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BY MICHAEL PHILLIPS CHICAGO TRIBUNE
March 10, 2021
72 Animated character young Raya, left, appears with her father Benja, voiced by Daniel Dae Kim in a scene from “Raya and the Last Dragon.” (Disney via AP) CORRECTS CHARACTER NAME – Animated character Namaari, voiced by Gemma Chan, appears in a scene from “Raya and the Last Dragon.” (Disney via AP) Animated character Spine Chief, voiced by Ross Butler, center, appears in a scene from “Raya and the Last Dragon.” (Disney via AP) Animated character Raya, voiced by Kelly Marie Tran, center, appears with Sisu the dragon in a scene from “Raya and the Last Dragon.” (Disney
Screenshot: Disney
It’s not every Disney movie that leaves you thinking about food.
Raya and the Last Dragon is a lush, gorgeous work of animation with epic fight scenes, a doubting heroine, and a giddy water dragon and it’s a movie that remembers that people need to eat, and that eating together is meaningful. Watching the enterprising young chef Boun (Izaac Wang) dole out his dishes to a gaggle of newfound friends, I missed more than ever the experience of food as community, as a reason and a way to come together.
Early in the film, Chief Benja (Daniel Dae Kim) uses food as an example of how different elements create a magical whole. He adds something from each of his world’s five lands shrimp paste, lemongrass, bamboo shoots, chilis, and palm sugar to a bowl of soup. Every piece is necessary for the dish to be complete. It reflects his dream for their broken world: That the five clashing nations of Heart, Talon, Fang, Spine, and Tail can reunite as Kumandra, the single h
Light on its feet, propelled by fast, witty asides and clean-lined storytelling, “Raya and the Last Dragon” comes from Walt Disney Animation Studios. It isn’t so much an original as