Orientalism and Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

Eighty-four years after its first animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (David Hand, 1937) and fifty-eight movies later, Disney finally has its first Southeast Asian princess with Raya and the Last Dragon (Paul Briggs, Don Hall & Carlos López Estrada, 2021). The titular character, Raya, joins the ranks of their other princess-of-colour from the Disney canon including Tiana from The Princess and the Frog (Ron Clements & John Musker, 2009), Jasmine from Aladdin (Ron Clements & John Musker, 1992), and the titular characters from Pocahontas (Mike Gabriel & Eric Goldberg, 1995), Mulan (Tony Bancroft & Barry Cook, 1998) and Moana (Ron Clements, Don Hall & John Musker, 2016). While these films have ascended to global and cross-generation recognition, they have received their fair share of criticism. Many of these films have been criticized for telling the stories of racialized communities without casting voice actors from those communities for the leading roles. There has also been a notable lack of these communities’ presence behind the scenes as writers, screenwriters, and directors. While maybe typical industry practice for the 90s and 00s, it no longer feels acceptable in this age of #OscarsSoWhite and #ChangeHollywood for this lack of so-called production staff representation.

Fig. 1 - Raya and her attractive father Benja.

Following these social movements and the rising global popularity of Asian films and media, there has been much buzz of anticipation around Raya and the Last Dragon. As two Asian media scholars, we too were excited to watch Disney’s first animated movie located in Southeast Asia. We are sad to report, however, that our high expectations for the film were unfortunately not met. However, we will give credit where it’s due and note that the animation of this film is visually stunning and detailed. The movie’s prologue, which features two-dimensional illustrations evocative of toy theatre, was especially notable for its impeccable art style. Throughout the movie, people, animals, clothing, items, architecture, and even the changing natural environments are filled with vivid colour and texture. Also, Raya’s dad, Benja? Undeniably hot (Buchanan 2021; see Fig. 1). Unfortunately, aside from the occasional moments of queer sexual tension between the protagonist and her foil, there are not many positive points of feedback.

Like many Disney animated narratives with BIPOC lead characters, the protagonist is orphaned or missing a parent. Perhaps it is this parental loss that results in the child becoming quite rebellious and precocious—often placing them in de facto leadership positions. Some examples include Pocahontas, Princess Jasmine and Aladdin, Tiana, Lilo and Nani, and Hiro from Big Hero 6 (Don Hall and Chris Williams, 2014). Each undertake a hero’s journey where they gather an unlikely group of companions to complete their respective quests and bring about peace to their nation (Campbell 2003). While there is certainly critique to be had for the archetypal narrative of the hero’s journey, the laziness with which this archetype was executed in Raya and the Last Dragon was even more upsetting given the high expectations placed on this movie as the first Southeast Asian animated movie of this scale.

The film begins with a retelling of the region’s lore. In ancient times, dragons used to live among humans. Facing the threat of evil spirits called the Druun, which have turned both humans and dragons into stone, the last remaining dragon, Sisu, creates a magical gem that banishes the Druun and revives the humans. But only the humans. Five hundred years later, the once unified land in a fictitious reimagining of Southeast Asia dubbed “Kumandra” has split into five regions. Following the reemergence of the Druun, Raya’s journey begins to reassemble Sisu’s broken gem and unite the divided nations once again. Unlike its predecessor, Moana, which also employs ancient folklore and a hero’s journey centred around a magical object, Raya features far less explanation, symbolism, and depth linking the foregrounded lore with the heroine’s journey. The origin of the Druun is not explained, nor is it clear whether or not they are sentient. As villains, the Druun fail to spark genuine fear or interest. So as queer viewers, we didn’t even get to enjoy Disney’s classic queer-coding of its villains (Koeun 2017).

Fig. 2 - The protagonists of Raya share an emotional moment together.

The Druun are not the only ones lacking depth. In fact, very little information is shared about any of the characters in this film. While Raya and her pet armadillo do acquire additional companions in the form of fellow orphans (one of whom is an adult and one is the last dragon) as well as three monkeys, they all undergo the same character development arc of assisting Raya in order to reunite with their lost family members (Fig. 2). The film relies heavily on orphan tropes undercutting the potential for complex Southeast Asian characters. The characters instead reinforce problematic Western stereotypes of poor Asian communities. This is most notable in the characters of Boun, a child labourer (or “entrepreneur” as he states in the film); Noi, a seemingly abandoned baby girl turned con artist; and Tong whose character design uncritically rearticulates many problematic and racist Mongolian stereotypes. Even Raya, the star of the film, emerges fully formed right from the first scene and remains unchanged between the opening and closing credits. For comparison, Mulan audiences witness Mulan’s emotional and physical transformation from mild-mannered villager to powerful soldier. Through witnessing her journey, we come to better understand Mulan’s motivations as well as her anxieties. On the other hand, Raya is shown at the start to already possess the skills required for her journey and proceeds with little resistance.

These one-dimensional Southeast Asian characters are mostly voiced by East Asian actors. This reinforces a monolithic imagining of Asia that centres East Asian culture, aesthetics, and perspectives, thereby effacing the diversity of other Asian regions, notably Southeast Asia. Aside from Vietnamese-American Kelly Marie Tran and Laotian-American Izaac Wang who voiced Raya and Boun, respectively, the principal speaking cast members are well-known actors of East Asian (Chinese and Korean) backgrounds. This high-profile cast includes Awkwafina, Gemma Chan, Daniel Day Kim, and Sandra Oh. While they are undoubtedly talented actors, and while all Asians, including East Asians, continue to lack opportunities in the entertainment industry, this was a missed opportunity to help boost the careers of Southeast Asian actors who are marginalized even within the larger Asian media.

Another issue with the portrayal of Southeast Asians in Raya is the lack of diversity within each tribe. The film displays a variety of skin tones (albeit with a lack of dark-skinned main characters) but fails to properly represent the rich ethnic diversity that exists within Southeast Asia. Raya flattens and draws upon the characteristics of different cultures, creating a high fantasy, monolithic pan-Asia. The film also draws on uninspired pan-Asian cultural iconography such as rice, curry, and dragons, that while common across Southeast Asian cultures, ultimately lack cultural specificity—leaving them feeling vague and detached from their initial models of inspiration.

Additionally, the Kumandran language spoken by the protagonists is a mix of several different Southeast Asian languages, further merging and flattening the Southeast Asian cultures included in the film (Truffaut-Wong 2021). Each tribe depicted is meant to reflect a different Southeast Asian culture, but the fictionalized geography and lack of specific iconography makes differences aside from topography and architecture difficult to discern. This dissociation from the actualities of diversity within Southeast Asia oversimplifies crucial elements of its nations’ distinct cultures and identities. Fictionalizing the land of Kumandra is a peculiar choice for Disney given their history of real-world storytelling. Even Moana, which takes place on a fictional island, exists within the real region of Polynesia. Furthermore, parts of the lore used to foreground the film, such as the demigod Maui, are based on Maori oral traditions (Herman 2016). In Raya, however, only vague iconography and cultural references such as racial characterizations, clothing, and food, place Kumandra in Southeast Asia.

Several of these issues can be attributed to the lack of Southeast Asians meaningfully involved in Raya’s writing. Reportedly, Disney flew members of its production team “to Laos, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore to learn about their cultures” (Moon 2021). As earlier mentioned, we very much enjoy the artistic stylings of the film. This is one area in which the film was led by Southeast Asians, including Lao visual anthropologist Steve Arounsack and Thai-American storyboard artist Fawn Veerasunthorn, who served as Head of Story (Moon 2021). On the other hand, the film was written by a team of mostly white writers. The production later brought on screenplay co-writers Adele Lim and Qui Nguyen who are Malaysian and Vietnamese-American.

The question at hand is not whether Raya and The Last Dragon is a “good” or “bad” representation of Southeast Asia. Instead, we are more interested in the question of what this means for the future of Southeast Asian entertainment media. It is unfortunately (and perhaps unfairly) the case that scarcity brings heavy expectations to “minority media” when it comes to representation. The story needs not only to be compelling, but also executed flawlessly. It needs to be diverse (with respect to gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, etc.), it needs to have a universal appeal (for capitalist gains in a global market), and it needs to leave us feeling good about where we are as a society. Does Raya accomplish this? Of course not, no film can. Must the need for “universal appeal” in Hollywood productions necessitate the dilution and whitewashing of complex narratives from marginalized and racialized communities? As a result of this tendency, Raya and the Last Dragon is an OK film that follows the classic Disney formula: always nonthreatening, always inoffensive, and always leaving us wanting more....

**Article published: August 13, 2021**

References

Buchanan, Kyle. 2021. “Are Animated Dads Getting Hotter? An Investigation.” The New York Times, 7 May 2021, sec. Movies. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/07/movies/hot-animated-dads-raya-last-dragon.html.

Campbell, Joseph, Phil Cousineau, and Stuart L. Brown. 2003. The Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work. Novato, Calif: New World Library.

Herman, Doug. 2016, “How the Story of ‘Moana’ and Maui Holds Up Against Cultural Truths.” Smithsonian Magazine, December 2, 2016. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-story-moana-and-maui-holds-against-cultural-truths-180961258/.

Koeun, Kim. 2107. “Queer-Coded Villains (And Why You Should Care).” Dialogues@RU 12 (2017): 156–65.

Moon, Kat. 2021. “Raya and the Last Dragon Sparks Celebration and Calls for More Representation.” Time, March 5, 2021. https://time.com/5944583/raya-and-the-last-dragon-southeast-asia/.

Truffaut-Wong, Olivia. 2021. “‘Raya & The Last Dragon’ Introduces Disney’s First Southeast Asian Princess With Great Care.” Refinery 29, March 5, 2021. https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2021/03/10346209/raya-the-last-dragon-kumandra-based-on-southeast-asia.

Biographies

Prakash Krishnan (he/him) is an artist-researcher, cultural worker, and MA candidate in Media Studies at Concordia University. His thesis examines the emergence of counter-colonial, community memory archives on social media. His personal and professional interests lie at the intersection of art, media, activism, and community engagement.  Prakash is the co-host of Do the Kids Know? a weekly anti-colonial podcast about Canadian media.

Patricia Petit Liang (she/they) is a Media Studies MA student and lead Intermedia teaching assistant at Concordia University. Her research creation thesis project is about queer feelings, virtual pets and digital intimacy. Much of her work involves photography, photomanipulation, podcasting and animation. She has been an award-winning radio host at CJLO 1690AM, Concordia’s radio station, since the age of 16.