Written by Andreas Babiolakis

During the awards season, I will be covering films that are a part of the discussion that have been out for a while.

When it first dropped last March, Raya and the Last Dragon felt like Disney was venturing into some new territories, almost akin to what they were doing with late renaissance works like Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Treasure Planet: films that felt like they bit off more than they could chew when they were first released (and yet you will find cult audiences that love these latter two works for their distinctive feels and world-building). A year later, I feel like Raya is definitely following suit in the path of these flicks, even though this film was much more loved upon release (not as much as some other releases like Encanto, I suppose, but more than the lukewarm reception of the previously named aughts features). There are some similarities, though. I feel like Raya is a step in the right direction (if Disney is attempting to appeal to the same audience they tried once before, as well as the viewers that yearn for some of the studio’s most neglected latter works of their hand-drawn era). Raya’s story is similarly both strained and ambitious, and it shows throughout the hour and a half runtime (with an incredibly expository opening to catch us up on the lore and other important information, for starters, as well as some come-and-go starts-and-stops of pacing). There’s nothing wrong with what’s being told, but maybe a tighter way of telling it would have benefited the film greatly.

This is especially true because Raya and the Last Dragon contains some of the best animation in recent Disney history. If you removed the characters and just stared at the backdrops, some of these scenes are mind-bogglingly detailed: it felt like the levels of CGI used for live-action films to create settings that we’re meant to believe in. When the film isn’t trying to figure out how to tell its story, the ways it shows it to us are its greatest strengths, with designs, scope, and the little things all done with such precision and imagination that I can only call Raya a gorgeous film through and through. There wasn’t a second where I was bored because of how magnificent the whole feature was displayed, so even the lulls were spellbinding. This is the kind of crafting and imagery that goes beyond even the high quality that Disney is known for. Raya is just that much stronger that you can even sense a leap in hyper-realism with everything outside of the characters themselves. I’d love it if Disney dared to go the distance here, but maybe Raya is a stepping stone.

All of this works well to tell the adventures of the titular Raya: a princess who is on a quest to find Sisu (who, you may guess, is indeed the last dragon to exist, since all of the others have been petrified by the dark magic of the Druun). While Raya is voiced really well by Kelly Marie Tran, I must crown Awkwafina as a dragon the greatest casting choice of the year (maybe not, but it feels good to say, considering how perfect it seems). While Raya as a film tries to get as intricate as possible, it maintains a strict stability with the connection between Raya and Sisu, who anchor the film in a myriad of ways. Because of how much Raya and the Last Dragon aspires to be a breath of fresh air in Disney animation whilst knowing what’s needed to get by (the one ingredient maybe Atlantis and Treasure Planet forgot, hence why the bulk of their love came years later), it feels like a success in the moment. The film is nearly a year old, and yet it’s still getting nominations amidst other more competitive films. Something just sits well with Raya: a sign of the potential gamechanger Disney is capable of but isn’t quite putting out yet. With some proper balance and a deeper trek into this kind of epic and well-crafted territory, Disney can absolutely drop a legitimate animation juggernaut. For now, it’s easy to recognize Raya and the Last Dragon as a great attempt.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.