Disney Movie Challenge
Moana (2016)
The second Disney animated film to be released in 2016. Moana was released on Thanksgiving weekend and proved to be a box office phenomenon. Ron Clements and John Musker continued their hot streak of Princess movies after directing hits like The Little Mermaid (1989), Aladdin (1992), and The Princess and the Frog (2009).
Moana is about a princess on a fictional Polynesian island who heads out into the ocean on an adventure. On the island of Motunui the people live in harmony with nature but never go out far in the ocean. When Moana is young she hears the ocean calling her and wants to go out and explore it. Since she will be the next chief her parents force her to learn about the island and how to take care of the people, but her Grandmother shows her that things used to be different. Their ancestors were great sailors and traveled far across the ocean. When the food starts to become scarce on the island Moana sets out to fix things. There is a story about how the Demigod Maui stole the Heart of Tafiti which caused the evil Te Kā to rise and send out darkness around the world. When Te Kā attacked Maui, Maui lost the heart of Tafiti and his magical fish hook that grants him shapeshifting powers. Moana is chosen by the ocean to be the one that returns the Heart of Tafiti. After the ocean gives her the jewel she must brave the waters in her ancestor's ship, find Maui, convince him to go back and return the jewel, and figure out how to beat Te Kā.
When another movie they were working on failed to materialize Clements and Musker set out to make an original film. After doing some research they became fascinated by Polynesian history and decided to set their story in that world. The fascinating thing is that it is partially based on truth. The Polynesian people were great sailors but mysteriously stopped sailing and no one knows why. Then after 1,000 years they mysteriously started sailing again. Originally planned to be about the demigod Maui, they eventually decided that focusing on a human would make the movie more relatable. Using a cast made of actors with Polynesian heritage helps lend it some authenticity. The cast includes Hawaiian natives Auliʻi Cravalho as Moana and Nicole Scherzinger as Moana's mother. Dwayne Johnson who is of Samoan heritage plays Maui. Rachel House (Moana's grandmother), Temuera Morrison (Moana's father), and Jemaine Clement (Tamatoa) are of Māori heritage.
The first thing you notice about the movie is how good it looks. Clements and Musker had only done hand drawn animation before so how they would handle their first CG animated movie was a question. But they made a great looking film that just sucks you into the world. The story manages to be familiar yet different from other Disney Princess movies. While we see the typical tropes of a stubborn daughter going out on her own, what makes this one feel different is that there is no love interest and Moana always feels fully capable despite having magic help. When Maui refuses to help her she doesn’t back off. She is persistent and determined and nothing will stop her from doing what she thinks is right. Even if Maui didn’t go with her you feel she still would have been able to complete the mission.
We can’t talk about Moana without talking about the music. When I first heard that The Rock was going to sing it really made me not interested in seeing the movie. I had no desire to hear the Rock sing and when I heard “Your Welcome” before seeing the movie it didn’t change my mind. He really isn’t a good singer but in the movie it somehow works. I thought it would take me out of the movie but it didn’t and that might have to do with how great the song writing is. The music was written by an eclectic trio. Lin-Manuel Miranda, best known on Broadway for Hamilton, wrote the majority of the songs including “How Far I’ll Go” and “You’re Welcome”. Opetaia Foa'i is the lead singer of an Oceanic Fusion group called Te Vaka and he helped write the more pacific islander centric music including “An Innocent Warrior” and “We Know the Way”. The last person in the trio is Mark Mancina who wrote some of the music for the songs and the entire score. Mancina has had an interesting career. He worked with Hans Zimmer on The Lion King Score then worked on such films as Speed, Bad Boys, and Twister. He returned to Disney and worked with Phil Collins on Tarzan and scored Brother Bear. Together the three wrote a soundtrack that combined the broadway sensibilities of past Disney Princess movies with traditional Polynesian sound.
Overall: Moana is a fun movie that manages to feel like a traditional Disney Princess movie yet makes the character feel fresh and innovative. Miranda wrote some fun songs that even the questionable singing of The Rock couldn’t ruin. Speaking of The Rock is there anything he can’t do? Action movies, comedies, and now animated princess movies.
Random Facts
To do research for the film Clements and Musker went on a research trip to Fiji, Samoa, and Tahiti. Sounds more like a vacation than a research trip
Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit) wrote the initial screenplay but pretty much everything got rewritten. He is not credited as a screenwriter but he gets a special thanks in the credits.
Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote “Shiny” based on Flight of the Conchords (Jermaine Clement’s band) performance of a David Bowie Tribute. Miranda also said at the time he was listening to David Bowie songs after Bowie’s death. Here is a clip of Flight of the Conchords Bowie tribute https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4zV4pJ8MwM
Lost Best Animated Feature Oscar to Disney’s other 2016 movie Zootopia
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