Disney's Moana has depicted part of Polynesian history in its own way, with some aspects being somewhat factual while others were exaggerated. Disney's Moana is set on the fictional island of Motunui.
The fictional movie takes place 3,000 years ago in the islands of Polynesia, an area that includes Hawaii, Tonga and Tahiti. The star is 16-year-old Moana, voiced by Hawaiian actress Auli'i Cravalho, who goes on an ocean voyage with Maui, voiced by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Although Moana is from the fictional island Motunui some 3,000 years ago, the story and culture of Moana is based on the very real heritage and history of Polynesian islands such as Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga, and Tahiti. In fact, once you start looking for ties to Polynesian culture in Moana, it's hard to stop!
Created by directors Ron Clements and John Musker, and voiced by Dwayne Johnson, Maui is loosely based on Māui from Hawaiian mythology. In the film, Maui is depicted as a demigod who was abandoned by his parents and eventually adopted by the gods.
Moana's home island, Motunui, is fictional, but the production team drew a map of Moana's journey (which can be found in the book The Art of Moana) that places Motunui east of Tonga, near the real-world location of Niue. Te Fiti's island was based on Tahiti.
Disney's Moana is set on the fictional island of Motunui. She is selected to sail and return the heart of Te Fiti, an island goddess, after it is stolen by the demigod Maui to give mankind the power of creation. Te Feti's heart is symbolized in a pounamu stone amulet which is lost to the depths.
Some enjoy the movie but believe Maui should have been portrayed as a warrior. "As a proud Polynesian woman, it's not often that you see a film like Moana come out. It headlines our Pasifika culture, and it's lead by our Polynesian artists in the industry.
The two most significant parts of Moana's journey, her learning wayfinding and her relationship with Maui, were drawn from Polynesian history and inspired by their mythology. Thanks to the Oceanic Trust however, there are many other details that enrich Moana's story.
Disney's Moana Movie Was Inspired By These Polynesian Islands | Islands. Disney's latest movie, Moana, opens in theaters this weekend and draws inspiration from islands like Bora Bora, Fiji and Tetiaroa.
Moana as she appears in Moana (2016). Inspired by Polynesian mythology, Moana is depicted as the strong-willed daughter of a chief of a Polynesian village, who is chosen by the ocean itself to reunite a mystical relic with the goddess Te Fiti.
Clements and Musker set the film at that point in time, about two thousand years ago, on a fictional island in the central Pacific Ocean, which drew inspiration from elements of the real-life island nations of Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga.
The overarching message of Moana is, truly, that the worst thing to happen to you doesn't have to define you. Moana's father lives in fear due to a tragic past; Maui feels as though he is missing a critical part of himself without his hook; Te Fiti turns into a literal monster after she is attacked.
According to legend, Māui was a premature baby. When he was born, he was so small that his mother thought he was dead. Devastated, she cut off her own hair, her topknot (tikitiki), and wrapped him in it. She set him down in the sea, in this craft of hair, and let him drift out into the ocean.
It is a beautiful Hawaiian given name meaning "ocean, sea, or expanse of water." The name has been a firm favorite among Polynesian communities for years, gaining global popularity with the release of Disney's epic animated film in 2016.
Filmmakers charted out relative distances in the world they created. Te Fiti, another island in the film, was based on Tahiti, and the tattoos on Dwayne Johnson's character, Maui, are modeled on Marquesan tattoos. “Such specificity helped to keep things organized,” Gooding says.
Meaning:Trickster god. Maui is a boy's name of Hawaiian and Maori origin. This name belongs to a trickster god in Polynesian mythology, and was also given to one of the Hawaiian islands. The 2016 Disney film Moana brought the name Maui into popular culture with Dwayne Johnson's playful portrayal of the god.
The chiefs even, as we very well know, were not always and every- where men; Polynesian history provides examples of women who became important chiefs (Gunson 1987).
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Set to premiere on Disney+ in 2024, Moana's sequel series should bring back many of the main characters from the original movie and should bring in a new antagonist and potential threats to Moana and Maui's new friendship.
The arrival of fast food restaurants and other contemporary food items on the islands are one of the issues responsible for the obesity in Samoa. The earliest photographs of Samoans provide visual proof of the native population's natural physique before the introduction of processed foods by Western society.
Moana and Maui are characters in a Disney movie that our children absolutely adore, so it is only natural that like every other Disney character, they want to dress up as them. It is fine to let them do this – minus the body paint, tattoos, brown skin-coloured body suit and legitimate cultural attire.
Something I noticed and that my friend pointed out is that Moana's father almost sounded Australian. The reason for this is because Moana is based on all of Polynesia, which includes Maori culture in New Zealand.
