Encanto & Raya Set A New Disney Movie Record In 2021

In a year marked by many movie industry firsts, Raya and the Last Dragon and Encanto mark one particular new record for Disney. Of course, both films were included in Disney’s new hybrid release model in which theatrical releases are quickly followed by Disney+ premieres, and Raya and Encanto both rank among the best animated films of 2021. But there’s more linking these latest Disney features than their high quality and studio of origin.

In terms of story, Raya and Encanto are actually quite different. Where Raya’s journey takes her far from home to all the other lands of Kumandra, Mirabel’s is noteworthy for the fact that it takes place entirely in her family’s house and community. In related fashion, Encanto is all about strengthening the family one is born into, whereas Raya accumulates a strong found family during the course of her film. While both movies feature magical elements, the land of Kumandra in Raya is fictional and Encanto is set in a real country, Colombia. Perhaps most apparently, Raya and Mirabel themselves are very different protagonists; where Mirabel is sweet, a bit insecure, and somewhat naïve, Raya is a hardened, utterly confident warrior. This contrast in tones is also reflected in the fact that Encanto is a musical and Raya is not.

Despite these similarities, however, it’s the protagonists, Raya and Mirabel, that make their films record-setting for Disney. 2021 marks the first year that two Disney Animated Classics have premiered with female leads. This may come as a surprise given that many Disney Classics showcase their princesses, but 2016 is actually the only other year in Disney’s history that comes close to 2021: while both Zootopia and Moana have female leads, they also feature male leads with approximately equal weight.

Yet, while it is encouraging to see animated films that highlight strong, complex female characters, this alone isn’t all that groundbreaking a move for Disney given its new princess tradition over the last several years, and even further back with films like The Princess and the Frog. Rather, the real value of Raya and Encanto lies in the ways these films correct some of Disney’s most harmful tropes from the past. Among these are the idea that heroes have to be special or gifted in some way in order to be worthy, which Mirabel powerfully contradicts, or the misconception that the most important relationship to foster in life is between romantic partners, which both Raya and Encanto deny in favor of developing important familial and friendship bonds.

One of the best aspects of Raya and Encanto‘s female protagonists is also the fact that they are allowed to hurt and get hurt in a way that many of their predecessors have not been. From Sisu’s death in Raya and the Last Dragon to Casita’s destruction in Encanto, both Raya and Mirabel face tangible consequences as a result of their actions. Of course, being Disney movies, these tragedies are both undone in the end, but it’s still significant that Mirabel and Raya are given the agency to make big, real-life mistakes and grow from them, in contrast to how classic Disney princess storylines often go. Finally, both Raya and Encanto mark improvements in the way Disney tells stories grounded in cultures from all over the world. As with Moana‘s Oceanic Story Trust from a few years prior, the creative teams behind Raya and Encanto worked with a Southeast Asian and Columbian Cultural Trust, respectively, during the films’ conceptions to ensure that they would offer authentic and meaningful representation.

Thus, it’s not really their female leads that make Rayaand the Last Dragon and Encanto refreshing entries into Disney’s character tradition, but rather what the films illustrate with these young women through their stories and settings. In the 2020s, a film shouldn’t make headlines just because it features female protagonists. Yet, there is evidently still more work to be done in normalizing this standard, given that 2021 is the first time Disney has done so twice in the same year.

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