Maren Prince
March 24, 2021
Recently I watched the new Disney movie “Raya and the Last Dragon,” and I noticed a lot of similarities between this movie and “Moana.”
Both of these movies were really creative and kept me entertained. They both have mythological elements and follow the same story of restoring peace.
I created a chart comparing the two movies and the different elements in them.
| “Raya and the Last Dragon” |
Similarities |
“Moana” |
- Land, water stem from dragons
- Friends collected on journey (share same grief)
- Raya is Southeast Asian
- Sisu provides comedic relief
- Druun is the evil power
- Raya has more of a rival in the form of Namaari (throughout whole movie)
- Only background music, characters don’t break out in song
|
- Animal friend
- Strong heroine
- Lots of action
- World in peril
- Strong message of perseverance and friendship
- Wooden boat
- Land ruined by human greed
- One important stone to save the world
- Daughter of chief
- Beautiful scenery
- Harmony restored
|
- Land, water stem from Maui
- Mainly Moana and Maui the whole movie
- Moana is Polynesian
- Maui is the source of comedy
- Te Ka is the antagonist (or so we think)
- Moana doesn’t have a rival, besides Tamatoa and Te Ka (but they are only fleeting)
- More musical
|
Jakob Tedrow • Mar 24, 2021 at 4:43 pm
I think this is the formula for most Disney animation (Different from Pixar) movies now, Whether or not it works depends on how well it’s used, or if the formula is shaken up to better fit the situation.