I love Moana. My daughters love Moana. Everyone loves Moana, right? Well, maybe not everyone, and that’s OK, but I do. And here’s why.

Where to begin? Moana has got to be up there with the best Disney films ever. And I was at peak Disney age for that run of incredible animated films that revived Disney in the early 90s (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King etc). So I know a classic Disney film when I see one.

And then I had kids – two daughters – and there was Frozen. So much Frozen. I do love Frozen though, so that was cool. But it was nice for a new thing to come along. Thank you Moana.

So here’s what I love most.

 

The music

There are many things that I love about this movie, but I’m putting music up the top. Because it is so good. I cried about 5 times in this movie, and every time it’s the music that did it to me. It’s heartfelt and emotional, it’s clever and it’s catchy as hell.

Of course we bought the soundtrack, and I estimate that we’ve now listened to it around 47 million times. But you know what? I’m still not sick of it. Which is great, because neither are my kids!

This may be controversial, but the signature song – How Far I’ll Go – is not the best song in the movie. It’s good, but they didn’t nail it like they did with Let it Go from Frozen. But no matter, because there are so many other incredible ones on there. My top three: Where You Are, You’re Welcome, Shiny.

The music was a collaboration between legendary Pacific songwriter Opetaia Foa’i, Marc Mancina (of Lion King fame) and Lin Manuel Miranda. I’m not generally one for celebrity crushes, but I’ve definitely got one for Lin. He’s an incredible lyricist, he sings and raps, and just seems like a super nice guy. I know, I’ve lost all reason. And through Moana I discovered his hip hop musical Hamilton which might be the best thing I’ve ever heard, ever. Please go look it up.

A princess with no love interest

The writers slyly have Moana claim that she’s not a princess. But in every other (Disney) way she fits the ‘princess’ template: young woman with pluck and smarts sets off into a dangerous world to find her destiny. But what is missing? A love interest. Hallelujah!

There is certainly no dashing prince to sweep her off her feet. More than that, there is not one single love interest in sight. Even the more feminist princesses – take Anna and Elsa as an example – couldn’t escape the idea of a male companion.

Finally we can focus on all the awesome qualities of our heroine – like kindness, bravery, intelligence – and finish without a “happily ever after”.

 

The incredible visuals

I don’t know anything about animation. It’s not generally something I notice. But I definitely  noticed it in Moana. It is strikingly beautiful, and paired with music it just makes you (read: me) go all teary.

Like this scene, where toddler Moana meets the ocean for the first time – I barely took a breath for two whole minutes.

I think they got the culture stuff right

It’s always tricky, and I know there have been some missteps along the way, but Moana treats the Pacific culture with care and reverence. That’s amazing.

Disney has a history of perpetuating damaging stereotypes but it seems like they tried extra hard to avoid that for Moana.

Consider this excellent article in Vanity Fair:

“[Disney’s] 2011 trip to Polynesia, the first of many, led to the birth of what they would later name the Oceanic Trust. Consisting of a group of anthropologists, cultural practitioners, historians, linguists, and choreographers from islands including Samoa, Tahiti, Mo’orea, and Fiji, this group was integral in shaping some of the finest details of Moana, from character design to song lyrics.”

And the evidence of their success, for me, has been to watch the movie in Fiji, where everyone went crazy for it. It is so rare to see Pacific culture on a mainstream stage, and everyone (that I know) here is proud and thrilled with the result.

Fijians definitely love Moana.

But maybe not as much as me.