Are you a fan of “Hamilton” and/or “The Little Mermaid” and/or Polynesian dancing? Disney’s newest animated feature, “Moana,” might be the movie for you.
By Josh Hughes
This Tuesday, January 31, in Arntzen 100, AS Films is putting on a screening of the recent Disney film Moana a full month before its home release. Starting at 7 p.m., the event will be free and any and all students are welcome to attend.
Moana is the most recent in Disney’s longstanding lineage of heroine coming-of-age stories. Think Tangled and Frozen, go back further and think Snow White and Beauty & The Beast, and there’s a clear, set-in-stone formula that’s been revised and revisited for nearly a century. Additionally, Moana directors Ron Clements and John Musker have previously done Disney heavyweights like The Little Mermaid and The Princess & The Frog, so it only adds up that Moana would follow suit as a story about a young female protagonist “finding her way in the world.”
That is exactly what this film is, although it’s much less a lifeless rehash than it is a well-sculpted and robust draft of this story that will continue to be examined over the years.
Moana stars 16-year-old Auli’i Cravalho as our titular heroine, who naturally starts the film in the sheltered space of her birth village, an island led by her father Chief Tui. Yet, Moana is unique because the ocean chose her to receive and regift a stone heart that was stolen from the goddess Te Fiti. Hence, Moana’s special powers appear in her interactions with the ocean. In fact, she essentially becomes a part of it. This kicks off the plot of the film, where, after a series of difficulties and setbacks, Moana sets sail to find the demigod, Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson), who originally stole the stone and proceed to journey to give back the heart to its rightful owner.
Without delving further into the plot, at this point the viewer can understand that the next hour and a half will entail a series of emotional ups and downs, musical numbers and lavish animation. It’s a successfully tested formula, drawing from bildungsroman novels of past, but it works to Moana’s favor in the way that Disney curates a conscious, respectful and ultimately empowering film about girl-power and individualism.
Where Disney once faulted in these tales by introducing a (usually white) male love interest, Moana only relies on the tropes that elevated animated movies of the past and disregards the motifs that detracted from those films. After all, it is a movie about girl power, and Moana’s journey to self realization and empowerment doesn’t need anyone, especially a man, to aid it.
Beyond its fulfilling role as a coming of age story, Moana also shines for its appropriate and respectful use of Polynesian culture, which plays a central role to the film’s story and music. There are traditional dances throughout the musical numbers, and the songs, written by Hamilton star and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda, incorporate Polynesian drumming and rhythms. These lyrics are sung in a combination of English, Samoan and the Tokelauan language.
As far as animation, the film remains dazzling throughout its entire runtime, putting focus on the elegant landscapes and ocean scenes, elevating Disney’s recent work to an entirely new level.
A good-hearted and clever film for viewers of any age, Moana will be showing in Arntzen 100 this coming Tuesday for free, so don’t miss out on the chance to see it before it’s released to video!
