Raya and the Last Dragon trailer has flown in. Disney has unveiled a full trailer for its next animated adventure — the first original one since 2016’s Moana — that is inspired by the cultures of Southeast Asia and involves a host of Asian-American talent in Kelly Marie Tran (Star Wars: The Last Jedi), Awkwafina (Ocean’s Eight), Gemma Chan (Captain Marvel), Daniel Dae Kim (Hawaii Five-0), Sandra Oh (Grey’s Anatomy), and Benedict Wong (Doctor Strange). Raya and the Last Dragon has been directed by Don Hall (Big Hero 6) and Carlos López Estrada (Blindspotting), off a script by playwright Qui Nguyen and Adele Lim (Crazy Rich Asians).
“Alright guys, remember what we’re looking for — and don’t trust anyone,” Raya (Marie Tran) says at the start of the Raya and the Last Dragon trailer. Soon, she runs into a “con-baby” called Noi (Thalia Tran), who escapes Raya’s clutches with the help of three macaques. Raya then introduces the setting of her film: their lands have been at war forever, but Raya’s father Benja (Daniel Dae Kim) believes they can come together. To achieve this, Raya must find the last dragon.
Raya seemingly assembles a “fellowship” to help her. That brings in Tong (Benedict Wong), the little girl Noi from earlier, and a boy called Boun (Izaac Wang). And after six years of searching and avoiding rival outfits — including Raya’s nemesis Namaari (Gemma Chan) — also looking for the dragon, Raya finally runs into the water dragon Sisu (Awkwafina). Turns out Sisu is not the “best dragon.” Her words, not mine.
“Have you ever done, like, a group project, but there’s, like, that one kid who didn’t pitch in as much, but still ended up with the same grade?” Sisu asks rhetorically in the Raya and the Last Dragon trailer.
Namaari introduces herself and demands to have the dragon, but Raya pulls out her sword as they launch into a fight. That’s not the only time they’ll clash on Raya and the Last Dragon, with the trailer giving us a glimpse of another sword battle inside a deserted palace.
The Raya and the Last Dragon trailer ends with Sisu shape shifting into a human, and a joke about how her butt is so much closer to her head than in dragon form.
In addition to Marie Tran, Tran, Dae Kim, Wong, Wang, Chan, and Awkwafina, Raya and the Last Dragon also features the voices of Sandra Oh as Namaari’s powerful mother Virana, Alan Tudyk as Raya’s best friend and trusty steed Tuk Tuk, and Lucille Soong as land leader Dang Hu.
Here’s the official synopsis for Raya and the Last Dragon, from Disney:
Raya and the Last Dragon takes us on an exciting, epic journey to the fantasy world of Kumandra, where humans and dragons lived together long ago in harmony. But when an evil force threatened the land, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Now, 500 years later, that same evil has returned and it’s up to a lone warrior, Raya, to track down the legendary last dragon to restore the fractured land and its divided people. However, along her journey, she’ll learn that it’ll take more than a dragon to save the world—it’s going to take trust and teamwork as well.
Raya and the Last Dragon is out March 5 in cinemas across India, and on Disney+ Premier Access in the US that is priced at $30 (roughly Rs. 2,190). No local-language dubs (Hindi, Tamil, or Telugu) will be available. A Disney+ Hotstar release date for Raya and the Last Dragon has not been set.
