“If you wear a dress and have an animal sidekick, you’re a princess.” Although Moana fits the characteristics of a Disney Princess, she is not your typical leading lady. Disney has given us a strong female who defies the odds given to her by her male counterparts. ‘Moana’ not only offers a Polynesian warrior princess, but also a mentor in the form of the village crazy lady, a stuck-up-tattooed Demi-god, and the comedic humor of a dumb chicken sidekick.
Moana grew up listening to ancient stories told by the village crazy lady (who is also her grandma) (Rachel House). The main one being a tale of a Demi-god who stole the heart of Te Fiti (A goddess who created life) causing darkness to begin spreading all over the lands. Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) goes from being a cute toddler whose cheeks you want to squeeze, to a fierce warrior princess that you would not want to come across in a dark cave. While she has always dreamt of sailing beyond the reef, her father forces her to stay put, not only because traveling beyond the reef is dangerous, but because she is the next ruler. When the island’s crops begin to fail and fish are scarce due to the growing darkness, Moana asks to travel beyond the reef in order to search for alternative solutions, but is again turned down by her parents. As Moana struggles to figure out where she belongs, her Grandma encourages her to listen to her heart. When Moana decides to give up on ever sailing away, her Grandma shows her a secret cave. In the cave, Moana learns that her ancestors used to be voyagers, emboldening her to sail beyond the reef in order to save her people. Along the way, her cute pig animal sidekick gets replaced by a dorky chicken called Heihei. She also recruits the help of the Demi-god who stole Te Fiti’s heart, Maui (Dwayne Johnson). Can Moana restore the heart of Te Fiti before the light runs out?
Directors, Ron Clements and John Musker have directed several films together, such as The Little Mermaid (1989), Aladdin (1992), Hercules (1997), and Treasure Planet (2002), but to me, Moana (2016) takes the cake. Not only is the story down to Earth and humorous, but the music written by Opetaia Foa’i, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Mark Mancina adds a sense of culture that has not been heard in films for years.
Score composer Mark Mancina, songwriter Opetaia Foa’i, and co-songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda created music that let us fully appreciate that spirit of the Pacific. Foa’i grew up in Samoa, surrounded by the traditional music of the Samoans. Miranda is of Puerto Rican decent, both his and Foa’i’s ethnically rich backgrounds heavily influenced the authentic cultural sound of the score. Disney has not created a soundtrack like Moana’s since The Lion King (1994).
When viewing this movie, you find yourself wondering if what you are watching is real or animated. The water moving and hair blowing in the wind seem so realistic, it is hard to imagine someone created it with technology. Especially when you compare it to older animation –
Look familiar?
Speaking of familiar, Moana’s father teaching her about the reef and restricting her from going beyond it due to unforeseen dangers, reminds me a lot of Mufasa instructing Simba to not go beyond where the light touches (The Lion King (1994)) and Marlin telling Nemo to not go beyond the reef (Finding Nemo (2003)). While I am sure there were few other storyline options that justified restricting Moana from leaving the island, for me, this one followed too closely to other films. Diversity is needed, and this piece of the plot did not offer that.
Although similar to other Disney plots, ‘Moana’ did offer diversity in other ways. Every character in this film (except for the animals) are of Polynesian decent. Filmmakers are beginning to include more and more ethnicity into their films, catering toward a wider audience. Another recent film that also established diversity was Coco (2017). Not only are the characters diverse, but the directors made sure to get voiceover actors that were of the same ethnicity in order to keep authenticity. Young actors Auli’i Cravalho (Moana in ‘Moana’) and Anthony Gonzalez (Miguel in ‘Coco’) dazzled the world with their incredibly genuine and heartfelt voice acting.
Something fun to be found in the film is in a scene towards the beginning where Moana helps a baby turtle back into the ocean. At the end of this scene, we see the baby turtle swimming away with his parent. This is a clear cameo made by Squirt and Crush from Finding Nemo (2003). Disney is notorious for sneaking different characters into other films – Hidden Disney Characters – Moana is no exception.
This film is a coming-of-age story full of hope and empowerment. Comedic relief found in the dumb chicken counters with the heartfelt emotions you experience within Grandma and Moana’s relationship. Disney has created a movie that seems to accurately relay a united culture, one which all of us strive to have.
MPAA rating is PG. I’ll give it a B+ grade.
Katherine Stone 5/6/19
Sources:
Stone Table Reviews 