written by David Steffen
Moana is a 2016 animated comedy/action film from Disney.
Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) is the chieftan’s daughter on the island of a Polynesian island of Motunui. The tribe has lived there happily as long as they remember, living off the bounties of the island the lagoon around. The ocean has been forbidden to them for generations, since the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) stole the heart of Te Fiti, the goddess who gave life to all the islands before himself being seperated from his magical fishhook that served as both a weapon and as the aid to his magical transformative power to turn into animals of the air and sea.
Since she was a baby, Moana has always felt drawn to the ocean, despite her father’s attempts to keep her away. One day she finds that the ocean has an affinity for her as well, seeming to beckon her out into it–she finds the secret of her people’s past, that they had been nomads of the ocean. She follows the call of the sea to seek out Maui and the heart of Te Fiti to raise the curse of the seas.
This movie was a lot of fun, and the songs were great–no wonder it had so many Oscar nominations. My particular favorite song was “Shiny”, sung by Jemaine Clement in his role as the villain Tamatoa, and with music written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Solid sense of humor, great interactions between the two main characters of Maui and Moana, heartfelt moments, lots of riproaring action sequences. So much here to love, fun for kids and adults, I recommend it.
