In light of the new Raya and the Last Dragon trailer, I’d like to bring this back.
Look at this. This is the caliber of art we could have gotten, but no. Pretty backwards how the small animation studios such as Cartoon Saloon, SPA, and countless others are the ones taking risks and putting their fucking all into the movies and TV shows they create, meanwhile the biggest film company in history; the one with the most ability to do something great, is not.
Look up there again, and now look at what we got. Two years later!
I’m not going to sit here and pretend like it’s the worst character design of all time, but it is obviously very sanded down and ‘Elsa-fied’ for marketability and… It’s just boring. It looks like something you’d see in a barbie playset rather than in a movie with a multimillion dollar budget run by one of the biggest companies on Earth.
Disney as a corporation does enough horrible shit as is, but on top of that they are clearly making art for money’s sake, and not for art’s sake, despite already having won the game a hundred times over.
It’s honestly a slap in the face how much they clearly didn’t try here. I’m not faulting the artists and animators who worked on this movie, but rather the execs and bigwigs up the ladder who obviously melted it down to the perfect, focus tested stuffed animal——
Oh look it’s already happened
There does appear to be a “this isn’t even my final form” type deal happening with her, which looks a biiiit better? But it’s still got that disney googly eyed doll thing going on, and fuck—the face. Again; not the worst ever—a little better than the primary design—but it’s still not great.
And saying “muhh it’s for kids why are you melting down over the pretty dragon you’re way too spun up about this,” no. Stop. This is the kind of shit that can change an entire industry. That can affect many real people and their careers. Hell, it could affect my career in the future.
And the excuse of being made for kids also holds no water. Kids aren’t stupid; there is some damn outstanding children’s media out there that doesn’t rely on being as watered down and pandering as possible—that takes itself seriously and commits to telling not just a targeted, appealing story, but a quality one with a true vision.
Kind of like, oh—what Disney used to fucking excel at.
There is a difference between something being made for kids and something being marketed to them.
And yes, Disney has always marketed the everliving shit out of everything they make, but for God’s sake it feels like now the order of operations is backwards. As if their recent movies have the marketability woven into their structure from the start rather than simply being strong enough to… Be something people want to financially support.
This Illumination-style trend of being as safe and widely-pandering as possible at the cost of artistry, risk, and pioneering is a disease that’s permeated big animation studios. And no one is a bigger perpetrator of this than the Mouse, who—ironically—is the one with infinite resources to do whatever the hell they want.
And this is what they did instead, all in the name of filling their own pockets even more. I hate this corporation and I hate this stupid cotton candy Joan Rivers dragon.
Maybe I’ll be wrong; please let me be wrong! this movie could come out and be great and I want that. But this character design, the generic-looking plot, and the subpar and lmao #relatable trailer are seriously making me doubt it’ll be anything more than another super safe cash cow.
Support small studios. Screw Disney. What a disappointment.
