, the animation as you might expect from the studio looks fantastic, especially when watching that brief shot of water flowing in reverse (unrelatedly reminding me I want to watch Tenet again). And Kelly Marie Tran seems to fit the role of Raya perfectly in what is hopefully a productive move away from the controversy of her involvement in Star Wars.

But will Raya And The Last Dragon be as great as successes like Frozen or Moana? It’s hard to say at this point, but I have high hopes that this movie is going to be an entertaining adventure and (fingers crossed) a fantastic animated cinematic experience.

Raya is slated to release March 12, 2021.