Disney’s latest offering casts Star Wars’ Kelly Marie Tran as the voice of its south-east Asian princess protagonist, the sword-wielding Raya. Her mission is to unite all five pieces of a broken gem containing dragon magic, as well as the fictional Kumandra’s divided regions, in order to defeat a swirling purple plague called the Druun. There is an incandescence and a buoyancy to the animation that elevates the formula. Husky-voiced comedian Awkwafina (The Farewell, Crazy Rich Asians) is captivating as cuddly water dragon Sisu, her goofy earnestness in the same league as Eddie Murphy’s Mushu or Robin Williams’s Genie.
• On Disney+
