Recently, Disney released the teaser trailer for their newest film, "Moana." While the teaser trailer focuses heavily on the demigod Maui (played by Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson), the movie is meant to follow a young Polynesian princess named Moana as she attempts to save her people. But even so, this new story seems to be different from the typical Disney princess movies in which the girl meets a handsome man, they fall in love and live happily ever after. And with these new changes, "Moana" might end up being another "Frozen."
To start off, Moana herself brings diversity to the Disney princesses. Not only is the character Polynesian, but the young actress playing Moana (an undiscovered young woman named Auli'i Carvalho) is a Pacific Islander, just like Johnson. It seems like Disney is starting to show more initiative to cast actors who are of the same heritage as the the story.
Moana also looks different from other Disney characters. For one, she looks like a Polynesian woman. The artists didn't try to change her culture or make her more white. Instead, they kept it as true to the character's heritage as possible. Moana also does not have the freakishly thin waist and extreme hourglass shape to her body. She looks like a real woman. And while those overly accentuated figures of past Disney princesses are cute and work for the fantastical characters they portray, they aren't realistic at all. So for Moana to actually look human and still remain beautiful, this will show young women watching the movie that aiming for the stick-like shape of Aurora or the nearly nonexistent waist of Jasmine is not possible, and that realistic bodies are still gorgeous.
And then there's the storyline of "Moana." As far as anyone knows, there is no handsome Prince Charming set to sweep Moana off her feet. This movie seems to be following the same family-oriented plot as "Brave" and "Frozen." Disney seems to have been going in this direction for a while now, and it keeps getting better every time. Little girls watching Disney movies no longer just see women fighting for true love, but women fighting for family and for themselves. This promotes a much stronger and more important love in young women: self-love.
So overall, "Moana" appears to be following Disney's new path for diversity and family. And if this is the case, "Moana" might just be the next "Frozen." But more than anything, it gives Disney the opportunity to explore new cultures and people. And even though "Moana" won't be released until 2018, many people are excited for what's coming next.
