I thought this was really good! I was also interested to read about the cultural trust of Pacific Islander scholars and activists that helped shape the move and this thoughtful reaction from another Polynesian commentator.
The Rock's big number is on YouTube in its entirety, and the songs are delightful in general (if you like contemporary musicals/L-MM, anyway):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79DijItQXMM
― slathered in cream and covered with stickers (silby), Wednesday, 30 November 2016 02:35 (seven years ago) link
I just got back from seeing this, it was pretty good. The Rock's song was definitely a highlight. I may have snoozed out a bit somewhere during the middle.
Interesting that Disney made a "princess" movie that had absolutely no interest in romance of any sort.
― Al Moon Faced Poon (Moodles), Wednesday, 30 November 2016 03:33 (seven years ago) link
I was surprised the Jemaine Clement song wasn't written by him, because it was very Flight of the Conchords in Bowie mode
― Vinnie, Wednesday, 30 November 2016 03:40 (seven years ago) link
This movie was great, looked great, loved how slow it was. My kids love the songs (or at least the two or so really good songs).
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 30 November 2016 03:42 (seven years ago) link
this was good and deserves more critical attention. art design / animation were stellar, especially the luminous effects of the stone, the manta, the ghosts. and the mad mad coconuts. also, every time moana and maui spoke about te ka, i heard them say thit kho which made me hungry and confused.
― remy bean, Wednesday, 7 December 2016 22:14 (seven years ago) link
The main song clearly borrows the melody from the original Tron theme..
― Spencer Chow, Saturday, 31 December 2016 04:40 (seven years ago) link
Liked this but that crab song was terrible. Good action sequences.
― Jeff, Saturday, 31 December 2016 17:34 (seven years ago) link
Just watched this on Netflix, and I'm surprised this thread is only 7 posts so far!
A lot of bits throughout the whole movie had me choking up, like all of the scenes with Moana and her Grandma/manta ray, and the resolution itself was well wrought.
But I'm sure there's been talk about the ending: after Moana's restored the island, it looks like their whole village is leaving the island, which was kind of weird.
Also, I expected that Moana would get a tattoo after beating the finale boss.
― Leee Media Naranja (Leee), Tuesday, 4 July 2017 19:00 (seven years ago) link
Did we even talk about it on the road movies nominations thread?
I feel like this is a good movie but not a great one, the songs are all just okay (jemaine's villain number in Rio is better, iirc) and I did appreciate the epic journey not feeling rushed quality of it, but at other times I feel like this was just a really amazing hair & water demo. Live action movies, shot on film, of people with long curly hair that gets wet don't have this much detail in them.
― El Tomboto, Tuesday, 4 July 2017 19:14 (seven years ago) link
I do like how both Maui and Moana put up their hair in the biggest battles. People in most action movies typically don't think to do that.
― Jeff, Tuesday, 4 July 2017 19:22 (seven years ago) link
It was fine but not particularly remarkable imo
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 4 July 2017 19:25 (seven years ago) link
it was remarkable beautiful to look at
― 🎵oooh, kevin has a place in perth🎵 (bizarro gazzara), Tuesday, 4 July 2017 19:36 (seven years ago) link
I kept thinking the chicken was going to turn out to be magic
― El Tomboto, Tuesday, 4 July 2017 19:59 (seven years ago) link
The villagers aren't leaving the island for good at the end, they're voyaging out to discover new islands as their ancestors used to do.
― heaven parker (anagram), Tuesday, 4 July 2017 19:59 (seven years ago) link
"Good not great" is where I am with it too. It was fun, and beautiful to look at, but not quite as rich or thoughtful as Zootopia. I appreciated that they didn't even bother with a love interest.
― some sad trombone Twilight Zone shit (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 4 July 2017 21:02 (seven years ago) link
i have now seen this twice and as a moana expert it is a good movie that people should view or perhaps review
― nice cage (m bison), Tuesday, 4 July 2017 21:09 (seven years ago) link
I've seen it about 20 times, my daughter loves it so much
― Universal LULU Nation (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 4 July 2017 21:13 (seven years ago) link
my son is a fan, he was singing "you're welcome" this weekend at grammas house
― nice cage (m bison), Tuesday, 4 July 2017 21:21 (seven years ago) link
People in Hawaii generally v stoked about this movie. It does its best to make Hawaiian and Polynesian culture look really good. Seems like Disney was trying to make amends for Pocahontas. I just saw it a couple weeks back and was wondering if there's some good scholarly work on the movie from the Hawaiian Studies department at the university here, but I've been too busy to look into it
― davey, Tuesday, 4 July 2017 21:43 (seven years ago) link
Yeah I've probably seen it at least 75 times. Thanks 3 year old. It's the fucking worst when you hear You're Welcome right before you walk out the door though. In your head all day.
― Jeff, Tuesday, 4 July 2017 21:45 (seven years ago) link
O hey I just saw the links in the first post, heh. Good stuff.
― davey, Tuesday, 4 July 2017 22:57 (seven years ago) link
Weird thing to say re: pocahantas since Hawaiians don't consider themselves native americans
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 4 July 2017 22:59 (seven years ago) link
Mid-Pacific Ocean is a long way from either American continent, so 'native American' would be a huge stretch (of open water) for Hawaiians (or any other Polynesians). We 'Americans' just happened to swallow them up during our colonial expansion.
― A is for (Aimless), Tuesday, 4 July 2017 23:10 (seven years ago) link
Hawaii also an actual kingdom/functional state w a government, head of state, laws, defined borders, diplomatic recognition by other countries, etc.
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 4 July 2017 23:15 (seven years ago) link
Davey knows all this i assume, Disney may just have seen the situations as analogous ie "hmm maybe we should do better w this 'ethnic studies' sorta stuff"
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 4 July 2017 23:19 (seven years ago) link
I learned more about polynesian folklore (esp. Maui, obv) because my daughter likes this movie than I ever would have otherwise, so they did a good job in that regard
― El Tomboto, Tuesday, 4 July 2017 23:24 (seven years ago) link
I liked the idea of this film when I first heard about it but I probably wasn't going to pay full ticket price for a musical starring The Rockthen I remembered I am a dad and also it's more appropriate to get choked up at these moves with the nuclear fam than when I'm by myself on a long airplane ride
― El Tomboto, Tuesday, 4 July 2017 23:33 (seven years ago) link
xpost to Jeff you didn't have a 3 yr old during the Age of Frozen, obsession was higher and way worse movie/songs
― Universal LULU Nation (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 5 July 2017 00:00 (seven years ago) link
no way dude Frozen has much better music if we're grading the musical aspec
― El Tomboto, Wednesday, 5 July 2017 00:11 (seven years ago) link
Free agent guard Derrick Rose will meet with the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, league sources tell ESPN.— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 5, 2017
― nice cage (m bison), Wednesday, 5 July 2017 00:54 (seven years ago) link
Blegh wrong thread, mods delete?
― nice cage (m bison), Wednesday, 5 July 2017 00:55 (seven years ago) link
woj is welcome here
― Universal LULU Nation (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 5 July 2017 01:22 (seven years ago) link
You're wojcome
― nice cage (m bison), Wednesday, 5 July 2017 01:37 (seven years ago) link
Disney may just have seen the situations as analogous ie "hmm maybe we should do better w this 'ethnic studies' sorta stuff"
Yah, this is what I was getting at. Disney deserves credit for all the hard work to set up the cultural trust (and actually listen to what they had to say) for Moana. Also, it's true for obvious reasons that Hawaiians generally identify with Pacific Islanders more than Native Americans (because they are actually Pacific Islanders), but many do feel a kinship with the latter as 'first nations' peoples. I know that for my girlfriend at least (who is part Hawaiian), the events her college organized to bring out Native American groups and facilitate cultural exchange had profound significance for her. So, these aspects of cultural identity are fluid, and that's part of what makes Moana interesting and complicated.
― davey, Wednesday, 5 July 2017 09:06 (seven years ago) link
This is generically ok but jemaines song is all time
― remember the lmao (darraghmac), Monday, 1 January 2018 16:44 (six years ago) link
The music in Frozen is NOT better than the music in Moana, what the hell
― Embalming is a flirty business (DJP), Monday, 1 January 2018 20:32 (six years ago) link
Don't really think either matches up to tangled-musically and otherwise.
― remember the lmao (darraghmac), Monday, 1 January 2018 20:35 (six years ago) link
the music in Frozen IS better than this and I can only remember one song from Tangled
― El Tomboto, Monday, 1 January 2018 20:47 (six years ago) link
jesus god what has happened to me
Yeah wtf those are both nuts opinions
― remember the lmao (darraghmac), Monday, 1 January 2018 20:49 (six years ago) link
Jeff OTM, worth watching just for the animated hair.
― mick signals, Monday, 1 January 2018 21:14 (six years ago) link
I was late to the game and finally watched Moana, Tangled, Brave, and Frozen recently. I would rank them Moana (by a lot), Brave, Frozen, Tangled in that order.
― Yerac, Monday, 1 January 2018 22:20 (six years ago) link
I liked Brave a lot. I liked Frozen a lot too but mostly in spite of the music; there’s literally one memorable song in the whole movie.
― Embalming is a flirty business (DJP), Tuesday, 2 January 2018 03:24 (six years ago) link
My friend Dana as Moana for Halloween: https://www.instagram.com/p/BayCKxWhDQz/?taken-by=dananotdana
― davey, Tuesday, 2 January 2018 04:46 (six years ago) link
<3
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 2 January 2018 04:57 (six years ago) link
Idgi
― Jeff, Tuesday, 2 January 2018 04:58 (six years ago) link
I think Brave was a gorgeous muddle, Tangled tons of fun, Frozen I never need to see again (maybe confirmed by the horrid Coco short) and Moana pretty good.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 2 January 2018 13:17 (six years ago) link
i watched this with my 4 year old nephew over the holidays and cried. it is great.
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 2 January 2018 16:07 (six years ago) link
this definitely passed the finding dory test, in that my daughter has watched it a zillion times and i still like it
― Joan Digimon (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 2 January 2018 16:17 (six years ago) link
baby Moana is the cutest and I want to snatch her
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 2 January 2018 16:20 (six years ago) link
I’ll listen to you’re welcome a million times before the dumb crab song.
― Jeff, Sunday, 7 January 2018 01:36 (six years ago) link
Hmm my approach saves a lot of time
― remember the lmao (darraghmac), Sunday, 7 January 2018 01:39 (six years ago) link
.......best animated Disney song nom/poll ever been done?
I mean it's the opener from beauty and the beast but still
― remember the lmao (darraghmac), Sunday, 7 January 2018 01:40 (six years ago) link
i like the Jemaine song a lot tooSHIIINAAAY
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 7 January 2018 01:43 (six years ago) link
that'd be a cool ballot poll! maybe open out to songs from animated films or kids' films generally, just to dodge disney exceptionalism and otherwise yknow "somewhere out there" and "pure imagination" are never gonna get polled. otoh i'd need a long-ass ballot for a poll where wizard of oz is dueling with moana so maybe just animated. i guess the one upshot to all-disney is space to throw a vote to eccentric personal faves like "ichabod crane" or some b.s. song no one remembers from the sword in the stone...
― Newb Sybok (Doctor Casino), Sunday, 7 January 2018 01:43 (six years ago) link
I thought about it but all animated seems very wide, all kids impossible to do so, all movies then it's just the tonight quintet
Including live with disney-style animated just for the sake of 'somewhere' and you can't keep a god dog down (bow wow wow wow) but can't see that not causing a scrap tbh
― remember the lmao (darraghmac), Sunday, 7 January 2018 01:50 (six years ago) link
We have threads barring Disney so I'd be all for some exceptionalism just for the sake of a clean poll, essentially
― remember the lmao (darraghmac), Sunday, 7 January 2018 01:51 (six years ago) link
Would nearly consider it a good candidate for one of the write-up ballots
i mean having done all the disney movie polls i can't really try to bash the exceptionalist tendency now. but i did try to (sometimes) mention the other non-disney movies from the same period, just to try and get them back situated in the general history. iiiiii dunno....
― Newb Sybok (Doctor Casino), Sunday, 7 January 2018 01:57 (six years ago) link
Let's see what it looks like in the morning
― remember the lmao (darraghmac), Sunday, 7 January 2018 02:14 (six years ago) link
^ rejected hunchback opener fyi
― remember the lmao (darraghmac), Sunday, 7 January 2018 02:15 (six years ago) link
You’re my best friend, my best friendAnd we are family
― El Tomboto, Sunday, 7 January 2018 05:08 (six years ago) link
The greatest Disney song is the first few seconds of the Mulan song that goes "let's get down to business/to defeat the Huns" no need to go thru the motions of polling
― Bitcoin Baja (wins), Sunday, 7 January 2018 08:57 (six years ago) link
I just rewatched Lilo and Stitch. Ugh, so good too. DIsney should just make hawaiian girl movies forever.
― Yerac, Sunday, 7 January 2018 15:10 (six years ago) link
The conclusion to the poll is v. deservedly going to be something from Jungle Book, methinks.
― rb (soda), Sunday, 7 January 2018 17:11 (six years ago) link
Oodelally song from Robin Hood
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 7 January 2018 17:49 (six years ago) link
Shit the jungle book yeah that's gonna be up there
Don't really know songs from robin hood!
― remember the lmao (darraghmac), Sunday, 7 January 2018 18:03 (six years ago) link
is disney’s robin hood the ground zero of the furry movement y/n
― pee-wee and the power men (bizarro gazzara), Sunday, 7 January 2018 18:08 (six years ago) link
Poll
This thread is fecund
Aladdin btw has fantastic songs
― remember the lmao (darraghmac), Sunday, 7 January 2018 18:09 (six years ago) link
otm
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 7 January 2018 18:34 (six years ago) link
this movie really passes the "kid has watched it 15X times and I still like it" test
― bhad and bhabie (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 5 February 2018 15:30 (six years ago) link
Can't unhear
"See the line where the sky meets the sea? It calls me"
as
"It's a tragedy for me to see the dream is over..." from Milli Vanilli's "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You"
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 17 May 2018 16:28 (six years ago) link
A thread for Disney's MOANA staring Auli'i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson, songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda
best songs are by Opetaia Foa'i/Te Vaka imho:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60BQFGoMWd4
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Monday, 9 July 2018 18:08 (six years ago) link
Love every second of this gorgeous movie and I cry like a drip every single time and just thinking about it or actually hearing the music now that I'm playing Albert's link /sob/
― There's more Italy than necessary. (in orbit), Monday, 9 July 2018 18:39 (six years ago) link
co-sign <3
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 9 July 2018 19:16 (six years ago) link
I was looking for other performances from TeVaka/the Foa'i's and this was the only one I could find of this other great (also non-LMM) song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpKm-aYjMgc
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Monday, 9 July 2018 19:42 (six years ago) link
... but with a little more research I learned that the above song (known on the Moana OST as "An Innocent Warrior" that plays during the scene when toddler Moana protects the baby sea turtle to the ocean and the ocean goddess plays with her and offers her the heart of Te Fiti) was written recorded by Te Vaka in 2000 as "Loimata E Maligi" (falling tears) about a tragic fire that killed 19 teenage girls in a dormitory in Tuvalu, and if you look that song up there is quite a bit of live footage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkBsaVMQ9m8
My point for my latest revives stems from a discussion with my wife (who is LMM superfan #1, ie saw In The Heights like a dozen times) on our last road trip and we were listening to the Moana OST and she's all LMM this and LMM that, and I'm like look, I'm not trying to paint LMM as a Paul Simon or anything, but there were quite a bit of other folks who played and sang on this soundtrack and they have been largely ignored for their contributions which I'd rate equal to much higher than LMM's.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Monday, 9 July 2018 23:30 (six years ago) link
Agree to some general extent, but I mean, LMM did "How Far You'll Go," "You're Welcome" and "Shiny," which are all pretty memorable and either the linchpin, or, in the case of the latter two, the showstoppers of the movie. I say this as the parent of two (growing) girls who sing these songs all the time. Regardless, I like that this movie has legs and is seemingly just shy of "Frozen" in terms of current Disney (musical) impact.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 10 July 2018 11:49 (six years ago) link
this movie really passes the "kid has watched it 15X times and I still like it" test― bhad and bhabie (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, February 5, 2018 10:30 AM (five months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― bhad and bhabie (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, February 5, 2018 10:30 AM (five months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
My kid watched it twice in a row last night.
― how's life, Tuesday, 10 July 2018 11:59 (six years ago) link
LMM did "How Far You'll Go," "You're Welcome" and "Shiny," which are all pretty memorable
Aye, the latter two memorable for their sheer nails-on-chalkboard annoyance lol!
I say this as the parent of two (growing) girls who sing these songs all the time.
Yeah, I didn't mention the kids, my only hope is that when their journey with Moana is over, that their takeaway is the beautiful Pacific Islander culture/music and not LMM's shlocky cornball showtunes...
(haha I'm truly glad I can vent these normally unsaid opinions to you guys and not the family).
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, 10 July 2018 16:18 (six years ago) link
you seem to be implying that shlocky cornball showtunes are a bad thing
― devops mom (silby), Tuesday, 10 July 2018 16:20 (six years ago) link
and I'm not done! I will admit "How Far I Go" is not awful, and that I actually enjoy most of "Where You Are" which I think Te Vaka do the music & the non-lead vox on.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, 10 July 2018 16:21 (six years ago) link
I don't like cornball showtimes, particularly, but for those who do - which include most kids and pretty much anyone that likes showtimes, period - these cornball showtimes are quality. It definitely beats the schlocky bullshit neo-Christian rock stylings of Greatest Showman or Dear Evan Hanson or whatever.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 10 July 2018 16:45 (six years ago) link
Gone from Netflix, fuck!
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Monday, 24 December 2018 03:09 (five years ago) link
;_;
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 24 December 2018 03:54 (five years ago) link
For those who like Te Vaka / Opetaia Foa'i / Olivia Foa'i as much as I do, I found this rare gem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Mu5XnpdCgY
It's an extended version of the opening prayer/song which Opetaia extended for another part (reprise?) of the movie but was not included in the final cut. The first minute should sound fairly familiar to those of us who've watched a million times, but around the minute mark is where it turns into something amazing.
John Lassetter asked for me to write a piece to go with the Disney castle logo at the beginning of the movie, and that’s when I wrote “Tulou Tagaloa”. Later on, the directors were playing around with an idea which involved Moana finding the ‘heart of te fiti’, and as they liked ‘Tulou Tagaloa’, they asked me to write an extended piece for it. This piece is the ocean telling Moana, in a nurturing sympathetic tone, of the task that awaits her. And once again, my daughter Olivia adds her magic touch to it.-Opetaia Foa'i
-Opetaia Foa'i
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 3 April 2019 06:50 (five years ago) link
I guess this is my Te Vaka thread now (sorry, not sorry):
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3cszd49
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 20 January 2021 06:02 (three years ago) link
rewatching this movie under the influence of pregnancy hormones is...a lot
― horseshoe, Friday, 19 March 2021 21:41 (three years ago) link
My daughter's award-winning theater program at her middle school performed a preview of a semi-secret pilot version of a live musical version of this at the Junior Theater Festival in Atlanta last year, which was pretty much the last thing she did before lockdown.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 19 March 2021 22:20 (three years ago) link
man this movie rules. there are just a couple jokes/moves i could do without but overall one hell of a story, several amazing songs, and that water is gorgeous.
― this honking's on a bobo (Doctor Casino), Saturday, 20 March 2021 00:25 (three years ago) link
love it so much! baby moana is such a cutie
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 20 March 2021 01:01 (three years ago) link
Because I have to do it, here's my daughter's theatre program (public school!) at work doing bits of Moana:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uee08PkdX5E
They killed it, but their Maui in particular was great.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 20 March 2021 01:11 (three years ago) link
That's awesome.
You should send this to Opetaia Foa'i. The language for most of the PI songs is sung in Tokelauan which wiki says there are only 4,260 speakers globally, he would get a kick that people are celebrating his language/culture.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Saturday, 20 March 2021 01:35 (three years ago) link
i've been looking for a place to post this animated short... this must be the place
it's "based on the long-hidden history of four healing stones on Waikiki Beach placed there as a tribute to four legendary mahu who first brought the healing arts to Hawaii." insightful into Hawaiian concepts of gender and healing, beautifully rendered.
https://www.kapaemahu.com/
― davey, Saturday, 20 March 2021 02:54 (three years ago) link
Wow... I'm an ignorant tourist who has passed by those stones many times without paying my respects. Will rectify that on my next visit. Thank you for posting davey.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Saturday, 20 March 2021 04:42 (three years ago) link
you bet!
― davey, Saturday, 20 March 2021 08:45 (three years ago) link
i'm a longtime resident and i didn't know the story either
I think it's currently on Criterion Channel, too, which is cool.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 20 March 2021 12:57 (three years ago) link
Man, Moana is great and still looks amazing.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 10 January 2022 02:26 (two years ago) link
Apparently they just surprised announced a sequel, supposedly out November, reportedly repurposed from a TV project? Sounds like a hail Mary/Moana move.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 9 February 2024 13:58 (five months ago) link