Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

This is a lushly animated movie that has pretty standard Disney animated feature films share, but does standout in that it is the first movie with a Southeast Asian story. When I read that in a review it surprised me, but it shouldn't. Be that as it may, I think it is good to reinforce the positives, which is that they did it this year, and their other blockbuster animated feature film is set in South America. The movie is otherwise entirely recognizable, repleat with oft used Disney tropes. The story is a little complicated, as these stories tend to be. It takes place in Kumandra, an enchanted realm inspired by various Southeast Asian cultures and divided into five kingdoms named after a dragon's body parts: Heart, Fang, Spine, Talon and Tail. Before they became extinct centuries ago, dragons once roamed the land and served as friendly guardians to humanity. Their magic lives on in a jewel called the Dragon Gem, which is kept in a cave in Heart, but the other four kingdoms covet its mighty powers. One day, all five factions come together and try to reach a peace agreement, but tensions erupt, a fight breaks out and the Gem shatters into five pieces that are scattered across Kumandra. This opens the doorway to an ancient enemy called the Druun, a terrible plague that turns people to stone. Raya gathers a rag tag group of cursaders to her cause of reuniting Kumandra and off we go.