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DISNEY’S ‘MOANA’: TRADITION RENEWED

The Walt Disney Animation Studio has been on a winning streak, and Moana continues that momentum. Beautiful to behold, especially with its lush South Seas setting, it relies on certain tried-and-true Disney tropes…but with a strong, likable heroine (performed by 14-year-old newcomer Auli’i Cravalho), a brawny adversary-turned-cohort (voiced by Dwayne Johnson), and fresh-sounding songs it’s sure to please any audience.

Given that it is tracing a traditional “heroine’s journey” I found it a bit too long, needlessly packed with incident. We could have reached the same satisfying conclusion much sooner without sacrificing the heart of the tale. But there is much to enjoy here: Johnson’s willingness to mock his macho image (and even sing), the Greek-chorus commentary from his animated tattoos, and the startling animation of the ocean itself as a character who helps Moana fulfill her destiny.

The story derives from myths and lore of Pacific Islanders; it is highly respectful but never weighed down by them. Like almost every contemporary Disney heroine, Moana disobeys her father (the chief of their dying island) by venturing beyond the reef to the larger world outside. She seeks to fulfill an ancient quest and reinvigorate her people for generations to come. In order to do so, she must make peace with a muscular, self-aggrandizing demi-god named Maui and accomplish a nearly-superhuman task.

Moana was directed (and cowritten) by Disney veterans John Musker and Ron Clements, who were responsible for The Little Mermaid, Aladdin,the underrated Hercules and The Princess and the Frog. Although they have never worked in the CG realm before they know what they’re doing in terms of story and character development and it shows. Many of Moana’s most consistent laughs come from a silly-looking chicken sidekick, while much of its warmth derives from Moana’s grandmother, an aged but wise and graceful islander whom others have written off as crazy.

With its mixture of hip-hop influence provided by Lin-Manuel Miranda and traditional South Seas sounds and rhythms from Opetaia Foa’i and collaborator Mark Mancina the score reflects the movie as a whole: a satisfying mélange of old-school and new-era Disney.

Leonard Maltin is one of the world’s most respected film critics and historians. He is best known for his widely-used reference work Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide and its companion volume Leonard Maltin’s Classic Movie Guide, now in its third edition, as well as his thirty-year run on television’s Entertainment Tonight. He teaches at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and appears regularly on Reelz Channel and Turner Classic Movies. His books include The 151 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen, Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons, The Great Movie Comedians, The Disney Films, The Art of the Cinematographer, Movie Comedy Teams, The Great American Broadcast, and Leonard Maltin’s Movie Encyclopedia. He served two terms as President of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, is a voting member of the National Film Registry, and was appointed by the Librarian of Congress to sit on the Board of Directors of the National Film Preservation Foundation. He hosted and co-produced the popular Walt Disney Treasures DVD series and has appeared on innumerable television programs and documentaries. He has been the recipient of awards from the American Society of Cinematographers, the Telluride Film Festival, Anthology Film Archives, and San Diego’s Comic-Con International. Perhaps the pinnacle of his career was his appearance in a now-classic episode of South Park. (Or was it Carmela consulting his Movie Guide on an episode of The Sopranos?) He holds court at leonardmaltin.com. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook; you can also listen to him on his weekly podcast: Maltin on Movies. — [Artwork by Drew Friedman]

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