RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON’S SISU

Sisu is a magical creature that can shape-shift from dragon to human form in the Walt Disney Animation Studios movie. Her look was influenced by the filmmakers’ research trip to Southeast Asia, including her costume when in human form. And the dragon itself was inspired by the Naga of Southeast Asia — semi-devine beings that can manifest as serpents or humans. Her blue color was chosen to reflect her strong connection to water.

Sisu also took some inspiration from Awkwafina, who voiced the character. “Awkwafina’s very expressive,” says head of animation Amy Speed, citing as an example, “she’ll talk with smaller mouth shapes and then she’ll go into a broad smile very quickly. And we were trying to get that into Sisu both as dragon and human, which just elevates that charm of her personality.”

As to the dragon’s look, she explains, “we didn’t want to oversimplify her anatomy, making sure that that structure is still in there. You’ll see a lot of S-shapes with her body, and one of the fun things for us was, when she transforms into a human, she’s a little bit awkward at first.”