After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana journeys alongside Maui and a new crew to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she's ever faced.
30 Jan Moana 2 (2024)
Lacks Discovery
Regular readers know that the original ‘Moana’ is on my list of fours, films that I believe are important, effective, and added to my life. At the time, I attributed much of that to what Lin Manual calls ‘the swell’ where a musical hook is exploited for emotional purpose. There was a meld of story, character, and music that had immense energy behind the novel narrative
The values were right in that film. The by now tired trope of a father who doesn’t understand were suitably muted. The role of women as capable was by itself a plus. The notion that exploration is intrinsic to the soul displaced the usual Disney moral at a couple levels higher than usual.
I cannot say that this was Lassiter vs Johnson in this case, or Lin Manuel vs whomever, but this edition is a bust.
It lacks energy, mystery, urge — all the things in burgeoning young women that help make the world turn.
In the original, we have a female goddess whose heart was restored, having been removed basically in error. Here, the villain is a plain old bad guy not explained. He has a female helper/captive whose actions are just dropped in. The drivers for what was broken and what needs fixing are no more explored than in the cheapest anime.
But you know I might have been able to allow all that if some critical mass of the score and songs were at the level of Moana, or Encanto.
You will know the reason for all these missteps, I’m sure. This was well along as a content filler series before being smashed into a long form film. No excuse I say.
Posted in 2025
Ted’s Evaluation — 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
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