10 Best Movie Characters Of 2021 (So Far)

Though Disney's latest animated offering recycles many familiar and expected plot strands from your typical Disney princess movie, Raya (Kelly Marie Tran) herself is anything but a typical Disney heroine.

Less a princess than a doggedly determined, impossibly tough warrior - and also Disney’s first Southeast Asian protagonist - Raya undergoes compelling growth throughout the movie, learning to shed her understandable cynicism and find a way to trust people open-heartedly without being a doormat.

Independent and resourceful yet ultimately unafraid to ask for help when needed, Raya is a shining example of what a female protagonist should be in a modern Disney animation, in all of her strength, intelligence, and complexity.

This is of course tied together by a terrific vocal performance from Tran herself, leaving many fans hoping that a sequel might materialise sooner rather than later (knowing Disney, though, it'll be later).