Second Look - Moana

When I first watched Moana in 2016, I will admit that I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it at the time, but I did at least like it enough to get a copy on Blu-ray to watch it again in the future. Although the Blu-ray went untouched for years, the arrival of its theatrical sequel on Disney+ gave me an excuse to revisit the movie, as well as re-evaluate it for more than just the animation. After watching it again for the first time in nearly a decade, I found it to be far better than I remembered it being. Barring maybe Encanto (which I thought was okay), I would even go so far as to say it was Disney’s last good animated movie in years.

Moana (Auliʻi Cravalho) has always dreamed of sailing the ocean, but her father Tui (Temuera Morrison), the chief of the island Motunui, has always explicitly forbade it. When the torch is being passed on to her, Moana sees evidence that the island is slowly dying, which lines up with the legend of the missing Heart of Te Fiti, the goddess of nature. When her grandmother Tala (Rachel House) passes shortly after she reveals the truth about the island’s inhabitants being former Voyagers, Moana sets sail, with the Heart of Te Fiti in hand, on a quest to find the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) to make things right.

 

Moana (Auliʻi Cravalho) sets sail to look for Maui and replace the Heart of Te Fiti.

 

While I am not very knowledgeable in Pacific Island culture, I thought the plot worked well on its own merits. Although Moana is shown with two animal companions, Pua and Heihei (Alan Tudyk), thankfully only the latter joins her on her journey since having both around would have been too much. On that, the minimal cast of Moana, Maui and Heihei helps keep things more focused, which helps immensely with the character writing and pacing.

Moana and Maui also have interesting dynamics and parallel character arcs, in which they learn to be more selfless in their own ways, making the former one of Disney’s more compelling contemporary “princess” characters. Maui and Tamatoa (Jemaine Clement) are surprisingly fun characters for their comedically inflated egos, though the former proves himself to have a much softer side as well. Meanwhile, Heihei provides a great amount of comic relief, but the film knows when to hold back and let the more serious moments breathe.

 

Tamatoa (Jemaine Clement) is a fun, yet intimidating character.

 

Whereas my initial viewing was full of uncertainty, I got a lot more out of my most recent. Certain elements I was initially unsure about, such as the final battle with Te Kā and the placement of Tamatoa made a lot more sense when I noticed more foreshadowing, in the exposition at the beginning of the movie, to the obstacles Moana would face on her journey. Heihei aside, the humor is expertly woven in, including some well-written meta humor about Disney’s “musical” formula, though a single joke referencing Twitter did not age well and dates the movie considerably.

Since Zootopia was released in the same year as Moana, a comparison seems inevitable. Indeed, while I did overall enjoy Zootopia more, there were some things that I thought Moana handled better. Zootopia has its own share of meta humor, however the jokes rely on the viewer having seen the 2013 feature Frozen beforehand, whereas said jokes in Moana are more non-specific (save for a The Little Mermaid joke in the post-credits scene). Both movies also feature a twist villain of sorts, however Zootopia’s comes seemingly out of nowhere with next to no foreshadowing, whereas Moana’s was properly foreshadowed since the beginning of the movie and makes sense in hindsight.

One thing that stands out from the movie is the impressive water animation that not only looks realistic but feels like a character in itself. There's also a great attention to detail with the hair animation, especially when it and other materials, such as cloth and fur, get realistically wet. Equally impressive is the animation of Mini Maui, an anthropomorphized version of one of Maui’s tattoos, done with a seamless blend of traditional and computer animation.

 

Mini Maui is both a great addition and a technical achievement.

 

While the voice acting is really good, the minimal main cast allows some voice actors to stand out more. Compared to some of his other filmography, Dwayne Johnson really shows his acting range as Maui, not to mention his singing ability, and his energy nicely plays off of Auliʻi Cravalho’s more serious demeanor as Moana. Jemaine Clement also sounds like he’s having fun voicing Tamatoa. Although I am not the biggest fan of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Disney output, I still generally liked the songs he contributed to this film. I liked “How Far I’ll Go,” even though it doesn’t stick with me too much, but the true standouts for me are “You’re Welcome” and “Shiny” for their memorable tunes and visual accompaniment.

 

The best part was when he said "It's Maui time!" and Maui'd all over those guys.

 

Nearly a decade later, Moana stands as one of the better Disney films, and, as it directly preceded the less-good Ralph Breaks the Internet, possibly the end of an era. Even though it’s not one of my personal favorites, it’s easy to why it might be for someone else, since there’s plenty of things to like here. The handling of Pacific Island mythology might prove divisive depending on one’s familiarity, but on its own terms, you can’t really go wrong with it.