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.
Maui is traditionally known as a trickster god — that means he likes to cause mischief, even if his actions are mainly done to the benefit of mankind. Ultimately, Maui took the heart simply because he could. Stealing it would prove his prowess, gain him infamy with the humans, and cause chaos all in one go.
Why didn t the ocean take the heart back to Te Fiti?
Why didn't the ocean just take the heart back to Te Fiti itself? Because the ocean doesn't know where Te Fiti is. That island, the source of creation, can only be found by a god. It needs Maui to be there in order to find the island to even get the heart back.
The Heart of Te Fiti May Have Been Keeping Tala Alive
Considering the ocean chose Moana when she was a child, someone needed to keep the precious Heart safe. A popular fan theory explains that with the Heart in her possession, Gramma Tala was granted a little more time to live and guide Moana on her quest.
Apparently wanting nothing to do with their son, Maui's parents threw him into the sea as an infant, and left him for dead. He was saved by the gods, who raised Maui, granting supernatural abilities, immortality, and a magical fish hook that allows him to shapeshift.
This Disturbing Truth About Maui's Parents Reveals The REAL Reason He Stole The Heart Of Te Fiti
Is Maui really a Demigod Moana?
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.
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.
The theory is that there is a barrier between the spiritual, mystical world and the real world, with Maui's island located in the former. In order for Moana to get there (and return the relic stolen from the goddess Te Fiti) she has to die, too.
While trying to escape with the Heart, Maui was attacked by Te Kā, a demon of earth and fire. In their struggle, the Heart was lost to the sea. Fearing Te Kā's violent wrath, the Villagers of Motunui stopped voyaging, a defeated Maui disappeared, and the Ocean guarded the Heart of Te Fiti.
Moana is the daughter of a tribal chief on a remote island. Her village never ventures beyond the reef because of the inherent danger of the ocean. However, the island is dying, and the only solution requires venturing across the sea.
Historians don't know why Polynesian people stopped exploring. Some, however, theorize that a change in wind patterns made it too difficult, which may be why Moana's father warned about sailing beyond the reef. In the movie, the rough seas are attributed to the loss of Te fiti's heart, which was stolen by Maui.
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.
After Te Feti's heart is stolen, she becomes the lava demon Te Ka and curses Motunui a millennium later, resulting in a blight. At the time of the blight, Moana's people had stopped traveling a long time ago and were protecting themselves using a reef.
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.
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.
In Disney's movie "Moana," Maui's hook was not used to return Te Fiti's heart because it had been lost for a long time, and Maui himself had lost the ability to use it.
The reasons behind the change of name are not completely clear, but a tweet from Disney España gives an important clue: 'Moana' is registered as a trademark in Spain, and in a number of other European countries, hence the change to Vaiana in Europe.
Te Fiti's island was based on Tahiti. While Moana combines aspects of many Polynesian cultures, there are a few islands that more closely resemble Motunui than others. Geographically and visually, Motunui closely resembles Tutuila and Tetiꞌaroa — both of which were reportedly visited by Disney's production team.
Merida and Pocahontas are the only Princesses to not be seen married, or have wedding dresses in the franchise. Belle and a few others were featured in Disney's Beautiful Brides book.
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.
