The only other pre-2020 movie in the top 10 was Disney stablemate Frozen, which made way more in theaters than the first Moana did. Moana also ranked fourth among all movies in 2022, second in both 2021 and 2020, and, well, that takes us to the beginning of its home service, Disney+, roughly five years ago. By these rough but seemingly undeniable metrics, it seems reasonable to claim that Moana, a movie that in 2016 was outgrossed by both its fellow Disney release Zootopia and its holiday-season rival Sing, is the most-watched family film of the 2020s. If Elsa from Frozen was hoping to hang on to that particular title, she may have to let it go.
Of course, Frozen still has a hypnotic hold on the younger demos; look at any Halloween of the past decade, and you’ll see plenty of little Elsas (and a few Annas) roaming the streets. Beyond Frozen’s particular innovation of including not one but two singing princesses, one with bona fide superpowers, Disney animated movies have always flexed remarkable staying power, especially when they sing catchy songs.
Moana has a princess (of sorts, even if she claims that she’s just the “daughter of the chief”), a great song score (featuring contributions from Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton fame), and a sweet, relatable story about that chief’s daughter (Auliʻi Cravalho) yearning for adventure, then finding it when she takes it upon herself to seek out demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) to help save her native island. Still, even The Rock playing what’s arguably his best and most fitting big-screen role doesn’t fully explain why Moana has been able to consistently out-stream the blockbuster likes of Frozen, or newer and also-beloved titles such as Encanto.
Like nearly every parent who’s had a child since 2010 or so, I have some experience in this area. My daughter was just one year old when Moana was released in the fall of 2016, so she was barely ready to watch a movie for more than 20 minutes or so at home, let alone go out and see one in theaters. But I went to the press screening to file a review, and though I’d enjoyed plenty of other Disney cartoons, I was struck by my emotional response to this one.
~ How far she went: why did the Moana films become such a phenomenon? (The Guardian)
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Parents of young children should let loose a hearty “chee hoo” upon the Thanksgiving-timed release of “Moana 2.” That’s the long weekend’s entertainment sorted, with a sequel that comes close to the soaring storytelling and exhilarating anthems of the first film, which delighted young audiences eight years ago, resulting in countless Halloween costumes and babies belting about how far they’ll go.That first film, which celebrates the strength and power of young girls — as well as Polynesian culture with reverence and specificity — was a balm in the uncertain November of 2016. It was a massive box office hit and was nominated for two Academy Awards — for animated film and for original song for a tune by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
“Moana” felt revolutionary within the Disney canon because our spunky protagonist is decidedly not a princess (she’ll be the first to tell you that). She felt radical, especially for older generations that grew up on passive heroes whose lives were dictated by weddings or resistance to them. That Moana was a girl of action, an explorer — strong, capable, brave, family-oriented and empathetic — made her a remarkable role model, and the character has lost none of her moxie in the sequel.
Although the impressive voice cast of Pacific Islanders, including original Moana voicer Auliʻi Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson, has returned (with a few additions), a new creative team has been assembled for the sequel, which was originally developed as a series and then reworked into a feature-length film. The good news is that the seams don’t show on the finished movie, which is as visually dazzling and culturally rich as the first and an apt continuation of Moana’s story. She is now a revered “wayfinder” in her community on a tiny Pacific island.
Moana has a desire to explore even farther into the ocean, to go beyond where she’s ever gone before — specifically to connect with other people. During a ritual ceremony, she receives a vision of an island, Motufetu, that once connected all the people of the ocean but that has since been cursed by a god named Nalo. Moana puts together a crew that includes her friend and historian Moni (Hualalai Chung), boatmaker Loto (Rose Matafeo) and farmer Kele (David Fane), in order to find Motofetu.
Along the way, they’ll have to scoop up the demigod Maui (Johnson), who has been waylaid inside a giant clam by Nalo, with only the company of a mysterious and nefarious bat-woman, Matangi (Awhimai Fraser). The entire team will have to collaborate — even with the feisty bunch of coconut warriors known as the Kakamora — in order to break Nalo’s curse, achieve their goal and assemble the community of Moana’s dream.
Image: Moana/Disney/YouTube
[ed. My granddaughter loves Moana, and I do too. The animation is terrific (of course), and the dialog infused with lots of sly cross-generational humor. Plus, I grew up in Hawaii ("chee hoo"!) But, like everything, not everybody gets it. See also: Moana 2 Wiki here.]
