Raya and the Last Dragon | 2021 | PG | – 1.3.1

Why is “Raya and the Last Dragon” rated PG? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “some violence, action and thematic elements.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a toddler’s bare buttocks, several scenes of people fighting with swords and sticks with blades on them, many scenes of people being attacked by swirling monsters that turn them to stone, discussions of the world being broken and how to remedy the problem, scenes of people planning attacks to steal gems, scenes of dragons swirling through the air and causing magical things to happen, and some name-calling. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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A young woman (the voice of Kelly Marie Tran) spurred by her father’s wishes, and hoping to bring him back after he is turned to stone by a monster, seeks a fabled dragon to help her save the world and make things right again. Also with the voices of Awkwafina, Izaac Wang, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, Benedict Wong, Jona Xiao, Sandra Oh, Thalia Tran, Lucille Soong and Alan Tudyk. Directed by Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Paul Briggs & John Ripa. [Running Time: 1:47]

Raya and the Last Dragon SEX/NUDITY 1

 – A toddler throws a diaper at a young woman as she chases her and we see the child’s bare buttocks briefly (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). Two guards stand shirtless outside a fortress and we see their bare chest, back and abdomen.
► A dragon transforms into a human and is excited, saying, “See how close my butt is to my head.”

Raya and the Last Dragon VIOLENCE/GORE 3

 – A teen girl kicks another teen girl in the back and she falls to the ground, they fight and many other armed people enter and fight with a man armed with a sword, as he drops through an opening; the man is shot through the leg with an arrow and collapses, the attackers grab a glowing stone and fight over it until it breaks, causing giant swirling monsters to break out of the ground and stone statues to fall from the walls around them, and the people run out of the area while several are overcome by the monsters and turned to stone; the wounded man drops his teen daughter into a river from a bridge as he is turned to stone by a monster and she drifts away calling for him.
► A hatch in the ceiling of a cave dumps a large amount of sand covering several people as a young woman and a dragon make their escape and run through a tunnel. Many armed soldiers gather at the gates of a village and threaten to shoot flaming arrows over the walls if a young woman is not turned over to them. Two young women fight: one uses a sword and the other uses a long stick with a blade at the end, and they each drop their weapon during the fight and continue hand-to-hand, with throws and heavy face punches. Two young women fight with swords and one is eventually knocked to the ground and the other holds her blade over her (she does not harm her). A flashback shows four dragons overtaken by monsters and they are turned to stone. A young woman threatens a dragon and two others with a crossbow, the dragon is shot in the chest and falls off a cliff into a river below; the water bubbles and evaporates and monsters move toward a town filled with people, turning them to stone. A bright flash blows across the ground, rain falls and a fog spreads returning people that had been turned to stone to their normal form
► Many people run away from monsters as the ground crumbles and many are overtaken and turned to stone. Two young women ride a giant ball while being chased by other people riding giant cats; the first two jump off a ridge and into water below and the bug floats them safely to a ship. A teen girl jumps through a window and lands on a ledge, she runs through a passageway, steps on a stone that release a net that falls toward her as she jumps away; she pulls herself along the ground under the net to an entryway where she turns a heavy stone and a door opens and she fights a man inside with two sticks and the man swings a sheathed sword, and the fight ends with the man tapping the girl on the nose with the tip of the sheath. A young woman jumps off a ship and into water where she transforms into a dragon that attaches to the bottom of the ship and swims very fast throwing the people on board off their feet. A young woman and a dragon find a skeleton holding a piece of a gem and perched in a heavily fortified area; the young woman manages to get the gem as others enter the area and threaten her. Two young women are caught in a trap and held in the air in a tarp; we then see them wrapped with ropes and hanging from a ceiling as a man holding a giant axe threatens them. A large bug rolls through a door where two young women are being held by a man and they knock the man down and tie him to a beam. A young woman shoves a man to the ground when he questions her plan.
► A monster pops up out of the ground in front of a young woman riding a large rolling bug and she falls back down a hill; she holds a glowing stone toward the monster and it runs away. A monster moves close to a young woman nearly touching her and turning her to stone until another young woman scares the monster away. Many monsters prowl on the banks of a river as people on a ship float by. Several people ride giant cats across a desert and stop outside a shipwreck. Many people in a village surround a young woman demanding payment for items that she has collected without paying. A man says that all he wants to do is “Invoke fear and crush the skulls of my enemies,” and he goes on to say that he will kill two young women in horrifying ways, and, “It will take me 2 weeks to clean up.” We see an empty child’s crib and understand that a man’s child and family are gone.
► A toddler alone in an alley catches the attention of a young woman and when she goes to pick the child up, she sees that three small monkeys have taken a pouch she left on a large bug that she ride; the young woman chases the monkeys and the baby through streets and a marketplace, the child throws a diaper (please see the Sex/Nudity category for more details) at the young woman and the young woman bats it away. A dragon trips over a booby trap that drops the dragon and a young woman into an area laced with cables that they must negotiate to get through. A young woman discovers a shipwreck and recites a prayer to a dragon to help her save her father and the world.
► Three people on a boat talk about monsters and a young woman says that a plague was born from human discord. A young boy says, “They took my family.” A dragon yells at a young woman and says, “You broke it?” and the young woman says, “We still have a big chunk of it,” and the dragon asks, “How would you feel if I said, I broke a puppy, but we still have a big chunk of it. Would it make you feel better?” Many people from different lands come together and a man speaks to them about forging peace; several of them complain and grumble about the idea. A voice-over talks about everyone touched by a mindless plague being turned to stone. People talk about people from different lands and their warlike characteristics. Two teen girls talk about their single parents. A dragon is excited and talks about not having “…mess it up.” A boy serves two young women food and one of the women says, “Don’t eat it, it could be poison.” People talk about people lying to get what they want. A young woman talks about people using blades designed for stabbing backs.
► A dragon blows a large cloud of fog around an army and two young women fighting, and it roars at one young woman as she stands in shock and it disappears into the fog. Bubbles form and rise out of a small stream of water; the bubbles twirl around each other and form a glowing ball that transforms into a dragon. A teen girl rides a large rolling bug through desert terrain in a couple of scenes. A teen girl struggles to right a large overturned bug. A young boy imagines a plan where he and several others fight their way into a heavily guarded land and retrieve a gem.
► A man wears an eye patch over one eye and seems to have a scar across his face. A dragon gags and coughs when it bites into a piece of fruit jerky. A bug’s back end glows and a young woman calls it a “toot and boom” bug as the bug makes a flatulent sound and sprays a cloud of particles into the air that then blow up; many of the bugs line the walls of an exit passage and we hear a lot of flatulent sounds and explosions as people run through (no one is harmed). A young woman eats a prepared food and calls for water in a panic saying that the food is very hot. A large bug eats a piece of fruit and spits it out (it apparently had hot sauce on it). A man talks about a dragon’s stench.

Raya and the Last Dragon LANGUAGE 1

 – 2 mild scatological terms, 2 mild anatomical terms, name-calling (mindless plague, baddest blades, fur bug, sneaky mercenaries, awkward, skippy, dragon nerd, useless, terrible, miniature menaces, tidal wave, obnoxious, ruffian, foolish, dung pot, princess undercut, rage heads, pickpockets, con-artists, cat lady, notorious, mean, binturi), exclamations (come on, focus, don’t beat yourself up, butt-kickery, bad-axery). | profanity glossary |

Raya and the Last Dragon SUBSTANCE USE

 – None.

Raya and the Last Dragon DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Family, saving the world, hate, greed, death of family and loved ones, plagues, magic, emotions, wisdom, taking risks, betrayal, spirit, skill, war, legacy, dragons, fairy-tales, hope, trust.

Raya and the Last Dragon MESSAGE

 – Saving the world requires trust.

(Note: A short precedes the feature film and shows an elderly man seeming to be grumpy and unwilling to get up and join his wife when she leaves the house. He watches people on the street below his apartment and sees them dancing, rain begins to fall and the man is transformed to his younger self; he then joins his wife, dancing through the city, they nearly kiss and the man panics when the rain moves away and he turns back to his current age, and he chases the rain to the end of a pier. He turns back to see his wife sitting on a bench and they hug and dance.)