Moana. Pronounced Mo-a-na, of which I did not know until I saw this amazing movie. It has been out for a while now and has been well received. There were a lot of people that were critical of the movie saying that Disney was trying to hard to be inclusive to other cultures. I must say though that if you see this movie that thought will not cross your mind.
First the story line. I do not want to spoil it for those of you that have not seen it, but let me tell you it was amazing. I loved every single second. Moana is an amazing character. She was strong and brave and intelligent, all those qualities we expect of a Disney Princess. It was a funny movie, full of jokes, and yet still held a lot of meaning. The dynamic between Moana and Maui is hysterical and yet it really gets to your core in the end. Cinderella made us search for our prince, Sleeping Beauty taught us the value of sleep, and Brave taught us to, well, be brave. Moana is here to teach us about ourselves, to believe in ourselves even when our luck is down. To me there is no better lesson to learn in a story. She is taught to love herself and accept every part of who she is even though it may not be everything that is expected of her. There is a lot to be said in having faith in yourself and your abilities.
The animation was amazing. You could almost smell the ocean, touch the waves, and grab the sparkles. It was vibrant and fluid. Everything fit together like a puzzle. I enjoyed the touches that only Disney can add to a movie like this. The culture that showed through and the things that they gave attention to made the movie that much more incredible. The music! It made me want to be singing right there with her because it was so captivating. I loved the accent that Moana had and that her dad had one too. It was a little disappointing to find that there were not many other characters that had them even though they were in the Polynesian Islands. That is Australia regions all of those little islands that we tend to forget, that is where the movie takes place. It would have made it feel more real if they had had accents appropriate to the culture and region. I did like that they incorporated a haka by Maui and of course the culture. In short the movie made me happy, if not solely for a crab that loves shiny things as much as I do.
