When I went to watch Moana on Friday, I couldn’t get this quote out of my head: “Ohana means family.
Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.” This famous Lilo and Stitch quote is apt if one were to summarise what Moana is all about. After much anticipation for the first Polynesian Disney princess, Moana stands out with its moral values of family always being first and being predestined for much more than what you settle for.
Moana is the daughter and heir of a chief of a small island named Motunui. As she is growing up, Moana is told the legend of the demigod Maui who stole the heart of Te Fiti, an island goddess, in order to give it as a gift to humanity.
However, he lost it in the sea during a battle. Moana is unexplainably attracted to the ocean, and one day it chooses to give her the stolen heart. The people on the island begin to suffer because of the scarcity of food sources, with coconuts spoiling and fishing nets coming back empty.
Moana suggests fishing beyond the reef, which her father does not approve of. Her grandmother reveals to her the history of their people who were voyagers and this encourages young Moana to venture out into the unknown to find Maui, restore the heart and fulfil her destiny as ‘the chosen one’.
Moana can be compared to the recent Disney film Tangled, but with more culture. The movie boasts a sense of responsibility and wisdom beyond one’s years, which manifests through Moana’s decisions.
Disney once more uses familiar tropes of independence and embarking on a life-changing journey that works well with the younger and older audiences alike. As always, there are musical numbers, which really add to the cultural flavour that is incorporated in a graceful manner.
Moana is also one of the first Disney princesses who doesn’t end up with a prince. However, she does have men in her life, who try to overprotect her or try to dissuade her. This, in my opinion, is comforting to parents of young girls.
Perhaps Disney has done this intentionally to show that not every princess needs a prince to rescue her, but rather she needs to break out of her protective covering and take on the world first-hand because she is capable of being a strong, independent woman.
With its charm and plenty of laughs provided by brainless rooster HeiHei, Moana is also the most evolved Disney princess movie. In a world where plussized models are dominating the fashion industry, Moana stands out as proving that anyone, from any walk of life and of any size, can be a princess.
However, Moana isn’t the only evolved aspect of the movie. Maui, the demigod, is covered in brilliantly animated tattoos from head to toe and in one of the film’s best jokes comes up with the original idea of writing ‘using a bird’s beak’ and calling it ‘tweeting’ which references the social media site Twitter.
Moana and Maui even encounter a ship of coconut pirates which references a fight scene from the renowned movie Mad Max: Fury Road. As a result of all these things, Moana does a fantastic job as a Disney princess in yet another coming-of-age film.
Will we ever tire of Disney’s recycling? Perhaps not, and personally I feel that these movies work because each of us is always coming of age in some way. We like to be reminded with these musical masterpieces and challenges faced by the heroes that no matter what, just like Moana, the ocean chose us for a reason.
If she could learn how to sail through the ocean, then we can learn how to sail through life.
Now showing: City Centre, Seef II, Wadi Al Sail, Saar, Al Jazeera, Dana, Novo, Mukta A2
