Time.com Feature Disney's new "Princess Film" is coming! The first animation film starring "Southeast Asian" princess Raya, "The Legend of the Dragon Hunt", is currently being screened in Chinese mainland theaters, and after 5 days of release, it has collected more than 60 million yuan at the box office.
Created by the Oscar team of Frozen, the story is not complicated, telling the story of the fantasy continent "Kumandra", in order to resist the evil forces that have resurfaced 500 years later and defend their homeland, the lone warrior Raya must find the last dragon of the legend. The voice of this dragon is the Asian actress Okafina, who has been popular in recent years, Kelly Mary Chen in the new "Star Wars" series, who voices the heroine Raya, and Camma Chen, Daniel King, Wu Sandra, Benedict Wang and other Asian stars who are active in Hollywood have joined the voice cast of the film.
Dragon Quest Legends
Time rating 7.7
108 min - Animation / Action / Adventure released in the United States on March 5, 2021
After entering the 21st century, Disney Animation Studios has successively launched classic characters such as Elsa and Anna in "Frozen", Judy rabbit in "Zootopia", and Moana in "Ocean's Edge", establishing a series of strong and independent female figures full of strength and hope for global audiences. The Dragon Quest is Disney Animation Studios' first original story in nearly 4 years, and in addition to fantasy adventures, it is also a growth story about how women can live up to their mission and, after being betrayed, re-learn to trust others.
And this time in "Dragon Quest", the creators not only did not arrange a "boyfriend" for Raya, but even the "lover" role like "Prince Hans" in "Frozen" was completely missing. It can be said that this film is a unique film that completely focuses on women's friendship, emotion and adventure.
In order to better show the Southeast Asian style in the film, the main creative team visited the local area to find inspiration and created a "Hesu" dragon based on the Naga dragon living at the bottom of the Mekong River in Southeast Asia. In an interview with time reporters, voice actor Jama Chan, screenwriter Adele Lin and Nguyen Ki, producer Ausnate Shure, director Carlos López Estrada and Don Hall shared their experiences from their trip to Southeast Asia, the idea of creating the first Southeast Asian princess, and why Raya became a female character without "love drama" at all.
Partial head Namali
Mtime: What was it like to be in the first film featuring a Southeast Asian princess?
Jama Chen: I'm very happy, I'm so proud to be able to participate in Dragon Quest and can't wait to bring the film to the audience. It's a fantasy film inspired by Southeast Asian culture, and we rarely see Southeast Asian culture on screen.
Mtime: What did you do before dubbing Namali?
Jama: Namari is a fantastic character, she is a downright fierce character, but also a warrior and a fighter. Thankfully it's not a live-action movie, and I don't have to do those physical training because Namari is very good at fighting, and I don't. When I'm getting ready for the role, I talk to the director and follow the script. The first time I read the script, I saw Namari appear riding a giant cat. It gave me a complete understanding of the character and what kind of person she was like — "Well, she's the one who would come out like that."
Chisulon
Mtime: I'm wondering what's the correlation between you and the character of Namari? Does the character have a specific cultural background?
Jama: Namari is not a typical villain, she is a complex character, and Raya is like two sides of the same coin. If they had grown up in each other's living environment, it would have been easy to be like each other. Namali is very aggressive because she wants to prove a lot of things, which is also determined by the way her mother and was raised.
She is a fierce warrior, but she also retains the love of her childhood. She loves dragons, and when she first meets the dragon Shisu in the movie, she becomes the child who is fascinated by dragons. I think that's the way to Namari's heart, I don't like what she does, she betrayed Raya. But you can understand where the contradictions between them are, the character is great, and I like her.
Transform into a human form
Mtime: Instead of setting up a boy as Raya's "boyfriend," Disney introduced Namari as a "girlfriend villain," does that make you feel particularly special?
Gemma: Yeah, I love these female characters. Instead of standing where they are waiting for help, they have absolute autonomy in their own lives. It really looks like a "love story" between Raya and Namari, and I love it.
Mtime: What was the first Disney Princess movie featuring Southeast Asian girls at the beginning?
Adel Lin (screenwriter): It's a dream come true, I grew up in Southeast Asia and grew up watching Disney movies. The first movie I watched was Disney's Snow White, and I never dreamed that one day it would be part of a Disney cartoon. This animation not only has a strong and brave heroine, but also is deeply influenced by Southeast Asian culture. For many kids who grow up around the world, sometimes you feel like the world isn't necessarily going to see you because your face doesn't look like the faces in Hollywood blockbusters, and hopefully Raya's presence will make a difference.
Osnath Shure (Producer): The character of Raya has her own unique powers, she is a powerful warrior who must save the world, but she is a female warrior. It can be linked to our real-world problems, so this movie is important to us.
Mtime: Disney did not use a boy as Raya's "boyfriend", but created a "girlfriend villain" like Namari, where did this creative inspiration come from? Why did you create such a charming "villain"?
Adele: We started out with a "boyfriend," but we abandoned the idea because we didn't feel the need for love to be in the movies, and we were more interested in the amazing female relationships that Raya had. The first is Raya and Shisu. In Hollywood blockbusters, films that focus on showing female friendships are very rare. But Namari's personality inspires us, and no one can show more classic villain traits than her.
But Disney believes that challenges can inspire something deeper and more interesting, and how can a bigger story be told from raya and Namari's relationship? So we showed the other side of female friendship – Namari is someone who has a bond with you, and you think she's your enemy, but you're also deeply attracted to her, so you're stuck in a relationship that feels fresh and exciting, which makes us all feel amazing.
Southeast Asian style clothing
Mtime: Have you really been to Southeast Asian countries to make this movie?
Osnath: Of course, we discussed what the story we wanted to tell was that there were five separate lands along our Dragon River, and the dragon was the dragon of the East, connecting water and auspiciousness. We loved the setting and had plans for the protagonist Raya, and then we went on our first Southeast Asian research trip. Southeast Asia is a large region that encompasses many countries, each with numerous cultural traditions and unique food and design. One thing that impressed us was how important communities are.
We can work together wherever we go; no matter who we are, we are all working for something that transcends ourselves, and that is the story we want to create, which is the inspiration and foundation for creating fantasy stories in a fantasy world. We invited anthropologists, archaeologists, textile experts, and other scholars to help us understand common ideas and design principles. Our screenwriters, Adele, Nguyen Ki, and I created a story, and many people from Southeast Asia played a key role in the creation of this story.
Mtime: In the process of writing the script, did you have certain actors in your mind?
Adele: When I started writing, they had decided that Okafina would voice the dragon, which made me particularly excited. Because we've created fantasy worlds that no one has ever seen before, our dragons are dragons that most people haven't heard of. So it was absolutely amazing to have Okafina bring the dragon into this world, she didn't just give it life.
If I don't mention Kelly Mary Chan, it's irresponsible. When we created Raya, the attribute given to her was a powerful warrior. But when Kelly Marie brings her vocal skills into the role, she creates Deep, Warm, Emotional Moments for Raya. And that's the most special part of Raya, which is the ability to communicate with people.
Mtime: Why make a movie featuring a Southeast Asian princess?
Don Hall (Director): I think it's for two simple but important reasons, first, initially our filmmaking team went to a lot of Southeast Asian countries and experienced a lot of different cultures, and we were very inspired by it, so the idea for this film was originally just artistic inspiration. Second, at Disney, we've never made a movie with anything to do with Southeast Asia before, and we'd love to present it to the world. It's a fantasy movie indeed, but it's also heavily influenced by many different cultures in Southeast Asia.
Mtime: Why is "dragon" the most important symbol of the film?
Carlos López Estrada (Director): From earlier research and people's experience, there is a very important mythological creature in Southeast Asian cultures, the Naga. The dragons in our films are inspired by this, which is very different from the dragons commonly found in Western movies. In The Legend of the Dragon, this is an inspiring, harmonious dragon. The film depicts rivers, and our dragon is closely related to the water source, which is where the dragon Shisu was created. Chisu is a dragon that people have never seen in a movie like this, a dragon they would fall in love with.
Editor's note: According to Baidu Encyclopedia, Naga is a dragon with horns, which is different from Chinese legends, living at the bottom of the Mekong River in Southeast Asia all year round, and Thais believe that the Naga Dragon God is the patron saint of the Mekong River. Naga can take on human form, but when asleep, it will appear in its original form and can create rain. The "Dragon People" in the "Eight Parts of the Heavenly Dragon" are Naga.
Mtime: What's the hardest thing about making a movie? Is COVID-19 an obstacle to the filmmaking process?
Nguyen Ki (Screenwriter): I was just about to say that the hardest thing to feel is the COVID-19 pandemic, and we're used to a certain way of making movies, which is to collaborate highly under the same roof. Not only do we have to work with filmmakers who are working on our own films, but we also have other filmmakers who are developing films, and there is no way to devote all our brains to creating our work.
So having to learn to change the way we produce, to learn to work from home and still collaborate efficiently, was definitely our biggest shift. I think we did it, and it was amazing. I should have a high appreciation for Carlos and Don and trusted their team so that each of us can be motivated and do our job well.
Mtime: Is that a special moment where the actors have to record at home and send it to you? Is this way of working very differently?
D: Indeed, basically they had to record in the closet, and we tried a lot of places where the recording worked best. One particular thing did happen: Daniel King recorded a great piece of music, and it's the best we've ever heard of anyone we've been involved in producing. But none of this recording was available, although he recorded it all. Later we had to re-record that segment. But luckily, he was fantastic, he reproduced that wonderful recording and we ended up with nothing to lose, but the moment we knew the recording wasn't available was painful.
Mtime: It's nice to hear the ending. My final question is, raya has repaired broken lands and divided people with trust, is this somehow a reflection of what is happening in the real world?
Carlos: It's very much related, and we're not making this film in response to something, it's very much an attempt to explore the rifts that exist in the world. There is a gap between people, and the current gap seems to be deeper than ever, and it seems that people with different ideologies and different world views can hardly cooperate and trust each other.
We ask the question in the film: What does it take to bridge the gap? Those who have nothing in common theoretically are connected and unified through Raya. Hopefully, the audience will get something positive and inspiring from the film.
Author/Editor: Zhen Zhen