Disney makes a splash with ‘Moana’

Disney is knocking it out of the park! Of my top five films of the year for 2016, three were Disney films! Coming in at No. 2 was the latest from the Mouse, “Moana,” featuring the voice talents of Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jemaine Clement (“Flight of the Concords”) and featuring the songs of Lin-Manuel Miranda (uh, “Hamilton,” obviously).

It’s the story of a young Moana, the daughter of the chief of her Polynesian island of Montuni. As a child, she’s always longed to explore the ocean, but it is forbidden by her father. Years later, fish are scarce, and the island appears to be dying around them. When she suggests exploring beyond the reef that forms a barrier around their harbor, her father rejects her once again.

Her grandmother Tala tells Moana of the island’s rich history of seafaring and shows her a cave full of large sailing canoes. She also gives her a stone called the heart of Te Fiti, the goddess who created the island and everything around it.

She explains that the darkness creeping into their lives was caused by Maui, a demigod who stole the heart of Te Fiti as a gift for humanity but was thwarted by a lava demon called Te Ka, causing the stone to be lost for a thousand years. Tala was chosen by the ocean to protect the stone and is now passing it on to Moana to find Maui and restore the heart to Te Fiti. But there’s only one problem: where is Maui?
 

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Lincoln L. Hayes is an actor and filmmaker in Vermont. www.lincolnlhayes.com