“When I looked at the cast, you do see Southeast Asian actors in the project but they’re only cast as Additional Voices,” Sandy, who prefers not to give her last name, tells TIME. “They basically put the whole region in a blender and hired so little south-east Asian actors for the roles,” wrote Sandy, a 25-year-old graphic designer who lives in Manila. On the day the full cast was announced, some took to Twitter to express their criticism. They include Awkwafina, who voices Sisu, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, Benedict Wong and Sandra Oh. While the movie features a couple of other Southeast Asian voice actors aside from Tran-most notably the teen actors Izaac Wang and Thalia Tran, who voice the characters Boun and Noi, respectively-the majority of the top-billed actors are East Asian. While plenty of people shared their excitement around seeing their cultures represented onscreen as promotional materials for the film were released, others expressed concern, most notably about the lack of Southeast Asian actors in the cast as well as the approach of combining influences from multiple Southeast Asian countries into one story.

, Kelly Marie Tran, Cassie SteeleBut steps forward in Hollywood are rarely clear-cut. Music, emotional storytelling and inspired animation.ĭirected by Don Hall, Paul Briggs, Dean Wellins, Carlos López Estrada Music, emotional storytelling and inspired animation. Theatrical animated short from director Zach Parrish that brings together dance, Screening together with the short film US (G) 7min:

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.įrom directors Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada, co-directors Paul Briggs and John Ripa, producers Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho, and featuring the voices of Kelly Marie Tran as Raya and Awkwafina as the last dragon Sisu, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Raya and the Last Dragon” opens in New Zealand cinemas March, 5th 2021.

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. But when an evil force threatened the land, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Long ago, in the fantasy world of Kumandra, humans and dragons lived together in harmony.

Raya the last dragon movie times