MovieChat Forums > Moana (2016) Discussion > Moana's Design

Moana's Design

posted 8 years ago by OhNooos
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Nice little write up on some of the thinking behind the design of Moana's story as one of heroism.

http://time.com/4473277/moana-disney-princess-directors-interview/

Some people seem to be put out that Moana is not following the old Disney mold and having a story based around a romance, but I find that criticism only pops up when the hero is female. The creators of the tale purposefully empowered Moana in her own right, although the story was going to be about Maui originally.

This part is especially enjoyable:

“We saw it as sort of a True Grit-type story: the determined girl who teams up with a washed-up guy.

[–] UnvoicedApollo1 8 years ago

What I really like is that they establish that she's the next in line to lead her people and that there's a real responsibility to that. The chief isn't overprotective because she's a girl. It's because his best friend died on the ocean and he wants to make sure Moana doesn't suffer the same fate so their people have someone to guide them.

And I like they had the guts to depart from the Princess figure to fit the story. I know I complained a little about one scene jn another thread (though that was in context of another argument), but she at least has the body to back it up.