On November 23rd, 2016, Disney’s newest princess, Moana, came into theaters. After being in theaters for over a month, the movie is a hit, earning about $400 million in the box office.
Moana is about an island that is cursed with darkness because of the actions of demigod, Maui (Dwayne Johnson). As a result, the villagers of the island don’t go far into the ocean because of the dangers of the waters. However, Moana Waialiki (Auli’i Cravalho), the daughter of the island’s chief has different interests than the rest of her people. Moana has always felt a connection to the ocean, which has “chose” her to break the curse and restore the island.
After expressing her wishes of voyaging the ocean, her father strongly forbids her from doing so. Then, a loss occurs and Moana disobeys her father’s orders to find Maui and make him fix his actions to restore the island from darkness. Moana eventually finds Maui and the whole adventure happens.
The newest Disney princess movie was a huge success for many reasons. First, the movie’s soundtrack had great music. This could be because some of the tracks are composed and include famous actor, and composer, Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Another reason for it’s success, the entire film was computer animated except for Maui’s tattoos.
Moana is also so special and diverse from other Disney films because of it’s unique, authentic, Polynesian culture. Directors, John Musker and Ron Clements traveled to Polynesia to research before filming the movie. It turns out demigod, Maui, actually was a part of Polynesian legend. According to Vanity Fair, most of the voice actors in Moana have Pacific Island roots.
Moana herself is especially lovable. Despite being the chief’s daughter, she doesn’t consider herself a princess or royal. All she truly desires is to save her village and people from the curse.
In addition, Moana has a great message. The movie’s main focus is on finding out who you are, and to stay true to yourself. Also, the film had other themes including bravery and determination.
Unlike other Disney princess movies, Moana doesn’t include any romance. This is very refreshing to see, especially since the audience consists of younger viewers. Kids in the audience don’t need to be focusing on romance at such an early age. The cut of love in the story really helps focus on Moana’s adventure itself.
Disney has come a far way in the feminist journey. Older movies like Cinderella and Snow White, included princesses that relied only on the help of men. Modern day Disney princesses like Mulan (Mulan), and Merida (Brave), are independent, strong, and show ultimate girl power. Moana is the newest Disneyprincess that portrays feminisim by showing that she doesn’t need a man to help her complete her journey. This is great because it empowers young girls in the audience. They too can do anything as long as they put their mind to it. Even though it’s might not be completely accurate, it was also nice to see a female became next in line to rule the village. This also shows girls that they can be a leader like Moana.
Overall, Moana is a great, empowering, funny, Disney film. Despite the sadness in some of the scenes, the rest of the adventurous journey makes up for the sadness. Audience members seem to agree, the Polynesian film has a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
