Director Paul Briggs and Dean Wellins and co-director John Ripa choose the official release date of March 12, 2021, for their upcoming animated film Raya and the Last Dragon to hit the theatres. The fantasy film is produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Animation Studios for distribution by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The movie has also been written by Adele Lim, and produced by Osnat Shurer. Initially, it was planned to get a release on November 25, 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the date is pushed to next year and hopefully, that would be the final date.
The official description of Raya and the Last Dragon goes like this, “In a realm known as Lumandra, a re-imagined Earth inhabited by an ancient civilization, a warrior named Raya is determined to find the last dragon.” Five clans form the land of the dragon. Raya is said to be an epic fantasy adventure with southeast Asian themes. The character of Raya is played by Cassie Steele and Awkwafina a.k.a Nora Lum will be playing the role of the dragon named Sisu. Awkwafina has something to say about the dragon of the film, “She’s not like any other dragon that you’ve seen before; she’s a water dragon.”
The animated film has been highly inspired by Asian countries like that of Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Laos. The crew members even traveled to these countries to know the cultural and ethical details of the communities and imbibe that information in the development of the movie. They kept in mind not to make mistakes when it comes to the Asian culture and to keep away from the Western influence on the motion picture. On August 24, 2019, Disney officially announced the film during their D23 Expo Walt Disney Animation Studios’ presentation panel, alongside with Awkwafina and Cassie Steele.