It's been a roller coaster of a year, with dramatic highs and overwhelming lows. An explosive presidential election rocked not only the United States, but also the entire world. A gorilla from the Cincinnati zoo exploded into a viral meme. Beloved celebrities passed away, and even more recently, Carrie Fisher, known for her work as Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise, suffered from a heart attack on December 23 and is now in an intensive care unit. Through it all, though, Disney has managed to release two motion picture films this year, the first time it's done so since 2002 when Treasure Planet and Lilo & Stitch debuted in theaters.
The first was Zootopia, which debuted on March 4, 2016, in the U.S. The film grossed over 75 million on its opening weekend, and continued to gross $1,023,784,195 total. Eight months later saw the release of Moana, grossing over 56 million on its November 23, 2016, opening weekend and $295,066,207 total thus far. Unlike its predecessor, though, Moana is still in theaters worldwide, so its lower numbers will rise accordingly.
Zootopia sports a star-studded cast, including Once Upon a Time's Ginnifer Goodwin, Idris Elba, Jason Bateman, and Octavia Spencer just to name a few. Shakira also found her way into the film, portraying the sassy Gazelle who sings the film's anthem, "Try Everything." Despite this, though, the aspect that the movie truly special was the subliminal message laid throughout the film. While children saw a kids movie, it's obvious to older viewers that Disney was using the animals being "savage" as a way to call out racism in our country. Judy Hopps, the protagonist voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin, ultimately puts an end to the prejudice against predatory animals, showing that they're no different from the other animals, an analogy that perfectly applies to our country as racial tensions rise. The film was centered around the Zootopia Police Department, which again parallels the current state of our country.
Moana, which came largely as a musical successor to Frozen, focuses on the titular character from the island of Motunui who ventures to find Maui, portrayed by Dwayne Johnson, and put the heart of Te Fiti back in place in order to save the life force that flows through all of the islands. This film is special because it portrays Polynesian life well and boasts a lead actress, Auli'l Cravalho, from Hawaii. It also allowed Dwayne Johnson to play a character of his Polynesian heritage. This is important in properly portraying culture and giving people opportunities, something that was not done in Aladdin, which predominantly featured caucasian people playing Middle-Eastern characters. Hawaiian music is also used throughout the movie and is included on the soundtrack, with songs titled "Logo Te Pate" and "Tulou Tagaloa." Maui himself is also a prevalent character in Polynesian mythologies, with variations appearing in Hawaiian, Samoan, and Tahitian myths, among others. As an added bonus, Moana also didn't need romantic love to help her save the day, but rather the love for her island and people. This year, Disney has upped its game, instilling priceless virtues, such as education of other cultures and acceptance of others, into its movies, and we're all better for it.
