The daughter of the tribal chief learns how far she’ll go to save the world in the Walt Disney Animation Studios films, “Moana.” The ocean chooses Moana to find Maui and return the heart of Te Fiti so Moana’s people can return to voyage the ocean as they once did. Along the way, Maui and Moana have to outsmart Tamatoa to retrieve Maui’s fish hook and then take on Te Kā. Eventually, Moana learns about the importance of Te Kā and Te Fiti and finds a way to save and change the world.

While “Frozen” may get the love from the masses during the Disney Revival, for my money, this is the best princess film of the Disney Revival. Yes, she’s the daughter of the tribal chief and “not a princess,” but it follows the same formula of all the other princess films. Moana comes from the new generation of princess where they aren’t content to just sit around and wait for a prince, much like Rapunzel, Anna and Elsa before her. She is going to go out there and save her people herself. Plus, there’s not a traditional love story which can often become a hindrance in a film like this. While it makes sense in some like “Cinderella,” it’s not necessary in all princess films and “Moana” is the perfect example of that.

This film features some of the best music during the Disney Revival. For starters, anyone who has seen “Hamilton,” “Coco” or “Encanto” knows it’s impossible to argue against the talents of Lin-Manuel Miranda. Plus, “How Far I’ll Go” has been one of my favorite Disney songs since I first heard it. It perfectly balances that Disney feel without being overplayed on radio like with some other Disney songs. It also got the Rock to sing. He’s not a great singer, but the song isn’t meant to be sung great. He has the right attitude and wherewithal to make that song work for what it’s supposed to be. It reminded me of the time Danny Devito sang in “Hercules.”

This film actually brought in the amazingly talented Alan Tudyk and had him just make chicken noises. This is the man who has voiced Duke Weaselton in “Zootopia,” The Duke of Wesselton in “Frozen” and K2-SO in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” It takes a bold filmmaker to bring in someone with that pedigree and have them just make chicken noises. Because he’s Alan Tudyk, he continues to steal every scene he’s in, but that still took a lot of guts to just have him do that.

“Moana” is easily one of my favorite films from the Disney Revival, if not the entire Disney canon. The music is amazing, and the setting is wonderful. I prefer warmer climates, and I love the water, so the island and ocean setting really spoke to me as a viewer. With Disney announcing sequels to several properties, my hope is the writers can come up with a solid script for a “Moana 2.” I would like to see more of her story.

Rating: 5 stars

What did you think of  “Moana?”

Jeremy Brown

Jeremy has been a big Disney fan since he was a kid growing up during the Disney Renaissance. One day he hopes to go to every Disney Park in the world.

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