With a song in its heart and and navigating an ocean of thrills, Disney Animation Studios’ “Moana” is a big beautiful film that lives up to the best of its lofty predecessors.
Voiced by Auli’i Cravalho, Moana has been groomed by her family to someday join a long line of Polynesian chiefs. She insists she’s no princess, and technically, that’s true. Yet she’s every inch a royal.
Voices of: Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson.
Rating: PG for peril, some scary images.
The story begins with a bit of treachery. In a prologue, we learn mother earth goddess, creator of life, has had her heart stolen. The thief, the arrogant demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), then loses both the “Heart of Te Fiti” and a magical hook that allows him to transform into different creatures.
No new islands can be created. And the multitudes of the Oceania islands and its peoples will spend the next thousand years confined to the land. The once great wayfarers who built many ships and explored the world are no more.
Some of her people believe the legend is just a story. Moana insists it’s real. The ocean — a living character in this tale — has chosen her for something special.
When her island is suddenly threatened, Gramma Tala urges her to find Maui and the hook, and return the gem to its rightful place. This will involve venturing beyond the reef, something Moana’s father has strictly forbidden since, well, forever.
She’s a role model for not just the little girls in the audience, but boys as well. Moana is strong, loyal and clever. Of course she defies her father and sets sail.
With songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda (who most recently won Tony Awards, the Pulitzer Prize and a MacArthur grant) and Opetaia Foa’i and a score by Mark Mancina, “Moana” breezes along. There are shades of Mr. Miranda’s Broadway work here and there, a bit of rapping, and he’s joined by a few of his “Hamilton” stars vocally, including Christopher Jackson (“Where You Are”).
Mr. Johnson is a surprisingly good singer on Maui’s “You’re Welcome,” and Ms. Cravalho is moving on her “I want” song: “How Far I’ll Go.”
Disney created an Oceanic Trust to lend cultural authority to the screenplay by Jared Bush, with story by the directors and several others. Former Steelers safety Troy Polamalu lent his opinions; according to Vanity Fair, the Polynesian athlete was in part inspiration for animators adding to Maui’s abundant mane of hair.
Mr. Polamalu also is credited with voicing one of the villagers in the film.
The Oceanic Trust’s influence also is apparent in the gorgeous computer-generated visuals that make for one of those rare instances when wearing 3-D glasses is worth the nuisance. Flora and fauna pop off the screen; water shimmers, roils, and waves are constantly changing in color and light and texture.
At one point, Moana is half-buried on a beach, and you can practically feel the grit of the sand in her long curly hair.
There is a somewhat desperate tendency with some animated films to pander to grown-ups, adding modern references that jar rather than delight. “Moana” is on more confident footing. It manages to pay homage to its Disney heritage with clever visuals: a big shiny pile of riches evokes the Cave of Wonders in “Aladdin” (1992). That film just happens to have been helmed by Ron Clements and John Musker, who directed “Moana.”
Stick around to the end of the credits for a wink at another Clements-Musker film.
Then there is the “Mini Maui” tattoo on the demigod’s chest, one of the many covering his large body. It’s a two-dimensional version of the big guy, but with a conscience, his version of Jiminy Cricket.
As Moana coaxes and cajoles Maui to help her in her quest, they encounter Tamatoa (Jermaine Clement, doing his best David Bowie with “Shiny”) and a hilarious “Mad Max” tribe of, uh, coconut creatures. Her sidekick is Hei Hei, an incredibly dumb but consistently amusing chicken voiced by Alan Tudyk. But parents be aware, “Moana” is rated PG for its perils and features a truly nightmarish fire demon.
At one point, Maui explains to Moana that wayfaring is “knowing where you are by knowing where you’ve been.”
And so it is with “Moana.” She’s no official princess, but the girl can hold a tiara to Disney’s legacy any day.
Maria Sciullo: msciullo@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1478 or @MariaSciulloPG.
First Published: November 23, 2016, 5:00 a.m.
