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Starring
Auli’i Cravalho – Moana (voice)
Dwayne Johnson – Maui (voice)
Rachel House – Gramma Tala (voice)
Temuera Morrison – Chief Tui (voice)
From charlottesmartypants.com
Summary
“Moana sets sail on a daring mission to save her people. Along the way, she meets the once mighty demigod Maui–together they cross the ocean on a fun-filled, action-packed voyage.”
-From Amazon.com
Review
This was probably one of my favorite movies of 2016, and may be making it into one of my favorite animation movies. This was such an incredible story and just so different from everything else that has come out. I loved how it was based around Hawaiian Islands and had a lot of native kind of ideas going on from the tattoos that the tribal members were getting (which was the traditional tattooing process and a right of passage), to the names, songs and the general lore behind the entire movie as well.
It was just so unique.
The animations were fantastic as well. It was so colorful and tropical, I felt so warm watching it wrapped up with my fuzzy blanket, a cat in my lap and a cup of tea next to me. The bright blues and greens really made it what it was.
Also the dynamics between Moana and Maui was fantastic. It was like a child-to-child relationship but you knew that one was a demi-god and it was nice to see some serious character development between them both, which is of course typical for a children movie. And of course I love The Rock and seeing him in another movie geared towards children (like The Toothfairy) was fantastic. And oh man, who knew that he could sing! There were a few musical numbers in the movie but not too many that it made it one of those ‘gross’ kids movies. The songs were also fantastic! Also the songs were so meaningful, especially if you are older and just really listen to the soundtrack and also listen to what is happening in the story. It had me in tears more times than I would care to admit. Just listen to one of my favorites (thanks to one of my friends who sung this as well).
It was also really nice to see a very strong female character who was strong headed, didn’t fall in love like a few others, and just was bad-ass in general. It was so refreshing and I loved it!
I mean this movie was absolutely fantastic and I do recommend picking it up once it comes out and giving it a watch. I know that I’m going getting this one and forcing my family to watch it. Mwahaha, but I’m sure they’ll love it, just as I’m sure you will as well!
Enjoy and let me know what you think!
