5 Out of 5 Stars
Last week saw the release of my favorite animated film from last year Moana in a deluxe 3D Ultimate Collector’s Edition. The film was Disney at its best circumventing its own tropes to give us a Polynesian adventure that was the next step narrative-wise from the studio. Moana was not only proof that Disney had ushered in yet another golden era for the studio, but that they weren’t done evolving in the way that they tell stories either.

If you happened to miss it in theaters, the film focuses on Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) a 16 year-old young woman next in line to be the chief of her village. When her island in Polynesia is threatened by a curse that is poisoning the land she must track down the shape-shifting demigod Maui (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) who was responsible for the curse, and also the only one who can break it. Moana has to convince Maui to join her quest, so she can help him recover his magic hook to regain his powers. Only then can they battle the monster who is poisoning the land and return the Heart of Te Fiti that Maui stole to cause all of this to its rightful place.


Moana’s biggest strength is also its biggest weakness, and that is it’s just so different story-wise than anything Disney has done. Firstly for a ‘princess’ film, Moana isn’t exactly a princess, she’s next in line to be chief of her village, no prince or king needed here. When we meet her the wellbeing of her people are already weighing heavily on the young woman’s shoulders and it is for this reason she steals a boat and sets off against her father’s wishes looking for Maui. There is also no love interest, the film instead focuses on the journey and adventure of Moana, trying to save her people and return them to their once glory for its narrative. This all while being as funny and heartwarming as you would expect from your typical Disney film.

The film also takes a different approach to its visuals and music. There is a very Miyazaki-esque surrealness to the world of Moana. Nature itself is embodied in some amazing character designs that really push what we’ve seen in recent releases. For example the ocean itself is a character helping Moana on her adventure, which has her battling everything from a giant crab that takes a pretty big cue from Davie Bowie to the bizarre Kakamoras. These tiny monsters that use coconut husks for armor are not only hilarious, but facilitate a pretty intense Fury Road inspired sequence in the film.



This is all to new music by Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda, who while turning out the familiar Disney tunes, throws in a few infectious curveballs as well. I’ve definitely added soundtrack to my Spotify since checking this film out and you know what? The Rock can sing.

The presentation and image quality on this disc is nothing short of breathtaking. Both the 2D and 3D versions are a feast for the eyes with its lush colors and gorgeously rendered backgrounds. The 3D version does some interesting things with the depth of field, especially in some of the panoramic ocean scenes and Moana’s final showdown with Te Fiti. While the film does make use of the format it does so in a bit more of a subtle way than you might expect using it to accentuate some of the more supernatural elements in the film, while its effective its not so much to take you out of the film. The sound field however is a bit more restrained, probably because an aggressive soundtrack could scare the young ones, but it does kick in during some of the musical numbers filling the room in a very organic way.


The set comes packed with extras including a director’s commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes and a music video for How Far I’ll Go. The commentary by Ron Clements and John Musker (Aladdin, The Little Mermaid) is an informative listen since it delves a bit deeper into the story and themes of Moana while also spotlighting various elements of production. The almost 20 minutes of deleted scenes and even a deleted song included were fascinating since you got a peek at the evolution of Moana as a film and how there was a lot cut from the first act, to get her on her adventure as soon as possible. This is all capped off with a few educational featurettes highlighting the Polynesian culture and the lengths the animators and directors went to make the film as true as possible to its roots.

Moana is easily the best Disney film since Frozen, with its focus on a story of a young woman finding her place in the world that does a great job avoiding the pitfalls of the genre the studio invented. This is also thanks to Moana who feels likes one of the most well rounded protagonists we have yet to see in these modern fairytales that can do anything including keeping Maui from stealing this film. It’s her relationship with Maui that carries the narrative that feels like a refreshing departure as this young woman not only tries saves not only her people, but a wayward demigod who’s lost his way. I loved Moana, it’s a new bar for Disney and this special edition only highlights how far it was raised with this film, I can only hope they surpass it with their next film.