Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) – Review

Grade:

5 hoots out of 5

Transfiguring Adoption awarded this movie 5 Hoots out of 5 based on how useful it will be for a foster/adoptive family. [Learn more about our Hoot grading system here]


Movie Info:

  • Rating: PG (Some Violence, Action Thematic Elements)
  • Genre: Animation, Adventure, Kids & Family, Fantasy
  • Runtime: 108 minutes
  • Studio: Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures

From the Cover of Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) by Walt Disney Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures:

“Long ago, in the fantasy world of Kumandra, humans and dragons lived together in harmony. But when sinister monsters known as the Druun threatened the land, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Now, 500 years later, those same monsters have returned and it’s up to a lone warrior, Raya, to track down the last dragon in order to finally stop the Druun for good. However, along her journey, she’ll learn that it’ll take more than dragon magic to save the world–it’s going to take trust as well.”



Transfiguring Adoption’s Overview:

This movie is a fantastic opportunity for families to discuss grief and loss, cultural awareness, and healing from trauma.

The target audience appears to be children that are 8 and up. It also appears this movie would be best for any family that would enjoy a great, action packed movie with lots of heart. Due to events of the film several characters experience significant losses of loved ones that may or may not be permanent.

** Spoilers Could Be Ahead **


How Is This Relevant To Adoption & Foster Care?

Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) is about the fantasy world of Kumandra, which has been divided for hundreds of years following the Druun (the dark-spirited equivalent of Dragons) defiling the land’s resources and turning all Dragons (and many people) into stone. Though Sisu, the last dragon, was able to seal away the Druun and heal all the people inflicted by the Druun’s curse (turning beings into stone), the Dragons were not restored. Raya’s home The nations (Fang, Heart, Spine, Talon, and Tail) are all named for the parts of a Dragon but remain divided following Sisu’s sealing of the Druun. Hundreds of years later, as Chief Benja of Heart (guardian of the Sisu’s orb that sealed Druun and Raya’s father) attempts to make amends with the other nations the but young Namaari of Fang manipulates Raya into revealing the location of the orb and in the attempt to steal the orb breaks the seal and releases Drunn. Chief Benja sacrifices himself to save Raya before succumbing to the Druun’s curse and turning into stone. The film takes place six years later with a very jaded Raya and the various companions she encounters after reviving Sisu to restore the orb’s seal.

While there is no foster care or child welfare in existence in this world, the release of Drunn leaves many families in grief and many children without families, including every companion that joins Raya in restoring Sisu’s orb. Raya must overcome her distrust of others to eventually restore the orb and, ultimately, Jumandra. While our kids aren’t likely in the midst of a great quest like Raya children that have endured trauma and show the emotional scars through survival behaviors, grief, and cross-cultural confusion may very much relate to Raya, Sisu, Namaari in other characters as they tackle the emotional toll this journey involves as they heal their world and themselves. Families can certainly benefit from conversations over this delightful but soulful film but be cautious if their children tend to react strongly to strong, emotionally cathartic movies.


Discussion Points:

  • Grief and Loss
    Much like several Disney movies of past princesses there is not a happy ending before our heroine and her companions experience grief and loss. Raya’s experience is not exempt from the long-held Disney troupe of an orphaned princess following her father’s sacrifice to save her from the Druun. Over the course of the film we learn that nearly every character has lost someone or many loved ones, including Boun losing his family, Little Noi losing her parents, and Tong losing his entire village. While Namaari does not outright identify a specific loss, it is clear that due to her upbringing she (like Raya) lost their childhood and a connection to their culture in that Dragons are practically extinct until the discovery of Sisu. Much like these characters children that have endured trauma or have come into the child welfare system have many losses to grieve and have seldom been given the time, space, and emotional/cognitive tools and intelligence to honor the grief from various losses, countless moves, and the emotional turmoil inside themselves. Children (regardless of age) need an adult that is bigger, stronger, wiser, and kind enough to help walk them through this grief with the understanding that prolonging grief in a child will only transfer trauma elsewhere. This can be difficult for caregivers as it is hard to watch a child suffer and very tempting to distract the child from pain. Being a trauma informed caregiver means being prepared to walk through grief themselves and help guide their child through grief’s ebb and flow until they reach acceptance as many times as it takes.
  • Cultural Awareness
    Kumandra, while one big fantasy world, certainly has some stark contrasts between Tail, Talon, Spine, Fang, and Heart shown as Raya ventures on and meets her new companions. Due to Namaari’s costly betrayal of Raya and the global fallout after Druun’s unsealing, the once exciting and vibrant cultures Raya wanted to experience and befriend  now appear filled with danger at every turn. Raya and each of her companions all clearly have a different perspective of Heart holding the Sisu’s Dragon Gem and who was at fault for the fallout that ensued, and naturally because of the conflicting narratives there are stereotypes that perpetuate throughout the film. Children that have been separated from their home culture may experience similar culture shock to that of Sisu, in finding that not every person is trustworthy, or as Raya in her distrust and distance kept with others. It will be up to the caregiver to help bridge the gap between the child and their culture to allow proper exploration of their identity while judging biases that caregiver and the child alike may hold. This is only possible through frank and honest discussion between child and caregiver once a caregiver has recognized their own biases and been able to work through them as well. Remember, we all have biases but we all also have the ability to identify them and transform with better knowledge and understanding of others.
  • Healing from Trauma
    While this movie is an incredible experience there is an unreal amount of trauma and consequences of trauma shown throughout the film. Raya and each of her companions have learned new ways to navigate the world based on their own experiences and developmental level. This is why Sisu, at hundreds of years old, may appear child-like in her trust for others compared to the jaded young adult Raya, stealthy infant Little Noi, and overly friendly and ambitious Boun at 10 years old. This also explains some of the difficulty warrior-like adult Tong appears to have in expressing his thoughts and feelings too since it’s not clear how old he is or how long he has been in total isolation. The bottom line is that each of these characters have developed mechanisms to help them survive in the dystopian-esque Kumandra but these behaviors are maladaptive in forming relationships with others and many conflicts arise from these conflicting survival behaviors. Children that have endured trauma will also display these behaviors in your home once the honeymoon period is over and the child feels safe enough to trust you, the caregiver, with the real pain they hold inside. Caregivers need to be trauma-informed, understanding that behavior is a form of communication of need and that children that have endured trauma usually lack the ability to link feelings and needs to their own behavior. This means the caregiver will need to use their observation skills to help meet that child’s need, regulate them to a state of calm, and then teach new skills to communicate needs more effectively later. This will also require a lot of work on the caregiver’s part to develop trust as connection is essential for correction of such behaviors due to how deeply ingrained this child’s behaviors are linked to their sense of survival.

Cautionary Points:

  • Fantasy Violence
    This movie is fairly action-packed and does feature several fight scenes. The fighting is all either hand-to-hand or with weapons such as swords and spears and does not feature overt repercussions to the characters such as debilitating injury or blood. However, if your child is sensitive to action sequences of this nature a caregiver should be aware that these fights are very common throughout the movie.
  • Fantasy Stunts & Sequences of Peril
    Being a fantasy action movie with Dragons and other mythical elements there are several unrealistic stunts and sequences of peril in which everyone comes out completely unscathed. This includes some jump-scares and traps as well. While this is good in not subjecting children to too much scary or graphic content, the nature of some of these stunts like jumping from tall heights and attacking others could potentially be mimicked by a child that does not understand that these stunts are not realistic (and would injure a human child). Caregivers should be aware if this applies to a child in their home.
  • Instances of Deception and Manipulation
    Throughout the film several characters struggle with deceiving and manipulating others or the ramifications of such mental tactics. At the start of the film Naamari betrays Raya’s trust by revealing the location of the Dragon Gem (the orb with Sisu’s seal) and this starts the series of events that renders Kumandra into a Druun-infested dystopian hellscape again. It is also revealed that Fang is teaching their youth an alternate history of events to perpetuate a colonialism narrative. Several other characters display survival behaviors (i.e. – lying, stealing, using aggression/defiance to keep others away, manipulating, withdrawing, etc.) to keep themselves safe and this sometimes has maladaptive consequences as well. Children that have been through trauma have not only been subjected to instances of abuse, deception, and manipulation, but have had to use such tactics to survive before they met you and came to your home. Caregivers need to be prepared in the event a child is triggered by seeing the portrayed abusers or victims of trauma act out with these survival behaviors and in turn acts out too.
  • Strong Emotional Content
    Oh the feels. This movie is wonderful in how it explores non-romantic human relationships and overcoming grief and loss but with that comes with some big, cathartic sequencences that may be too deep for some children to handle if some painful grief is actively happening for your child. Sisu’s separation from her siblings, Raya from her father, and several other characters have some intense emotions that perhaps a smaller child may not notice but older children certainly will. These themes can be wonderfully therapeutic if there is a bigger, stronger, wiser, kinder caregiver (you) to discuss them after but being left alone with these emotions may trigger deep emotions in your child and as a result bring about some survival behaviors if left unchecked.
  • Themes of Loss and Apparent Death
    Most of the characters that succumb to the Druun are turned to stone so it is unclear if they are dead or merely frozen in time and so their losses are grieved as deaths by many main and minor characters. This also includes acts of self-sacrifice and an accidental death at the hands of Raya and Namaari for Sisu. Children that have endured trauma and entered the child welfare system are all too familiar with the emotional limbo that comes with being in care. These themes can be a wonderful discussion point as well, but also could trigger deep feelings of grief in your child if left unchecked as well. It is important for a caregiver to be aware of this so that children do not have to walk through the very important grief process alone.
  • Borderline Inappropriate Humor
    This is truly a PG movie so there are a few moments of humor thrown in that hopefully will fly over kids’ heads. Little Noi slings a gross diaper in self-defense for some laughs while Tong uses phrases such as “Bad-axery” when referring to his axe-based fighting skills. There are also a plethora of fictional creatures in Kumandra, including the “Toot-Boom”, which is a beetle that farts explosive gases. These references may fly over most kids’ heads, but if a child that has a habit of mimicking inappropriate phrases or actions like this a caregiver may need to be prepared for discussion about the inappropriateness of such humor.
  • Incompetant Adult
    Well, this one is a “sort of” involving Sisu specifically. While Sisu is technically a younger dragon that has been emotionally frozen for a time she does present as an adult-like character that appears incompentent and in need of supervision by children. Technically Raya is likely a younger adult but her younger companions (10 year-old Boun and infant Little Noi) often have to step in or supervise Sisu to keep her naivety from being her end. 

NOTE: Inclusion on these lists does not necessarily mean endorsement. Furthermore, with all our resources, we highly recommend you preview them first to determine if there are any trauma triggers that your child may not be ready to handle. Transfiguring Adoption does not intend for its reviewers nor its reviews to be professional, medical or legal advice. These reviews and discussion guides are intended to help parents to better be able to connect and understand their children who come from traumatic backgrounds.

Written by
Rachael B. Rathe is an East Tennessee native with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology with a Minor in Child & Family Studies from The University of Tennessee Knoxville. She has worked in mental health since 2013 and in foster care/adoptions for a private provider agency since 2014. Rachael was inspired to work in the field after working with children and teens on a volunteer basis 2008 - 2013. Rachael's ideal self-care day involves snuggling on a couch with her kitties (Tabitha, Fergus, and Rufus) while enjoying a good movie or book. She also enjoys galivanting around conventions concerning all things nerd and geekery.

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