Maui is a shapeshifting, trickster god who comes to the aid of the film's protagonist, Moana, on her quest to save her island and family. Maui is voiced by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and is based on the Polynesian deity of the same name.
Native Hawaiian tradition gives the origin of the island's name in the legend of Hawaiʻiloa, the navigator credited with discovering the Hawaiian Islands. According to it, Hawaiʻiloa named the island after his son, who in turn was named for the demigod Māui. Maui's previous name was ʻIhikapalaumaewa.
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.
Maui appears as a main character in the 2016 Disney 3D computer-animated musical film Moana, in which he is voiced by Dwayne Johnson. Abandoned by his human parents as a baby, the gods took pity on him and made him a demigod and gave him a magic fishhook that gives him the ability to shape-shift.
Maui, founder of New Zealand (“i pulled land up from the ocean”) and bringer of fire (via lassoing the sun) is the main god of new Zealand's maori population,as well as a minor god in other Pacific island religions. But not Hawaiian.
MOANA Live Action - Official Trailer (2024) Zendaya, Dwayne Johnson | Disney+
Who is Maui's wife?
Among the iwi of New Zealand, Hina is usually considered to be either the elder sister or the wife of Māui. The most common story that presents Hina as the wife of Māui tells of Te Tunaroa, the father of all eels, who one day visited the pool where Hina bathed.
The story of the demigod Maui stretches across the Pacific and is estimated to be over 1000 years old. Always on a quest to empower mankind, Maui has become an endearing icon to the people of Polynesia.
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!
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.
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.”
In Moana, Disney creators employed some creative license, but they did highlight some actual Polynesian origin myths. In “The Maui Myths,” Maori natives of Tolago (today called Tolaga) Bay, North Island, New Zealand recount Maui's mytho-history which aided in the creation of Moana.
The great fish-hook of Māui is called Manaiakalani, and it is baited with the wing of Hina's pet bird, the ʻalae. Māui is said to have created Hawaii's islands by tricking his brothers. He convinced them to take him out fishing, but caught his hook on the ocean floor.
At sixteen, Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) is in the middle of the pack, but her ending makes her age less of an issue, at least on the surface. Her film, Moana, is one of the more recent additions to the franchise and doesn't include a romantic plot.
Though Moana and Te Fiti aren't related by blood like Anna and Elsa, the sacrifice underscores the large role nature plays in the film. “The idea that what we perceive as the villain of the film is actually 'nature wronged' was always an idea that we had, and wanted to build toward,” Shurer said.
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Moana isn't the first princess not to have a love interest. Princess Merida from Brave also didn't have one. The story was all about her not wanting go through with an arranged marriage and her relationship with her mother, and that movie was AMAZING.
Māui is the son of Taranga, the wife of Makeatutara. He was a miraculous birth – his mother threw her premature infant into the sea wrapped in a tress of hair from her topknot (tikitiki) – hence Māui's full name is Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga. Ocean spirits found and wrapped the child in seaweed and jellyfish.
Māui is a character from Māori and Polynesian mythology. Though the stories about him do sometimes differ, he is consistently depicted as a clever, talented trickster. He's a demi-god, and he has supernatural powers, but still looks human.
5) In the film's novelization, Moana's age is given as 16. This makes her the only Disney princess to be voiced by an actress younger than herself. Moana was released on Cravalho's 16th birthday.
