Moana will be in Australian cinemas from December 26. And surely there’s room for a Frozen/ Moana crossover? Can’t you just see Olaf the snowman cracking one-liners as he keeps melting in the Polynesian heat? This will naturally prove a summery fave for the small-fry, even if the songs don’t quite hit the heights and the final act feels a little flat, despite the appearance of cool lava god Te Kā. Things get surprisingly intertextual too, particularly when Moana mocks the Disney princess tradition with, “If you wear a dress and have an animal sidekick, you’re a princess.” Her voyage eventually takes her to the island where Maui is trapped, and he is revealed as a jumbo show-off with magical tattoos and a voice contributed by Dwayne, whose famously jokey persona obviously informed the character’s amusingly egomaniacal carry-on.Īfter much convincing (and his funny song You’re Welcome), Moana and Maui travel further into danger to retrieve his mystical fish-hook, and wind up in Lalotai, a monster’s realm where self-obsessed Tamatoa (voiced by Jemaine), a gargantuan crab, has a ball singing Shiny, a catchy tune about how wonderful he is. Her Dad Tui (voiced by Morrison) is horrified, but she goes anyway, partially as she knows that the sea is her friend, after a lovely early scene in which she helps an imperilled baby turtle (and apparently because ‘Moana’ means ocean, although that’s not actually said). This means that the island in question has a population scared to venture beyond the reef (which accounts for the musical number Where We Are), but when the local coconuts go bad and the fish vanish, the young and soon-to-be-Chief Moana (voiced by Cravalho) dares to suggest travelling further out and hopefully freeing Maui. She’s the real deal.On a Polynesian island in a fanciful past, we’re introduced to the mythology that will form the basis of the plot, with world-creating goddess Te Fiti having her heart stolen by naughty demigod Maui, him losing it in a battle with Te Kā and the resulting darkness and fear spreading to the world beyond. Now, little girls have a Disney princess who is not simply a pretty princess. The Disney princess thing has continued to truck through this wave of positive female heroines. “How Far I’ll Go” could easily be the next “Let It Go”, but a more clear case for female empowerment.
#Movie reviews for kids moana movie
There are a few jokes that are over used and a few heavy handed themes, but boy does this movie sing. Young girls that watch this movie can walk out feeling like they are just as strong as a god (with a little help from the ocean).īottom line, ‘Moana’ is a delightful Disney experience. She is trying to force him to help her because he is a Demi-god, but it becomes quite clear that this girl can hold her own against even the roughest opponent. She has no love interest and is not subservient to Maui. Anna and Rapunzel weren’t exactly damsels, but Moana is a truly strong character. It’s also refreshing to have such a strong female lead in a Disney movie. You will smile when you see Maui (Dwayne Johnson) sing a song about his fantastic adventures. The movie also provides some fun myths of unknown or original magic beings with wondrous powers. Well, diverse in the fact that the characters are all Pacific Islanders and not Caucasian.
This movie gets extra points for diversity in my book. ‘Frozen’ was pretty magical also, but time will tell on which stands out more to this generations children. Much like ‘Tangled’ did a few years back, ‘Moana’ tramples its poor advertising to deliver a genuinely wonderful musical tale! Honestly, this particular musical might be the best one Disney has done this decade. There are over a half a dozen new songs and a few other jingles that carry the story when the score isn’t providing life. A fully fledged Disney musical with original songs throughout. As it stands, I think the movie will do well opening weekend, but will find legs because audiences will get something totally unexpected. Those guys know exactly what they are doing and could have guaranteed a much bigger opening weekend. So, my suggestion is that Disney Animation hires the team that puts together the Marvel and Lucasfilm trailers to put together the rest of their stuff. However, if it wasn’t for the fact that the name Disney was attached to ‘Moana’, I would never have seen it. Now, I’m sure kids were interested in it. I haven’t spoken to one person that watched that first trailer and was talking about the next Disney movie.
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