Moana

Moana ^[1][2] is the main protagonist of Moana Franchise. Born on the island village of Motunui, Moana is the eldest daughter of Tui and Sina, granddaughter of Tala, and the older sister of Simea, with an inherited love for the seas and voyaging. Even though Moana loves the ocean, her parents aren't happy about her decision. When her island becomes endangered due to the threat posed by an angry Te Kā, Moana is chosen by the Ocean to journey across Oceania to the island of Te Fiti to restore the heart stolen by Maui, and save her people.

Background

Essential guide description

16-year-old Moana lives on Motunui island. As the chief's daughter, Moana knows she will one day lead her people. It's a big responsibility! This lively intelligent girl wants to do what's right for her people, but she also needs to find out what's right for her.

Appearance

In the first film, Moana is slim yet slightly muscular, with brown skin, brown eyes, a small nose and waist-length wavy black hair. Her clothing consists of a coconut fibre skirt, mainly beige with golden sun patterns and a red sash around her waist. She wears a cropped red tube top around her upper torso, starting below her arms and ending above her midriff, complete with two strings of cowrie shells wrapped around her. On her neck she wears a necklace of beads, complete with a blue gemstone locket that holds the heart of Te Fiti. She also goes barefoot. In the sequel, her face changed a little bit as she enters adulthood. Her hair also appears to be a little bit longer and some of it is in front of her face now. She also wears the same outfit from the first film, but the top of her red tube top switched to white single strap top and the sun patterns on her skirt switched to a new pattern. She then switches to a new dress that was made by her mother. It features a white top with a pattern on it, a red skirt with the same pattern with a coconut fiber skirt. She also now wears a anklet made of shells and small strings. After Moana gets struck by lightning, her ancestors revive her as a demigoddess and give her a magical tattoo.

Role in the Film

Moana:

Moana is first seen as a toddler, being told an ancient story about the legendary demigod Maui. According to Gramma Tala, the dramatic storyteller, Maui stole the coveted heart of Te Fiti years before their time.

As a result, a lava demon known as Te Kā swore vengeance and plunged the world into a slow-burning darkness. The only hope for humanity lies in the hands of a fearless hero, who must journey to find Maui and have him return the heart to its rightful place. While the other children are terrified by the story, Moana is captivated. Her father, Chief Tui, claims there is no such darkness consuming the world, and stresses the law that forbids anyone on the island from traveling past the reef. Moana fails to heed her father's words and waddles to the ocean shores in bliss. There, she helps a struggling newborn sea turtle make its way to the ocean against predators, using a leaf. Just then, Moana is acquainted with the ocean, which reveals itself to have a mind of its own. Having witnessed her unselfish kindheartedness with the baby sea turtle, the ocean chooses her to receive the heart of Te Fiti, but when Tui arrives and takes her back to the village, Moana inadvertently leaves the heart at the shore.

Tui notices his daughter's love for the sea, and over the years, he and the people of Motunui try to convince Moana that their island home is a paradise and that her destiny is to follow in her father's footsteps by becoming chief. During this time, Moana makes a grass boat, a painting, wears a chief headdress, and wears a hula dress. The painting is made on tapa cloths. Though she loves her people, Moana continues to feel drawn to the sea, something Tala encourages. One day, Tui takes Moana to a sacred place on the island: a high mountain, where chiefs from every generation place a stone to signify the start of their leadership. This inspires Moana to finally accept her role as future chief of the village. She thus spends her time learning how to assist and lead her people, under her parents' guidance. One day, the islands' supply of food begins to die out. Moana believes that traveling beyond the reef to find food elsewhere is the best solution, but Tui strongly forbids it. She nevertheless tries against his wishes and nearly drowns before she can even make it past the barriers.

Believing she's failed as a sailor, Moana declares that she is not fit for the sea and wishes to place her stone on the mountain. She tells this to Gramma Tala, who responds by showing Moana a hidden cave created by their ancestors long ago. Moana learns that she's drawn to the sea because her ancestors were voyagers. When asked why their voyaging stopped, Tala explains that it was Maui's doing, referring to his crime of stealing Te Fiti's heart, which filled the seas with monsters and demons. Tala reveals that she was there the day the ocean chose Moana and gave her the heart of Te Fiti, and still has it in her possession. She explains that the ocean chose Moana to restore the heart. Not knowing how to sail, Moana rushes to her people and asks for their assistance in restoring the heart. Once again, Tui forbids leaving the island and throws the heart away. As Moana uncovers it, she finds Tala's walking cane on the grass.

Moana and her parents rush to the healers, where Tala lies on her deathbed. She encourages Moana to find Maui and restore the heart with her last ounce of strength. Moana reluctantly accepts her grandmother's dying wish, packs supplies, and takes one of her ancestor's boats. As Moana leaves, her grandmother's light fades out, and her spirit appears in the form of a manta ray, which guides Moana past the reef and into the seas. The ocean carries Moana to Maui's island, where the two meet and fail to see eye to eye. Maui is more concerned with Moana's boat, which he steals by trapping Moana in a cave. She uses her wits and agility to escape, and catches up to Maui with the help of the ocean. Moana orders him to return the heart, but upon seeing it, Maui tries to leave the boat, only to be brought back by the ocean. He claims the heart is cursed, something Moana refuses to believe until they fall under attack by a band of pirates called the Kakamora.

The Kakamora crave the heart of Te Fiti's power, but Moana stands her ground and fights back. She successfully recovers the heart and defeats the pirates. Though Maui commends her on surviving, he still refuses to help return the heart. Moana persuades him to do otherwise when she claims such an act will help Maui regain a positive reputation amongst mortals. Maui agrees to help, but not without his fishhook, which is said to be in the clutches of Tamatoa, a giant crab living in the Realm of Monsters. As they make their way, Moana watches intently as Maui proves himself to be a master wayfinder. She asks him to teach her, and after he refuses at first, the ocean uses one of the Kakamora's blow darts to numb the demigod, leaving him unable to sail. With no other choice, he teaches Moana how to wayfind. After much mentoring, Moana falls asleep and has a nightmare in which she watches as her home and parents are destroyed by Te Kā's curse. When she awakens, she finds that Maui has taken over the boat and has successfully led them to Lalotai's island.

As they climb a mountain to reach the entrance to the underworld, Maui questions why the ocean chose Moana to save the world, though she doesn't seem to know, herself. Despite her sudden feeling of self-doubt, Moana follows Maui into Lalotai, and eventually finds the fishhook. She distracts Tamatoa long enough for Maui to take back his hook, but the demigod finds that his shapeshifting abilities are out of whack. Feeling powerful, Tamatoa attacks Maui and imprisons Moana to prevent her from interfering. As she watches helplessly, Tamatoa taunts Maui on his hidden insecurities and alludes to a tragic past. As such information was previously unknown to her, Moana is confused by Tamatoa's words. She nevertheless escapes her cell while Tamatoa is distracted and uses a makeshift duplicate of Te Fiti's heart to lure the crab's attention away from Maui. The two escape (leaving Tamatoa blasted from the geyser and left stranded because he has been chasing the trio) and once they've reached back in the human world, Maui thanks Moana for her actions, though he berates himself for failing to defeat Tamatoa and almost letting Moana be killed as a result.

They set sail once more, but a down-on-his-luck Maui feels unable to defeat Te Kā and restore the heart without his hook. Moana, wanting to get to the root of Maui's self-doubt, tries to uncover the demigod's backstory. This only angers Maui, which prompts Moana to confess her own feelings of self-doubt by revealing she is unsure why the ocean chose her. She further explains that despite this, she pushes herself in order to save her dying island, though she can only do so with Maui's help. Moana offers to lend an ear for the demigod, and Maui eventually opens up to her by revealing he was born a human and was abandoned by his parents. After being adopted by the gods, he became a hero and protected mankind, in hopes of earning the love his parents denied him. Maui admits that he feels worthless without his hook, but Moana sees a true hero in the demigod, regardless of his magical attributes. This resonates with Maui and gives him the courage to train in order to recover his power, under the guidance of Moana and Mini Maui (Maui's sentient tattoo). Maui continues Moana's mentoring in wayfinding, eventually turning her into a master navigator on par with her ancestors, though Maui contends that she may have surpassed them.

It is time to face Te Kā. Maui encourages Moana to use her new skills and sail the rest of the way, and with the demigod's teachings in mind, Moana makes it to Te Fiti, much to the delight of a prideful Maui. Maui then takes the heart and flies to Te Fiti, but he is immediately attacked by Te Kā and quickly defeated. Landing back on the boat, Maui urges Moana to turn back for their own safety, but Moana refuses, unwilling to back away after coming so close to accomplishing their goal. She sails them towards Te Fiti and straight into Te Kā's reach. The lava monster strikes down to kill Moana, but Maui intervenes and uses his fishhook to block Te Kā's blow. The wave created by the powerful impact drives Moana and Maui far from Te Fiti's shores. After they recover, Maui confronts Moana on her recklessness, which severely damaged his fishhook. Maui refuses to return to Te Kā, instead suggesting they part ways, as all hope is lost with his fishhook in such critical condition. Moana stands her ground at the thought of backing down and tearfully tries to force him to stay, only to be met with rejection and coldness from Maui, who tells her the ocean "chose wrong" when it chose her. The demigod uses some of his remaining power to shape-shift into a hawk and fly off into the night.

Lost and alone, Moana is approached by the ocean. She mournfully confesses her incompetence and demands that the ocean chooses someone else to restore the heart. The ocean accepts Moana's decision and takes the heart of Te Fiti back into the sea. As Moana breaks down in tears, she is visited by Gramma Tala's spirit, who comforts and apologizes to her granddaughter for placing so much pressure on her. Tala encourages Moana to return home if she wishes to, promising to remain by her side on the journey back. Moana prepares herself to sail home, but finds that she cannot bring herself to actually do so. Tala encourages Moana to consider why she feels so hesitant to return home. Moana realizes that the love she holds for her people and the sea is what brought her this far. It is what ultimately defines who she is, and explains why she's the one capable of saving the world. Heartened, Moana dives into the sea and retrieves the heart of Te Fiti. When she resurfaces, Tala is gone, but Moana's determination is stronger than ever.

She repairs her boat and travels back to Te Fiti with Heihei by her side. They confront Te Kā, who Moana manages to outsmart in order to make it past Te Fiti's barrier islands. Unfortunately, Te Kā catches on and attacks. Moana is thrown off her boat and is nearly killed by the lava demon until Maui suddently returns. Having had a change of heart, he is determined to defend Moana, despite the damaged state of his fishhook. Maui distracts Te Kā while the ocean helps Moana to Te Fiti's now molten shores. There, Moana cannot find the spiral in which the heart is to be placed. Looking out into the distance, she notices a glowing spiral on Te Kā's chest and realizes that the lava demon is Te Fiti. Moana sings "Know Who You Are" to tame Te Kā, who finds peace in Moana's words and turns herself into cooled lava rock. Moana places the heart into the spiral on Te Kā's chest, and the lava monster's crust crumbles away, revealing the lush and radiant Te Fiti.

The goddess revives the dying islands across the world, and restores Moana's boat and Maui's fishhook. Moana asks Maui to return home with her, but Maui gently declines, showing Moana a new tattoo on his body, inspired by her heroism. The two warmly embrace before Maui shape-shifts into a hawk and flies away. Moana and Heihei sail for Motunui and arrive as the island is recovering from the curse entirely. Tui and Sina joyously greet her. Having restored the safety of the sea, Moana takes her place as a Chieftess of Motunui and the people of the village break out their ancestor's boats. Voyaging begins anew, and Moana leaves her mark of leadership on Motunui's sacred mountain- a seashell, symbolizing the unity of her duties to her people and her passion for the ocean.

Moana 2:

3 years after restoring the heart, Moana has started to go on her own adventures and gained a little sister named Simea. Moana sets to find other people of the ocean but was unsuccessful. However on her latest excursion, she finds a clay jar, with the help of Heihei, proving that there are people out there. Moana returns home where she is reunited with the villagers and her family. She takes her little sister to that cave where Tala showed Moana their history and tells Simea about Tautai Vasa. Moana agrees to go through a ceremony with her father to be named a legendary wayfinder like her ancestor Tautai Vasa. During the ceremony, Moana is nearly struck by a rogue purple thunderbolt from a storm that had mysteriously appeared above the village. In that moment, Moana meets Tautai Vasa, and discovers a vision of her village and island being abandoned and overgrown. Tautai Vasa tells her that she needs to locate the sunken island of Motufetu, crossroads for voyagers like her, which was sunk by the powerful storm god Nalo to cut humanity off from each other, or her people, and those elsewhere in the ocean will never be able to reunite and go extinct. When she comes to afterwards and explains her vision, once the full story is explained, Moana decides she has to find Motufetu to save her family, people, and island from Nalo's curse. This time, she decides to take a crew with her, including storyteller and Maui fanboy Moni, shipwright and craftswoman Loto, and the grumpy elder expert farmer Kele, along with Pua and Heihei, following the comet that Tautai Vasa and her ancestors had shooting across the sky to lead them to Motufetu.

However, during their journey, the comet explodes, indicating they have neared Motufetu, but are confronted by the Kakamora, who reveal that they too are trying to get home to their island, but can't, especially with the giant clam blocking their way. One Kakamora, Kotu, decides to join Moana and sacrifices himself and Moana's raft to save the ones of his fellow Kakamora as Moana, her crew, pets, and Kotu are swallowed by the giant clam. Inside, Moana meets Nalo's right-hand demigoddess enforcer, Matangi, who reveals she actually wants to help Moana defeat Nalo due to wanting to be free of her own servitude to him, and helps Moana reunite with her crew, and Maui, who Matangi had been keeping prisoner while he also sought out Nalo and Motufetu.

Moana opens the way to reach Motufetu, but during the journey, Maui warns her and her crew that Nalo had protected the sunken Motufetu with a powerful storm of his own doing, with deadly lightning, tornadoes, and rogue waves, to prevent anyone from setting foot on it and breaking his curse. As they approach his storm, Nalo sends his giant eels to wreak havoc on Moana, with one managing to swallow Moni, and another damaging the sail of the raft, before they are forced to retreat by the sunrise, with Maui managing to save Moni. Finding a deserted island to beach the raft on and regroup, it is there that Moana finds the remains of Tautai Vasa's raft, indicating that he and those with him were killed by Nalo before they could reach Motufetu. Moana becomes demoralized, but Maui encourages her to keep going. Her morale restored, and with Loto having repaired their raft with materials from Tautai Vasa's, they head for Motufetu, with the plan being for Maui to raise the island, then Moana will touch it, breaking the curse.

When they approach Motufetu's location, Nalo unleashes his storm on them, with Maui being forced to double-back to take out some of the tornadoes going for Moana and her crew. However, Moana tells him to go for the island while they try to divert Nalo's attention since he is after them due to his hatred of humanity. The plan seems to work at first, but Nalo catches on to the plan, and hits Maui dead center with a lightning bolt, stripping Maui of his demigod powers and tattoos, including Mini Maui, leaving him to fall into the ocean to be rescued by Moana's crew while she, remembering what Matangi told her, dives down to touch Motufetu herself.

Refusing to let this happen, Nalo attempts to strike Moana down with several lightning bolts, but just as his last one is about to hit her, she manages to make physical contact with Motufetu, breaking the curse, before Nalo's bolt strikes, fatally wounding her.

As Nalo's storm dissipates with the curse broken, a recovered Maui dives back into the water to find Moana, aided by the ocean now that Nalo's power was broken, only to find her lifeless body floating just above Motufetu's peak. Maui is devastated, begging for Moana to wake up, but when she's unresponsive, he begins uttering a magical chant in the hopes of summoning help to resuscitate her. His chant is answered as Tautai Vasa, Grandma Tala, and the rest of Moana's ancestors arrive, and together, they manage to revive Moana, while also granting her a wayfinder's tattoo and turning her into a demigoddess, with her oar becoming her magical object like Maui's giant fishhook. Maui is also given his demigod powers and tattoos back, including Mini Maui, and together, they are able to raise Motufetu.

Moana blows her conch shell from atop Motufetu, and soon, her call is answered as other rafts begin to arrive from various directions as they blow their conch shells in reply, allowing Moana to meet with the other islanders reconnected by Motufetu's return.

Some time later, Moana returns home to Motunui, joined by her crew, the other islanders and their fleet of rafts, and Maui, reuniting with her little sister and parents, and celebrating having reunited everyone across the ocean.

Unknown to Moana, Nalo, furious at having his curse broken by her and Maui, swears revenge on both of them. He is also furious at Matangi for helping Moana and prepares to punish her just before an old enemy from Moana’s past participates in Nalo’s plan for revenge.

Relationships

Family:

Chief Tui

Growing up, Moana has a complicated relationship with her father whose laws forbidding sea travel conflicts Moana's love for the sea. Despite this, Moana loves her father and wishes to live up to his expectations when taking his place as chief of Motunui. After having an argument with her father over fishing beyond the reef, Moana learns from her mother that the reason her father is overprotective of her and their people is because he has lost his best friend out at sea when he was young, making Moana feel sorry for her father. When discovering Motunui being affected by Te Kā's curse and that she has been chosen by the Ocean to restore the Heart of Te Fiti, Moana attempts to again persuade her father, along with their people to leave Motuni so they can help restore the heart. However, her father is infuriated to hear Moana has discovered their ancestors' boats and proceeds to burn them, despite Moana's objections. Their argument is cut short when they hear that Gramma Tala is suddenly dying, leading Moana and her father to stand by his mother's deathbed.

After Tala's death, Moana immediately leaves Motuni to start her question restoring the Heart of Te Fiti alone without the aid of her father or any of her people. As she journeys to save her people, Moana still holds some care towards her father, despite the last time they have spoke as she has a nightmare of witnessing both her parents being affected by Te Kā's curse.

After returning the Heart of Te Fiti to the mother goddess, saving Motunui and every other island from dying, Moana returns home where she happily reunites and reconciles with her father who finally accepts his daughter's love for the sea, telling her that it has suited her. Later, when Moana becomes chief, she and her father lead their people in voyaging across the seas, strengthening their relationship as her father finally lets go of his fear of traveling on the ocean.

Sina

Even though Sina does not allow Moana to go anywhere near the sea like Tui does, Moana shares a loving relationship with her mother. After having an argument with her father over fishing beyond the reef, Moana receives consolation from her mother who tells that the reason her father is overprotective of her and their people is because he has lost his best friend out at sea when he was young. Sina also warns Moana that sometimes who they wish they could be is just not meant to be, referencing Moana's love for the ocean while comforting her daughter.

When discovering Motunui being affected by Te Kā's curse and that she has been chosen by the Ocean to restore the Heart of Te Fiti, Moana attempts to persuade her mother and people to leave Motunui so they can help restore the heart, only to get into another heated argument with her father. Later, Moana and her mother stand by Tala's deathbed where they both heartbroken over her death. Then, when Moana decides to fulfill Tala's dying wish by leaving Motunui to restore the Heart of Te Fiti, she is caught by her mother while preparing to leave but becomes happy when her mother reveals she supports her decision. After saying goodbye to her mother, Moana leaves Motunui to begin her quest. As she journeys to save her people, Moana worries of her mother's well-being where she has a nightmare of witnessing both her parents being affected by Te Kā's curse.

After returning the Heart of Te Fiti to the mother goddess, saving Motunui and every other island from dying, Moana returns home where she happily reunites with her mother. Later, when Moana becomes chief, she and her mother lead their people in voyaging across the seas where Moana teaches her mother how to tie ropes to the mast of a boat.

Gramma Tala

Ever since she was a baby, Moana had a close relationship with her grandmother, Tala. She was the only child in the village of Motunui who enjoyed listening to Tala's stories and shared a love for the ocean. Tala, on the other hand, was very affectionate with Moana, trying to encourage her granddaughter to not only accept her responsibilities as future chief, but her love for the ocean and sailing.

One day, when Moana attempted to sail beyond the reef after an argument with her father, she got her foot injured when it was stuck on some coral. Moana attempted to hide her injured foot from her grandmother, but Tala was smart enough to see what happened and promised to not tell her father. When Moana decided to follow Motunui's tradition of placing a stone on a mountain to become the next chief, she was confused when her grandma did not stop and asked her if there was something she wanted to tell her, only for Tala to ask her if there something she would like to hear. At this, Moana was taken to a secret cave where Tala advised to bang a drum and that she would learn something of her heritage.

Once she followed her grandmother's advice, Moana discovered she and her people were descended from voyagers who sailed beyond the seas to find new islands. This discovery excited Moana, prompting her to ask her grandmother why they stopped sailing the ocean. Moana heard Tala explain because Maui stole the Heart of Te Fiti, monsters roamed the seas and Te Kā's curse destroyed islands and made sea voyage dangerous. Moana then saw Tala reveal that Te Kā's curse has now reached Motunui and was shocked to hear Tala also reveal she had been chosen by the Ocean to save all of Polynesia from Te Kā's curse as she was given the Heart of Te Fiti.

When Moana got into another argument with her father, after attempting to convince him to help restore the Heart in attempt to save Motunui, Moana and her father were informed that Tala was suddenly dying, much to their shock. Upon approaching Tala's deathbed, Moana was saddened to watch her grandmother die before her eyes and did not want to leave her side. However, after Tala urged her to leave Motunui, find Maui, and restore the Heart of Te Fiti, Moana decided to fulfill her grandmother's dying wish and as she left to begin her journey, she saw Tala being reincarnated into a giant manta ray.

After having an argument with Maui when his hook got damaged, causing Moana to give the Heart of Te Fiti back to the Ocean, Moana broke down in tears, feeling completely hopeless until Tala's spirit appeared before her. Moana embraced and apologized to her grandmother who in return apologized for putting too much expectations on her shoulders. When Moana became hesitant in returning home, Tala began singing a song in which she explained the positive traits she saw in Moana while giving her words of wisdom. This caused Moana to accept the kind of individual she is by embracing both her love for the sea and her people. It also gave Moana the confidence she needed to finish her quest in stopping Te Kā's curse.

After successfully restoring the Heart of Te Fiti and saving Motunui, Moana began a new era of wayfinding where she was watched by her grandmother's manta ray reincarnation, showing she was still being looked after by Tala through a different life form.

Simea

Simea is Moana’s younger sister. Moana loves her sister dearly, and Simea wants to be just like Moana when she’s older.

Friends and Allies

Maui

Growing up, Moana would hear stories of the demigod Maui from Gramma Tala, including how his theft of the Heart of Te Fiti plagued the world under a deadly curse by the lava demon, Te Ka. One day, upon discovering her ancestors to have once been voyagers, Moana listened to Gramma Tala because Maui stole the Heart of Te Fiti, Te Ka's curse also caused sea monsters to roam the seas, making sailing dangerous for voyagers. When discovering Te Ka's curse starting to affect her home and she had been chosen by the Ocean to find Maui and restore the Heart of Te Fiti, Moana was hesitant to carry on this task until Tala encouraged her to do so on her deathbed, making Moana decide to fulfill her grandmother's dying wish.

After arriving at Maui's Island and surviving a storm, Moana met the demigod and tried to speak with him, only to find he was egotistic, arrogant, and boisterous. Maui's narcissism and arrogance immediately disgusted Moana and though she was amazed to learn of the benefits Maui offered to mankind, she was angered when the demigod tricked and trapped her in a cave in order to steal her boat. Upon escaping the cave and being helped by Ocean get back to her boat, Moana angrily confronted Maui who continuously threw her off the boat, only for Ocean to repeatedly put her back on the boat. When Moana revealed the Heart of Te Fiti to the demigod, she was amused to discover he was traumatized by the sight of it and did not believe that anyone dangerous would appear if she showed the Heart around until the Kakamora revealed themselves before Moana and Maui.

When the Kakamora captured Heihei due to the chicken accidentally eating the Heart, Moana begged Maui to help rescue him, but the demigod refused, prompting Moana to rescue Heihei and recover the Heart herself. After escaping the Kakamora, Moana was able to persuade Maui into helping restore the Heart of Te Fiti by playing on his desires to be seen as a hero. Once Moana and Maui agreed to retrieve his magic fish hook first and later restore the Heart, they still had trouble getting along as Maui refused to teach Moana wayfinding and even when he was forced to by the Ocean, he was an apathetic teacher towards her.

Pua

Moana shared a close relationship with her pet pig, Pua whom she has known since she was a preteen. Moana and Pua would often try to sneak off to try sailing beyond the reef of Motunui, only to get caught by Moana's parents every time.

After Moana had an argument with her father over sailing beyond the reef to find more fish, she was comforted by Pua who tried to convince her sail into the ocean to look for more fish. Moana was hesitant and wanted to commit to her people and duties, but ultimately decided to try sailing to look for fish with Pua accompanying her. However, due to Moana sailing for the first time, their attempt to look for fish failed when they got hit by a wave, causing Pua to fall overboard. Moana was able to rescue Pua, but got her foot injured when it was stuck in some coral before she joined Pua in making it back to shore.

After restoring the Heart of Te Fiti and saving Polynesia, including Motunui, from Te Ka's curse, Moana happily reunited with Pua upon returning to Motunui. Once the ban on sea travel had been lifted, Moana was accompanied by Pua as she started and led a new generation of wayfinders.

Heihei

Moana first met Heihei when she was a toddler and shared a close relationship with him while growing up on Motunui. Though the villagers were ticked off by Heihei's stupidity and wanted to eat him, Moana believed there was more to Heihei and convinced her people to keep him around. Though she was dumbfounded with Heihei's unintelligence like the villagers of Motunui, Moana was patient with the chicken and never got angry with him.

When Moana left Motunui to find Maui and restore the Heart of Te Fiti, upon learning she had been chosen by the Ocean to do so, she was surprised to discover that Heihei had stowed away on her boat. She calmed the frantic chicken by assuring him the Ocean was a friend, but became worried when Heihei fell off her boat. Moana managed to rescue Heihei and to prevent him from falling off the boat again, she put him in her canoe's cargo hold to keep him safe. When coming across a storm, Moana put Heihei's safety first as she sailed through the storm.

The next morning, after discovering to have arrived at Maui's Island, Moana and Heihei met Maui who was forced by the Ocean to allow Moana to accompany her. When attacked by the Kakamora, Moana witnessed them kidnap Heihei after he foolishly swallowed the Heart of Te Fiti when it fell out of her necklace. Despite Maui refusing to help her and being outnumbered by the Kakamora, Moana was determined to rescue Heihei and retrieve the Heart. She fought and outsmarted the pirates, managing to rescue Heihei where the two managed to escape and jump back onto their boat, with Heihei spitting out the Heart upon hitting the canoe's mast. After escaping from and defeating the Kakamora, Moana and Heihei continued their journey with Maui reluctantly accompanying them.

As they continued their journey after retrieving Maui's Fish Hook from Tamatoa, Moana and Heihei watched Maui regain control of his shapeshifting abilities. When Heihei ate Maui when turned into a beetle, Moana was horrified until Maui turned back into his true form, with Heihei stuck on his finger. After surviving an encounter with Te Ka, the first thing Moana did was check to see if Heihei was okay before checking on Maui, leading her to get an argument with him over his hook getting damaged.

After Moana was comforted and motivated by her grandmother's spirit to continue her journey, Moana was still accompanied by Heihei as she resumed her quest. Upon returning to Te Fiti's island, Moana kept Heihei safe inside her boat's cargo hold as she confronted Te Ka. When Te Ka threw a fireball in attempt to kill Moana as she entered a cave, it caused the Heart of Te Fiti to fall out of her necklace, only for Heihei to catch it before it could fall into the sea. Moana worried Heihei would eat the Heart again, but was surprised and proud that the chicken gave it back to her.

After restoring Te Fiti from her cursed form, allowing the goddess to bring life back to the dying Polynesian islands, Moana and Heihei journeyed back to Motunui where they were welcomed back by their people. Once Moana became chief and brought back the tradition of wayfinding, she was joined by Heihei as she started leading a new generation of wayfinders.

Quotes

Moana:

• "Well, some of our strengths lie beneath the surface, while others... [Moana sees that Heihei has swallowed the stone, which is causing a bulge in his neck]...far beneath... But, I'm pretty sure there's a lot more to HeiHei than meets the eye." [HeiHei squawks; he regurgitates the rock which plops right infront of him. HeiHei pauses, and then proceeds to pecking the rock, which he was doing earlier. Pua looks away, obviously disturbed]
• “What if we fish beyond the reef?”
• "... Can stop the darkness. Save our island. This cave has boats. Huge canoes. We can take them to find Maui. Make him restore the heart. We were voyagers. We can voyage again. You told me to help our people. This is how we can help our people. Dad. What are you doing?"
• "I am Moana of Motunui. You will board my boat, sail across the sea, and restore the heart of Te Fiti. I am Moana of Motu... nui. Hei-hei?!"
• "Okay, first, I'm not a princess, I'm the daughter of the chief."
• "There's a whole ocean!"
• "You are not my hero. And I'm not here so you can sign my oar. I'm here because you stole the heart of Te Fiti and you will board my boat, sail across the sea, and put it back."
• "The ocean chose you for a reason."
• "He was right. About going out there. It's time to put my stone on the mountain."
• [Moana has just discovered that she was descended from voyagers; she runs out of the cave, screaming excitedly] "We were voyagers! We were voyagers! We were voyagers!"
• "D-Dad! I was only looking at the boats! I wasn't gonna get on them."
• "No. Have you?"
• "Mmm! That is good pork! [Pua, Moana's pet pig, gives her a "sad puppy eyes" look] Oh! I didn't mean... no, I wasn't... What? They're calling me, so I gotta... Bye!"
• "The Ocean chose me."
• "I didn't say "go beyond the reef" because I want to be on the ocean."
• "Because he doesn't get me."
• "I can do this. There's more fish beyond the reef. There's more beyond the reef. Not so bad. "
• "Why aren't you trying to talk me out of it?"
• "Yep, I just did that."
• "Every turn I take, every trail I track/Every path I make, every road leads back/To the place I know, where I can not go/Though I long to be"
• "Let her come to me."
• "See the line where the sky meets the sea? it calls me/And no one knows how far it goes"
• "You stole the heart... for them. Because you wanted to be loved..."
• "I am self-taught."
• "Their boat is turning into more boats!"
• "I will carry you here in my heart. You'll remind me that come what may, I know the way. I am Moana!""
• "I've got something shiny for ya!"
• "It's okay. You're all right. See? There we go. Nice water. The ocean is a friend of mine."
• "I tried Gramma... I-I couldn't do it."
• [to Heihei] "Te Ka can't follow us into the water. We make it past the barrier islands... we make it to Te Fiti. None of which you understand... because you are a chicken."
• "Next time, we'll be more careful. Te Ka was stuck on the barrier islands. It's lava. It can't go in the water. We can find another way around."
• "Um... what? I said help me! And wrecking my boat? Not helping! [She kicks at the water, which recedes, causing her to fall] Fish pee in you... all day!"
• "We're only here 'cause you stole the heart in the first place."
• "I may have gone a little ways past the reef."
• "Why are you acting weird?"
• [exhausted and collapsing at the rudder] "I am Moana of Motu... [starts to doze off and the ocean hits her and she wakes with a start] Board my boat!"
• [singing] "I have crossed the horizon to find you. / I know your name. / They have stolen the heart from inside you. / But this does not define you. / This is not who you are. / You know who you are... who you truly are."
• [putting her hand in the water behind him] "It's cold. Wait, it's getting warmer. [seeing a relieved look on his face] Aah! That is disgusting! What is wrong with you?"
• "You know, it would be rude to reject a gift from a Goddess."

Moana 2:

• "Before Maui stole Te Fiti's heart, our ancestors wanted to connect our island to all the people of the entire ocean. It's my job as Wayfinder to finish what they started."
• "This is a call from the ancestors to sail to new skies, and reconnect our people across the entire ocean."
• "I know what I have to do. Maui, I could really use your help."
• "It was three days!"
• "Little sis!”
• "Bring it on, coco…[gets darted by Kotu before she could finish]…nuts!”
• "This is a place of our ancestors."
• "I’ll be back as soon as I can, I promise."
• "There is nowhere I could ever go that I won’t be with you."
• "The ocean is my friend."
• ”Simea? Simea! Oh! How are you here?”

Gallery

Trivia

• In keeping with the tradition of other Disney Princesses, Moana does not have a last name. During the 2015 D23 Expo's panel for Disney's slate of upcoming animated films, Moana's last name was given as "Waialiki", but that name was not retained in the final film.
• Her name means "ocean" in many Polynesian languages, including Hawaiian and Maori.
• Animators put a considerable amount of effort into ensuring Moana's hair added to her performance. They did so by developing new software to give the hair a realistic look. They also changed her hairstyle in different scenes, depending on her current action (such as tying her hair in a bun as she sails).
• In one version of the story, Moana had nine older brothers that left the island. Their sister would eventually journey to rescue them.
  • In Moana 2, Moana has a younger sister named Simea, making Moana the fourth Disney Princess to have a sibling after Cinderella, Ariel, and Merida.
• Musician Dinah Jane Hansen auditioned for the role of Moana, but the role eventually went to Auliʻi Cravalho.
• Moana was designed to have a body that is considerably more realistic than the thinly stylized proportions of previous Disney animated heroines.
• The junior novelization gives her age as 16. This makes her the only Disney princess to be voiced by an actress younger than the character, as her film was released on Auli'i Cravalho's 16th birthday.
• Moana was, at one point, a secondary character as the film was initially centered around Maui. Moana's story involved going on a mission to save her love interest.
• The red in Moana's clothing represents her royal heritage as the daughter of a chief.
• Over 40 designs were proposed for Moana's necklace. The final appearance was chosen to represent Moana's ties to both the land and sea. The stars on the necklace represent Moana's identity as a navigator.
• In some foreign versions of the film (mainly in some countries in Europe), she is renamed Vaianadue to copyright reasons.
• Moana was originally going to be a playable character in the third installment of Disney Infinity, but after the series was confirmed to have been discontinued in May 2016, it was implied that Moana was cancelled.
  • Writer Jared Bush reported that past iterations of the film had her last name be Waialiki, while others have Motunui, though he wasn't sure on what was ultimately canon.
• In the reprise of the deleted ballad "More", Moana mentions that Gramma Tala was the one who named her.
• Moana's oar is most likely a Culacula: a warclub originating from Fiji that could be used both as an oar and a weapon.
• Unlike her most recent predecessors, Moana was not inducted into the Disney Princess franchise with a coronation event. Instead, the character was slowly integrated into official Disney Princess merchandise such as books and toy lines, as well as social media posts following the release of her film, before being added to the franchise's official website as a member in 2019.
  • Also, unlike her most recent predecessors (who were inducted in the line-up after almost one year of their film's release), Moana took almost three years since her film's release before being inducted into the line-up.
• Moana is a taupou, who later became a Matai in the Fa'amatai government system due to her being a daughter of a chief, and because she became a successor to her father, who was a Matai before her.
• Moana is the second Disney Princess to be an original character and not based on a preexisting character, the first being Merida from Brave.
• Moana is the first Disney Princess to become a deity.
• She is the first Disney Princess to have a theatrically released sequel.
• Moana is the first Disney Princess in the modern era to die and be revived.
• Moana is the second Disney Princess to have a tattoo, after Pocahontas.
• Moana mostly calls Simea Little Sis.
• She is the 8th Disney Princess to receive a live action remake movie.
• She is the 6th Disney Princess to have a sibling

References