Moana

(Warning: contains spoilers for Moana, and probably a whole lot of other Disney films)

We are in the middle of a new age of Disney.  You must have noticed - that suddenly even the harshest critics are grudgingly admitting that Let It Go is a pretty catchy tune and that Zootropolis was one of the better films of 2016 (yes, it was about bunnies but it also had Breaking Bad references).  Actually we're in the middle of the fourth Disney-era, commonly known as the Disney Revival Era. There's been the Golden Age (everything from 1937 to the 80s, including Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty etc), the Renaissance Era (everything from 1989-99 including Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Aladdin), the Post-Renaissance Era (2000-07, ending with the merger with Pixar, films including Tarzan and Lilo and Stitch), and now the Disney Revival Era (2008 to date, including Tangled, Frozen, Big Hero 6).

To me, the interesting thing about the Disney Revival Era is the correction of popularly held tropes from Golden era Disney.  Where Cinderella teaches that if you wish hard enough and just sit there, all your dreams will magically come true, The Princess and the Frog teaches that having a dream is fine, but you'll have to work for it.  Where Sleeping Beauty emphasises the importance of true love, Frozen allows that true love can, in fact, come from your family and maybe you shouldn't agree to marry the first man you sing a song with if you don't know anything else about him.  Disney women in the 21st century are tougher and more independent creatures, and that's part of the reason why there's currently a petition to have Princess Leia added to that pantheon of princesses.

Into that mix comes Moana, which is the story of a Polynesian tribal heir who is chosen to restore the heart of the goddess Te Fiti, and thus restore the failing fortunes of her tribe's island.  There is the usual singing and dancing, but there's a number of notable key features:

Two sidekicks!  And that little turtle from Finding Nemo! 

1.  No love interest
This is unusual.  Moana is the 56th animated Disney film but the last film where the main character was female and human and had no love interest was 2002's Lilo and Stitch.  There isn't even the mention of wanting a partner, it's just not an issue ("but she's only 16, Caroline!" "yes, but so was Ariel, and Jasmine was only 15.").

2.  Both parents survive                

Hey, you just couldn't wait to be king...

Parents don't do well in Disney films.  Main characters are usually orphans (e.g. Aladdin), or one parent has remarried (usually after the death of the first, usually the mother - e.g. Snow White), or one parent dies during the film (e.g. Mufasa).  In the past 20 films, I think there might be just three instances where the main character comes from a two-parent family who begin and end the film together.  I will buy a Disney film for the first person who can name them.  But Moana has two parents, who are still alive by the time the credits roll.  Hurrah!

3.  Non-white culture
There's not a lot of diversity in Disney.  Human heroines tend to be Caucasian and skinny with long straight hair.  Moana shares a platform with Lilo and Pocahontas as being a main character with a different kind of body type. Excellent.  More of this, please.
The references to Moana's culture are interesting - we learn of their community way of life, their references to their ancestors and their heritage, and the significance of their tattoos.  More importantly, we learn about these things in a way that feels organic, rather than heavy-handed. 

I just really like this film.

My understanding is that Moana did receive some criticism from the Polynesian community because of a lack of female goddess to match the demi-god Maui.  Specifically, the goddess Hina (a companion to Maui) was missing, an importance which is explained in this article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/goddess-hina-the-missing-heroine-from-disneyʼs-moana_us_5839f343e4b0a79f7433b6e5

4.  Compromise
Disney is full of independent women who want to defy their parent(s) and live out their own dream, but this usually manifests in the parents learning that the kids are right and should go and do their thing.  I can't think of any examples outside of Moana where the hero manages to balance their dreams with their responsibilities.  Ariel went off and lived in the human world, Sleeping Beauty married the man of her dreams (who accidentally happened to be her betrothed).  Moana gets to explore life outside the reef as a wayfarer (what she wanted), while also leading her tribe (what her parents wanted).  Fair play.

But the thing that particularly interested me - Restorative Justice in a Disney film.  Actually, Restorative Justice at all in a film.  Maui recognises the harm that he has done to Te Fiti, apologises and makes it right in a way that is acceptable to Te Fiti.  This pleases me.

This is a film worth seeing.  It's full of positive messages, redresses some unhelpful Disney tropes, and seems to directly reference Mad Max: Fury Road, while there's a giant crab who sings like David Bowie.  What's not to like?

Mad Max?  Surely that's a Mad Max reference?