The current Disney Princesses list includes Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel and Merida. As the list continues to grow, it expands across the horizon of a variety of ethics and cultures.

Moana is the newest Disney Princess. In the animation, Dwayne Johnson voices the demigod Maui, who Moana — voiced by Auli’i Cravalho — hunted down in order to awaken the tradition of voyaging on the island of Moto Nui.

Coincidentally, the name Moana means ocean in most Polynesian languages. Being raised by the ocean, and drawn to it every second, Moana is the chosen one to save her people.  As she grows to be an adventurous teenager, she is tutored in how to become a wayfinder just as her ancestors did in the past. Through this journey, she not only learns about the contents of her culture but she also identifies herself in the process.

“I loved it! It has so much emotion! I couldn’t predict what was going to happen so I was even more intrigued to watch it! It was a overall great movie!” said Senior Jessica Stoner

After attending the opening premiere, there’s so much emotion and pride built up in me from a cartoon. Disney did an excellent job of representing and blending the Polynesian cultures, with a little fictional content but most of it based on actual languages, traditions and stories.  

It wasn’t as funny as Lilo and Stitch but that was a purely fictional cartoon.  Moana is about Polynesian ancestry, courage, and love for the islands and people. It serves as an encouragement for young people to know who you are and where you came from.

Parts of the movie tugged on strings in my heart in the moments of Moana and her grandmother who revealed the determination and destiny with in her.

It also saddens me to think though that Polynesians were the original and best navigators of the ocean known to mankind by knowing and using the stars, the wind, the ocean currents, and moon to find new lands and find their way home without any modern tools.  It’s a lost art and skill. Many of us can’t even get where we want without Google maps or a pilot.

You can take the girl out of the island, but you can never take the island out of the girl. Aua le galo le mea e te sau ai (never forget where you come from). I give this movie a 10/10. Go see Moana!