In the end, she returns to Motonui, now ready to embrace her future as a master wayfinder with her people, guided by her grandmother’s spirit and the legacy of exploration. Using a tapa cloth to animate her story, Gramma Tala (Rachel House) shares the tale of the mother island, Te Fiti, with a group of young children. Te Fiti is imbued with a powerful heart that creates life and births other islands. Unfortunately, the allure of her heart attracts other beings, and only one, the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), dares to seize it. Armed with his magical fish hook, Maui travels to Te Fiti and steals her heart, a small green gemstone adorned with a spiral.
Heritage plays a significant role in Moana’s journey, showcasing the legacy of her ancestors as navigators of the sea. It underlines the connection between past and present, as Moana learns from her grandmother and ultimately carries her people’s traditions forward. The story reflects the importance of remembering one’s roots while shaping the future.
Moana
Unwilling to lose his hook in another confrontation, Maui abandons a tearful Moana who asks the ocean to find someone else to restore the heart and loses hope. The ocean obliges and takes the heart, Moana breaks down crying feeling hopeless but Tala’s spirit appears, inspiring Moana to find her true calling. Maui returns, having had a change of heart, and buys Moana time to reach Te Fiti by fighting Te Kā, destroying his hook in the process. Moana discovers Te Fiti is missing, and realizes Te Kā is Te Fiti, corrupted without her heart. Moana tells the ocean to clear a path, allowing her to return Te Fiti’s heart, and the restored goddess heals the ocean and islands of the blight. Maui apologizes to Te Fiti, who restores his hook and gives Moana a new boat before falling into a deep sleep and becoming a mountain.
- The next morning, after discovering to have arrived at Maui’s Island, Moana and Heihei met Maui who was forced by the Ocean to allow Moana to accompany her.
- Moana, wanting to get to the root of Maui’s self-doubt, tries to uncover the demigod’s backstory.
- Despite her suggestions to venture beyond their usual limits, her father firmly refuses.
- The film emphasizes the significance of understanding one’s responsibilities while gathering the courage to follow one’s dreams.
- Follow the complete movie timeline of Moana (2016) with every major event in chronological order.
Her father, Chief Tui, claims there is no such darkness consuming the world, and stresses the law that forbids anyone on the island from traveling past the reef. Moana fails to heed her father’s words and waddles to the ocean shores in bliss. There, she helps a struggling newborn sea turtle make its way to the ocean against predators, using a leaf.
This resonates with Maui and gives him the courage to train in order to recover his power, under the guidance of Moana and Mini Maui (Maui’s sentient tattoo). Maui continues Moana’s mentoring in wayfinding, eventually turning her into a master navigator on par with her ancestors, though Maui contends that she may have surpassed them. Born on the island village of Motunui, Moana is the eldest daughter of Tui and Sina, granddaughter of Tala, and the older sister of Simea, with an inherited love for the seas and voyaging.
Moana (2016 film)
Interestingly, the film’s ending also hints at a larger universe, with a post-credits scene teasing a connection to The Little Mermaid through Tamatoa, suggesting a shared Disney mythos. Overall, Moana ends on a hopeful note, emphasizing that true heroism involves compassion, self-awareness, and the courage to confront ancient wounds, inspiring future generations to explore and seek harmony with the world around them. Get detailed profiles with their roles, arcs, and key relationships explained. On October 7, 2015, Walt Disney Animation Studios released a video announcing the casting of 14-year-old Hawaiian native, Auli’i Cravalho, who will officially portray Moana. It’s actually a mollusk, and you find this on all the Pacific Islands; it’s something they use quite a bit.
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- He is also furious at Matangi for helping Moana and prepares to punish her just before an old enemy from Moana’s past participates in Nalo’s plan for revenge.
- Gramma Tala encourages her to listen to her heart, while Chief Tui emphasizes the importance of staying within the reef for safety.
- Moana agrees to go through a ceremony with her father to be named a legendary wayfinder like her ancestor Tautai Vasa.
- Initially self-centered, he embodies the complexity of heroism as he learns to take responsibility for his past mistakes.
- This resonates with Maui and gives him the courage to train in order to recover his power, under the guidance of Moana and Mini Maui (Maui’s sentient tattoo).
- Maui takes his fishhook, only to find he does not have control over his shape-shifting anymore.
- The ocean obliges and takes the heart, Moana breaks down crying feeling hopeless but Tala’s spirit appears, inspiring Moana to find her true calling.
After facing various trials, including a battle with mischievous coconut pirates known as the Kakamora, she earns Maui’s reluctant cooperation. He begins to teach her navigation techniques, which greatly enhance her sailing skills. Together, they navigate dangerous waters toward Te Fiti, where they hope to restore the heart and bring life back to her island. A millennium later, Moana as a toddler discovers the heart as she is collecting shells near the ocean. After her chieftain father Tui orders her to return to the village, she never sees it until she has grown up. Moana, now a teenager, has the responsibility of becoming the next chief of the island as her father insists, but due to her close friendship with her grandmother, Gramma Tala, she keeps her dream of leaving the island alive.
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After arriving at Maui’s Island by surviving a storm, Moana met the demigod and tried to speak with him, only to find he was egotistic, arrogant, and boisterous. Maui’s narcissism and arrogance immediately disgusted Moana and though she was amazed to learn of the benefits Maui offered to mankind, she was angered when the demigod tricked and trapped her in a cave in order to steal her boat. Upon escaping the cave and being helped by Ocean to desperately get back to her boat, Moana angrily confronted Maui, who continuously threw her off the boat, only for Ocean to repeatedly put her back on it. When Moana revealed the Heart of Te Fiti to Maui, she was amused to discover he was traumatized by the sight of it. She did not believe that anyone dangerous would appear if she showed the Heart around until the Kakamora revealed themselves before Moana and Maui.
Animated films
However, due to Moana sailing for the first time, their attempt to look for fish failed when they got hit by a wave, causing Pua to fall overboard. Moana was able to rescue Pua, but got her foot injured when it was stuck in some coral before she joined Pua in making it back to shore. When the Kakamora captured Heihei due to the chicken accidentally eating the Heart, Moana begged Maui to help rescue him, but the demigod refused, prompting Moana to rescue Heihei and recover the Heart herself. After escaping the Kakamora, Moana was able to persuade Maui into helping restore the Heart of Te Fiti by playing on his desires to be seen as a hero.
Maui informs them to stay away from Matangi, but as he was about to leave, he sees Heihei and realizes that Moana is in danger. As they climb a mountain to reach the entrance to the underworld, Maui questions why the ocean chose Moana to save the world, though she doesn’t seem to know, herself. Despite her sudden feeling of self-doubt, Moana follows Maui into Lalotai, and eventually finds the fishhook. She distracts Tamatoa long enough for Maui to take back his hook, but the demigod finds that his shapeshifting abilities are out of whack. Feeling powerful, Tamatoa attacks Maui and imprisons Moana to prevent her from interfering. As she watches helplessly, Tamatoa taunts Maui on his hidden insecurities and alludes to a tragic past.
Walt Disney Animation Studios’ epic animated musical “Moana 2” reunites Moana and Maui three years later for an expansive new voyage alongside a crew of unlikely seafarers. Moana proudly realizes who she has meant to be within herself and what defines her and swims down to retrieve the heart. Using her wayfinding skills, she returns to Te Kā and gets past Te Kā to return the heart.
Out of anger, Maui leaves Moana stranded in the middle of the ocean, fearing that going back to fight Te Kā will permanently destroy his hook. He flies away after telling her that the ocean chose the wrong person to save her people which is something she has been trying to find out why. Moana of Motunui is the title character of the 2016 Walt Disney Animation Studios film Moana. Created Moana by directors Ron Clements and John Musker, Moana is voiced by Hawaiian actress and singer Auliʻi Cravalho.