Walt Disney Animation Studios
Before we dive into Moana’s depths, a quick aside for the short film that precedes it. Inner Workings is that film and come on, by now if you’ve been watching these, you know Disney’s shorts are just fantastic. That being said this one is not their best … so an A- instead of an A+. Dealing with the mechanics of the human body, imagine Inside Out but internal organs instead of emotions. Very cutesy, funny, incredibly well done. Where I think it came up ever so slightly short was the high emotional bar we’ve come to expect, it just wasn’t there. Still fantastic all the same, just not as emotionally gut wrenching as Lava or Paperman.
And now to Moana, the latest animated feature from Walt Disney Pictures, opening this week for the Thanksgiving holiday. Moana is the story of a young girl on a South Pacific island. Through a series of circumstances, and just a bit of fate, Moana is sent on a journey far from home. Encountering demigods, monsters, and finding herself along the way.
Featuring the vocal talents of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as the demigod Maui, Flight of the Conchords‘ Jemaine Clement, and in her acting debut Auli’i Cravalho as Moana. Joining these names is a cast that, while not enormous, is the most representative of any ethnicity in a Disney film I can remember. New Zealanders and Hawaiians make up the bulk of the cast and that authenticity carries through many elements of the film.
The art style of Moana is absolutely wonderful. Some of the most jaw-droppingly gorgeous computer animation I have ever seen and large swaths of the film feature old fashioned two dimensional animation married to modern computer graphics. In fact, Maui’s sentient tattoo “Mini Maui“ has been cited as the first major traditionally animated character in a Disney computer animated film.
The seascapes are breathtaking. The island paradise is lush and full of life. The otherworldly elements exude a magic touch while still feeling locked into the rest of this grounded world they’ve built. Earlier this year I had the pleasure to review Kubo and the Two Strings. I was shocked to see such a beautiful piece of art presented as an animated film. Now I’ve had that experience a second time in the same year.
The story of Moana on its surface is one you’ve seen before. A young girl grows up in a closed off life, desiring to expand her world and go beyond her borders. Her parents, mostly her father, want just to keep her home and safe. Nothing new there right? What raises this section of the film is, again, the authenticity that bleeds through every frame. Now obviously this isn’t the most realistic depiction of island living, but it’s certainly the realest one you will ever see in a children’s film. The culture is shown through a lens that doesn’t come off as heavy-handed or condescending. It feels modern but still retains the bones of heritage.
When Maui is introduced, for the briefest of moments, I thought things were going to get cliché and predictable. But without spoiling things I will just say while The Rock is a charming wonderful presence in the film, this is still a movie called Moana. She is no second fiddle, no damsel in distress. Moana fights the title of princess, but she should wear it proud, because she would easily be the strongest most independent princess Disney has ever had.
Then there’s the music, oh the music! Composer Mark Mancina has created something wonderful alongside songwriters Lin-Manuel Miranda and Samoan artist Opetaia Foa’i. Miranda’s involvement has been heavily spotlit in marketing, and rightly so. His fingerprints (and occasionally vocals) are apparent throughout the soundtrack. It is my gut feeling, and this could be way off base, but I think the soul of this film’s sound had to come from Foa’i. The catchy, poppy lyrics are almost certainly Lin-Manuel’s. The sweeping orchestral pieces? Mancina without a doubt. The amazing sound that backs those lyrics and stitches the moments between those orchestral moments together? That’s real, that’s someone who lives and breathes this culture.
The music and film as a whole does something special. It somehow is a weird, quirky, wholly original movie, while also feeling completely familiar. There were moments that had me thinking of past Disney films like Hercules and The Lion King. But not in that way where you’re seeing the same old thing again. More a vibe or an art style in one particular moment.
If you’re the type to get choked up during Disney’s films … well buckle that emotional seatbelt ’cause you are in for it. Tear jerking moments happy and sad abound through the film. The music alone is emotionally gripping enough to start the waterworks up in the right setting.
Now for the young kids there is still plenty for them to love too. Balancing everything out, we get some animal sidekicks who are silly and hysterical. Surprisingly though they are not anthropomorphized. A cute piglet is just a pig, and a stupid chicken is, well, a revelation of physical comedy … but also just a dumb chicken. So don’t worry that there won’t be anything for the tiny tots. There is humor enough to keep ’em rolling throughout.
I mentioned Kubo earlier and I also want to credit Studio Laika with another similar positive. Moana has a plot point that has an unexpectedness to it I haven’t seen in an animated film outside of ParaNorman. It doesn’t try to draw in black and white and shows a grey area. People need to remember that not only can kids handle it, they need it to help them develop to live in the real world, where things aren’t ever simple.
In recent years people have been calling the current crop Disney’s second golden age. Moana most definitely deserves that classification. Unique, exciting, beautiful. All things that would make any film worth seeing. Moana has that plus an amazing set of original songs and one of the strongest female leads ever put to film. Plus, on a personal note, as someone who is about to become the father of a half Pacific Islander baby girl, the thought that my daughter now has her own Disney princess to look up to warmed my heart and I can’t wait to share this wonderful film with her one day.
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