Raya and the Last Dragon trailer.

happyninja42

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This is the only Last Dragon for me.


Seriously though, looks good. Hits a lot of my usual "yes please" kind of buttons for story themes that I enjoy.
 
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Hawki

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Iz gots opinionz:

-Raya? Damn it, I thought it was pronounced "Ray-ah," not "Rai-ah." Curses!

-Anyone else getting Last Airbender vibes? Fictional setting predominantly based on Asian cultures, with a girl searching for the last airbender...sorry, dragon, with focus on martial arts? I know LA hardly owns this idea, but, well...

-On another note, this doesn't look like a Disney movie at all. Like, ever since at least Tangled, they've made their female protagonists more independent and capable, but this looks far more sombre and serious. Like, there's no musical, no inner hero's journey, no male companion, just a girl who needs to find a mcGuffin. Like, I'm not complaining, but it's a deviation that's noticable. If anything, I'm kind of getting flashbacks to How to Train Your Dragon, and not just because of the dragon angle. More in that HotYD was a deviation from DreamWorks' usual focus on comedy and wackiness, while this seems like a deviation from Disney's 'wholesomeness.'
 

Mister Mumbler

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Actually, looks like we might get an adult Raya for most of the movie; that bit at the end shows her as an adult riding a much larger version of the animal she used in the opening tomb section.
 

happyninja42

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Iz gots opinionz:

-Raya? Damn it, I thought it was pronounced "Ray-ah," not "Rai-ah." Curses!

-Anyone else getting Last Airbender vibes? Fictional setting predominantly based on Asian cultures, with a girl searching for the last airbender...sorry, dragon, with focus on martial arts? I know LA hardly owns this idea, but, well...

-On another note, this doesn't look like a Disney movie at all. Like, ever since at least Tangled, they've made their female protagonists more independent and capable, but this looks far more sombre and serious. Like, there's no musical, no inner hero's journey, no male companion, just a girl who needs to find a mcGuffin. Like, I'm not complaining, but it's a deviation that's noticable. If anything, I'm kind of getting flashbacks to How to Train Your Dragon, and not just because of the dragon angle. More in that HotYD was a deviation from DreamWorks' usual focus on comedy and wackiness, while this seems like a deviation from Disney's 'wholesomeness.'
Yeah I was getting HTTYD vibes too.
 

Secondhand Revenant

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Huh. It's not at all what I expected from a Disney trailer, but like... in a good way? Or well, promising way. I'm not sure how it'll be in the end, but it feels like there's potential for it to go well.
 

Iron

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Iz gots opinionz:

-Raya? Damn it, I thought it was pronounced "Ray-ah," not "Rai-ah." Curses!

-Anyone else getting Last Airbender vibes? Fictional setting predominantly based on Asian cultures, with a girl searching for the last airbender...sorry, dragon, with focus on martial arts? I know LA hardly owns this idea, but, well...

-On another note, this doesn't look like a Disney movie at all. Like, ever since at least Tangled, they've made their female protagonists more independent and capable, but this looks far more sombre and serious. Like, there's no musical, no inner hero's journey, no male companion, just a girl who needs to find a mcGuffin. Like, I'm not complaining, but it's a deviation that's noticable. If anything, I'm kind of getting flashbacks to How to Train Your Dragon, and not just because of the dragon angle. More in that HotYD was a deviation from DreamWorks' usual focus on comedy and wackiness, while this seems like a deviation from Disney's 'wholesomeness.'
The design for the heroine reminds me of the design for Katara from the original Avatar
 

happyninja42

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The design for the heroine reminds me of the design for Katara from the original Avatar
She's definitely rocking that "Ninja Katara" look from her mini-arc where she finds the guy who killed her mother. With the braids with blue dangles. Not a big surprise though, as I'm sure both sources were pulling heavily from the same source material for cultural look, as far as clothing anyway.
 

Bob_McMillan

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As a Southeast Asian boi, cool to see the eskrima/arnis sticks.

But I have to say, nothing quite impressed me visually. It has the same problem with other Disney animations where the art style for the characters just clashes horribly with the backgrounds. Insanely photorealistic backgrounds but the characters look like toys.

I am still interested though. Not quite sure how relevant dragons are in the SEA cultures (they're definitely not in mine).
 

happyninja42

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As a Southeast Asian boi, cool to see the eskrima/arnis sticks.
Yeah I've always had a thing for eskrima combat too. Never studied it myself, but it's a style that I really enjoy to watch. I remember watching a history channel special that focused on various culture's combats, and the trainers they learned from, showed how a lot of the techniques were designed to work with either bare hand, knives, or the sticks. So you could use the training in a multitude of circumstances. Which I thought was pretty damn cool.
 

Bob_McMillan

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Yeah I've always had a thing for eskrima combat too. Never studied it myself, but it's a style that I really enjoy to watch. I remember watching a history channel special that focused on various culture's combats, and the trainers they learned from, showed how a lot of the techniques were designed to work with either bare hand, knives, or the sticks. So you could use the training in a multitude of circumstances. Which I thought was pretty damn cool.
I had to learn it in PE back in high school, so it's cool to see it used in movies or games from time to time. Apparently it's used very often in Hollywood, but I never got knowledgeable enough to recognize it if they weren't using the sticks.

The thought of dual-wielding weapons in animation makes me think of Ahsoka vs Maul in the last Clone Wars season. That fight was beautiful, mainly because it was motion captured. Makes me wonder if Disney went that far for their action scenes. Or is "going far" the right term? Honestly have no idea whether or not motion capture is easier than traditional animation.
 

Bob_McMillan

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Yeah, was not a fan of how it ended. Like big time. I mean I'm in a minority on that I'm sure but it is what it is.
Are you? I dunno, I too liked the first two but not the third. My family seems to agree. I mean in terms of cultural impact, I don't think people cared as much about it as the first two. It seems to have done the worst critically, and did worse than the 2nd movie at the box office. And also, didn't they already retcon the ending of the third one???
 

BrawlMan

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I'm definitely getting How to Train Your Dragon and Avatar:The last Airbender vibes. Looks to be a better Last Airbender movie than the other one. I also find this way more interesting than Frozen or Moana. Speaking of ATLA, I will probably Marathon that this weekend.
 
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Ezekiel

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I like it. Doesn't look like most children's movies.

But I already told myself three years ago that I wouldn't watch any more CG animations. Not until the American movie studios produce at least a few traditional animations again. Will probably stick with that pledge.

But I have to say, nothing quite impressed me visually. It has the same problem with other Disney animations where the art style for the characters just clashes horribly with the backgrounds. Insanely photorealistic backgrounds but the characters look like toys.
I think this is the first time I've seen someone share my opinion about Moana's super detailed backgrounds.
 

Johnny Novgorod

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Thought it looked like every other CG Disney movie for the past 20 years. Overachiever heroine, cute animal buddy, gotta save the world. Don't know what people are on about.
 

happyninja42

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I had to learn it in PE back in high school, so it's cool to see it used in movies or games from time to time. Apparently it's used very often in Hollywood, but I never got knowledgeable enough to recognize it if they weren't using the sticks.

The thought of dual-wielding weapons in animation makes me think of Ahsoka vs Maul in the last Clone Wars season. That fight was beautiful, mainly because it was motion captured. Makes me wonder if Disney went that far for their action scenes. Or is "going far" the right term? Honestly have no idea whether or not motion capture is easier than traditional animation.
Given that the teams behind ATLA, and likely tons of other animations as well, frequently call in combat experts to help them learn how to draw various styles and techniques, I'd be shocked if they didn't ask around for combat experts who specialize in a dual wielding stick style. I mean, if you recognized any actual escrima techniques in her fight scene(?), that would probably answer your question right there. Thing I forgot to mention, for ATLA, the episode in season 3, Sokka Takes a Master, the animation style for the master, is modeled on their martial arts consultant, like his appearance. In the commentary of that episode, the creators comment about how weird it was for them to see their instructor's face, but with some other guy's voice. They had a guy, for the entire run of the show, to help the animators accurately draw the combat styles they had attributed to each bending style, by putting them through basic martial arts training.

Sidenote, I never thought combining a hedgehog and an armadillo would be as adorable as that little guy is, but holy shit is he cute as hell! What do we call him? A hedgeadillo? Armahog? I'm leaning towards Hedgeadillo.
 
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Worgen

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Whatever, just wash your hands.
hmm, interesting, want to know more before I actually go through the effort of keeping an eye on it though.