We had the privilege of going to an early showing of Disney’s Moana last night, and it was nothing short of spectacular.
After careful consideration, I think Moana (voiced by Auili’i Cravalho) is my new Disney Princess. She’s strong, she’s brave and SHE does the rescuing!
Watching the movie I realized that this is exactly the type of character I want my daughter and son looking up to.
The main themes you’ll notice are bravery, friendship and doing the right thing, even when it’s hard or even scary. It encourages people to be who they really are, and act with kindness.
I don’t think I have ever walked out of a movie thinking to myself that I’d need to get the soundtrack asap, but this is one that I desperately want!
While I can’t quite pick a favorite song, they were all AMAZING, the “You’re Welcome” song one definitely was a jaw-dropper simply because I didn’t know the Rock can sing!!! It was an adorable song and I loved watching his tattoos dance. Here’s a clip of Maui’s first song he sings to Moana when they meet.
I can’t wait to hear my kids singing these around the house, especially the ones that weren’t in English! It’s going to be adorable.
I love this “behind the scenes” gem about working with water. MOANA stars Dwayne Johnson (voice of “Maui”), newcomer Auli’i Cravalho (voice of “Moana”) was directed by Disney legends Ron Clements & Don Hall (“Aladdin,” “The Little Mermaid,” “The Princess and the Frog,” etc.) with music by Lin-Manuel Miranda (of “Hamilton” fame). But there is another main character in MOANA that was sometimes difficult to work with…
You can see how much fun the cast had together off screen, but the friendship between Maui and Moana was fun to watch on screen. I really appreciated that the entire movie emphasized the love of family and the friendship type of love, but never once covered romance. It was clear Moana’s main concern as a princess was taking care of her people and she does that well and with so much innovation and bravery.
I know the first question most people will be asking is what age kids can see Moana. For my 4 year old, we’ll be waiting until the movie is out of theaters to watch it. She can be sensitive about scary things and one of the monsters I think will be too much for her in a dark theater on a big screen.
I do anticipate my 6 year old loving the movie. He’s very logical, so fictional monsters don’t bother him as much since he knows they aren’t real. He will definitely be a fan of shape-shifting, demi-god Maui.
If your child doesn’t scare by other Disney bad guys then I think Moana is perfect for any age. The lessons it teaches about the power of friendship and bravery I want my kids learning right away!
The characters are strong and developed beautifully, truly this was just what we needed in this weird year of 2016!
Even though he is a legend, I love that Moana’s first task is to rescue him. It says a lot, and I appreciate the strong lead that Moana takes through the movie. There’s nothing she can’t learn and she’s very open to doing whatever needs to be done to save her people and save the world. Even if she has to drag Maui kicking and screaming.
This is a gorgeous film, and I’m looking forward to seeing it again with my son!
If your kids are already excited by all things Moana check out these free printable Moana activity sheets and these free printable Moana coloring sheets.
Nicole says
An absolutely beautiful movie; a great revisitation of an old legend with a strong theme of staying true to Who You Are. The voice actors are all well-chosen here: instead of the kind of “stunt casting” you sometimes see in other films where you’re constantly made aware of the actor’s identity, all the voice actors in this film become the characters. And as far as the animation goes, there are some great subtleties to the acting that really bring these digitally-generated characters to life.