The countdown is on to the debut of Raya and the Last Dragon theatrically and on Disney+ Premier Access tomorrow, and tonight was the virtual red carpet event that was live streamed across multiple platforms, where we saw the debut of the official music video for “Lead the Way” and the welcoming of Kelly Marie Tran to the Disney Hero Voice family.
What’s Happening:
- With the debut of the 59th animated feature from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Raya and the Last Dragon mere hours away, a virtual red carpet was held featuring some of the cast and creators behind the film.
- As the red carpet event came to a close, Raya herself, Kelly Marie Tran, introduced the debut of the official music video for a song from the film, “Lead the Way” performed by Jhene Aiko, and reminded us that the soundtrack is available now.
- The music video was directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada, who also happened to be a director on Raya and the Last Dragon along with Don Hall. The music video was probably cake for him, since Raya is his first animated film, as he came from a live-action background.
- While the music video was the big news that came out of the virtual event, there were other moments worth noting, including a “Welcome to the family” montage featuring several other famous Disney voices welcoming Kelly Marie Tran as the latest princess. Jonathan Groff (Kristoff and Sven), Paige O’Hara (Belle), Ming-Na Wen (Mulan), Jodi Benson (Ariel), Ginnifer Goodwin (Judy Hopps), and Anika Noni Rose (Tiana) all make an appearance and offer words of advice and encouragement. Paige O’Hara said “To put this in perspective, the year you were born was the year I started recording Beauty and the Beast, so I want you to prepare yourself for a very very long, but very very happy ride filled with wonderful experiences and thousands of children dressing up to look. just. like. YOU.” Anika Nonia Rose told her to keep a journal, because there will be so many memories that she will want to last forever.
- Arguably the most powerful words came from Ming-Na Wen, saying “That I am so happy that there is another princess warrior in the mix” and concluded the video by saying “Keep representing. We can always use more heroes.”
- Awkwafina, who was also in attendance on the virtual red carpet said that she was in the virtual waiting room watching Kelly, and got emotional FOR her, even though she couldn’t see the video that Kelly was watching.
- A recurring theme throughout the red carpet was how the film was made remotely, with Kelly and Awkwafina commenting on how they’ve only met once in passing at D23 a while back, but they’re looking forward to hanging out as soon as they can, which may or may not include a trip to a 7-11.
- Others who appeared on the virtual red carpet include:
- Ross Butler (Voice of Spine Chief)
- Don Hall (Director)
- Osnat Shurer (Producer)
- Carlos Lopez Estrada (Director)
- Qui Nguyen (Writer)
- Adele Lim (Writer)
- Sandra Oh (Voice of Virana)
- Benedict Wong (Voice of Tong)
- Gemma Chan (Voice of Namaari)
- Daniel Dae Kim (Voice of Chief Benja)
- Isaac Wang (Boun)
- Thalia Tran (Little Noi)
- The cast discuss the film and its themes as well the landmark moment in time in which the film was made, leading Thalia Tran, who voices a wordless baby in the film, to make some eloquent remarks when she said “[Her friends] are just really excited because we get to be part of this time when movies are coming out with people that look like us, characters that we can look up to and we get to grow up with them too. Yes, Kelly, you get to be like, our idols, it’s just really incredible to be part of something so monumental and groundbreaking like this.”
- The comments caused humorous confusion to Daniel Dae Kim, wondering how of the entire cast, she was the most articulate.
- You can watch the full virtual red carpet stream below, and see Raya and the Last Dragon in theaters where available and on Disney+ Premier Access starting tomorrow.
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