If you’re looking for a good movie to watch this holiday season with your family look no further! I’m here to tell you all about Disney’s new movie Moana and why you should watch it.
This movie is magical-- and not only in the sense that it’s basically a Polynesian fairytale. I suppose a more accurate term for what the movie is based on would be a myth since it focuses largely on the demigod Maui as well as Moana.
Moana is the tale of a young girl named precisely that, Moana. She is the village chief’s daughter and is expected to take her father’s place and put her stone on top of the mountain that sits on their island. Unfortunately, ever since she was a kid, Moana has longed for something more, longed to see what was past the line of the horizon. She frequently laments about trying to be the perfect daughter (Mulan, anyone?) because she just can’t stay away.
Moana grew up very close to her grandmother who would tell tales of their seafaring ancestors and the demigod Maui who supposedly stole the heart of the Mother Island (which is one of their gods). It is not until natural disaster starts to eat away at her island that she disobeys her father’s wishes to go beyond the horizon (there are shades of Pochahontas here as well, I found myself thinking about the “Just Around the River Bend” song more often than not during the main song of this movie). She takes off on an adventure to go put the Mother Island’s heart back and essentially save the environment.
Disney’s portrayal of Polynesian culture was engaging and I learned a lot of things I hadn’t before previously watching this movie (such as the Polynesians canoes were able to span hundreds of miles on the sea).
The animation of this movie is stunning. I found myself staring at how the water moved so realistically and the reefs were equally beautiful. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the soundtrack to this movie. This should make you interested only because he wrote the musical Hamilton that took the world by storm this year.
All-in-all, Disney’s Moana is refreshing and unique. I do, however, encourage those who do see it to do some research about the culture before hand. Since this is a Disney movie not everything is going to be historically accurate and I wouldn't plan on getting an entire history lesson by only watching this movie for facts about a certain culture much like Mulan and Pochahontas could be considered skewed versions of that peoples culture. Disney movies are just tales-stories that are not necessarily accurate to the cultures themselves. That being said, it's definitely not your typical princess movie and I recommend everybody try to see it while it’s still in movie theaters!
