Moana is a refreshing new take on the "princess movie" from Disney with the kind of cathartic escapism needed this Thanksgiving season.
It’s pretty easy to say these days that Walt Disney Animation Studios is going through a second renaissance. The writing was on the wall of the Dolby Theatre when Frozen took home two Oscars in 2014 while also crossing $1 billion worldwide. And since that unabashed throwback to classic Disney storytelling, the House of Mouse has had even more hits like Big Hero 6 and the surprisingly subversive Zootopia. Still, it was only a matter of time until we returned to Broadway ballads and ingénue aspirations. It was only a matter of time until Moana, the most unapologetically wide-eyed and delightful escapism you’ll find in movie theaters this Thanksgiving season.
A mix of something old and something new, Moana is from directors Ron Clements and John Musker, the duo who helmed The Little Mermaid and Aladdin oh, so many childhoods ago. Yet, in addition to marking the pair’s first-time at overseeing a fully computer-generated movie, they are also returning to their Disney truisms with a healthy dose of urgency to progressively modernize the “princess movie,” not least of which involves refusing to call the eponymous Moana a princess. She is the daughter of a Polynesian chieftain, and she lives on a peaceful island where no one bats an eye at the thought of her one day leading these people without question. (So more modern than even our world?)
However, like many other protagonists in this art form before her, Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) has a dreamy song in her heart that involves not staying on her glistening childhood home of Motunui. Rather, she yearns for adventure, hoping to see what’s beyond her community’s seaside sunsets. What a shame it is then that her father forbids anyone in their village to sail past the nearby reef; there has been no seafaring exploration for a thousand years. Not since a demigod named Maui (Dwayne Johnson) stole the heart of a goddess, getting himself marooned in the process and dooming all of the Polynesian islands’ wayfinders from ever coming home again.
Nevertheless, the sea takes a liking to Moana. Quite literally, as the ocean is every bit the sidekick to the teenage heroine as a certain magic carpet was for a poor boy from the streets in Aladdin, interacting with her and urging her to go beyond its translucent waves, to find the long-shipwrecked Maui, and to force him to return the goddess’ heart, thereby saving Moana’s people and all the Polynesian islands from an agricultural complacency. Of course, when your demigod is voiced by Dwayne Johnson as a cross between a rock star and professional wrestler, actually wrangling him into being a selfless hero is a journey unto itself.
On its own merits, Moana is an exceedingly joyful film and every bit the life-affirming catharsis many will be looking for this holiday season, particularly if you have a daughter during these times. Whereas Clements and Musker’s last film, The Princess and the Frog, got bogged down in storytelling cul-de-sacs and less than inspiring music from Randy Newman, Moana has a buoyancy that allows it to glide across its gorgeous renderings of aquatic life. And this is in no small part aided by a full collection of charming songs that are instant earworms, including the typical “I Want” first act plea (it’s called “How Far I’ll Go Here” here), Maui’s boastful ode to self-congratulation, “You’re Welcome,” and a pretty nifty use of Jermaine Clement’s implicitly wry vocals for “Shiny,” a ‘70s-esque embrace of vanity as espoused by a monstrous 50-foot sea crab who has an affinity for sparkly things.
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