Review of Moana (2016) by Kyle M — 26 Mar 2017

When it comes to Disney, there's a defining magic that touches your heart while the only prediction you're able to make prior to a new feature is that it's going to be another great picture - typical for Disney always steadying between "really good" and "great". The magic may not be perfect considering couple of bumps in its filmography, but it's always nice to think about the magical evolution with animated roots. The studio's latest animated masterpiece "Moana" provokes those thoughts with a predictable outcome and nostalgia towards the growth.

Taking from the title, it's already established that it's going to be a cultural treat, as in Hawaiian with Disney's creative spin. The titular heroine (voiced by Auli'i Cravalho) finds herself wanting to go beyond her home island's reef just not for an adventure as first, but to save her island's sustainability from dying. The seclusion of her people remain on the island for their safety and security is due to a centuries-old curse that started spreading. As she embarks on her journey with monstrous obstacles, Moana would learn more about her ancestry, with the reluctant help of Maui the demigod (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) in his own journey of redemption.

"Moana", as predicted, continues Disney's run of great animated features, especially as a successor to "Frozen", "The Princess and the Frog" and "The Lion King". What makes them great is the heart as a whole, filled with beautiful - evolved form of really good - animation, talented voice acting, excellent music, thorough writing, and fun charm that includes nice humor. Also included is the take on Disney's traditional animated formula towards plot and character developments, with the only change being the unique twists that shifts into the unpredictable route, which enhances the enjoyment. In one moment in the film, the character Maui stated the old routine of a princess broadening her horizon that Disney done, and Moana's a character refutes that by changing it around in her way.

In addition to the formula, it goes the same towards the musical numbers throughout the film in pivotal moments under the same fashion that doesn't get tired. As another aspect that's typical for Disney, these numbers were set to express the characters' personalities and feelings, including in some sense of situation or a further backstory as seen in this case, with mostly a moral value being communicated. Alongside the uplifting and catchy, fun spirit in the songs, there are some Hawaiian tunes sensed within the cultural atmosphere to the lyrics and score, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda from "Hamilton" and the Oceanic band Opetaia Foa'i, along with composer Mark Mancina who contributed to "The Lion King".

The performances of Johnson and Cravalho headlines the film's cast as their dynamic/budding chemistry can be described as somewhat electric through humorous and emotional moments between their respective characters. Johnson's performance as Maui, who speaks more modern than the setting period, was like Robin Williams' performance as Genie in "Aladdin" in terms of being charmingly comedic and energetic within the respective cases, with the benefit of his Hawaiian genes and singing voice. Cravalho's breakthrough performance was at a level of tonal magnificence with emotional energy and heartening charm at a realistic age that shows a perfect sync between the actress and the animated character.

It's been since Disney's prehistoric storytelling in "Dinosaur", a segment in "Fantasia 2000" after couple of practices in their other films prior, and a random storytelling attempt in the sci-fi genre on "Chicken Little" that their animated films started being regularly animated as computer-generated imagery. The evolving addition improves after each film in their own standards of imaginative creativity - with a few genres being fresh to the formula. As it was mentioned before, "Moana" shows how much Disney animation evolved since "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" while being a successor to "Frozen" that was a callback to Disney's Renaissance era consisting "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King" to name a few. It was directed by the often collaborated duo to contemporary Disney animation Ron Clements and John Musker at their first time helming a CGI project. The only 2D animation that was hand-drawn as a bonus treat by animator Eric Goldberg, meshed on the 3D surface in the film, is Maui's living tattoo as a supportive conscience to the character.

The mastery of (most) Disney animated features are usually complimented towards the typical qualities whilst following similar formulas between each other and similar tastes in music that are done with developments arranged differently depends on the genre. "Moana" continues that on its own standing with further magical enhancement - same goes to the twists and (literal) turns with an intriguing, yet questionable take on the Hawaiian culture, and the morality of feminism. The ranking of the film would be the top contender for Best Animated Feature as it's this year's "Inside Out" that's still typically heartwarming albeit less emotional, over the other earlier release "Zootopia", and one of Disney's bar-raised best between "The Lion King" and "Frozen". (A+).