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I had wanted to watch Moana, but due to a busier December in 2016 than I expected I didn't manage to escape to the movies until about 26 December. It happened to be a public holiday so there were a lot of kids watching, but since I was alone I managed to score a pretty good seat in the theatre despite buying a ticket just before the movie started.
It was completely worth it, both from a story angle and also from a personal angle. See, Moana was the movie that I wish Mulan had been like.
Some context first - Mulan is a story that is pretty personal to me. It's a childhood story told to me by my mother, and one of the key parts of the story is that Mulan's father saw that she was trained in the same skills as her brother. That was why Mulan decided to take her father's place in the war, and was more than capable of taking her father's place in the war.
Disney Mulan took her father's place in the war because she was rebelling against society's place for her, and she was definitely not capable.
I've made my peace with Disney Mulan since that movie was made back when Disney heroines always had to break the mould, without any redeeming qualities to the mould. But I do hope that after Moana, future Disney movies can have heroines who venture beyond what they know, while acknowledging that where she grew up made the heroine who she is.
Because MOANA. WHAT A PERFECT CHARACTER. I love that she had this in-born desire to head to the sea and sail out on it. But she was also brought up with this great sense of responsibility as future Chief about protecting her people, whether it was their ways or their physical well-being. Both those desires came together to spur her on her quest. Also I like that her naivete was due to being restricted to her island and not being allowed to sail. That gave her space to grow as she explored the sea and learned wayfaring from Maui.
The Maui and Moana relationship is actually one I am pretty neutral about shipping! I can see the chemistry, but I also like the the idea of Maui of this adult-child that mentors Moana as much as she mentors him, the Peter Pan all the way from the teenage Moana to the badass lady chieftain I'm sure Moana will grow up to be. I totally buy Maui-Moana as a male-female friendship. (But if anyone thinks that way about Nick and Judy, I WILL CUT THEM.)
I was spoilered for Te Fiti, but the transition was just gorgeous, and that it was Moana who realised and returned the heart was just the epitome of perfection ;_;
THE WHOLE SOUNDTRACK THOUGH. I advise going to see the movie first, but after the movie, I kept listening to the entire Moana album on Spotify and crying my eyes out EACH TIME. EVEN NOW.
GO WATCH MOANA, AND THEN LISTEN TO THE SOUNDTRACK.
It was completely worth it, both from a story angle and also from a personal angle. See, Moana was the movie that I wish Mulan had been like.
Some context first - Mulan is a story that is pretty personal to me. It's a childhood story told to me by my mother, and one of the key parts of the story is that Mulan's father saw that she was trained in the same skills as her brother. That was why Mulan decided to take her father's place in the war, and was more than capable of taking her father's place in the war.
Disney Mulan took her father's place in the war because she was rebelling against society's place for her, and she was definitely not capable.
I've made my peace with Disney Mulan since that movie was made back when Disney heroines always had to break the mould, without any redeeming qualities to the mould. But I do hope that after Moana, future Disney movies can have heroines who venture beyond what they know, while acknowledging that where she grew up made the heroine who she is.
Because MOANA. WHAT A PERFECT CHARACTER. I love that she had this in-born desire to head to the sea and sail out on it. But she was also brought up with this great sense of responsibility as future Chief about protecting her people, whether it was their ways or their physical well-being. Both those desires came together to spur her on her quest. Also I like that her naivete was due to being restricted to her island and not being allowed to sail. That gave her space to grow as she explored the sea and learned wayfaring from Maui.
The Maui and Moana relationship is actually one I am pretty neutral about shipping! I can see the chemistry, but I also like the the idea of Maui of this adult-child that mentors Moana as much as she mentors him, the Peter Pan all the way from the teenage Moana to the badass lady chieftain I'm sure Moana will grow up to be. I totally buy Maui-Moana as a male-female friendship. (But if anyone thinks that way about Nick and Judy, I WILL CUT THEM.)
I was spoilered for Te Fiti, but the transition was just gorgeous, and that it was Moana who realised and returned the heart was just the epitome of perfection ;_;
THE WHOLE SOUNDTRACK THOUGH. I advise going to see the movie first, but after the movie, I kept listening to the entire Moana album on Spotify and crying my eyes out EACH TIME. EVEN NOW.
GO WATCH MOANA, AND THEN LISTEN TO THE SOUNDTRACK.
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