Disney also worked closely with their “Southeast Asia Story Trust,” a coalition of specialists in various fields, including visual anthropology, linguistics, botany, choreography, architecture, martial artists and others. Producer Osnat Shurer, who had previously worked with a team of Oceanic experts for Moana, described the creation of the Southeast Asia Story Trust as, “a really organic process. We met many people as we were preparing for the research trips, and we met some people on the research trips.”
The night markets of Talon, for example, were influenced by Southeast Asian floating markets, and the environmental team put care into building the visual density of stalls, boats, lanterns, and delicious foods needed to make the world feel real and lived in. This even included textures like steam coming up from stalls and depictions of humidity in the tropical climate. Modeling environment lead, John Aquino, was also able to draw on memories of growing up in the Philippines.Of course, at the heart of any world are its main characters. The film centers on Raya (voiced by Kelly Marie Tran), an 18-year-old woman who goes on a hero’s journey to find Kumandra’s remaining dragons, in order to restore safety and harmony to the land. She is physically strong and brave, but emotionally closed off, due to the trauma of losing those closest to her at a young age. Writing the film’s central hero, Raya, was a deeply personal experience for screenwriter Adele Lim, who grew up in Malaysia.
“As a Southeast Asian woman, Raya’s character has special significance for me,” Lim said. “There's a history of strong female leaders and warriors in the region, and I personally grew up in a family of really amazing women who inspire me and also scare me a little bit every day. So it's important that Raya’s actions and attitude embody that same spirit. And you can see it in her leadership and her fearlessness, love of family, the sense of responsibility that she takes for other people.”For script co-writer and martial arts consultant Qui Nguyen, Raya’s individuality and characterization were of special importance, given the stereotyping and tokenizing portrayals of Asian American characters in the past. “When characters that look like me show up in action movies they’re always depicted in one certain way: stoic, serious, oddly obsessed with bringing honor to our family,” Nguyen said. “Raya is an action star that actually sounds like us, too. She's fun. She's quippy. She's clever.”
The team went through dozens of possible names for their titular hero in consultation with linguistic experts from the film’s Southeast Asia Story Trust. When Lim first heard the name “Raya,” she had an immediate, emotional response. “In Malay, it means ‘celebration’ and evokes this joyful time where people come together around a lot of food,” she said.
Raya’s costuming also went through numerous iterations — including a sampot, a traditional Cambodian garment made from a rectangular textile tied at the waist — to ensure the final design fit with her character journey and was based on traditional Southeast Asian garments. Rather than putting her in the restrictive clothing styles that animated female stars have worn in the past, Raya’s attire, and even her hairstyle, were designed with her fighting prowess in mind. “Because she is a warrior, she really needs to be very agile,” said Amy Smeed, Head of Animation. Throughout the film Raya is seen fighting with swords, scaling dungeons, and dodging obstacles.Raya’s hairstyle was kept streamlined and functional, with two braids that keep her sightline clear. It also helps the audience see her facial expressions more clearly. The animators also worked with Dr. Steve Arounsack, associate professor of Anthropology at California State University, Stanislaus — a visual anthropologist who was part of the Southeast Asia Story Trust, and heavily involved in many design elements of the film — to create Raya’s hat, the slope of which resembles a stūpa.
As martial arts consultant and co-screenwriter, Qui Nguyen worked to make sure the action scenes in the film had coherent fight styles, realistically based in actual Southeast Asian martial arts. Raya’s fighting style is based primarily on the Indonesian martial art style pencak silat, as well as the popular Thai fight style of Muay Thai. “Though it is a fantasy, the one thing we didn't want to do was make our fights fantastic,” Nguyen said. “There is no one running on the tops of trees or shooting fireballs. Every punch, kick, and block was grounded in real-world physics.”
Both screenwriters, Lim and Nguyen, are thrilled to have added a Southeast Asian action star to the Disney canon. “As a writer and a parent, my goal is to create for my kids the superheroes that I never got to see,” said Nguyen. “So to finally be here, sharing with the world our wholly original hero that looks like my family, well, that's an absolute dream come true. It's a very powerful thing to know that my two Asian American boys will now always have Raya and her ragtag crew representing them in the greater Disney universe.”Raya and the Last Dragon opens in theaters and on Disney+ with premier access on March 5th.
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