Moana

This review was originally written in 2016

What a great year it has been for animated movies! Disney alone has released Zootopia through their own animation studio, Finding Dory through Pixar, and now they continue to kick ass with their newest animated feature, Moana.

Moana tells the tale of a young woman, named Moana, who yearns to be out in the ocean. Moana has lived her whole life on the island of Motunui, a Polynesian island located in the South Pacific. Her ancestors have settled on this island many generations ago, and now, no one is allowed to leave the island due to the extremely dangerous conditions of the ocean. Despite this, and despite the fact that she is also destined to be the chief of her people one day, Moana still can’t help but feel drawn to the ocean water. But as Motunui starts to mysteriously decay, and the once bountiful island starts providing less and less, Moana seizes the opportunity to sail across the ocean in an attempt to save her people.

This is a very well done animated feature. It feels redundant to say at this point, but Disney continues to impress with its gorgeous visuals. Everything about Moana is aesthetically beautiful; the water, the islands, the animals, the mythical creatures, and even the human characters all have such pristine detail while still feeling as though they have a fluid and free flowing nature to them. It’s an aesthetic choice that harkens back to visuals from Disney’s Golden Age. Seeing as how the two directors of Moana - Ron Clements and John Musker - also directed Disney classics like The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Hercules, perhaps this shouldn’t have been much of a surprise.

The visuals are, nonetheless, absolutely breathtaking, and it is even refreshing to see a combination of visual techniques be utilized. The stunning visual design even helps bring to life the rich culture and dazzling mythology that Moana inherently has. Though people will always pointlessly bicker about whether or not something is offensive, Moana feels like an earnest attempt to represent Polynesian culture and heritage. The magical lore involved in the story is something that we’ve never seen before on such a large scale. So kudos to Disney for trying to branch out and try something different. Although Disney has tried to do this before with Lilo & Stitch, the folklore and mythology in Moana feels more deeply rooted in Polynesian cultural history (y’know, as opposed to aliens that have literally nothing to do with Hawaiian culture).

While keeping that in mind, Disney even casted Hawaiian native, Auli'i Cravalho, as the voice of the titular character. Cravalho is a complete newcomer to the Disney family, as she has never acted or voice acted in anything before - which makes Moana her debut feature film. That could have been quite the risk for Disney to trust their newest tent-pole blockbuster animation to a complete newcomer, but it seems to have paid off in spades. Cravalho delivers a wonderful performance, and one would never have guessed that she’s never been in a single movie before. She brings such charm and innocence to Moana’s character, and she is even able to stand toe-to-toe with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. That’s an impressive accomplishment in and of itself, which makes Cravalho a talent to look out for as her career progresses. 

Dwayne Johnson, of course, brings his natural charisma to the table. He plays a self- absorbed demi-god called Maui, and his casting is just perfect. Johnson is able to bring his own personality into Maui, which makes his character all the more likable. Together, Moana and Maui have excellent chemistry, which is great since the film is all about the two of them. Although I didn’t care much for Maui’s modern pop culture references, Maui and Moana both prove to be very well-rounded characters. They both have clear motivations; they both have empathetic back stories; they both learn from one another; and they both have unique perspectives on life that mix together to form the larger narrative.

Johnson even gets the best musical number. Or maybe just “best” in terms of pure fun because there is some excellent music in this movie. The songs range from inspirational and moving to joyous and entertaining in a really well put together soundtrack. The songs are so catchy they will definitely still be playing in your head long after the movie finishes. Either "You're Welcome" or "How Far I'll Go" will surely be up for an Oscar nomination later on this year. 

Altogether, Moana is a happy and heartwarming film that hits you right in the feels. Although I found the humor to fall a bit flat, the film still has a good message about finding one’s self and not being defined by material possessions, as well as beautifully stunning visuals, memorable characters, spot on casting, catchy music, rich culture and mythology, and a simple story that never feels too predictable. Moana is a perfect family friendly adventure to place during thanksgiving, as every member of the family can find some enjoyment in the film.

This year has just been an embarrassment of riches from Disney. The Jungle Book, Captain America: Civil War, Zootopia, Finding Dory, Queen of Katwe, Doctor Strange, now Moana, and Rogue One is still to come! With so many hits, Disney will undoubtedly soon own the world and shortly after become sentient