50 Fun Facts About Raya and the Last Dragon

Which studio made Raya and the Last Dragon?

Walt Disney Animation Studios made it as its 59th animated feature, following Frozen II, and it opened in cinemas and on Disney+ Premier Access on the same day.

Who voices Raya?

Kelly Marie Tran, Rose Tico in the Star Wars sequels, took over the part after the story was reworked; Raya was marketed as Disney's first Southeast Asian princess.

Who voices Sisu, the last dragon?

Awkwafina plays Sisu with her trademark rasp; the directors wrote the dragon as goofy and self-doubting but fiercely loyal, and Sisu can shape-shift into human form.

What is the name of the fantasy land where the film is set?

Kumandra is a fictional land inspired by Southeast Asian cultures, once united under the dragons but split into rival lands after they vanished.

What are the mindless spirits that turn living beings to stone called?

The Druun are a plague born from human discord that turns people and dragons to stone; 500 years before the story, the dragons sacrificed themselves to drive them back with the Dragon Gem.

Which of these is NOT one of the film's lands?

Claw is the invented one; the real lands take their names from parts of the dragon-shaped river on the map, and each is home to one of the rival tribes.

Raya is a princess of which land?

Heart holds the Dragon Gem, guarded by Raya's father Chief Benja, who trains her as its next keeper and dreams of reuniting the lands.

Namaari, Raya's rival, is a princess of which land?

Fang is ruled by Namaari's mother, Chief Virana; young Namaari befriends Raya at the feast of the lands only to betray her and steal a shard of the gem.

Who voices Namaari?

Gemma Chan, of Crazy Rich Asians and Eternals, voices the adult Namaari, while Jona Xiao plays her as the child who betrays Raya at the feast.

Who voices Chief Benja, Raya's father?

Daniel Dae Kim, Jin in Lost, voices Benja, a chief who hopes to reunite the lands and is turned to stone in the film's first act.

What gift does young Namaari give Raya at the feast?

A dragon pendant shaped like Sisu is the gift; years later Raya returns it as a gesture of trust when proposing an alliance to the adult Namaari.

Into how many pieces does the Dragon Gem break when the tribes fight over it?

Five shards, one grabbed by each tribe, scatter across the lands the moment the gem breaks and the stone plague returns; gathering them back is the goal of Raya's quest.

What does Benja notice repels the Druun, just before he is petrified?

Water is their one weakness, so Benja drops Raya into the river to save her; when Sisu dies and the canals drain at the climax, the stone plague pours into the city.

How many years pass between the gem's shattering and Raya's quest to find Sisu?

Six years separate the prologue from the main story: the time-skip card lands on a grown Raya crossing a dried-out desert on Tuk Tuk, hunting for the last dragon.

What kind of creature is Tuk Tuk, Raya's steed?

A mix of armadillo and pill bug, with a face the animators modelled on a pug, Tuk Tuk rolls into a ball to carry Raya; his name comes from the Thai word for motorised rickshaws.

In which land does Raya finally summon Sisu?

Tail, a drought-stricken desert land, is the last place Raya searches for Sisu, and the dragon finally answers her summons there.

Sisu reveals the gem's magic actually came from whom?

Her four siblings, Amba, Pranee, Jagan and Pengu, poured their magic into the gem, and Sisu merely carried it; each recovered shard later lends her one of their powers.

Boun, the young entrepreneur who joins the quest, runs what kind of business?

A floating restaurant, the Shrimporium, serves congee from the deck of Boun's boat, which becomes the group's transport along the river.

Little Noi, the toddler con artist, was raised by which creatures?

The ongis, a trio of monkey-like creatures with catfish whiskers, raised the con-baby Noi, who picks the pockets of passers-by with their help.

Which actor voices Tong, the huge warrior from Spine?

Benedict Wong, Wong in Marvel's Doctor Strange films, voices Tong, who lost his family and his whole village to the stone plague and is the last person left there.

Which actress voices Virana, chieftess of Fang?

Sandra Oh, of Grey's Anatomy and Killing Eve, voices Virana, the calculating chief who sends her daughter Namaari to hunt down the gem pieces for their own people.

How is Sisu killed in Fang?

A misfired crossbow bolt kills her: Raya lunges at Namaari when she sees a finger tighten on the trigger, the weapon discharges in the struggle, and the bolt strikes Sisu.

How does Raya show her faith in Namaari as the Druun close in at the climax?

Hands over her gem piece and accepts petrification — Raya gives Namaari her shard and lets the stone plague take her; Boun, Tong and Noi follow, and Namaari reassembles the gem before turning to stone herself.

Which actress was originally announced as Raya before being replaced?

Cassie Steele, the Degrassi actress, was announced at the August 2019 D23 Expo; a year later Disney revealed the recast, saying Raya had been rewritten with more humour and swagger.

Who directed the final film?

Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada took over in 2020, with original directors Paul Briggs and Dean Wellins staying on as co-directors; Hall had previously co-directed Winnie the Pooh and Big Hero 6.

Which two writers share the screenplay credit?

Qui Nguyen and Adele Lim share the screenplay credit; Lim co-wrote Crazy Rich Asians, and Nguyen is a playwright who went on to co-write Disney's Strange World.

Who composed the score?

James Newton Howard, who scored The Sixth Sense and the Hunger Games films, wrote the music, his first Disney Animation score since Treasure Planet in 2002.

Who wrote and performed the end-credits song "Lead the Way"?

Jhené Aiko wrote and sang 'Lead the Way', which plays over the end credits; the R&B singer's album Chilombo had been nominated for Album of the Year at the 2021 Grammys.

"Gabay", a version of the end song recorded for the film's local dub, was Disney's first song in which language?

KZ Tandingan performed it for the film's Filipino dub in March 2021.

On what date was the film released in US theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access?

March 5, 2021 was the final date: the pandemic pushed the film from its original November 25, 2020 slot to March 2021, and it opened in cinemas and on Disney+ Premier Access the same day.

How much did Disney+ charge for Premier Access to the film on release day?

$29.99 bought Premier Access on top of a Disney+ subscription, the same fee charged for Mulan and later Black Widow; the window let subscribers stream the film while it was still in cinemas.

Which short film played before Raya in theaters?

Us Again, a dialogue-free short in which an elderly couple dances through a rainy city, was Disney Animation's first theatrical short since Inner Workings in 2016.

Roughly how much did the film gross worldwide?

$130 million worldwide, about $55 million of it domestic, reflected pandemic-era cinemas and the day-and-date Disney+ release; Cinemark at first refused to book it after rejecting Disney's rental terms.

Where was most of the film's animation finished during 2020?

At the artists' homes over video calls: after the March 2020 lockdown Disney Animation completed Raya remotely, the studio's first feature finished largely from home rather than at its Burbank headquarters.

Sisu and the other dragons were inspired by which mythical beings?

The naga, serpent spirits of Southeast Asian tradition who can take human form, inspired the film's dragons; Sisu has a long serpentine body and a mane of fur, and no wings.

The film's Dragon River was inspired by which real river?

The Mekong, which flows through Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, shaped the Dragon River; the production team's research trips took in those countries as well as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Which land's design was inspired by Southeast Asian floating and night markets?

Talon, the bustling trading land where Raya meets Noi, was built as a maze of stilted piers and boat stalls, its lanterns and food stalls drawn from the markets the team visited.

Which architectural style shaped the rigid, monolithic look of Fang?

Its cold sharp edges were meant to contrast with the floral, rounded shapes of Heart.

Which land's buildings were inspired by bamboo?

Its roofline was modelled on a woolly-mammoth-like tusked shape rising from stone foundations.

Which group of experts did the filmmakers consult for cultural accuracy?

Southeast Asia Story Trust was the name Disney gave the panel of anthropologists, architects, dancers, linguists and musicians who reviewed the film, following the Oceanic Story Trust the studio had formed for an earlier Polynesian-set film.

In what visual style does the film's prologue tell the backstory?

Shadow-puppet style animation, echoing Southeast Asian forms such as Indonesia's wayang kulit, opens the film, retelling how the land was once united and how the dragons vanished.

Who voices Little Noi, the toddler thief?

Thalia Tran provides the babbles and giggles of Little Noi, the pickpocketing toddler who joins the quest after trying to rob Raya.

Which Marvel hero did the directors cite when describing Raya's added "swagger"?

The change from stoic loner to swaggering hero is what prompted the recasting of the lead voice.

Which Academy Award was the film nominated for?

Best Animated Feature was its sole Oscar nomination, at the 94th Academy Awards in March 2022, where it lost to Encanto; it had also been a Golden Globe nominee for best animated film.

What is Sisu's full name, as used in the legend Raya grew up with?

Sisudatu is the dragon's full name in the legend; Raya calls on her by it at the shipwreck, and Sisu tells her the short form will do.

Raya's outfit is based on which traditional garments?

Her high collar and large hat are protective layers the designers meant to strip away as she learns to trust.

Which two contrasting traits of Raya and Sisu drive the film's humour and emotion?

Trust issues and over-trusting define the pair: Raya has trusted no one since she was betrayed as a child, while Sisu assumes the best of everyone she meets, and the film argues for taking the first step.

Which Disney regular voices Tuk Tuk, Raya's armadillo-like steed?

Alan Tudyk, Disney Animation's good-luck charm since voicing King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph, supplies Tuk Tuk's grunts and squeaks, as he did for the chicken Hei Hei.

Who voices Boun, the 10-year-old who joins Raya's quest?

Izaac Wang, later the lead of the 2024 coming-of-age film Dìdi, voices Boun, the first companion Raya and Sisu pick up on their quest.

On what date did Raya become free for all Disney+ subscribers after its Premier Access window?

June 4, 2021 was the Friday the film left Premier Access and joined the standard Disney+ library at no extra charge, where every subscriber could stream it.