Moana
By: Jillian Russell
The well-known animated movie “Moana” was released in 2016 by directors John Musker and Ron Clements.. The idea of Moana originated from curiosity about the Polynesian islands, and after lots of research was conducted, the famous character was created. Moana lives on an island called Motunui with her family and her tribe members. Her father is the leader of the tribe, training Moana to one day take over. However, Moana has other plans; she disobeys her father and explores herself, all while saving her island. I argue that Moana exemplifies women's empowerment, as she embarks on a journey of self-discovery, breaking societal expectations to embrace her leadership and identity.
In 2019, Moana was added to the list of Disney Princesses, making her the first Polynesian princess. Unlike your typical princesses, such as Aurora or Cinderella, who rely on a prince to save them and change their world, Moana takes matters into her own hands. Moana redefines what a princess means, making a great role model for young girls. The animated character has impacted many in cultural and humanistic ways. Her actions in the movie create a long-lasting realization for young girls that carries out to real life.
Throughout the film, Moana goes out beyond the reef to try and restore the heart of Te Fiti. To do so, she needs the help of Maui, as he has a magical fishing hook that can get her there. This is the first time we see Moana in a dominant state as she argues with Maui until he agrees to help her, and she does not take no for an answer. She says, “I am Moana of Motunui. You will board my boat, sail across the sea, and restore the heart of Te Fiti.” (Clements, R., Musker, J, 2016). Moana has her heart set on something and is going to do whatever it takes to ensure that happens.
Not only was Moana’women'sen empowerment shown, but also a cultural one. The film came out during the black lives matter movement as well as the #MeToo movement. People were struggling with diversity, and Moana exemplified inclusion greatly. Moana demonstrated the Polynesian culture greatly, which is a culture not many knew about at the time until this movie was released. It accurately resembles Pacific islanders and their community, and people needed to get to see this. This impacted society politically in this way, and created a unity among people.
In addition, it was important for young girls to see such a powerful leader create a positive message. Moana goes against not only “princess stereotypes” but also gender expectations. Sage encyclopedia states, “Such views assume that children learn gender through imitation and modeling. In this framework, adults are therefore seen as particularly influential” (Kustacher, M. 2020). Kids often learn from what they see and hear; young girls need to see Moana in this way because it's not “typical” for a woman. Despite Maui, who is cast more as a sidekick, no male was leading the way or telling her what to do.
Breaking gender expectations in this way was very powerful for Disney, leaving a huge influence on children's lives. This movie, in the end, showed the younger generation that it does not matter if you are male or female; if you have a dream, you can accomplish it as long as you put your mind to it. Girls loved seeing Moana in a superior stance, yet still wearing a dress with her hair down. In contrast to other Disney princess movies, Moana did not seek male attention or rely on a male to save her life or help her in any way. Despite Maui being there for company and to recover his magical fishing hook, there was no male character telling her what to do.
Furthermore, Moana breaks down what it means to be a “girl,” giving all the young kids watching a new realization. In the Sage Encyclopedia on Girls, it states, “The meaning of girl is shaped by different social, political, economic, and historical contexts. Rather, it should be understood as a collection of social and cultural issues and questions as well as a social geography that one lives with and returns to throughout one’s life” (Gonick 2020). By including both culture and social issues, the princess shows the audience how to incorporate everything that makes you you. Moana demonstrates what a girl should be classified a, instead of what society sets us out to be.
Not only does Moana embrace her culture, but she also depends on it to get her where she is, and this makes her who she is. By not being afraid to take chances and do what needs to be done, the princess produces a new purpose of “girl”, encouraging the younger generation. Moana’s stance on this topic breaks societal views in a good way and makes the public very happy.
Another important message from the movie was Moana’s identity discovery. At the beginning of the movie, Moana struggled to fit in with her trib. She had a calling from the sea since a baby, but didn't know what any of it meant. Her voyage across the ocean made her recognize her love for her people and the ocean. This allowed her to gain confi,dence as her bravery and perseverance are shown through the movie. In the article “Exploring Moana’s achieved identity” it talks about her positive self esteem and how that helps her overcome the challenges that were sent her way, it states “The positive words she says to herself and her friends when first she tries to go beyond the reef, the forbidden place, to all the villagers is, “I can do this. There are more fish beyond the reef” (Tlonaen, Z. A. 2023).
There was nothing that could stop Moana from saving her island. Her determination was seen multiple times, and it got her to achieve her reason for adventure. Ultimately, Moana learned that her tribe used to be voyagers who sailed all the time and was determined to go back to those ways. When she got back from the journey, Moana taught her tribe how to sail. When shown in the throwbacks of the voyaging from her tribe going out, you only saw males, but once Moana returned, there were now all genders and ages sailing out.
Being a voyager was important to Moana as she loved learning new things. This impacted not only her life but her father’s; their relationship was rocky since Moana did not follow in his footsteps in the way that he wanted her to. Z.A. Tlonean says in an article about Moana, “Moana's father has great hopes for his daughter. He hopes Moana will replace him to become a leader, so he will protect Moana and his people, and always wants to keep them safe. In contrast, his daughter Moana is interested in something other than becoming a leader” (Tlonaen, Z. A. 2023). This created a divide in their relationship that eventually was overcome due to Moana’s success in saving the island. Her actions showed her father just what kind of leader she would be.
Nonetheless, Moana’s character greatly represents a “can-do” girl as she continually shows her empowerment in the movie. In Celebrity Girls Studies, it says Can-doo girls are notable for their high ambitions about their employment and their commitment to elaborate planning for success in their careers” (Duvall, S. 2024). This is something that we have struggled with as a society for many years. Women did not necessarily have the recognition of being powerful, so when we see an animation of a girl doing that within her tribe, it encourages us to do the same. This was very important to people to see not just young girls but adults as well. The princess demonstrates girl power as she is ambitious and courageous, not letting anything get in her way.
There are not many princesses who can continuously be pointed out for illustrating girl power. In the article The Girl Power of Disney Princesses and Moana,” it repeatedly talks about different ways Moana shows her dominance. The first being Desiviness, Moana demonstrates this when she decides to save her island, dealing with the consequences, and again when she forces Maui to get on her boat and help her. Another characteristic is smartness, which is shown when the people on Montinui island are unsure what to do, and Moana comes up with different ways to help ou. Again wh, en Moana thinks fast and uses her powers to create a path for Ta Fiti, since she can't touch water. The last characteristic she resembles is boldness, which is revealed when Moana faces a challenge that tries to stop her from restoring the heart. (Sumana, A. I. 2022).
The main protagonist in the film would be Moana because of the challenges she has to take in order to complete her journey. Disney Movies revealed a new version of the female protagonist when releasing this movie. Her adversity to overcome the tests that were thrown at her showed people that she wasn't going to give up. This is very different from the other protagonists in Disney princess movies because typically, all of their problems revolved around men and toxic relationships. Seeing the differentiation of Disney's valuation of typical male power was exciting to say the least. (Seybold, S. L. 2021).
During the journey to save Monton,ui Moana has to fight off multiple antagonists. One of them was Tamatoa, the big shiny crab. Maui told Moana to distract the crab while he got his hook back. However, when that plan did not work, Moana was ultimately the reason they made it out alive with the hook and the heart of Ta Fiti. The Kakamora coconuts are another antagonist in the movie that Moana defeats as well. Flying through the ai,r fighting off thousands of coconu, ts Moana saves Hei Hei and gets the heart of Ta Fiti back yet again. Lastly, in one of the final scenes, when Moana and Maui have to restore the heart, Maui tries to distract Ta Fiti, but in the end, Moana connects with her and faces it straight, putting the heart back where it belongs, saving her island. (Clements, R., Musker, J., 2016).
As you can see, Moana was an adventurous character who destroyed social norms, encouraged exploration through her can-do characteristics, and experienced identity discovery. This makes her a perfect fit for a huge femanon icon, making history in the girlhood world. Her story needs to be shared as it's very uplifting for women of all ages. Its relevance to society leaves an impactful impression, shaping both the present and future by influencing cultural and social progress in profound ways.
Her relevance to girlhood is remarkable along the lines of who she is and how she portrays herself. Moana related to most of the topics that we discussed in class, but mainly the three that I focused on, which were: identity discovery, a can-do girl, and gender norms. These three topics are very popular within girlhood studies. Having this new perspective when I watch or read something will be very helpful for future use. It allowed me to look much deeper into the meanings of what was being shown throughout the movie.
With that in mind, the movie overall was loved. The fame of Moana grew very quickly. Parents loved the message that was received by the movie, and the impact it made on their kids. It also told a great story about Polynesian culture and heritage. This love carried out from the movie theatre into the store, selling dresses, dolls, toys, stuffed animals, all things to do with the movie itself. Moana leaves us believing we can do anything we put our minds to.
Work Cited
Clements, R., Musker, J. (2016). Moana [Film]. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Duvall, S. (2024). Interdisciplinary Scholarship on Fame, Girlhoods, and Identity. Celebrity Girl’s Studies. The Routledge Companion to Girls' Studies. 319-332
Gonick, M. (2020). “Girls.” In The SAGE Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood Studies, edited by Daniel Thomas Cook, 852-855.
Kustacher, M. (2020). “Gender.” In The SAGE Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood Studies, edited by Daniel Thomas Cook, 1–6.
Seybold, S. L. (2021). “It’s Called a Hustle, Sweetheart”: Zootopia, Moana, and Disney’s (Dis) empowered Postfeminist Heroines. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, 34(1), 69-84.
Sumana, A. I. (2022). The girl power of Disney princesses in Brave and Moana. Kata Kita: Journal of Language, Literature, and Teaching, 10(1), 90-95.
Tlonaen, Z. A. (2023). Exploring ‘Moana’s Achieved Identity’: A movie analysis of the main character. LITERA, 22(2), 228-240. https://doi.org/10.21831/itr.v22i2.60971