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 by Tautai Vasa, Grandma Tala, and the rest of Moana’s ancestors. Together, they manage to rekindle 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.
The second film in the Moana franchise, it was directed by David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller and written by Miller and Jared Bush. Auliʻi Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson reprise their roles from the first film. Set three years later, it follows Moana reuniting with the demigod Maui and assembling a wayfinding crew to find the lost island of Motufetu, break its curse, and reconnect the people of the ocean. 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.
Te Fiti, an island goddess, created all life and became an island after falling into deep slumber. Te Fiti’s heart, a small pounamu stone, was sought after by the monstrous forces of the sea, until it was stolen by the demigod Maui. Leaving the island without the heart caused it to collapse and a lava monster named Te Kā to appear and confront Maui, which caused his fish hook and the heart to disappear into the ocean. Because of the heart being stolen, the islands Te Fiti created are cursed to lose the life she gave them.
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When she resurfaces, Tala is gone, but Moana’s determination is stronger than ever. 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.
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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 Moana 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. 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.
Despite this, Moana loves her father and wishes to live up to his expectations when taking his place as chief of Motunui. 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.
- She escapes and confronts Maui who throws her off the boat multiple times but due to the ocean he reluctantly lets her onto the camakau.
- 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.
- Inspired by Polynesian mythology, Moana is depicted as the strong-willed daughter of a chief of a Polynesian village, who is chosen by the ocean itself to reunite a mystical relic with the goddess Te Fiti.
- Moana is a 2016 animated musical adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.
- She uses her wits and agility to escape, and catches up to Maui with the help of the ocean.
- Te Fiti calms down and lets Moana restore her heart which brings everything, including herself, back to normal.
Moana (franchise)
- 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.
- The film received positive reviews from critics and was a commercial success, grossing $687 million worldwide.
- It features songs written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foaʻi, and Mark Mancina, and an original score also composed by Mancina.
- The short film, Gone Fishing, was released in 2017 as a bonus feature on the Blu-ray release of Moana.
- The ocean obliges and takes the heart, Moana breaks down crying feeling hopeless but Tala’s spirit appears, inspiring Moana to find her true calling.
Matangi aids Moana as Nalo being defeated means she can be free from the clam she is in. She reveals she has Maui and had him here to assure her and Moana would reunite, before sending them to where they have to go. As they continued their journey after retrieving Maui’s Fish Hook from Tamatoa, Moana and Heihei watched Maui regain control of his shapeshifting abilities.
In other media
A Kakamora named Kotu helps the crew paralyze a gargantuan monster clam inside of which is Matangi’s lair. While the crew finds Maui, Moana meets Matangi and learns that she is not happy serving Nalo. Matangi helps Moana escape and reunite with Maui and her friends, before sending them to where Nalo is. Moana shared a close relationship with her pet pig, Pua whom she has known since she was a preteen.
Role in the Film
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. 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. Te Fiti, now fully restored and the curse lifted, believes that Maui is left to apologize for his actions, which he does.
Moana realizes Maui is no longer a hero since he stole the heart and cursed the world, and convinces him to redeem himself by returning the heart. However, Maui first needs to retrieve his fishhook in Lalotai, the Realm of Monsters, from Tamatoa, a giant coconut crab. While Moana distracts Tamatoa, Maui retrieves his hook, only to find himself unable to control his shape-shifting.
Moana of Motunui is the title character of the 2016 Walt Disney Animation Studios film Moana. Created by directors Ron Clements and John Musker, Moana is voiced by Hawaiian actress and singer Auliʻi Cravalho. Moana returns in the sequel film Moana 2, which premiered in November 2024, again voiced by Cravalho, as well as a live-action remake film, in 2026, in which she will be portrayed by Catherine Laga’aia. 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.