Walt Disney Animation Studios has outdone themselves once again in their latest feature "Moana," starring Auli’i Cravalho as Moana, teenage daughter of her home island’s chief, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Maui, a demigod from Polynesian folklore, respectively. Moana is a new addition to the infamous line of “Disney princesses”—the first Polynesian/Pacific Islander princess, at that.
The movie itself is what you’d expect from a Disney film: appealing to a wide demographic through a simple plot, yet complex emotions and themes. The characters are lovable, from Moana herself to her cute and quirky animal companions, Hei-Hei the chicken and Pua the pig. At face value, this is just another success for Disney, one I hope passes up that of "Frozen" (2013).
What gets a lot of people, myself included, is the fact that Disney has expanded its diversity through the creation and release of "Moana." Growing up as a Filipina-American with "Mulan" as my only source providing some level of representation, "Moana"has moved me. Filipino culture is more similar to several Pacific Islander cultures than the Chinese culture of "Mulan," so watching "Moana" gave me a feeling of inclusion I hadn’t really experienced before. I found myself choked up several times throughout the movie—typically when Moana, as the titular character, experienced major development through self-realization and courage—and I can’t wait for everyone to watch the magic of "Moana."
Not only will people of color find joy in "Moana"; this film is a true “girl power” movie. As a character, Moana carries most of the plot by herself, as there are many scenes with just her, Hei-Hei, and the ocean, as she’s sailing. Though side characters go through their own development, the plot follows Moana’s journey to both save her people and find her true self. Along that journey, there is no love interest, no gender-specific obstacles, nothing. Moana herself could be replaced by a male character and the movie would play out the same. What does this mean? Aside from soaring levels above the simple Bechdel Test, Disney has proven that stories aren’t limited by the genders of their protagonists. A boy can go on his own adventure to save the world. So can a girl. And neither need a side character acting as their love interest to succeed in telling a full story.
"Moana" is the first installment in the “Disney princess” collection of movies to be completely void of any mention of romance ("Brave" doesn’t count, as one of the major driving forces in the movie is Merida defying her parents’ wishes of her marrying one of the suitors they chose for her; in contrast, there is literally zero mention of Moana finding a husband). I hope everyone who clamored over the feminist ideas of "Frozen" will be seeing "Moana" this year— this is what a feminist Disney movie, unlike its predecessors, looks like.
"Frozen" garnered praise for being a pioneer in several areas, such as debunking rushed love stories, emphasizing the importance of non-romantic love stories, strong female characters carrying the plot mostly by themselves, etc. "Moana" surpassed "Frozen" in these ways for me, personally, and that shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Rather than starting with a rushed love interest to switching to another one altogether by the end of the story, "Moana" just never bothers toying with romance, which grants the plot more time to explore Moana’s character. The main relationships of the movie are built upon platonic and familial love, allowing us the chance to really look into the characters in a more neutral light. Given the plot of the movie follows Moana on her journey of voyaging across the ocean, a lot of screen time features Moana without any other characters. As a character, Moana is able to carry the movie by herself during these scenes, which speaks volumes about her depth and development.
If you’re looking for a family movie to see during the Holidays, I cannot recommend "Moana" enough. Guaranteed to give you tons of emotions and feelings of empowerment! As a female film student of color, I was more than satisfied. I think I've finally found my truly favorite Disney princess.
