{"id":20937,"date":"2017-01-11T20:45:37","date_gmt":"2017-01-11T10:45:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=20937"},"modified":"2017-01-12T15:59:08","modified_gmt":"2017-01-12T05:59:08","slug":"moana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=20937","title":{"rendered":"Moana"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Directors: \u00a0<\/strong>Ron Clements, Don Hall
\nWriters: \u00a0<\/strong>Jared Bus, Ron Clements
\nCast: \u00a0<\/strong>Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Temuera Morrison, Jemaine Clement, Alan Tudyk<\/p>\n

T<\/span>here is something like a dozen Disney princess films in the company’s 93 year catalogue of film-making but there’s never been anything quite like Moana<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The first animated feature film from Disney to be set in Polynesian culture, Moana<\/em>\u00a0quite happily sheds long-standing Disney tropes (love interests, fast talking animal sidekicks, dead parents etc) in favour of jumping headlong into Polynesian mythology. \u00a0This certainly doesn’t feel like a film that fits the usual Disney template. \u00a0For one thing, the majority of the film only has two characters. \u00a0Its\u00a0a story that features\u00a0a demigod, lava demons, shapeshifters and reincarnated spirits. \u00a0Moana<\/em> is a film that feels fresh and is brimming with interesting ideas. \u00a0And it is all handsomely presented in some of Disney’s finest animation to date.<\/p>\n

Moana Waialiki is the daughter and heir of a chief on the tiny Polynesian island of Motunui. \u00a0Once the ancestors of proud explorers, Chief\u00a0Tui Waialiki now insists that Motunui is their permanent home and the island can provide the villagers with all the sustenance they need. \u00a0But when the crops begin to fail and fish in the local reef becomes scarce, pressure mounts on the village to find a solution.<\/p>\n

Although the Chief tries to discourage Moana’s inquisitive nature and natural inclination to explore the ocean, she is given a nudge in the right direction by her grandmother\u00a0Gramma Tala. \u00a0As Tala’s health begins to fail and she realizes she is running out of time to save the village, Tala reveals to Moana the true ancestry of their tribe and the long history of sea farers that form their heritage. \u00a0Moana learns of the demigod Maui who stole the heart of the goddess Te Fiti. \u00a0She is tasked with finding the demigod so that he can return the heart and stop the darkness consuming the village.<\/p>\n

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Moana’s quest to save her village will be no mean feat. \u00a0Finding Maui is only half the challenge. \u00a0Convincing the arrogant and vain shapeshifter to help\u00a0her is another matter entirely. \u00a0And as it turns out, the far reaches of the ocean is fraught with perilous encounters with the likes of pirates, demons and musical shellfish.<\/p>\n

Moana\u00a0<\/em>is a film that has a lot going for it. \u00a0First and foremost, the chemistry between Moana and Maui is a delight. \u00a0It would have been easy for newcomer\u00a0Auli’i Cravalho to be upstaged by charismatic and fast-talking pro wrestler The Rock but she more than holds her own. \u00a0Moana is funny, charming and heroic in her own right. \u00a0I think most people would think that The Rock is pretty much playing to his strengths here but I believe this is the first time he’s been called upon to belt out a Broadway-style musical number (penned by the creator of\u00a0Hamilton<\/em> no less) and he absolutely kills it. \u00a0(You’re Welcome<\/em> has been on regular rotation on my Spotify playlist even before I saw the film)<\/p>\n

One thing I appreciated about\u00a0Moana is that she may well represent the next step in the evolution of Disney princess characters. \u00a0Mulan, Merida and Elsa were all Disney princesses who challenged societal expectations and fought for their agency. \u00a0Moana’s agency on the other hand is treated as standard. \u00a0Her identity isn’t defined by pushing back against the patriarchy. \u00a0She doesn’t have to fight for the right to be heir to the Chief. \u00a0She is just presented as being as capable, courageous and independent as any other Disney hero straight out of the gate.<\/p>\n

I would be remiss not to mention Moana’<\/em>s musical score which is absolutely superb. \u00a0The soundtrack melds traditional South Pacific sounds with Broadway pop tunes with contributions from such talents as Broadway playwright Lin Manuel Miranda and Flight of the Conchord’s own Jemaine Clement. \u00a0There are also contributions from a Fijian choir as well as vocal group from New Zealand. \u00a0The result is a wonderful cross cultural mish mash of tunes. \u00a0The film slips effortlessly from the soaring and uplifting\u00a0How Far I’ll Go<\/em> to The Rock’s broadway belter\u00a0You’re Welcome<\/em> to Clement’s Bowie-inspired\u00a0Shiny<\/em>. \u00a0It’s the best Disney soundtrack in years.<\/p>\n

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It’s a credit to the film’s many strengths that the last thing I’m getting around to mentioning is its gorgeous visuals. \u00a0Moana<\/em> is loaded with plenty of imagination and spectacle as it vividly brings the Polynesian mythos to life. \u00a0There is so much to take in with this film from the small, nuanced details such as the way the sand and water droplets texture the skin of Moana and Maui to the big, bold larger-than-life sights such as Te Fiti and Tamatoa, a gigantic treasure-hoarding coconut crab.<\/p>\n

With the likes of\u00a0Zootopia<\/em>, Frozen\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Tangled,\u00a0<\/em>Disney have set a high bar for themselves in recent years. \u00a0Happily,\u00a0Moana<\/em> continues their current run of red hot form. \u00a0The film is colourful, charming and full of fun. \u00a0An instant classic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When a curse incurred by the Demigod Maui reaches a Chieftain’s daughter’s island, she answers the Ocean’s call to set things right.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":20939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[62,2628,855],"class_list":["post-20937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-films","tag-disney","tag-moana","tag-the-rock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20937"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20964,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20937\/revisions\/20964"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}