James Newton Howard (The Hunger GamesKing Kong, The Sixth Sense, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemSignsMaleficent) has recently been scoring the upcoming animated feature Raya and the Last Dragon. The film is directed by Don Hall (Big Hero 6, Winnie the Pooh) & Carlos López Estrada (Blindspotting) and stars Kelly Marie Tran and Awkwafina. The movie tells the story of a fearless warrior as she seeks a water dragon who can transform into a human being to save the realm from evil forces. Adele Lim (Crazy Rich Asians) and Qui Nguyen wrote the screenplay. Osnat Shurer (Moana) and Peter Del Vecho (Frozen, The Princess and the Frog) are producing the Walt Disney Animation Studios production. Howard has previously composed the music for several movies for Disney Animation, including Dinosaur, Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Treasure Planet. Raya and the Last Dragon is currently scheduled to be released in theaters nationwide on March 12, 2021 by Walt Disney Pictures.

The composer’s other upcoming projects include Paul Greengrass’ News of the World (coming out on December 25, 2020), Disney’s Jungle Cruise (to be released on July 21, 2021), as well as David Yates’ third installment in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them series (to be released on July 15, 2022).

  1. I can’t believe that James Newton Howard would a grand mystical score like this.

    • Rebecca says:

      Yeah, me too! There’s a reason why he’s one of the most respected composers for film. Also, if he were tapped to score a Disney theme park ride, I would be hyped up to eleven.

  2. Darren says:

    Well this is amazing news!

  3. liamdude5 says:

    It’s been a long time since he’s done a Disney.

    • Rebecca says:

      Yup. Treasure Planet was his previous WDAS film that he scored. This is the first time in like, 18 years.

      Oh yeah and he scored a few live-action films for the studio, too.

      • Dominick Vander Linden says:

        Atlantis The Lost Empire is my favorite of his

  4. Rebecca says:

    This is truly amazing! JNH is one of the most respected and acclaimed composers in all of the film industry, and it’s no wonder why Disney cherry-picked him a few times.

    Also, I’d love for JNH to score a huge-budget AAA video game and/or a Disney theme park ride. It’d be double the amazing, if not upped a few times more! 🙂

  5. So glad that JNH came back for 18 years (nearly 2 decades) to score Raya and the Last Dragon after Treasure Planet. Now I’m waiting on Hans Zimmer going back to Disney Animation to score another Disney Animated feature. It’s been nearly 3 decades after The Lion King, come on! In fact, it can be anytime around the 2020s. We’ll just have to wait and see.

  6. So glad that JNH came back for 18 years (nearly 2 decades) to score Raya and the Last Dragon after Treasure Planet. Now I’m waiting on Hans Zimmer going back to Disney Animation to score another Disney Animated feature. It’s been nearly 3 decades after The Lion King, come on! In fact, it can be anytime around the 2020s. We’ll just have to wait and see.

  7. Sorry for double posting!