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Moana is one of the most beloved Disney movies of all time, with its influence spread across generations. The 2016 animation won the hearts of the audience as well as critics. It was a major hit among children and grownups alike. The movie was an instant success and grossed $248.7 million in the US alone. In fact, the character's popularity was so vast that she got inducted as a Disney princess.
It has a Rotten Tomatoes approval rating of 95% from the critics, and it also holds the title of the second most streamed movie of 2021, according to data by Deadline.
The movie follows Moana, an adventurous teenager who sails across the ocean to a demigod after plants and fishes on her island start dying mysteriously.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Disney recently announced that a live-action version of the animated original is under development. Since then, fans have been ecstatic and even started imagining their favorite stars in the titular role.
Moana: 5 things one may not know about the Disney character
1) The meaning of the name Moana
The name Moana has Polynesian roots, and it simply means Ocean. It fits perfectly with the story Disney was trying to tell that centers around a girl’s adventure in the ocean.
According to She Knows, in the Maori language, the name translates to "large body of water." It becomes clear from this fact how much the filmmakers tried to be authentic to the Polynesian culture. The name also does not have a gender.
The name has significance in the movie. Fans can see that since the beginning, the ocean has acted as Moana’s guide and protector. She even tells Maui that the ocean is a friend of hers. The Ocean plays a huge role in the story, and so it reflects in the name as well.
2) First Disney princess with a realistic body-type
This Polynesian princess looks much different than other Disney princesses, the reason being that the character was drawn more realistically. The directors, Ron Clements and John Musker made a conscious choice to let her stand out in Disney. They decided not to give her a stereotypical and unattainable body type.
In an interview with Buzzfeed, John Musker said that it was a deliberate attempt, which was inspired by not wanting her to be similar to all the other princesses. They wanted her to be someone who was capable of action.
Musker added:
"Even the visual development drawings we had done and stuff, based on drawings of people in the South Pacific...it just seemed right for this character to have her look like she could physically hold her own for what kind of stunts we wanted her to do, and the physicality of the role."
3) Moana could have been a Western millennial
While many of the ideas for the movie were scrapped, the most prominent one was that the heroine didn't have her Polynesian roots. The idea was to make Moana a Westerner dropped into an old King Arthur kind of world.
While speaking to Entertainment magazine, the directors discussed this and said that the film would have had a time-travel aspect. It would have shown the heroine going back and discovering her ancestors. They added that she would have had an iPhone and all the modern stuff before discovering the ancient culture.
However, they decided not to go with that story.
4) Moana’s hair
Her hair is the most treasured possession of every Disney princess. From Rapunzel's long blonde locks to Snow White's jet-black ones, hair is an important aspect of every Disney princess. However, Moana's hair was a little different than that of the other princesses, and animators had to strive twice as hard to make her curly hair look as real as possible.
To bring even more realism, Disney's animation studio created a whole new software Quicksilver. It was created to simulate real hair movement instead of animators drawing how they wanted the hair to move.
5) You're Welcome was originally going to be a Moana song
The song You’re Welcome was originally conceptualized as a song that Moana would sing when she and Maui met. The song was supposed to break the ice between the two and create a great bond.
Musker said in a conversation with a publication that when she first met Maui, she idolized him. However, when she saw the "down-and-out guy," she needed to get him going and remind him that he had all the great things. However, they decided to switch things up and give the song to Maui to highlight his boastful nature.
Although the announcement has been made of a live-action version of the Disney original, there is still no official release date on the horizon. Meanwhile, fans can enjoy the 2016 classic movie on Disney+ and Amazon Prime.
