Moana (Disney character)

After directing The Princess and the Frog (2009), Clements and Musker started working on an adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Mort,[1] but problems with acquiring the necessary film rights prevented them from continuing with that project. To avoid a recurrence of that issue, they pitched three original ideas.[2] The genesis of one of those ideas (the one that was ultimately green-lit) occurred in 2011, when Musker began reading up on Polynesian mythology, and learned of the heroic exploits of the demigod Māui. Intrigued with the rich culture of Polynesia, he felt it would be a suitable subject for an animated film. Shortly thereafter, Musker and Clements wrote a treatment and pitched it to John Lasseter, who recommended that both of them should go on research trips.[3][4] Accordingly, in 2012, Clements and Musker went on research trips to Fiji, Samoa, and Tahiti to meet the people of the South Pacific Ocean and learn about their culture.[5] At first, they had planned to make the film entirely about Maui, but their initial research trips inspired Clements to pitch a new idea focused on the young daughter of a chief.[6]

Clements and Musker were fascinated to learn during their research that the people of Polynesia abruptly stopped making long-distance voyages about three thousand years ago. Their navigational traditions predated those of European explorers, beginning around 300 CE. Native people of the Pacific possessed knowledge of the world and their place in it prior to the incursion of foreigners. For example, Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) were well aware of the existence of far away islands, had names for these places, and were interested in exploring them to benefit their societies. This voyaging heritage was made possible by a geographical knowledge system based on individual perspective rather than the European cardinal direction system. The reasons for the halt of this voyaging tradition remain unknown, but scholars have offered climate change and resulting shifts in ocean currents and wind patterns as one possible explanation.[7] Native peoples of the Pacific resumed voyaging again a thousand years later. Clements and Musker set the film at that point in time, about two thousand years ago, on a fictional island in the central Pacific Ocean, which drew inspiration from elements of the real-life island nations of Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga.[8]

Taika Waititi wrote the initial screenplay,[9] but went home to New Zealand in 2012 to focus on his newborn first child and What We Do in the Shadows.[10] Years later, Waititi joked that all that was left of his original draft was "EXT: OCEAN – DAY".[10] The first draft focused on Moana as the sole daughter in a family with "five or six brothers",[11] in which gender played into the story. However, the brothers and gender-based theme were deleted from the story, as the directors thought Moana's journey should be about finding herself.[4] A subsequent draft presented Moana's father as the one who wanted to resume navigation, but it was rewritten to have him oppose navigation so he would not overshadow Moana.[4] Instead, Pamela Ribon came up with the idea of a grandmother character for the film,[12] who would serve as a mentor linking Moana to ancient traditions.[11] Another version focused on Moana rescuing her father, who had been lost at sea. The film's story changed drastically during the development phase, and that idea ultimately survived only as a subtle element of the father's backstory.[13]

The directors auditioned hundreds of young women from the Pacific Islands. In October 2015, Auliʻi Cravalho was officially chosen as Moana's voice actress. Cravalho was discovered during a charity event, without knowing that the agent who had attended those auditions was the same for Moana.[14] Agent Rachel Sutton confirmed that Cravalho was the last girl to be seen on the last day of casting.[15] Producer Osnat Shurer said: "We were looking for someone who could embody the character, with all the strength and commitment, humor, heart and compassion. When we met Auliʻi, she was just bringing Moana to life."[16] Cravalho described Moana as a strong girl with a big temperament, determined and courageous,[17] deeply fascinated by the ocean and eager to explore it,[18] calling her a model for everyone, not just for girls.[19] Cravalho reprised the role in 2017, dubbing the character again in the special Hawaiian-language dubbing of the movie.[20][21]

The creative team decided to create for Moana a realistic model with which girls could identify themselves,[22] strong enough to be credible in activities like swimming, climbing a tree and jumping off a cliff.[23] To make the hair more realistic and expressive, a new program, Quicksilver, was created.[24] Disney Elastic Rods was created to support twist for Moana's curly hair. New twist information was also needed which lead to a new data structure, the Multicurve.[25] To make the hair look realistic when wet, animators had models with similar hair to Moana's dunk their head in water.[26] When Moana's voice actress was chosen, the appearance and personality of the protagonist had already been completed, so the shared resemblance between Auliʻi Cravalho and the character turned out to be a simple coincidence. Furthermore, during the animation process, the Disney animators were able to integrate some of Cravalho's mannerisms into Moana's behavior.[27]

The costume designers wanted to make Moana's dress as authentic to her culture as possible. Visual development artist Neysa Bové stated: "With Moana, we did so much research with the Pacific Islands as far as what materials they had at that time. This is supposed to take place 2,000 years ago, so we didn't really have any photo reference of what they were at the time, but we did get some material reference from our Oceanic Trust." For example, the red colour of Moana's dress was used to signify royalty at the time and since buttons did not exist, Bové added a boar's tusk to keep the dress together. Moana's top is called a tapa and is made of mulberry while her skirt is made of pandanas. Bové added a slit at the front of Moana's dress so Moana could do the different activities she did in the film. Lots of exploration was done for Moana's necklace which is seen throughout most of the film.[28]

We found this abalone shell. It's actually a mollusk, and you find this on all the Pacific Islands; it's something they use quite a bit. What's beautiful about it is that it sort of looks like a rock until you start scraping that away, and you reveal this beautiful abalone beneath it with all these ocean colors … I sort of added a curve to the shell and it's a nice juxtaposition between land and sea, and as a voyager she uses the stars to navigate, so I added some star carvings up on top of the shell.

— Bové, Disney Style[28]

Moana is an adventurous and stubborn girl who loves the ocean and legends. She takes her role as the new leader of Motunui very seriously, feeling at the same time her duty to honor the legacy that her skilled navigators left to her people. Indeed, despite being impulsive, she is also wise because she recognizes the importance of "knowing her mountain", that is, the peoples and experiences that preceded her, to know herself.[29] Moana has long curly hair[25] and light brown eyes.[30]

A "meta" version of the character appears with other Disney princesses and Elsa and Anna from Frozen in the Wreck-It Ralph sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet. When some of the princesses describe to Vanellope von Schweetz how they stare at "important water" to gain inspiration for their songs, Moana volunteers that she stares at the ocean. Later, when Ralph is falling from a tower and needs saving by the princesses, Moana causes water from a fountain to spiral upwards so that Elsa can freeze it into a slide to slow Ralph's fall.

In December 2020, it was announced that Moana would have a self-titled spin-off TV series debuting on Disney+ in 2023.[39]

Moana is a meetable character at most Disney Parks and is located in Adventureland. She is occasionally joined by Maui.[40]