I just watched "Moana" for the first time (finally) and I honestly can't believe it took me this long. I love Disney movies. I love everything Disney.
Luckily, I love-love-loved it. It's the first Disney animation I've watched since "Frozen," which (unpopular opinion ahead) I didn't like at all. I took a very long break from Disney movies after "Frozen" because it left a rather unsatisfied taste in my mouth. But, thankfully, "Moana" turned the tide.
This movie made me laugh, made me (ugly) cry, made me want to marry Dwayne Johnson even more (didn't think that was possible), and made me love Disney even more (also, didn't think that was possible). It's such a hopeful film, which is exactly what we need more and more of right now. And I understand I'm way late on the "Moana" train, but still: we need the hopefulness just as much now as we did when it came out last year.
I have to say, though, I'm a little (a lot, a very lot) envious of Auli'i Cravalho, the seventeen-year-old that has already done more with her life than I ever will (That's an exaggeration. I hope to do what she's doing). I hadn't seen the film earlier this year when it was nominated for an Oscar, so I didn't understand that I should be in love with Auli'i and "How Far I'll Go" when she sang. However, I now fully appreciate how ah-mazing her performance was, even with one of the dancer's flags hitting her in the face mid-note.
I thought that this piece would be a little more insightful on the film itself, but it's mostly just turned into a word-vomit about how much I loved it. For real, if Grandma Tala had come on the screen one more time, human form or manta ray form, I would have cried enough tears to flood the island Moana saves. Every scene with Grandma in it tugged at my heartstrings so, so hard. Like, even the scenes that weren't supposed to be sad were still so emotionally heavy that I got choked up.
And when Moana walks in slow motion in front of the giant wave to get to Te Fiti and restore her heart? Chill. Bumps. It's not often that I watch cartoons and think, "This cinematography deserves an Oscar," but that one, singular shot had me handing out golden statuettes like it meant a thing for me to hand out a golden statuette. Seriously. That frame was amazing.
I also cried when Moana and Te Fiti touched foreheads. No big deal. I cried a lot during this movie. Nothing to see here. Move along. I love "Moana." I know I'm late to the party. Let it be.