Deep Dive Disney: Wes Looks at Moana

Welcome my friends, to Deep Dive Disney, and, if you can believe it, the last of my much discussed Big 5. We’re finally here people. I’ll admit, there were times where I genuinely believed we’d never make it this far. And not only is this movie in my Big 5, but in my mind, it’s second only to A Goofy Movie in terms of both quality and personal appreciation. I mean it people, this movie is that awesome. I wanted to see it in theaters when it came out back in 2016, but sadly never got around to it. I heard nothing but good things and so I finally caught it on Netflix a year later (this was long before the days of Disney+) and I pretty much fell in love on the spot. It’s not even like this movie had the advantage of Nostalgia like A Goofy Movie, it just won me over by being charming, fun, epic and even at times, pretty emotional. It really is a movie that has everything going for it. It stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who may very well be the most charismatic man alive as well as someone I’ve been a huge fan of since his pro-wrestling days. The music is handled by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the man behind one of my favorite musicals of all time, Hamilton whose name on a project is pretty much a guarantee of my interest at this point. And the cherry on top, this movie brings together Disney’s directing dream team, Ron Clements and John Musker, the genius duo who brought us such classics as The Great Mouse Detective, Aladdin, Hercules, Treasure Planet, The Princess & The Frog and more. They also did The Little Mermaid, but I won’t hold that against them. All of these elements come together to create a movie that is not only great in its own right, but also an excellent love letter to Polynesian culture and aesthetics. So, let’s get into the story. Long ago, the heart of the Goddess Island, Te Fiti, held the ability to create life, a power Te Fiti shared with the world. Over time, many sought to steal the Heart of Te Fiti for themselves and eventually someone succeeded. That someone was Maui, shapeshifting Demigod of the wind and sea. However, without her heart, Te Fiti began to crumble, giving rise to a great darkness, Te Ka, a demon of earth and fire. Te Ka struck down Maui, and the Demigod, his magical fishhook that gave him his power and the Heart of Te Fiti where lost to the ocean. Many years later, Moana, the daughter of the village chief on the Polynesian island of Motunui, finds the heart of Te Fiti washed up on shore, the ocean reacting in an unusual way to this event that essentially means she’s the chosen one. While Moana feels drawn to the ocean, her father, Chief Tui, is unmovable on his “No One Sails Beyond the Reef” policy and instead wants Moana to focus on her future as leader of their people. Years pass as Moana ages into maturity and actually seems to show a lot of promise as the future chief but still feels the call of the ocean and adventure, especially after she learns from her grandmother than her family’s ancestors were sea-fairing explorers. However, when a blight that is hinted to be the result of Maui stealing the heart of Te Fiti threatens the island’s natural resources that her people depend on, Moana can no longer ignore the ocean’s call. To save her people, Moana, along with her impressively dumb pet chicken, Heihei, ventures beyond the reef in order to find Maui. While Maui proves to be an egotistical dudebro, he does, with some coercion, agree to accompany Moana on her quest to find Maui’s hook, sail to Te Fiti, defeat Te Ka and restore the heart, thus saving her people. So, what are we waiting for, let’s get into, Moana!

Main Character:

First things first, I really need to give it up for Auli’i Cravalho (thank god these are written reviews and not video essays since there’s no way in hell I would have pronounced that correctly). This was her first ever acting role and I’ll be damned if she doesn’t knock it out of the park. I really Moana as a character. There’s this sincerity to her character that you don’t really see with a lot of the other Disney Princesses. Like, she’s a good person who’s pure of heart and all that, but the movie doesn’t feel the need to shove it down your throat like it’s done in the past. Moana is a human being with flaws just like anyone else, but she’s also loving, family oriented, adventurous and altruistic. She loves her family and clearly demonstrates that when the time comes for her to succeed her father, she’ll be awesome at it. She may not always know what she’s doing, but she’s good at adapting to her situation. Sure, venturing out on a solo voyage beyond the borders of her island when she doesn’t even know how to sail was a bit reckless, but once she gets the hang of it, she’s pretty good at it. In a similar fashion to Ariel, Moana feels the call of adventure and wishes to see the world beyond the land she knows, but unlike our least favorite fish girl, Moana never lets this cause her to ignore her responsibilities. In fact, she embraces those responsibilities wholeheartedly and when she does venture beyond her homeland it's to save her people, not to make a faustian pact with a tentacle monster and a man she's never met. Look, I'm sorry I keep ragging on Ariel but the opportunity keeps coming up. Despite how much I like Moana as a character, I’m not crazy about the whole Chosen One narrative the movie is going for. We’ll get to this more in the story section, but it does undercut a lot of her accomplishments knowing that she’s the special. Still, Moana is a very likable character and is portrayed by an incredibly talented young actress, who could ask for more.

Villain:

This movie does something kind interesting with its villains by not really having one main villain but a bunch of villains who serve as obstacles on Maui and Moana’s journey. Yeah, there’s Te Ka who serves as the final boss and one could argue that they’re the main villain, but as we’ll discuss soon, Te Ka is kind of a special case and isn’t really a full-fledged villain.

Let’s start with the Kakamora, as they’re the least interesting and least involved in the plot. Essentially, they serve two purposes, to give the film an exciting action set piece and to establish that there are all manner of nasty creatures after the Heart of Te Fiti. Personally, I’d have loved to see a bit more of that but we don’t want to overcrowd the movie. I think the cute yet menacing coconut design is very interesting and I LOVE the design of their ship, but other than that, there’s not much going for them.

Probably the most memorable antagonist in the film is Tamatoa, a gigantic talking coconut crab who collects treasures to make his massive shell shiny and beautiful. I love this guy. He’s voiced by Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Concords and he imbues the big crustacean with some great menace and comedic timing. In essence, Tamatoa is the closest we’ve come to the classic Disney villains of old in quite some time. He’s self-absorbed, hilarious, over-the-top but still clearly a threat. I can’t confirm this, but I get the sense that Clement improved a lot of his dialogue because it sounds very natural. In another movie, he could have been a great main villain, but in this one he sadly only gets one scene. It’s a good scene mind you, but I wish there was more. He does get a brief post credits scene where he laments the fact that everyone loves Sebastian from The Little Mermaid more than him, which is pretty funny, but I still would have liked more of this guy.

Finally, there’s Te Ka, who, in stark contrast to a lot of villains we’ve had recently, could almost be considered something of a reverse twist villain. See it turns out that Te Ka is actually a corrupted form of Te Fiti herself. That’s kind of interesting. When her power source is removed, the Goddess of creation becomes a demon of destruction. I wonder if Te Ka is just Te Fiti when she becomes enraged or if Te Ka is an entity unto itself that exists within Te Fiti as the Hyde to her Jekyll. Questions that are sadly never answered but what are you going to do. Te Ka is probably the most powerful and intimidating entity we’ve seen in a Disney film since Chernabog and the fight with it at the end is pretty badass.

Side Characters:

Something I’d like to point out before we get too deep into this is the fact that a majority of the cast reprised their roles in the Hawaiian and Māori language versions of the film. That’s pretty cool.

Another thing I’d like to point out is in regards to Moana’s parents. Namely, the fact that they’re both alive, they were able to raise their daughter from birth and none of them are turning into bears. People, I think we may have finally found the Disney Princess with the most stable upbringing. Moana’s mother doesn’t really do all that much, but I do actually really like the that she encourages Moana to go on her journey in this one brief scene with no dialogue. Chief Tui, Moana’s father, has a bit more influence on the plot. We’ll get to that in just a hot second, but first, I need to point out the fact that Tui is voiced by not one but two incredibly talented actors. His speaking voice is provided by the great New Zealand actor, Temuera Morrison, who you may know as Jango Fett and later Boba Fett from the Star Wars franchise. Tui’s singing voice is provided by the equally great Christopher Jackson, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton co-star. Anywho, if I were to rank the Disney dads through the years, Tui would rank slightly above King Triton but far below the likes of King Fergus and Mufasa. The man clearly loves his daughter and does a great job preparing her for the responsibility she will one day inherit as village chief, but like Triton, he won’t let his daughter follow her heart and see the world outside their island. Now, you can cut Tui a bit of slack since he’s shown to have a reason for why he is the way he is. He was once like Moana, feeling the call to adventure, but ended up getting his friend killed when he himself sailed beyond the reef. I’m not saying he’s right to act the way he does, but you can understand his mindset.

Tala, Tui’s mother, Moana’s grandmother and the self-proclaimed village crazy lady, is a wonderful character. She actively encourages Moana’s free spirit and her destiny to restore the heart of Te Fiti. She also has this weird habit of telling Moana what she thinks she wants to hear when she knows Moana actually wants the opposite. She’s a ton of fun and even though we don’t get a lot of time with her but it’s still enough to where it hits us hard when she dies (not counting the part towards the end where she comes back as a force ghost).

The only "character" I don't like in this movie is the ocean itself. Yeah, turns out the ocean has a mind and personality of its own and it's also kind of a dick. See, the ocean has the power to basically do anything it wants, but only intervenes when the plot needs it to. This begs the question, why doesn't the ocean just help out Moana all the time? Instead it only helps when it wants to like a big watery troll.

Now let’s talk about Heihei. Heihei is a chicken who is impressively stupid even by the already low standards of poultry. I actually find it strangely hilarious that Moana hints that there may be more to Heihei than meets the eye, but nope, he’s just a really dumb chicken who mostly just eats rocks and sits there with a blank expression on his face. Making his fifth appearance in a row in one of these movies, Heihei is voiced by our old pal Alan Tudyk, earning what has to be both the easiest and strangest paycheck of his entire career. All he does is make a few weird chicken noises. If you want a good laugh, look up a video of Tudyk recording his lines for this movie and then laughing at the fact that he went to Juilliard and now here he is in a recording booth clucking like a chicken.

And finally, there’s my favorite character in the film, the demigod Maui played by… wait, let me give the man his proper introduction. Maui is played by, the jabroni beating, pie eating, Trail Blazing, Eyebrow Raising, HEART STOPPING, ELBOW DROPPING, ALL AROUND, SMACK IT DOWN, PEOPLE’S CHAMP, THE ROCK!!! IF YA SMEEELLLLLLL, WHAT THE ROCK, IS COOKIN’! Forgive me, I so rarely get the opportunity to indulge in my pro-wrestling fandom so I take my opportunities when and where I can. Joking aside, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, as both a man deeply proud of and in touch with his Samoan heritage and as a person who can best be described as “Charisma Incarnate,” is the absolute perfect casting choice for Maui. Truth be told, there’s actually a lot of The Rock’s old wrestling persona in Maui. Maui is very boastful and a bit of a cocky jerk, but still a lot of fun, quick with a witty one-liner and when the situation calls for it, he’s ready to layeth the smack down on anyone’s candy ass. However, unlike The Rock, Maui’s bravado is actually meant to hide his insecurities. See, Maui was born an ordinary human and soon after abandoned by his mortal parents, a fact that haunts him constantly. So often Maui finds himself wondering why, why was he nod good enough for the people who supposedly love him? Later, he was found by the Gods, granted his magic fish hook and transformed into the demigod Maui. Once he had the power to do so, Maui did everything for mankind. He pulled islands from the sea, he harnessed the power of the breeze and even inventing coconuts by… planting the guts a giant eel in the ground… okay, not sure how that works but hey, coconuts. All of this was in a bid to gain the love and approval of mankind, the love and approval he never got from his parents. What Maui has to learn is that the love of others will never be satisfying if he never learns to love himself, something he learns to do by accepting the fact that he is Maui, with or without his hook or his power. That doesn’t stop him from accepting the new hook at the end of the movie, but hey, it would be rude to refuse a gift from a goddess.

Songs:

I have made a lot of bold and even controversial statements during this retrospective. I have called Sleeping Beauty a snooze fest, I have claimed that the 2016 Jungle Book remake is superior to the original, I have defended the actions of a man who kidnaps innocent kittens and I have taken every possible opportunity to refer to Ariel as a vapid moron. However, this statement may just be the most controversial of them all. I firmly believe that Moana’s soundtrack, no jokes, no hyperbole, the greatest soundtrack in Disney History, so much so that it even surpasses the Lion King. The Lion King is close, but I’m sorry, Lin-Manuel Miranda is damned genius and he pulled out all the stops for this one. Literally, there isn’t a single bad song in the bunch. Let’s do what we always do and go through them one by one.

Where You Are is a very fun song and it’s where Christopher Jackson gets to showoff what his magnificent pipes can do. It’s basically the song where Tui instills Moana with her sense of responsibility. It also shows her growing up and accepting her responsibilities, a solid opening number.

How Far I’ll Go is effectively Moana’s I Want Song, and it’s beautiful. It emphasizes Moana’s call to adventure and how no matter how hard she tries, she cannot stay away from the ocean forever. Also, it’s worth noting that this song got an Oscar nomination that year. We Know the Way is a fantastic number. It’s played when Moana discovers that her forbearers were voyagers and is treated to a lovely little flashback of her people’s past. The song is incredible catchy and gives me goosebumps from just how great it is. The opening song and chorus is actually sung in Samoan, which is nice to hear, but once it switches over to English, Lin-Manuel Miranda himself takes over singing duties and if you’re familiar with his work, you know that the dude’s got some serious vocal talent. This song also gets a nice reprise during the final scene.

You’re Welcome is my favorite song in the movie. It’s sung by Maui and, naturally, it’s all about how great he is. In addition to Dwayne Johnson’s many other talents, the man is actually pretty good singer. Besides, the song is beyond catchy and the trippy visuals are pretty cool. Also, that rap breakdown in the middle is pure Lin-Manuel Miranda. I think this is the song that finally succeeded in getting Let It Go out of all of our collective heads.

Shiny is our first proper villain song since Mother Knows Best and sadly, our last until further notice. Oh well, if this does end up being our last proper villain song, at least we went out on a high note because this song just rocks. I would daresay it’s second only to Hellfire on the list of great Disney Villain songs. Jemaine Clement is having a blast hamming it up and even though Tamatoa is jerk, you can’t help but sing along with his self-absorbed anthem.

Logo Te Pate is a song that gets overlooked since it’s sung entirely in a foreign language, but it’s still incredibly fun and is set over a nice montage of Maui getting his mojo back after recovering his hook.

And finally there’s I Am Moana, a song that, while short, moves me to tears with how powerful and emotional it is. Moana is at her lowest point. Maui’s hook cracked in their first attempt to fight Te Ka and he’s left her in a huff, leaving Moana to feel that the ocean was wrong for choosing her, it’s then that the ghost of grandma and her ancestors come to her side to boost her up and Moana starts singing a triumphant song to remind herself of how far she’s come, culminating in a powerful declaration that she is Moana. This song is so incredible that it moves me to tears every time I hear it and I’m sure it will do the same for you.

Memorable Scenes:

Since most of the best scenes in this movie are also musical numbers, this section will not be nearly as hefty as some of the other ones. That said, I really liked the Kakamora scene, if for no other reason than I absolutely love their dope Pirate Ship. Despite the small stature of the little coconut pirates, the ship is absolutely massive and can even split off into three smaller ships. The whole thing has this sort of Mad Max vibe. Seriously, all it’s missing is a Kakamora with an electric guitar that doubles as a flamethrower hanging out on in the crow’s nest and it could be part of Immortan Joe’s naval fleet.

There’s also this really funny bit where Maui dives into the realm of monsters and then comedically yells back “I’m Still Falling” as he continues the long descent into Lalotai.

Story:

I think Moana is trying to be yet another story about recognizing your own worth, as we see with Maui, and embracing your true nature, as we see with Moana. We’ve been to this well plenty of times in the past and I don’t think we need to elaborate on this further than we already have in previous article. However, I actually do have one minor complaint about the movie and that’s the previously alluded to “Chosen One” narrative. See, such narratives are kind of hard to pull off and while this movie does it better than most, the fact that Moana was Chosen by the dickhead ocean kind of undercuts some of her accomplishments. Why couldn’t we just have had Moana be special and talented in her own right and then decide to return the heart because it’s the right thing to do, not because it’s her destiny or something. I don’t know. This movie is great, but this aspect is one of its few flaws.

The Dark Disney Factor:

There isn’t a ton of dark stuff in this movie, at least not much that we haven’t already covered. There is this one scene where Moana has a nightmare where the blight has fully consumed her island and she sees her home and her family crumble to ash. It’s not that scary or even disturbing and I wasn’t able to find a very good picture for the sake of a visual aid. Still, we got a Lava Monster for a Final Boss, that was cool.

Final Thoughts: When I first saw this movie, it completely blew me away, and every time I've watched it again since, it's only gotten better in my eyes. It's a film that shows the full potential of what Walt Disney's animation studio is capable of. This movie, purely through the power of it's own charm and quality has earned it's spot as one of my all time favorites. Speaking of favorites, next time around, we're going to be revisiting an old favorite when Deep Dive Disney looks at Beauty & The Beast... again.