Moana

Hey,

On 14 September, I watched Moana with my family. Warning! This post will include spoilers but before I discussed the film I will share some facts about Moana.

This film was directed by Ron Clements and John Musker who directed films 'Little Mermaid' and 'The Princess and the Frog'. Moana was produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is also the 56th Disney animated feature film.

This film is about a girl, Moana who was the daughter of the chief Tui and was chosen by the ocean to search for Maui and get him to return Te Fiti's heart, that he stole 1000 years ago. She sets off on this journey when there is no fish left in the lagoon for her village to survive and darkness is creeping upon her home. Another reason was that her grandmother, Gramma Tala told Moana to go, with her last breath. Her mother's supports her which is shown through her mother helping her pack up supplies for the journey.

I love how Moana's grandma, Tala says that once she dies she wants to come back as a stingray, and at the moment of her death a stingray image is shown through the water travelling from the island to the sea through the use of light colours. This is how Moana's journey begins. At the end of the film when they voyage again there is a stingray swimming alongside the boats which suggests that when someone close to you dies they aren't gone and will never leave you therefore they will be with you in everything you do and everywhere you go.

This film uses a variety of bright and light colours that are slowly being lost to darkness. When Moana and Maui venture to the Island of Monsters they are surrounded by colours, which are mainly different shades of blue, purple and pink, especially as they travel through the entrance.

I feel that the message of this film is about knowing who you are and trusting in yourself to know which way to go. This is demonstrated by Moana being torn between her responsibility to her people, in the village of Polynesian and the voice inside calling her to the water. Who are you meant to be?

This message is also suggested through the song 'How Far I'll Go', where Moana sings about being called to the sea but everyone on the island is happy and has a role so maybe she should follow hers and lead, but yet the voice inside her is saying a different story.

The music for this film was composed by Mark Manicia who had help from others with the lyrics.

The first song in this film is 'Where You Are' which is about the role you play in your society which for Moana is leading them. It's about how she is the future for her people and that she needs to be who they need her to be but also be herself. I feel this is a good lesson for the audience, to not live for someone else but to do what you want to as well as that it is possible to please others but still stay true to yourself. Early on in the film, Moana learns about her lineage that is demonstrated through the song 'We Know the Way'. This is a joyful song about the village's past when they were voyagers who sailed by boat to find land.

Once Moana had found Maui, the song 'You're Welcome' played. This is a song sang by Maui who is saying you're welcome for all he has done as a demigod, for the humans as he originally stole Te Fiti's heart for them. This used clever media as the character's moved on Maui's body within his tapestry which kept the audiences’ attention as well as the song being memorable, that you can't help but sing along. After this Moana and Maui travelled to the Island of Monsters where they ran into Tamatoa who had Maui's fishhook that they needed to retrieve.

During this scene Tamatoa sang 'Shiny' which is basically about him and the things he collects, but a line in the song says "grandma says to follow your heart" which is a reminder to stay true to who you are. This scene is full of colours and light due to the disco effect created from the shiny and reflective items on Tamatoa's shell. Near the end of this song the background lights disappears making it dark so only Tamatoa is lit up making it look a bit like a float from Disneyland light show.

Finally, my favourite song from this film is 'I am Moana' which is about being true to yourself and not giving up. This song is about knowing who you are and loving both the sea and the island. I feel that the message of this song is about embracing all that you are and not being ashamed or doubt any part of you.

The ending of this film was truly beautiful. I love how Moana figured out that the lava stone person was actually Te Fiti without her heart and then the mystical water parted for them to walk towards each other. This has biblical connotations as in the Bible the Red Sea split for Moses and Israelites to escape through. I thought it was lovely yet clever how Moana sang about being who you are before placing Te Fiti's heart back that enabled Te Fiti to return to her green and colourful self and go back to her form of an island.

When Moana returned from home there was a big family reunion which was an emotional scene and now the light had been restored to the land, shown through the flowers, the village set sail to voyage to new land like they did 1000 years ago. This was a nice way to end the film as life had travelled in a circle so they were back to what it was like before the heart was taken.

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Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading

Amy x