Moana (2016)
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 đ”What can I say except, You're welcome!đ”
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Moana (released as Vaiana in some European countries, and Oceania in Italy) is a 2016 American computer-animated musical adventure film made by Walt Disney Animation Studios and is directed by Ron Clements and John Musker of The Little Mermaid fame.
Moana was released theatrically in the United States on November 23, 2016 to positive reviews from critics, with particular praise going towards its animation, music, and vocal performances. The film went on to gross over $643 million worldwide. Along with Zootopia which was also released earlier the same year, it marked the first time since 2002 that Walt Disney Animation Studios released two feature films in the same year, since Lilo & Stitch and Treasure Planet. It received two Academy Award nominations at the 89th Academy Awards: one for Best Animated Feature and another for Best Original Song ("How Far I'll Go").
Plot
An adventurous teenager sails out on a daring mission to save her people. During her journey, Moana meets the once-mighty demigod Maui, who guides her in her quest to become a master way-finder. Together they sail across the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous monsters and impossible odds. Along the way, Moana fulfills the ancient quest of her ancestors and discovers the one thing she always sought: her own identity.
Why It's Welcome
- Fluid and breathtaking animation, even for 2010s standards. Which are known for their excellent-looking CGI animated movies, especially when compared to most of the ones of the 2000s (though, to be fair, CGI animation wasn't fully developed for most of the time).
- The plot is a quite rich one about a teenage girl's journey to save her people along with a boastful demigod that has lots of heartwarming and/or tearjerking moments. The former of which consisting of moments like Moana trying to convince Maui that the gods saw someone worthy of being saved the day his parents abandoned him (and that although they granted him the fish hook, Maui became a hero because of his own selflessness and bravery, not because of the gods) when he lets her in on his past and Maui's tattoo of Moana appearing, while the latter has scenes like Moana giving up on her quest and telling the ocean to choose someone else to entrust the mission of returning the heart with and Maui's backstory.
- Great and catchy songs, especially "You're Welcome", "How Far I'll Go", and "Shiny".
- Amazing and interesting characters.
- Moana, the main protagonist, is a free-spirited and rebellious teenager who's the daughter of village chief Tui and his wife Sina, who is chosen by the ocean to restore the heart of Te Fiti. While she initially starts off unwilling to help restore the heart, she later embraces her role as the one the ocean chose to convince Maui to help return the Heart of Te Fiti.
- Maui, the deuteragonist of the film, is a legendary strong-willed yet easily annoyed shapeshifting demigod who sets off with Moana on her journey. It was later revealed that he stole the heart of Te Fiti in a desperate effort to impress the humans that always praised him for his powers that the Gods granted him out of sympathy when his biological parents abandoned him. But he later realizes his mistake and willingly agrees to Moana to restore the heart, realizing that he doesn't truly need the admiration of the humans to have worth.
- Tamatoa, while having a considerably less amount of screen time when compared to the other characters, is still an incredible side antagonist for his complex design, absolutely over-the-top acting, unique and well-done dark sense of humor to the other characters in the film, phenomenal villain song, "Shiny", and foreshadowing of events to come that reveal a great amount about Maui's past and how that made him the way he is and led him to do the things that he did that led to the major events of the film occurring in the first place. Not to mention how he's basically a darker parallel to Maui, representing what Maui would've become if he went to greater and greater lengths in his attempts to gain the humans' admiration.
- Te Fiti, is the goddess who brought life to the ocean using a pounamu stone as her heart and the source of her power. When said heart was stolen, however, she was turned into the volcanic demon, Te KÄ, whose's darkness began poisoning the island of Motunui. Needless to say, both have absolutely astounding character designs and the sheer amount of effort put into every detail on them is spectacular.
- The side characters are pretty good as well. Pua is cute, and Heihei is a decent comic relief (in spite of the latter serving as pretty pointless to the story for a majority of the film, see BQ# 4).
- Funny moments, such as when Maui throws Moana off the boat and the ocean carries her back onto the boat. There was also a scene after the credits where Tamatoa was still on his back, and says to the audience, "You know, if I were named Sebastian and I had a Jamaican accent, you'd totally help me right now!", referencing "The Little Mermaid".
- The villains were unique; the Kakamora were somewhat cute coconut pirates, and Tamatoa was a giant, shiny, colorful crab. It also has the unique twist of a villain really being a hero, something you don't see much in film (while there are certainly many films with twist villains, very few actually have a twist hero, which also helps makes this film stand out from the crowd more).
- As previously mentioned (in WIR# 2), some moments are touching and emotional, such as when Grandma Tala dies, with her final words being her telling Moana to go find Maui and make him return the heart.
- Mauiâs origin story is very heartbreaking and emotional, as he was abandoned by his mean-spirited parents when he was a human baby. An event that led to the Gods taking pity on him and granting him powers, as well as Maui himself becoming dependent on being praised by humans to the point where he started doing morally wrong things in desperate attempts to impress them, including stealing the heart of Te Fiti.
- Excellent voice acting, especially from actors like Auli'i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson.
- "Boat Snack!"
Bad Qualities
- Although the movie is about Moana and the journey she takes with Maui, it focuses a little too much on them and never shows a subplot involving Moana's family, which gives them little character development compared to the two lead characters.
- In add Pua was cute, but despite being featured at the posters, he didn't get very much screen time and the movie almost forgot about him until the end.
- There was one instance of toilet humor when Maui peed into the ocean.
- Hei Hei, despite being decent, is annoying and pointless to the film's plot, mainly due to his extreme stupidity, even for comic relief standards.
- Plot Hole: We never got a proper reason why Maui came back to help Moana in the climax.
Reception
Moana received positive reviews from critics, with particular praise going towards its animation, music, and vocal performances. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Moana holds an approval rating of 95% based on 281 reviews, and an average rating of 7.90/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "With a title character as three-dimensional as its lush animation and a story that adds fresh depth to Disney's time-tested formula, Moana is truly a family-friendly adventure for the ages.". Subsequently, the film is also listed as number 18 on the website's "90 Best Computer Animated Movies" list. On Metacritic, the film holds a weighted average score of 81 out of 100, based on 44 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on a scale ranging from A+ to F, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave an 89% overall positive score and a 79% "definite recommend".
Videos
Trivia
- During the 2015 D23 Expo's panel for Disney's slate of upcoming animated films, Moana's last name was given as "Waialiki", but that name was not retained in the final film.
- Moana is called "Vaiana" in most European countries (with the exception of the UK), as this is due to a Trademark conflict.
- Moana is also renamed "Oceania" in Italy likely to not confuse with late Italian actress Moana Pozzi.
- The film has received a mixed reception among Polynesian people, who praised the depiction of Polynesian culture and "wayfinding" traditions, while the portrayal of MÄui and character of Grandma Tala were more debated.
Template:Walt Disney Animation Studios
External Links
Moana at the Internet Movie Database
Moana on Rotten Tomatoes