Rating: 8.1/10
Director: Ron Clements, Don Hall, John Musker, Chris Williams
Writer: Jared Bush (screenplay), Ron Clements (story by), John Musker (story by), Chris Williams (story by), Don Hall (story by), Pamela Ribon (story by), Aaron Kandell (story by), Jordan Kandell (story by)
Stars: Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Rachel House, Temuera Morrison
Runtime: 107 min
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Released: 23 Nov 2016

Storyline: Moana Waialiki is a sea voyaging enthusiast and the only daughter of a chief in a long line of navigators. When her island’s fisherman can’t catch any fish and the crops fail, she learns that the demigod Maui caused the blight by stealing the heart of the goddess Te Fiti. The only way to heal the island is to persuade Maui to return Te Fiti’s heart, so Moana sets off on an epic journey across the Pacific. The film is based on stories from Polynesian mythology.
Gramma Tala (voice: Rachel House) is telling a story to a group of children, with an animated tapa cloth illustrating her words. From the ocean sprang the island goddess Te Fiti. She lay on her side, with her curves becoming mountains and valleys. And in the center was her heart, a stone with a spiral shape on one side, giving out the force of life. Men began to covet her heart, wanting its life-giving power for themselves. A boat carrying the demigod Maui (voice: Dwayne Johnson) sailed toward the island, and he jumped off and magically transformed into a hawk. He landed on the island and changed again into a lizard to make his way through the forest. Reaching a row of large rocks, he became a bug and squeezed between them. When he reached the heart, he turned back into a man, and he used his large fishing hook to pry out the heart.

Without her heart, the island of Te Fiti began to crumble. Maui ran to the edge of the island, jumped off a cliff and changed into a hawk in midair, then flew back to his boat. He tried to escape, but a lava monster named Te Ka, who also wanted the heart, arose from the sea into a volcano and started to erupt. Maui grabbed his hook and jumped at Te Ka. There was a blinding flash, and Maui was struck from the sky. Maui, the hook and the heart were lost at sea.
Sailing back home, Moana sees that all the plants and fish have returned to Motunui. She jumps out of the canoe and runs to the shore, where Sina and Tui are waiting to hug her. Days later, they pull the canoes out of the cavern and put them in the water. The ocean recedes to reveal a pink shell. Moana takes it and climbs up the mountain, depositing it on the pile of stones. Later, Moana is sailing a canoe, with her parents sailing another one (song: “We Know the Way (Finale)”). She teaches others the skills of sailing and way-finding, passing along what Maui taught her. A glowing manta ray swims past her, and a hawk screeches and dives toward her. Moana realizes she’s exactly where she is meant to be.