Raya and the Last Dragon

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BPMTr-NS9s&feature=emb_logo

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VIZ89FEjYI&feature=emb_logo

[GeneChing]

Obe Fitness and Disney Collaborate on Martial Arts Infused Workouts Inspired by “Raya and the Last Dragon” (https://www.laughingplace.com/w/news/2021/03/03/obe-fitness-and-disney-collaborate-on-martial-arts-infused-workouts-inspired-by-raya-and-the-last-dragon/)
by Laughing Place Disney Newsdesk | Mar 3, 2021 12:31 PM Pacific Time
Tags: Disney Plus, Movies, Obe Fitness, Raya and the Last Dragon
Obe Fitness has partnered with Disney to bring some martial arts-infused workouts to subscribers, inspired by scenes in the upcoming Raya and the Last Dragon.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YWMYSdTZi8

What’s Happening:

Ready to channel your inner warrior? Walt Disney Animation Studios' newest epic, Raya and the Last Dragon, is a hero’s journey to remember with #girlpower, inspiration, and life lessons to spare. And yes, there are fitness lessons as well.

The movie’s action sequences—in which the main character, Raya, is fighting to save humanity—are inspired by a number of martial arts traditions: Arnis, from the Philippines, Pencak Silat, from Indonesia and Malaysia, Muay Thai, from Thailand, and “a little bit of Vietnamese wrestling,” according to Qui Nguyen, Raya and the Last Dragon co-writer who is also credited with additional fight reference choreography.

Obe Fitness, a live and on-demand fitness class program, will be holding special Raya and the Last Dragon themed workout classes, taught by three of their instructors. The appeal of Raya’s quest is universal, and Obé instructors Dorian, Walter, and Spencer will be celebrating Raya and the Last Dragon, explaining what they’ll be teaching in early March. (The first class will launch on March 3rd, and the last will be on March 7th.)

https://803277.smushcdn.com/1580116/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/obe-fitness-and-disney-collaborate-on-martial-arts-infused-workouts-inspired-by-raya-and-the-last-dragon.png?lossy=0&strip=0&webp=1

You can experience some Raya and the Last Dragon-themed fun (and intensity) in these dusted-with-Disney-magic classes. Do NOT miss it:
March 3rd with Spencer
7pm EST: Kumandran Magic Sculpt
7:30pm: Kumandran Magic Dance Cardio
March 6th with Walter
11am: Battle Squad Family Friendly Strength
11:30am: Battle Squad Family Friendly Dance HIIT
March 7th with Dorian
9am: Heart of Raya Strength
9:30am: Heart of Raya HIIT
Raya and the Last Dragon makes its debut theatrically (where available) on Friday, March 5th, as well as on Disney+ as part of their upcharge Premiere Access program.

Threads
Raya-and-the-Last-Dragon (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71903-Raya-and-the-Last-Dragon)
Disney (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71104-Disney)

[GeneChing]

I enjoyed it. It was very predictable. Kelly Marie Tran is a solid voice actress. Awkwafina tries to pull off the zany mystical creature ala Murphy's Mushu or Williams' Genie but she doesn't quite succeed. That was disappointing because I like her work in general. Gemma Chan is good too. Benjamin Wong rocks. He always rocks.

The look of the world is colorful, eliciting memories of my travels in Thailand and Indonesia. The fusion mythology is a bit confused, especially when it comes to the dragon/naga, but it is a fantasy world, after all. It's a good father/daughter tale, as well as female empowerment, but it's really predictable, right down to the Disney death.

What redeems it for me is the sword fights. It's some of the best Disney sword fights so far.

I would've enjoyed this on the big screen.

[GeneChing]

Behind the Martial Arts and Motifs of ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ (https://www.awn.com/animationworld/behind-martial-arts-and-motifs-raya-and-last-dragon)
Striving to create distinct, authentic, and believable fight choreography, artists on Disney’s new animated action fantasy were determined to show emotion-packed action quite different from what audiences are used to seeing on screen.

By Victoria Davis | Friday, March 5, 2021 at 9:17am
In 3D, CG, Digital Media, Films, People, Voice Acting | ANIMATIONWorld | Geographic Region: All

https://www.awn.com/sites/default/files/styles/inline/public/image/featured/raya-online-use-fullcomp_publicity_raya001_6k_709film.0042_rgb-1280_0.jpg?itok=lgEg4SlR
‘Raya and the Last Dragon.’ All images © 2020 Disney. All Rights Reserved.

From classics like the Karate Kid and Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury, to more recent TV series like Warrior as well as animations such as Kung-Fu Panda and Baki, martial arts stories have been gracing our screens, in various forms, since the 1950s. But Walt Disney Animation Studios’ latest action fantasy, Raya and the Last Dragon, released today simultaneously in theatres and on Disney+, is setting itself apart, featuring Southeast Asian martial arts that were choreographed, reviewed, and refined by martial arts experts on the production team.

“The directors were really clear from the beginning that they wanted believable and distinct fighting styles for all the characters, and they had really strong ideas of how that was supposed to be shot and edited,” explains production designer Paul Felix, a studio veteran who was also production designer on Big Hero 6 and Lilo & Stitch.

Raya’s director of cinematography - layout, Rob Dressel, adds, “There are these preconceived notions because everyone's seen so many movies with martial arts, but the Southeast Asian styles are a lot different than what people have seen before, so we really wanted to focus on those heavily.”

The film - drawing visual and cultural inspiration from Laos, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines - is set in the diverse world of Kumandra, made up of five lands inhabited by warriors, assassins, and pickpockets. While the nations were once united, with humans living in harmony together with dragons, the balance was disrupted by an awakened, evil force that divided the very people the dragons sacrificed themselves to save. 500 years later, rogue warrior Raya (Kelly Marie Tran) searches out “the last dragon” (Awkwafina) in an effort to bring peace back to Kumandra. But her efforts are met with intense opposition from a neighboring clan member, fellow warrior, and nemesis Namaari (Gemma Chan).

Despite already tackling the challenge of framing, shooting, coloring, and editing from home due to the COVID pandemic, sharing work with team members from iPads and hosting virtual meetings, the film’s animation, design, and cinematography artists were determined to go above and beyond with their depictions of Raya’s action scenes.

https://www.awn.com/sites/default/files/styles/inline/public/image/attached/1054001-raya-online-use-3200009000054-1280.jpg?itok=3I5yZLCP

“Early on, we were doing research in martial arts,” remembers Amy Smeed, one of Raya’s heads of animation. “But once we found out one of our writers, Qui [Nguyen], specializes in Southeast Asian martial arts, we had meetings with him, and he really defined the fighting style for us. And then he introduced us to Maggie MacDonald, [the film’s stunt coordinator] who did all the fight choreography for our fighting sequences.”

Nguyen, the film’s award-winning co-writer known for The Society and Incorporated, recommended his longtime collaborator and Hunger Games’ stunt performer MacDonald to the filmmakers for her expertise in choreographing combat not only for film, but also television, video games, and the stage. MacDonald was also helpful in providing a strong female fighter reference for the character animation team.

“Most of us aren't martial artists, let alone have knowledge of Southeast Asian martial arts,” notes Smeed, known for her work on Tangled and Meet the Robinsons. “That's why it was so important for us to have that reference. I can't do those specific moves. For something like walking down the street, I can get up and walk and see where the weight is in my hips, or what my legs and arms are doing, but I can't do that with some of these specific moves. There's a flying scissor kick that Namaari does as a takedown, which is so incredibly difficult. So that's where that reference really came in handy for us.”

“With Raya, her fighting style was really more based on Indonesia’s Pencak Silat and Namaari’s was more based on Muay Thai,” Smeed adds. “So, having Maggie choreograph that out for us so that we could be very specific in those moves was a huge help for us and the uniqueness of the film.”

Smeed and her team even collaborated with consultants for the Southeast Asia Story Trust team to make sure not only the fight sequences in Raya were authentic and believable, but also the characters themselves in how they sit and make or break eye contact.

Camera angles and aesthetics for the fight shots were also vital to the film’s believability as well as the emotion behind the scenes. “From a shooting style, we wanted to make sure that we had multiple fights in the film and wanted each one to have a different feel to it,” says Dressel, who was also director of cinematography - layout, on Moana as well as Big Hero 6. “Not just to look visually different, but to feel different based on what point of the story we were in and how the characters were relating to each other, because each fight has a different reason for happening.”

He continues, “We would choose to either shoot with shallow lenses for a scene between Raya and her father - because it's a connection point of trust - or a deeper focus for rough fighting between Raya and Namaari. And we used even more lyrical, anime-styles for certain fights to bring a more surreal feel and our version of taking things out of the box and beyond what people are used to seeing.”
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[GeneChing]

https://www.awn.com/sites/default/files/styles/inline/public/image/attached/1054001-raya-online-use-fullcomp21934k709film0001-1280.jpg?itok=tw5PJTC2

More than a year before production, Dressel, Felix and director of cinematography - lighting Adolph Lusinsky decided that the thematic for Raya would be contrasting trust and mistrust and visual characteristics that go along with each. “That dictated everything from layout to color to film grain,” says Felix.

“Between Raya and her father, that fight was really about her father wanting to teach Raya about trust and, for trust scenes, we searched for light sources to give us a Bokeh effects,” Lusinsky explains. “We placed in the flowers a glow that would give that effect with lighting and design. Sparkling water was often used. It gave a magical effect that was really beautiful and tied into this bonding between people, as opposed to Raya and Namaari’s fights, which were about distrust. That was a much more monochromatic fight with much higher contrasts and lots of silhouettes.”

Heavy film grain was another feature employed in distrust sequences, which is unique to animated films. “The way we push it on this film is really cool,” says Lusinsky. “We were inspired by a few Kodak film stocks that we used to shoot the scenes with more discord.”

Understanding the emotion and meaning behind the film’s well-researched combat, according to Smeed’s fellow head of animation Malcon Pierce, is another reason the film stands out. “We have a crew that has so much different expertise,” he notes. “We have cartoony animators, and we have subtle animators that really dig into the internal subtext. Then we have animators that do comedy really well. We have animators that do action really well. So, what the film offered us is such a great range in all of those different kinds of flavors, which allowed us to give those specific sensibilities to the right artists. And I think when that happens, from an artist standpoint, whenever you get something that you can really feel, and is complementary to your sensibilities and your instincts, you end up digging deeply into it.”

And while the diverse characters, multi-layered meanings, wide emotional ranges, and highly detailed animation of Raya required the same last-minute touches and polishing that come with wrapping up any feature, Pierce believes that extra 10 percent added to the film was really about the artists’ emotional investment in their creations.

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Time of Day colorscript.

“In the industry, I hear ‘polish’ a lot, and ‘polish’ is a misconception that’s associated with what’s going to make the animation great. I think it has to be the emotional investment from the artist to take the feeling of whatever the scene needs to be, and how you maximize that visually through the animation, and merging that with the dialogue performance or the storytelling in the scene, so the feeling of that comes out to the other side. I think one of the things we did really well on this project, from a leadership standpoint, is allow the artists to have the space to do that.”

Staying true to the thematic the team came up with prior to production, Lusinsky adds, “It took a lot of trust, but I think it pulled everybody together.”

Raya and the Last Dragon arrives today in theatres and on Disney+ (with Premier Access). Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada are directing, with Paul Briggs and John Ripa co-directing. Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho are producing; Qui Nguyen and Adele Lim are the film’s writers. The voice cast features Tran as the intrepid warrior Raya; Awkwafina as the legendary dragon, Sisu; Gemma Chan as Raya’s nemesis, Namaari; Daniel Dae Kim as Raya’s visionary father, Benja; Sandra Oh as Namaari’s powerful mother, Virana; Benedict Wong as Tong, a formidable giant; Izaac Wang as Boun, a 10-year-old entrepreneur; Thalia Tran as the mischievous toddler Little Noi; Alan Tudyk as Tuk Tuk, Raya’s best friend and trusty steed; Lucille Soong as Dang Hu, the leader of the land of Talon; Patti Harrison as the chief of the Tail land; and Ross Butler as chief of the Spine land.


Victoria Davis is a full-time, freelance journalist and part-time Otaku with an affinity for all things anime. She's reported on numerous stories from activist news to entertainment. Find more about her work at victoriadavisdepiction.com. More on those sword fights.

[GeneChing]

Dec 21, 2021 8:00am PT
2022 Annie Awards: ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ Scores 10 Nominations, Netflix Leads Streamers (https://variety.com/2021/awards/awards/netflix-annie-awards-nominations-disney-raya-1235140528/)

By Terry Flores
https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/RAYA-ONLINE-USE-217.0_074.00_0112.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1nnies
Courtesy of Disney
Netflix’s investment in animation has paid off in a big way, as the streamer picked up a whopping 52 nominations at the 49th Annie Awards. Following behind is Disney, which received 29 bids between its film and TV projects.

Taking place on Feb. 26, 2022 at UCLA’s Royce Hall and presented by the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, the Annie Awards recognize excellence in cinema and television.

Netflix picked up nine nominations for “Arcane,” its series based on Riot Games’ online multiplayer game “League of Legends.” The hit film from Sony Pictures Animation “The Mitchells vs. The Machines” earned eight nods, and Netflix’s own limited series “Maya and the Three,” directed by Jorge Gutierrez, has seven.

While Disney lagged behind Netflix for total nominations, the studio’s “Raya and the Last Dragon” led all content with 10 nominations, followed by its studio sibling “Encanto,” which picked up nine.

Both “Raya” and “Encanto” were nominated for best feature, along with “The Mitchells vs. The Machines,” Pixar’s “Luca” and Illumination’s “Sing 2.” Indie power distributor GKIDS has three films up for independent feature: “Belle,” “Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko” and “Pompo the Cinephile.” Other independent feature nominees include Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s “Flee” and Patrick Imbert’s “The Summit of the Gods.”

“Arcane” is nominated in the general audience TV/media category along with “Love, Death + Robots,” “Bob’s Burgers,” “Star Wars: Visions” and “Tuca & Bertie,” which was canceled by Netflix in 2019 but got a second life on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim.

Children’s TV/media nominees include “Amphibia,” “Carmen Sandiego,” “Dug Days,” “Maya and the Three” and “We the People.” Competing in the preschool TV/media category are “Ada Twist, Scientist,” “Muppet Babies,” “ODO,” “Stillwater” and “Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum.”

Lin-Manuel Miranda is a double nominee for feature music. He’s recognized with Germaine Franco for “Encanto” as well as for his work on Sony Pictures Animation and Netflix’s “Vivo” alongside Alex Lacamoire. Other music nominees are Dan Romer for “Luca,” Youki Kojima and Yuta Bandoh for “Poupelle of Chimney Town” and James Newton Howard and Jhene Aiko for “Raya and the Last Dragon.”

Nominees for feature directing are Mamoru Hosoda for “Belle”; Jared Bush, Byron Howard and Charise Castro Smith for “Encanto”; Jonas Poher Rasmussen and Kenneth Ladekjaer for “Flee”; Enrico Casarosa for “Luca”; and Mike Rianda and Jeff Rowe for “The Mitchells vs. The Machines.”

Held virtually in 2021, the Annies are scheduled for a live ceremony at UCLA next year. “In spite of everything, or maybe because of what we and the world around us have been through for nearly two years, we all want to return to some kind of normal,” said Annies executive producer Frank Gladstone. “We are planning to return for an in-person event with all the trimmings. It is our job to celebrate our community and our accomplishments.”

In addition to the 36 award categories, the Annies will honor achievements with juried awards. Disney animator Ruben Aquino, computer pioneer Lillian Schwartz and Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki with receive the Winsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement. The June Foray Award for charitable contributions to the animation industry will go to filmmakers Renzo and Sayoko Kino****a, founders of the Hiroshima International Animation Festival, while the Python Foundation will be honored with the Ub Iwerks Award for technical advancement for its open-source Python programming language. Artist and author Glen Vilppu will receive a special achievement award for his work teaching a generation of animation professionals, and a certificate of merit for service to the art and industry of animation will go to Evan Vernon.

The complete list of nominees follows:

Best Feature
Encanto

Luca

Raya and the Last Dragon

Sing 2

The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Best Indie Feature
Belle

Flee

Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko

Pompo the Cinephile

The Summit of the Gods

Best Special Production
For Auld Lang Syne

La Vie de Château

Mum Is Pouring Rain

Namoo

The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf

Best Short Subject
Bestia

Easter Eggs

MAALBEEK

Night Bus

Steakhouse

Best Sponsored
A Future Begins

Fleet Foxes – Featherweight

The Good Guest Guide to Japan

Tiptoe & The Flying Machine

Wandavision – “Don’t Touch that Dial” Title Sequence

Best TV/Media – Preschool
Ada Twist, Scientist

Muppet Babies.

ODO

Stillwater

Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum

Best TV/Media – Children
Amphibia

Carmen Sandiego

Dug Days

Maya and the Three

We the People

Best TV/Media – General Audience
Arcane

Bob’s Burgers

Love, Death + Robots

Star Wars: Visions

Tuca & Bertie

Best Student Film
A Film About A Pudding

HOPE

I Am A Pebble

Night of the Living Dread

Slouch

Best FX – TV/Media
Arcane

Castlevania

Maya and the Three

Shaun The Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas

Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans

Best FX – Feature
Belle

Encanto

Raya and the Last Dragon

The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Vivo

Best Character Animation – TV/Media
Arcane

Love, Death + Robots Episode: All Through the House

Namoo

We the People

Best Character Animation – Feature
Encanto

Luca

Raya and the Last Dragon

The Boss Baby: Family Business

Wish Dragon

Best Character Animation – Live Action
Flora & Ulysses

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

The Suicide Squad

The Tomorrow

Y: The Last Man

Best Character Animation – Video Game
Disney Wonderful Worlds

It Takes Two

Kena: Bridge of Spirits

Madrid Noir

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

Best Character Design – TV/Media
Arcane

Batman: The Long Halloween

Kid Cosmic

Maya and the Three Episode

Yuki 7

Best Character Design – Feature
Luca

Raya and the Last Dragon

Ron’s Gone Wrong

The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Vivo

Best Direction – TV/ Media
Amphibia – Jenn Strickland, Kyler Spears

Arcane – Pascal Charue, Arnaud Delord, Barthelemy Maunoury

Crossing Swords – John Harvatine, Brad Schaffer, Ethan Marak

Hilda and the Mountain King – Andy Coyle

Maya and the Three Episode – Jorge R. Gutierrez

Best Direction – Feature
Belle – Mamoru Hosoda

Encanto – Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Charise Castro Smith

Flee – Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Kenneth Ladekjaer

Luca – Enrico Casarosa

The Mitchells vs. The Machines – Mike Rianda, Jeff Rowe

Best Music – TV/ Media
Blush

Hilda and the Mountain King

Maya and the Three

Mila

Mira, Royal Detective

Best Music – Feature
Encanto

Luca

Poupelle of Chimney Town

Raya and the Last Dragon

Vivo

Best Production Design – TV/Media
Arcane

Arlo the Alligator Boy Episode: Broadcast Special

Love, Death + Robots Episode: Ice

Maya and the Three

Yuki 7

Best Production Design – Feature
Belle

Raya and the Last Dragon

Ron’s Gone Wrong

The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Vivo

Best Storyboarding – TV/Media
Arcane

Invincible

Kid Cosmic

Love, Death + Robots

The Ghost and Molly McGee

Best Storyboarding – Feature
Encanto

Raya and the Last Dragon

Spirit Untamed

The Addams Family 2

Vivo

Best Voice Acting – TV/Media
Arcane – Ella Purnell

Arlo the Alligator Boy – Michael J. Woodard

Centaurworld – Parvesh Cheena

DC Super Hero Girls – Kemberly Brooks

Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans – Charlie Saxton

Best Voice Acting – Feature
Encanto – John Leguizamo

Encanto – Stephanie Beatriz

Luca – Jack Dylan Grazer

Raya and the Last Dragon – Kelly Marie Tran

The Mitchells vs. The Machines – Abbi Jacobson

Best Writing – TV/ Media
Arcane

Maya and the Three

Muppet Babies

The Mighty Ones

Tuca & Bertie

Best Writing – Feature
Belle

Flee

Luca

Raya and the Last

The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Best Editorial – TV/ Media
Amphibia

Arlo the Alligator Boy

Love, Death + Robots

Tom and Jerry in New York

What If…?

Best Editorial – Feature
Encanto

Flee

Luca

Raya and the Last Dragon

The Mitchells vs. The Machines Maya v Raya (just said that because I gotta post something outside of a quote for the forum to accept it).