Moana
Director: Ron Clements, Don Hall, John Musker and Chris Williams
Talent: Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Rachel House, Temuera Morrison
Released: 25th November
To me there’s always something a little off-putting about the Disney Animated Studios logo treatment. We see an animatic of Mickey Mouse flipped through frame-by-frame until he appears on-board his steamboat whistling away. Since 2009’s The Princess and the Frog this logo has introduced CG-animated pictures which, while visually excellent and critically successful, lack some of that House of Mouse magic that putting Mickey in front of the movie connotes.
Moana tells the story of a Polynesian princess who, with the help of a demigod, must restore life to her dying island. Credit is due to the animators and directors behind Moana as they take big strides in living up to those classic Disney pictures with clever mixing of CG, 2-D animation and some clever blending that makes Moana a visual spectacle. The songs too are up to the task: every time I thought the film had lost me a reprise of its main theme pulled me back in. For all those misgivings, Moana proves itself a worthy (and beautiful) successor to Disney’s recent and classic output.
Words – Luke Maxwell
