‘ Raya and the Last Dragon’Ĭould it be that Disney has learned its lesson? After decades of shameful, racist gaffes followed by a generation of one-princess-per-ethnicity, Disney gives us “Raya and the Last Dragon.” Returning to the warrior princess theme after Moana’s peacemaking in Polynesia, Raya searches for the last dragon in a fantasy world inspired by the cultures of Southeast Asia. Asian American actors voice the Asian American characters: Hiro (Ryan Potter), Tadashi (Daniel Henney) and Go Go Tomago (Jamie Chung). And while there are plenty of big action scenes with some violence, ultimately the story is about replacing vengeance with justice and taking care of the people who matter to you.
Similar to the “NeoTokyo” of numerous anime titles, San Fransokyo is a futuristic city filled with mad scientists, genius teens and incredible technology. “Big Hero 6” owes as much to Japanese anime’s go-team and giant robot genres as to its Disney pedigree, with the twist that this giant robot is a health-care worker. But inspired by his world-famous surfer grandfather (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), he sides with the town kids and takes up snowboarding. Far from the beach, he attends a snobby private school attended by skiers.
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This Disney Channel Original Movie is a kids’ fish-out-of-water story - or should we say, surfer out of water? Johnny Kapahaala (played by Brandon Baker, who has European and Filipino ancestry) is uprooted from Hawaii to Vermont when his dad (Seattle-based Yuji Okumoto, owner of Kona Kitchen) is transferred for work. Fei Fei is voiced by a young Filipino-American of Chinese descent, Cathy Ang, in an all-Asian voice cast that also features John Cho (of “Harold & Kumar” fame) as the father and Phillipa Soo (Eliza in “Hamilton”) as Chang’e. The picturesque but modern-day Chinese setting gives way to a psychedelic moonscape (complete with literal Biker Chicks). Young Fei Fei casually blends science and magic, building a rocket to travel to the moon for a visit with mythological Chang’e. Chinese culture is baked into it, with the Autumn Moon Festival providing a backdrop for the story of a young girl resisting her widowed father’s remarriage and the addition of a stepbrother to her life. Directed by former Disney character designer Glen Keane, “Over the Moon” has some Disney storytelling elements (dead mother, anyone?) but a completely fresh CG animation look. Netflix original “Over the Moon” is truly original. It can still take some searching to find family-friendly movies with Asian protagonists, though, so we’ve simplified your search with a few suggestions (complete with Common Sense Media age recommendations, where available). This year we can even look forward to Shang-Chi, the first Asian superhero in the MCU (fingers crossed that it will be good).
But for parents who grew up with nothing better than cringey transfer student Long Duk Dong in “Sixteen Candles,” and worried the only Asian heroine they’d ever be able to offer their kids was Disney’s Mulan, things are starting to look up. The history of Asian representation in film is … not good.
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