On Monday the whole family was treated to an advanced screening of Disney’s Moana. This is a beautiful film that was both funny and amazing. The music was some of the best I have heard in a long while. We ended up listening to the Moana Spotify station non-stop since we saw the movie. Songs have been stuck in our heads and smiles on our faces remembering that movie.

Moana as a character is fantastic. She is strong, determined and is searching for her place in the world. She is drawn to the ocean against the wishes of her father. Despite her love for her family she disobeys her father and journeys the open ocean. It is her strong love for her family and her connection to her people that she does this. She is on a journey of self discovery and it will take all of her courage and determination to succeed.

A major part of the movie was about wayfinding. Wayfinding is Polynesian navigation that has been used for thousands of years to make long voyages across thousands of miles of open ocean. I learned about this during the Summer when I visited the Hokulea when it sailed into Woods Hole. The ships in Moana look very much like the Hokulea. Seeing Moana learn how to to sail was inspiring.

The movie was also very funny. We loved Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Maui. He had some great lines in the movie. From the trailer you see him jump into a deep hole and a few minutes later yells “I’m Still Falling!” On our way home from the movie we said that it looked like Andrew was falling asleep. His eyes were closed and he looked asleep, but he pops open one eye and says, “I’m still falling.” Even funnier after having seen the movie.

The water was a character in the movie, too. You can see some more funny moments with water in the featurette below.

Behind The Scenes of MOANA – “Working With Water”:

MOANA stars Dwayne Johnson (voice of “Maui”), newcomer Auli’i Cravalho (voice of “Moana”) was directed by Disney legends Ron Clements & Don Hall (“Aladdin,” “The Little Mermaid,” “The Princess and the Frog,” etc.) with music by Lin-Manuel Miranda (of “Hamilton” fame). But there is another main character in MOANA that was sometimes difficult to work with…

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MOANA is now playing in theatres everywhere!