Set sail with the spirited, familiar ‘Moana’

They most always manage to find that balance between great characters, heartwarming and grounded storytelling, and entertainment value. Disney’s “Zootopia”, which was released this past spring, became a big hit, with the movie now ranked as the sixth-highest-grossing film of the year so far domestically and the subject of mostly positive reviews. The music is outstanding, the adventure wondrous, and the cinematography rich with color. The most exuberant and decadent sequence comes in the first appearance of Jemaine Clement’s gold-plated crab, who delivers the best villain song in Disney canon since Cruella De Vil was compared to a “spider waiting for the kill”.

With a combination of sparkling performances and authentic, South Pacific-flavour, Moana gives the audience a breath of fresh air when we need it most.

Moana (voiced by Auli’i Carvalho) is the daughter of the chieftain, forced to leave her island to save it from destruction. It’s very meaningful to us and our Polynesian culture and so. Though she’s the daughter of the chief, she’d rather be called a “wayfinder” – an oceanic navigator guiding ships throughout the Pacific.

This image released by Disney shows characters Maui, voiced by Dwayne Johnson, left, and Moana, voiced by Auli’i Cravalho, in a scene from the animated film, “Moana”.

Directors Ron Clements and John Musker made sure that everything in their new animated film “Moana” was as near perfection as possible. And Walt Disney Studios is finally wising up and taking that message to heart-just look at The Princess and the Frog, Big Hero 6, or the recent Queen of Katwe. “Watching the movie, it has a strong heroine and I love to see that sort of thing, and I think it’s great that everyone gets to see that sort of thing”. But Moana can’t resist the ocean’s siren call, especially after her playful, rebellious Gramma Tala (Rachel House) tells her the ocean chose Moana to return the heart of the goddess Te Fiti, stolen by the mischievous Maui. Kids will also enjoy the creative and amusing creatures Moana and Maui encounter on their journey, such as a bling-heavy octopus named Tamatoa (Jemaine Clement) and an army of killer coconuts who show up in a battle sequence inspired in part by last year’s “Mad Max: Fury Road”. The fact that she goes away to accomplish her goal develops her individually, but at the same time maintains her place among her people.

Moana also has plenty of comedy.

“Moana” gently tweaks the Disney princess tradition, getting a bit snarky when Moana denies being a princess, even though her dad is the chief.

It looks as though the character is set to become a comedic icon in the Disney empire, much like Frozen’s Olaf.

Visual development art of Moana, by character art director Bill Schwab.

Ultimately, Moana is visually lovely and narratively engaging. Moana dreams of sailing the ocean and finding new worlds but her father prohibits it. Even so, the Disney machine ensures that Moana is crowd-pleasing and upbeat, an ideal movie for families to see together over the holiday weekend. Being that you and he are Polynesian, what do you hope that people will take out from watching “Moana?”.