Moana

Here’s a great example of Disney using mythology (this time Polynesian), to tell the story of how the islands were formed and how the people settled in the exotic locations of Tahiti, Fiji, Hawaii, Guam and the like.  The tone is that of Hercules and Mulan with another demi-god taking the reins this time (Maui) to guide and assist the hero in making the long journey to restore the “heart” he stole from Mother Earth, also known as Te’fiti.  The hero is a heroine, Moana, a feisty headstrong chief’s daughter, who we see age from toddler to teenager on a mission, and the sidekick, HeiHei, is a pop-eyed chicken.  There’s action and adventure, heart-string pulling with sage advice from Grandma, a couple of nasty demons who would do anything to stop the heart from going home, some under the sea action and a bit of the parting of the waves and magic that makes this whole story, in a weird way, believable from a mythological point of view.  The songs are catchy, most notably “You’re Welcome” and “How Far I’ll Go”, now that you have “Let It Go” out of your head, I guess it’s time to put a new catch phrase back in there.  Could be worse, it could be a terrible song and sung by a not so great singer.  Fortunately, the voice and singer of Moana is a newcomer,  16 year-old Auli'i Cravalho, and Maui, as portrayed by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.  What’s sort of surprising is the chicken, Hei Hei, is voiced by actor Alan Tuydek (Serenity, Firefly, A Knight's Tale), although he has no dialogue, just squawking.  There are credits at the end of the film that you’ll want to see and a classic line from Jemaine Clement (Tamatoa) that refers to another Disney crustacean.  Priceless.  Rating:  (4 stars) A lovely bunch of coconuts, a nautilus shell, some breadfruit, and red sails in the sunset.