The movie follows the journey of Moana, a young girl from the fictional island of Motunui, as she sets sail to save her people. While the film is set in the Polynesian region, it specifically draws inspiration from a variety of Polynesian cultures, including Hawaiian, Tahitian, and Samoan.
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.
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!
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.
It is so important for children to see that Moana stands for something far greater than a typical Disney princess, she represents independence, diligence, and strength.
MOANA Live Action – TEASER TRAILER (2024) Dwayne Johnson & Auliʻi Cravalho Movie | Disney+
What does Tahiti mean in Moana?
Moana—pronounced “moh-AH-nah,” not “MWAH-nah” means “ocean”—and the character is chosen by the sea itself to return the stolen heart of Te Fiti, who turns out to be an island deity (Tahiti, in its various linguistic forms, including Tafiti, is a pan-Polynesian word for any faraway place).
Hawaiian, any of the aboriginal people of Hawaii, descendants of Polynesians who migrated to Hawaii in two waves: the first from the Marquesas Islands, probably about ad 400; the second from Tahiti in the 9th or 10th century.
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.
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 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.
Disney's Moana hired a board of Polynesian cultural experts to ensure Polynesian history and the myth of Maui were respectfully portrayed. Disney's Moana was inspired by Polynesian myths, history, and culture and has been widely praised for its efforts at cultural authenticity.
Native peoples of the Pacific resumed voyaging again a thousand years later. 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 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.
Polynesia is characterized by a small amount of land spread over a very large portion of the mid- and southern Pacific Ocean. It comprises approximately 300,000 to 310,000 square kilometres (117,000 to 118,000 sq mi) of land, of which more than 270,000 km2 (103,000 sq mi) are within New Zealand.
In the Disney film Moana, the relationship between Moana and Maui is not romantic because Moana is a sixteen year old girl and Maui is thousands of years old. This is a step up from prior Disney movies.
Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; Hawaiian: kānaka, kānaka ʻōiwi, kānaka maoli, and Hawaiʻi maoli) are the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands.
Hawaiian people are an ethnically diverse group. Only about 10% of Hawaii's total population of 1.5 million identifies as ethnically Hawaiian. People that are ethnically Hawaiian have Polynesian roots and are part of the Pacific Islander group. The largest ethnic group of Hawaii is Asian, followed by White.
Hawaiian and Samoan are both Austronesian languages, but they are not mutually intelligible. They diverged a long time ago, and now share few phonetic and lexical similarities. Hawaiian is more like Maori than to Samoan, and even those languages are very different.
Te Fiti's heart, a small pounamu stone, possessed the power to create life and raise islands. But it also attracted monsters who tried to steal it for its creative power. It was stolen by the demigod Maui, who planned to give it to humanity as a gift. After he stole it, the island was enveloped in darkness.
Te Fiti does not have a direct translation to the English language. The Hawaiian alphabet does not contain the letters T or F, so the name Te Fiti has no exact meaning. However, some fans believe that the name is a translation of the Maori language from the Eastern Polynesian area, set to mean “far off place.”
