MovieChat Forums > Moana (2016) Discussion > How old is Moana? Should she be a prince...

How old is Moana? Should she be a princess??

posted 8 years ago by sul-uddin96
35 replies | jump to latest

One of the first things I know about this character is that, she is voiced by a 14 year old whose name I cannot pronounce nor can I spell, so that leads me to believe that the character Moana is at least supposed to be the same age as her, roughly. Would this make Moana the youngest Disney princess? Knocking off Jasmine (who is supposed to be 15)? I mean, the Disney princess age range seems to go from 15 (Jasmine) to 21 (Elsa), with the majority of them being 16 and 18.

Plus, should Moana (which doesn't seem to be a fairy-tale) be part of the Disney princess line up...? I mean it is great to see another non-white character added to the line-up...but when it comes to "DISNEY PRINCESS", I always thought of them as fairy-tale characters and/or ones that are actually princesses in their respective films. Or, ones that become princesses by the end of their films.

I mean, wasn't Pocahontas and Mulan based on true legends? It's kind of disrespectful-ish to take people who once (maybe) lived on this earth, and place them among fictional characters making future generations question how true these stories are. Plus, Pocahontas and Mulan weren't exactly princesses in their films. I mean, Mulan for example, just lives in a small town in China, and by the end, saves China... but doesn't marry a prince. She goes back to her daily life...how is she a princess? And no, Shang is not a prince... so she doesn't fall in love into it.

This is not a criticism, just an observation...I just think that the princess status should only go to those who actually are, or become, princesses in their films. Rather than to just take a story of a young girl who did something adventurous, and add her to the line-up. Walt Disney was only around when he made 'Snow White', 'Cinderella' and 'Sleeping Beauty'...three actual princesses who are a part of the line-up. No other young character from his time were added to the line-up.

[–] Zaphenzo 8 years ago

Pocahontas was the daughter of the Chieftain. So, while she was not a 'princess' in name, she was a princess in position. And I believe that Moana is going to be in a similar position.

[–] MovieGuy92 8 years ago

If she's the daughter of her tribe's ruler, then technically she does count as a princess. And as far as being the youngest, I think Snow White is also 14, so they'd be tied. And technically if you count Disney's tv shows, Sophia the First would be their youngest princess. She's like what, five?

[–] sul-uddin96 8 years ago

Dang! I forgot about her!

[–] TutuAnimationPrincess 8 years ago

Snow White is the youngest Disney princess, she is 14, and Disney has confirmed that multiple times. As for the Disney princess lineup, it's a merchandising brand, the qualifications are really no more than who sells the best.

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[–] sul-uddin96 8 years ago

Oh... I always thought she was supposed to be 16...

[–] zakima2 8 years ago

The synopsis of the film says she is 16

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[–] TutuAnimationPrincess 8 years ago

The synopsis of the film says she is 16

Source? Everything I've seen or read has her age stated as 14.

"Unless you're an alien, time traveler, or esper, your opinion doesn't matter."

[–] corazonbandido55 8 years ago

Your correct, technically Mulan and Pocahontas are not princesses.

The reasoning for Pocahontas still being considered a princess has already been addressed, but I want to get to Mulan. I feel that since she received the crest of the Emperor (he only had one and he gave it to Mulan) that she has risen to the level of nobility. After all, she was personally asked by the Emperor to be a member of his council. No, it's still not technically a princess, but she is of high social status. And let's remember that Mulan came out in 1998. This was before the Disney Princess brand was conceived. I'm sure that Disney would go back and ret-con Mulan as a Disney princess if they would've known what was coming.

Bottom line; she's a princess. I'm ok with that.

[–] BillyBarue 8 years ago

I think Mulan's family were already nobility. There owned their own estate and lands, plus had a temple devoted to their ancestors. I'm not a Chinese historian, but I would think that is not something that common folk possessed. Mulan then went on to marry the top general. Still not a princess but as you said as high a member of the royal court as possible.

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[–] javalorum 8 years ago

Mulan's family is of nobility, but not royalty. There are many rich families that own land. It's typical back then for Chinese families to hold a shrine for their ancestors. It can be a little wooden one on a table, or a dedicated room or a "family temple", some of which even open to public, like a real temple. A prominent family in a small town may have that, but they're not royalty. Personally I like the fact that this girl comes from an ordinary family. She could have just married some boy from another ordinary family and be done with her life -- and that's all they would have written down for her in her family tree: her husband's name, but instead she ends up going to war and saves the country.

[–] UnvoicedApollo1 8 years ago

When you get even the emperor to bow to you and subsequently the whole country, I think you deserve to be considered royalty.

[–] zakima2 8 years ago

My apologies I misread the page... the video says Moana is played by 14 year old Auli'i Cravalho .. sorry for that ... I think in my mind I was placing her at 14 when the film was being recorded and within the 2 year time span she would be roughly 16 when the film is released. Sometimes I type before thinking lol sorry about that Haruhi.

life ask death why do people love me and not you death says you are a beautiful lie I am a sad truth

[–] stefan-79-235442 8 years ago

The princes in Aladin was 15 and the Little Mermaid 14. And had love interests

[–] Taylorfirst1 8 years ago

I believe the real life Pocahontas was 12 when she saved Captain John Smith. Not that it's relevant to this discussion.

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[–] chrisa289 8 years ago

Jasmine was 3 days short of turning 16, Ariel was 16.

[–] EdmundOG 8 years ago

she is voiced by a 14 year old whose name I cannot pronounce nor can I spell,

It's five letters and pronounced exactly like it's spelled. Just say she doesn't have a white name and you're lazy, it'll be more accurate.

[–] Jep_Gambardella 8 years ago

It's five letters and pronounced exactly like it's spelled. Just say she doesn't have a white name and you're lazy, it'll be more accurate.

There is no such thing as "pronounced exactly like it's spelled" in English. I am surprised you didn't know that. Also, there is no such thing as a "white name". "English name" is probably the expression you are looking for.

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[–] carrot_handvo 8 years ago

She's 16 you troll. Stop spamming the board
Wtf is your problem

[–] footnotegirl 8 years ago

First you have to understand the difference between 'Disney Princesses' which is a marketing franchise with a trademark and everything and 'Princesses that are Disney characters'. In the former, they take very specific characters and have them appear together, sell them grouped on merchandise together (and separately) and re-work the art so that they all have a genre-ized appearance so that they look 'right' together.
There are Princesses in Disney movies that are not Disney Princesses (Princess Kida and Princess Eilonwy, for instance).
There are characters in the Disney Princess line that are not strictly speaking princesses at the end of their films (Pocahontas, Mulan, Merida, Elsa). Chiefs and Lairds are not Kings and their daughters are not princesses, Elsa is a Queen.
Snow White is supposed to be 13, so she would be the youngest Princess.
BTW, Mulan would probably be considered higher than a Princess, if you go by her story. At the end, the Emperor of all China bows to her. Since people were not allowed to even cross his shadow and his own family were not considered noble enough to live in the same building as him, the Emperor bowing to her, letting her hug him, and giving her his seal is the same or better in that culture as being a Princess in a fictionalized European culture.

[–] UnvoicedApollo1 8 years ago

How is Merida not a princess at the end of her movie?

[–] footnotegirl 8 years ago

She's the daughter of the head of a clan. The head of a clan is not a king, that's not the way royalty works in Scotland or ever has. He's a chief or a laird, but he wouldn't be king.

[–] carrot_handvo 8 years ago

He's a king.
King is an extremely loose definition.

[–] UnvoicedApollo1 8 years ago

I would argue movie canon trumps historical accuracy. And in the movie she is referred to as a princess.

[–] Zaphenzo 8 years ago

She's the daughter of the head of a clan. The head of a clan is not a king, that's not the way royalty works in Scotland or ever has. He's a chief or a laird, but he wouldn't be king.

It's Queen Elinor and King Fergus, and she is called a princess. That is all directly from the movie.

[–] Herengone 8 years ago

Except for they call Fergus the "Bear King", and Merida says, "You made him your king" in one of her speeches. It may not be accurate, but that's how he's defined in the movie which means Merida defaults to princess status.

[–] annedoe 8 years ago

Actually Snow White is 14 not 13.

14 years old: Snow White. ...
15 years old: Jasmine. ...
16 years old: Merida, Aurora, Ariel and Mulan. ...
17 years old: Belle. ...
18 years old: Pocahontas, Anna and Rapunzel. ...
19 years old: Cinderella and Tiana. ...
21 years old: Elsa.

[–] dogsoldier_spoon-1 8 years ago

I think you guys are looking a little bit too deep into Mulan though. Sure, Disney says the women included in their princess line up require certain qualities that are princess like, so even someone who's not literally a princess could be included.

The rather obvious thing is simply popularity and diversity. They want a princess for every ethnicity, which is why Mulan is included (and I'm guessing this might've also be one of the motivations to make Tiana African American). Less popular princesses (like Kida and Eilonwy) are simply ignored. That's why I don't believe it's got anything to do with what these princesses stand for, like Disney claims.

[–] gcarras 8 years ago

Just in case no one answered on the name or spelling:
The lead voice is the now 16-year old (then 14-year old) Alui'i Cravalho.She's about 16 in the film (NOW even more fitting her actress if she does a sequel, most likely to happen given the film's current success, since Miss Cravalho is now already 16, since 11/22,right before the film's release! .)

Most likely, it's pronounced "AH-Luee Cra-VALYO" (just guessing). Both she and the character are very attractive and I am JUST FAN boying, NOT pervering!

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[–] Andthatismytwocents 8 years ago

First off The Princess Brand was "created" by Mattel Toys AFTER the success of Little mermaid whose first dolls were made by Tyco which had the audacity
to claim Ariel was as popular as their Barbie doll..

NOW When a toy company did that well Mattel was NOT gracious and essentially bulldozed them (Tyco is owned by Mattel Tyco's last big toy was the Tickle Me Elmo)

hence securing the Disney Brand for EVERY FILM Disney Princess after from 1991 to 2015 Hasbro now has the license

The Disney company acknowledges this as of the new Millenium

And WELL before 1989 Disney made dolls of the original three

One of the reasons for Disney's ressurgance in popularity was nostalgia When baby Boomers became successful in the decade of the eighties they wanted to go back to their childhoods and share them with their families This included Disney films When Sleeping Bueaty was rereleased in 1985 it did well for the time

WITHOUT the benefit of in your face shoved down your throat marketing

[–] UnvoicedApollo1 8 years ago

Actually, it's "Auli'i Cravhalo" and most seem to agree it's "Ah-LEE-E Cra-Vah-lo"

[–] Herengone 8 years ago

The first name is "au-LEE-EE". "ah-LEE-E" would be spelled Ali'i. Two different meanings in the Hawaiian language.

[–] Zaphenzo 8 years ago

The first name is "au-LEE-EE". "ah-LEE-E" would be spelled Ali'i. Two different meanings in the Hawaiian language.

I don't see the difference in the way you presented your pronunciation. Whether it's one or two, a capital E would imply a hard E, so E and EE would theoretically be the same. And au and ah are pronounced the same way. So unless UnvoicedApollo is going for something different than it looks, I'd say he/she pronounced it the same way you did.

[–] Herengone 8 years ago

In the Hawaiian language, "ah" and "au" are not the same. Anytime you see "au" in a Hawaiian word, it's pronounced "OW". "Ah" is just as it looks. Perhaps I should have typed "au" as "ow", but it didn't occur to me that anyone would think they are pronounced the same way. As for my second "E", I always put two. But seeing that I was directly quoting someone else, I used the single "E" because that's how they typed it.

Anyway, Ali'i (ah-LEE-EE) refers to the chiefs/rulers. "Auli'i" (ow-LEE-EE) basically means "cute". So, in this case, using "ah" instead of "ow" is not just a mispronunciation. It's a completely different word.

If you don't believe me, you can easily look all of this up. But I'm a resident of the Hawaiian islands, so I do know the basics of the language.

[–] Zaphenzo 8 years ago

Ah, well that makes more sense. Au to me denotes the same sound as ah (like in auxiliary or haunt), so I didn't know you were meaning how it would be pronounced in that Hawaiian way. That makes more sense now. Sorry for the confusion.

[–] Herengone 8 years ago

Sorry about that. When you're so used to hearing/seeing things, it's easy to assume everyone else knows what you're talking about.