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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Raya and The Last Dragon Review: The Best Disney Princess Movie Since Mulan

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If Raya and the Last Dragon proves anything, it’s that Disney is trying to tell a more modern “Disney Princess” story with their latest animated effort. Commercially, Disney’s transition into the 21st century has been a smooth one. While the shuttering of Disney theme parks in the last year due to the pandemic has cost the billions-dollar conglomerate money, Disney has many, many revenue streams, and the Disney brand remains strong. And much of that brand still relies on the studio’s signature Disney Princess movies, which have not had as seamless a narrative transition into modern storytelling as many fans might have hoped.

Rigidly faithful live-action adaptations of the animated classics that millennials grew up with are now recognized for their narrow romantic messaging, and the often racist, colonialist world-building that’s used to prop up this type of storytelling. Meanwhile Walt Disney Animation Studios has attempted to complicate and modernize the Disney Princess template in interesting ways, but they’ve never quite nailed it narratively.

Frozen was a step in the right direction with its emphasis on sisterly love, but it couldn’t resist shoehorning a thematically superfluous romance into its plot with the Kristoff character. Moana, which features Disney’s first Polynesian heroine, makes great strides in giving viewers a more authentic representation of a non-European culture, but still makes some classic colonialist mistakes—blindspots that will always surface when the chief creative forces behind a film are appropriating a culture or cultures they are paid to understand—that keep its fresh setting from truly shining.

Disney is working to tell more modern stories not because it is good for our culture and world (though individuals involved in the production of Disney films might be motivated by this value), but because there is money to be made in telling new stories that give us fresh, feminist takes on the many cultures that influence the melting pot (or salad bowl) that is modern America and the territories of the larger global box office. Raya and the Last Dragon, which will be in theaters and available via Disney+ Premier Access on March 5, makes headway from both the thematic surplus of Frozen and the cultural appropriation of Moana. In doing so, it gives us the best, post-Renaissance “Disney Princess” story yet.

Raya lives in a fictional land once known as Kumandra, a place where humans and dragons co-existed in harmony. Five hundred years before the start of our story, monsters known as the Druun came to Kumandra, turning both people and dragons to stone. Dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity, but fear and paranoia tore Kumandra apart into five distinct lands, each named after a different part of the dragon: Heart, Tail, Spine, Talon, and Fang. Raya lives in Heart, where her family has tasked itself with guarding the Dragon Gem, the MacGuffin that the last dragon used to save the world a half-millennia prior. When the Dragon Gem is broken and the Druun return, Raya sets out to find the mythical last dragon, Sisu, and to fix the world.

We are told that this story takes place long ago, but Raya’s vibrant world is already well-lived in when we come to it. The societies of Kumandra are different from both the European castles of Beauty and the Beast or Frozen, and the more rural aesthetic of Pocahontas or Moana. Pushing back against the false binary of the “civilized” city and the indigenous wilderness of other Disney Princess movies, the world of Raya is both urban and organic.

The filmmakers traveled throughout Southeast Asia to do research for the film, and it shows. Visually, Raya’s Heart homeland looks like Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, a vestige of the mighty Khmer empire. A trip to Talon reveals a merchant town seemingly in perpetual night market mode. It’s a Disney-fied version of the Banana Pancake Trail more than a specific cultural vision, but that doesn’t totally undercut the excitement the fresh Disney Princess setting infuses into its narrative.

The world of Raya and The Last Dragon is both teeming and accessible at the same time, suggestive of a richness and depth that welcomes rather than intimidates. It is more reminiscent of Avatar: The Last Airbender than anything Disney has done before.

To be clear, like Avatar before it, Raya and The Last Dragon is still very much an American story. While the setting may be a fictionalized world inspired by Southeast Asian cultures, Raya‘s premise is classic Hollywood: Raya suffers a familial tragedy and then must set out on her own quest to save the world. Raya brings that storytelling structure into the 21st century by eschewing the traditional trappings of romance or personal glory (which can be done in modern, interesting ways, but, given the redundancy of those stories needs to be worked harder toward), and leaning into themes of healing, forgiveness, and community. The biggest stakes here aren’t about securing a love or marriage—which, at least in Western media, has inextricable ties to the consolidation of privilege and power—but rather the (figurative) soul of humanity.

While Raya is, broadly speaking, a princess (her father Chief Benja is the leader of Kumandra’s Heart land), Raya’s quest to collect all of the pieces of the Dragon Gem is explicitly depicted to be about a fair redistribution of power and resources. The Druun are simple monsters, yes, but they are also effective stand-ins for the much more intangible forces that threaten our present and future: namely climate change and the devastating conflict that arises from the instability it creates. In Raya, our heroine’s mission is never about regaining or consolidating power. It’s about healing a community and, with it, the natural world—two necessary pieces of the same solution.

Raya and the Last Dragon has a diverse team behind its story. Written by Vietnamese-American playwright Qui Nguyen (Dispatches From Elsewhere, The Society) and Malaysian-born American Adele Lim (Crazy Rich Asians), the movie was co-directed by American filmmaker (and Moana co-director) Don Hall and by Mexican-American filmmaker Carlos López Estrada (Blindspotting). Thai artist Fawn Veerasunthorn served as the Head of Story for the film. It’s hard to imagine a predominantly white creative team telling this same story with anywhere close to the same success.

Lim (along with with co-writer Nguyen) brings the same character-driven humor she displayed in the Crazy Rich Asians script, giving Raya some laugh out loud funny moments for both kids and adults. Much of the American audience’s previous experience with Southeast Asian settings will no doubt be from the mostly masculine-coded aesthetic of action movie set-pieces or martial arts films that made their way to the United States. In Raya and the Last Dragon, we get both action set-pieces and martial arts showdowns… but they can also be pretty. That feels new.

The film has been criticized for its lack of Southeast Asian representation in its cast, which mostly features voice actors of East Asian descent. This kind of blanket, pan-regional representation is common in Hollywood, which tends to conflate communities of color based on a perceived shared distance to whiteness rather than any similarities their cultures may or may not have to one another. This is also true for Raya and the Last Dragon, which drew from the cultures of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, and Malaysia to tell its story. Southeast Asia has a population of over 670 million, which makes up more than 8.5 percent of the global population. It is a region with diverse and distinct cultures, and Raya and the Last Dragon‘s attempt to conflate them all into one world and call it fictional is problematic and will most likely undercut the emotional effectiveness of the story for some viewers.

While Raya‘s world may feel fresh and vibrant to many viewers, it’s the film’s character work that truly shines. The Disney Princess movie has not one, but three female characters at the heart of its film: Raya (Kelly Marie Tran), antagonist Namaari (Gemma Chan), and dragon Sisu (Awkwafina, with her signature blend of goofiness and heart). They all have complex relationships with themselves and one another, even when on different sides of the race for the Dragon Gem. The girl trifecta is rounded out by a solid supporting cast filled with subversive and fun character types that twist the plot and complicate the world in unexpected ways, including Raya’s adorable and visually clever pet pill bug companion Tuk Tuk (Alan Tudyk).

Movies

How Raya and the Last Dragon Became the First Disney Movie Made at Home

By David Crow

Movies

Raya and the Last Dragon Finds Magic in Southeast Asian Tradition

By David Crow

In a culture where more people than ever have a platform to voice their criticisms of mainstream stories, there is no such thing as a non-problematic fave. Raya and the Last Dragon will no doubt have its critics, and many of them will have valid criticisms. As viewers, we all have our narrative priorities—the aspects of storytelling that will pull us out of a story if done poorly, and the narrative elements that we prioritize so highly we will forgive a story its faults when done well.

For me, Raya and The Last Dragon is the most exciting Disney Princess story since Mulan. It gives us fiercely kind and incredibly flawed characters who care about healing a broken world and a setting that recognizes there is beauty and value outside of European castle towns. It’s not a perfect movie, but it’s something incredibly special that feels like a step forward for the Disney Princess canon.

Raya and the Last Dragon is available to watch on Disney+ beginning on March 5.

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kayawagner · 6 years

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Wisdom from the Wastelands [BUNDLE]

Publisher: Skirmisher Publishing

This special 64% off bundle contains all 52 issues of the "Wisdom from the Wastelands" game supplement for modern, sci-fi, and post-apocalyptic RPGs like Mutant Future and classic Gamma World! They are compatible with any OGL/d20-based games and easily adapted for use with many others.

Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #10: Monsters That Improve with Age 2 Regular price: $0.99 The age chart is a powerful tool for Mutant Lords who want to scale monster encounters with the powers and artifacts of the player characters. These charts describe how a creature’s characteris... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #11: Optional Combat Rules Regular price: $0.36 In almost every roleplaying game, one of the biggest aspects is combat. Mutant Future is no exception, for, in many ways, combat could be considered one of the game’s most crucial aspect... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #12: Parasite Mutations/Transformations Regular price: $0.99 Gut worms and intestinal bacteria, athlete’s foot fungus, toxoplasmosis protozoa, lycanthropy and Rage and vampire viruses. Whether biological fact or fictional terror, we are surrounded (and c... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #13: Medical Devices Regular price: $0.36 Fantasy has spells and potions to heal injuries and resurrect the dead. Science fantasy has similar ways of curing what ails, but through technology. Although the Mutant Future core book descr... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #14: Aggregates Regular price: $0.99 Having another creature living on or inside your body is not a thought most would enjoy. Nor is the idea of having the same type of creature living inside a child and grandchild, joining generation a... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #15: Robots Part 1 Regular price: $0.36 Robots are just as important to Mutant Future as biological creatures. They can be antagonists, sources of information, or even slave labor. This is the first of four robot-themed issues, and ... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #16: Robots Part 2 Regular price: $0.99 Robots are just as important to Mutant Future as biological creatures. They can be antagonists, sources of information, or even slave labor. In this second installment of four robot-themed iss... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #17: Artifact Conditions Regular price: $0.36 Artifacts play a key role in Mutant Future. Like magical items in fantasy games, artifacts are treasures sought by adventuring parties that brave the mutant-infested ruins of the Ancients&rsqu... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #18: Robots Part 3 Regular price: $0.99 Robots are just as important to Mutant Future as biological creatures. They can be antagonists, sources of information, or even slave labor. In this third installment of four robot-themed issu... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #19: Robots Part 4 Regular price: $0.36 Robots are just as important to Mutant Future as are biological creatures. They can be antagonists, sources of information, or even slave labor. In this fourth installment of author Derek Holl... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #1: Artifacts, Manuals, and Toolkits Regular price: $0.99 Welcome to the inaugural issue of Wisdom from the Wastelands! This publication is dedicated to providing useful information, game content, and ideas to players of modern, science fiction, and ... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #20: Mutation Modifiers Regular price: $0.36 Just as a single change to a stock creature can result in a very different and distinct entity, mutation modifiers can expand the scope and variety of Mutant Future mutational powers, altering... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #21: High-Tech Melee Weapons Regular price: $0.99 Although most Ancients considered melee weapons like swords, axes, maces, spears, and even exotic ranged weapons such as bolas and shuriken to be archaic, some did practice the use of such weapons, a... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #22: Personal Shields Regular price: $0.36 Force screens were developed for individuals from all walks of life, to guard them from all manner of threats. There were simple fields that warded users from the insults of weather and city life, th... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #23: Sea Monsters Regular price: $0.99 Despite much of the planet being covered by ocean, sea monsters have oddly been absent from all editions of the game that inspired Mutant Future. Such a vast area, in a variety of latitudes an... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #24: Weapon Modifications Regular price: $0.36 This issue presents technologies and items for making Mutant Future weapons more lethal and combat more colorful. These additions include expanded range rules, new ammunition types for both mo... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #25: Metamorphosis I Regular price: $0.99 In poetry, the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly describes how something ugly becomes uniquely beautiful. But in nature metamorphosis is common as living things change forms over their lif... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #26: Energy Weapons Regular price: $0.36 The latest installment in our popular series on leading edge military technology and combat rules, this issue brings five deadly weapon systems and several new combat “conditions” to your... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #27: Metamorphosis II Regular price: $0.99 Once again we bow to the wisdom of the Ancient philosophers, who recognized that the only constant in life (aside from death and taxes) was change, change, change. Metamorphosis can take very ... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #28: Nanotechnology I Regular price: $0.36 Nanotechnology has existed since the late 20th century. At first, the tiny machines were used mostly in medicine and genetic manipulation, but technological advances brought wider application. Many o... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #29: Mutualists I Regular price: $0.99 To mangle a paraphrase from John Donne, no mutant is an island — unless your mutant is an island. And even then it probably does not live entirely alone. Whether you are part of a commun... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #2: Monsters That Improve with Age Regular price: $0.36 Like a fine wine, some monsters improve with age, and it is to them that this second thematic issue of Wisdom from the Wastelands is devoted! An age chart can be a wonderful tool for Game Mast... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #30: Nanotechnology II Regular price: $0.99 Nanotechnology has existed since the late 20th century. At first, the tiny machines were used mostly in medicine and genetic manipulation, but technological advances brought wider application. Many o... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #31: Nanotechnology III Regular price: $0.36 Continuing with the examination of this hi-tech subject that we started in issues #28 and #30 of Wisdom from the Wastelands, this third installment in our nanotechnology series presents many n... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #32: Shapeshifters Regular price: $0.99 Shape changing is a fascination crossing time, culture, and genre: Greek gods and mythic Indian monsters, vampires, were-creatures, spirit and shadow beings all captivate and intrigue with their meta... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #33: Drugs Regular price: $0.36 The science fiction equivalent of magical potions and elixirs, drugs and medications are similarly treasured. Because of widespread use by the Ancients, chemical compounds of all sorts can be found a... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #34: Plant Mutants I Regular price: $0.99 No matter what your choice of post-apocalyptic game, plants usually get the hind bud. And, unfortunately, Mutant Future is no exception. Although the core rulebook has example mutant plants an... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #35: Terror Weapons Regular price: $0.36 During the final wars, various factions came to rely on psychological tactics like terror, rather than conventional bombs, bullets, and energy beams, as their weaponry of choice. Many believed a terr... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #36: Plant Mutants II Regular price: $0.99 In real life, we take plants for granted. Stretching out on the grass on a summer’s afternoon, leaning back against a gnarled oak with a good book (or your favorite device), watching the kids t... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #37: Plant Mutants III Regular price: $0.36 Although some might treat plants as a monotony of greenery and stalks, there is actually a great deal of variety within their kingdom. The previous two issues in our plant series discussed organisms ... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #38: Radiation Sickness Regular price: $0.99 Radiation. For many in a post-apocalyptic world, the word conjures burning thoughts of flesh-corrupting terror; for others, the tingling aura of mutation-granting nirvana. In the core Mutant Futur... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #39: Unique Superscience Artifacts Regular price: $0.36 Imagine — barely 50 years ago — pulling out your smart phone in Dallas to take a selfie as President Kennedy passed by. The technology people casually sit on today might have gotten you d... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #3: High-Tech Weapons Regular price: $0.99 Like magical weapons in fantasy games, high-technology firearms are treasures that adventurers seek out with great eagerness in the post-apocalyptic world. No matter how cool a weapon is, however, pl... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #40: New Races 2 Regular price: $0.36 Over time, mutations can become consistent, creating unique species and new creatures — for example, birds evolving from dinosaurs. But Mutant Future races need not be consistent, or eve... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #41: Alternate Forms of Radiation Regular price: $0.99 As one of technology’s four horsemen, radiation is a important part in Mutant Future and other post-apocalyptic and sci-fi games: hazard, theme, bringer of mutation, waster of civilizati... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #42: Unique Superscience Artifacts II Regular price: $0.36 Excalibur. Mjolnir. Aegis. The Millennium Falcon. The Eiffel Tower. A red shirt. A sonic screwdriver. The Horn of Roland. The Spear of Destiny. Whether from myth, history, fiction, fantasy, or actual... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #43: Optional Combat Rules II Regular price: $0.99 As a weary game master, nearing the end of a long session and faced with a sudden, sticky conundrum, have you ever looked across at a table full of your eager/irate/meddlesome players (taut wit... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #44: Unique Superscience Artifacts III Regular price: $0.36 Following a theme begun in Wisdom from the Wastelands Issues #39 and #42, this issue of Wisdom from the Wastelands focusing on superscience artifacts coalesces around things alien &mdas... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #45: Mutant Dinosaurs Regular price: $0.99 Using their expertise in biotechnology, the Ancients created or recreated many new species for use as pets or livestock. Ever-popular dinosaurs were among the first large, complex creatures brought b... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #46: High-Tech Weapons 4 Regular price: $0.36 In this issue, the fourth installment of our popular “weapons for every budget and apocalypse” series, we are proud to present more high-tech implements of destruction for your gaming ple... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #47: Underwater Rules Regular price: $0.99 Water covers over 70% of Earth’s surface, so it is likely that many adventures will take the occasional aquatic turn. This could happen in the wilds, on the open ocean, or down in inky subterra... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #48: Unique Superscience Artifacts IV Regular price: $0.36 The unique items in this issue of Wisdom from the Wastelands are so advanced they appear magical to post-apocalyptic peoples. Although intended for use with Mutant Future, these items c... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #49: Unique Superscience Artifacts V Regular price: $0.99 With amazing powers, terrible mutants, and scientific advancements available only in our collective imagination, Mutant Future stretches the bounds of conception. From a foundation of Clarke&r... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #4: New Races Regular price: $0.36 Even though some post-apocalyptic game worlds have only allowed Humans, mutants, mutant plants, and animals as characters, there has always been room to expand upon this. Mutant Future did an ... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #50: Artifact Quality Regular price: $0.99 Fantasy games thrive on magical weapons and items, giving players something to shoot for — and to shoot with. These are rewards for overcoming obstacles and defeating monsters, both reflecting ... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #51: Mutated Animal/Plant Genotypes Regular price: $0.36 When a player character wishes to play a mutated animal or plant, he has several choices to make. Animals alone represent a large category but can actually be mammal, reptile, amphibian, avian, or ev... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #52: Nanotech Undead Regular price: $2.99 In the Ancients’ movies and literature, undead were often created by magic, curses, or other supernatural phenomena. The hideous and terrifying creatures now stalking the wastelands are closer ... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #5: Domesticated Creatures Regular price: $0.36 With the huge variety of life, domesticated creatures in Mutant Future come in all shapes and sizes. Some are harmless, some are inherently dangerous, and some become so when they are not tend... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #6: Factions Regular price: $0.99 Social-political groups were one element that brought a lot of fun into the original old-school science-fantasy games. This issue presents several factions or alliances Mutant Lords can easily incorp... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #7: Planar Creatures & Concepts Regular price: $0.36 One mutation that could greatly influence a campaign setting and its population is plane shift. Once a planar gate is opened, anything that comes through will affect the Mutant Future w... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #8: Diseases & Medical Options Regular price: $0.99 During the final wars that destroyed the Ancients’ civilization, some of the most horrifying weapons unleashed were terrible biological diseases and plagues. Such diseases were great equalizers... Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #9: High-Tech Weapons 2 Regular price: $0.36 The second installment of our weapon-themed series, this issue picks up where Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #3:High-Tech Weapons left off and presents more than a half-dozen new sort...

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kayawagner · 6 years

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Wisdom from the Wastelands [BUNDLE]

Publisher: Skirmisher Publishing

Total value: $55.48 Special bundle price: $0.36 Savings of: $0.00 (0%)

Price: $55.48 Wisdom from the Wastelands [BUNDLE] published first on https://supergalaxyrom.tumblr.com

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kayawagner · 6 years

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Wisdom from the Wastelands [BUNDLE]

Publisher: Skirmisher Publishing

Total value: $55.48 Special bundle price: $0.36 Savings of: $0.00 (0%)

Price: $55.48 Wisdom from the Wastelands [BUNDLE] published first on https://supergalaxyrom.tumblr.com

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kayawagner · 6 years

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Wisdom from the Wastelands [BUNDLE]

Publisher: Skirmisher Publishing

This special 64% off bundle contains all 52 issues of the "Wisdom from the Wastelands" game supplement for modern, sci-fi, and post-apocalyptic RPGs like Mutant Future and classic Gamma World!

Total value: $55.48 Special bundle price: $0.36 Savings of: $0.00 (0%)

Price: $55.48 Wisdom from the Wastelands [BUNDLE] published first on https://supergalaxyrom.tumblr.com

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kayawagner · 7 years

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Wisdom from the Wastelands #1-52 [BUNDLE]

Publisher: Skirmisher Publishing

This special 64% off bundle contains all 52 issues of the "Wisdom from the Wastelands" game supplement for modern, sci-fi, and post-apocalyptic RPGs like Mutant Future and classic Gamma World!

Total value: $55.48 Special bundle price: $0.36 Savings of: $0.00 (0%)

Price: $55.48 Wisdom from the Wastelands #1-52 [BUNDLE] published first on https://supergalaxyrom.tumblr.com

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