The dragon of the two-part epic Die Nibelungen of 1924 bears Fafnir’s name, though his backstory and psychological menace are pared away. The forefather of modern fantasy dragons, he possesses many of the archetypal elements: malicious spirit, hordes of treasure, dangerous cunning, and a confrontation with a hero armed with a sword. One of the fiercest dragons in mythology is Fafnir, from the Old Norse V ölsung Cycle. RELATED: Written in Stone? Imagining the ‘Mulan’ That Could Have Been Though I doubly wish Disney had gone back to some of their concept art for her there were plenty of designs that didn’t have Elsa’s face transplanted on a dragon’s body.

There’s a wonderful sinuous quality to Sisu’s movement as well, in the water and out of it. Drawing from traditions of the Nāga in Southeast Asian culture, Sisu and her kind are tied to the element of water, and the rare glimpses of their magic in full flower are beautiful to see. With that being said, the dragons of Raya are a kind that haven’t often gotten so prominent a showcase. Sisu’s dialogue may well be Exhibit A for trying too hard in that respect. I’m not sure that traditional techniques would have helped Raya and the Last Dragon much even so animated, it would have been a cliché-ridden, heavy-handed, badly paced film insufferable in its efforts to have an irreverent, contemporary voice and humor. Much of it is traditionally rendered, so much more expressive and alive than the CGI that makes it to the screen, yet the studio persists in leaving 2D animation to rust.

Whenever concept art for Disney’s current crop of animated movies gets released, I cry a little inside.

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