Moana (2016)

Not to put a finer point on it, but this is one gloriously beautiful film.

Really.

Look at it.

Disney had a pretty big resurgence following the success of 'Frozen' and 'Moana' is another one of those uplifting films that makes you feel great about yourself when watching it.

This time, the story takes a dabble in Polynesian mythology and history. Moana is the daughter of the chief on the island of Motunui. She is destined to become the next chief, but everyone is rather stuck in their ways and no one ventures far from the island, whereas Moana is curiously attracted to the sea. Her grandmother tells her tales of how the goddess Te Fiti lost her heart because Maui, a trickster demigod, stole it. Now there is a blight spreading across the ocean. One day, this reaches Motunui and Moana feels she has no choice but to find Maui and restore the heart of Te Fiti.

Seems straightforward enough, right?

Oh, and she has a stowaway on board in the shape of the most hilarious chicken you'll ever see in the form of HeiHei. Voiced by Alan Tudyk, no less. Not that Heihei speaks, but I thought it was worth mentioning that Alan Tudyk spent some of his time voicing a chicken. A rather special chicken, but not special in the way you might think.

Okay, he's a complete idiot.

The cool thing about 'Moana' is that they took the trouble of going for genuine Polynesian art and designs, and the people are also modelled after real Polynesians. They didn't get the half-assed whitewash treatment like, say 'Pocahontas'. Also, actors and actresses of Polynesian descent were hired to provide the voices, which is a nice touch. It's easy to recognize Termueira Morrison as chief Tui. For some starpower, they picked The Rock to do the voice of Maui and it fits. Maui is also a big mouthed show off, a lot like The Rock's classic Attitude Era character. It works. He even pulls off a song, and that one is catchy as all hell. You'll be humming "You're welcome!" for days. Trust me.

The story is a simple enough fetch quest, where hey first need to find Maui's magical fish hook and then go on to find Te Fiti. The Realm of Monsters is also very imaginative. There's even a Gojira-reference in there. Which makes sense, seeing as Gojira was created by nuclear bombs in the area later on.

The story is a lot of fun, the characters are funny and endearing, but what really sticks to my mind is how beautiful it all looks. The hairphysics, the waterphysics, the colourschemes, ... It's all perfect eyecandy. If you want a good example, check the scene in Tamatoa's lair, especially when he turns off the light.

'Moana' is one of those excellent Disneyfilms, that barely has anything that doesn't fit. It even pokes fun at Disney tropes at times. ("You're a girl with an animal sidekick. That makes you a princess.") Anyway, this one is heartily recommended!

Also: in Europe, the film is known as 'Vaiana', because there is a German pornstar who's called Moana and they didn't want kids to find it on Google. So now you'll all Google Moana the pornstar.

You naughty people you.