After stumbling during the last decade with forgettable features like Home On the Range and Meet the Robinsons, Walt Disney Animation Studios has rebounded nicely in the 2010s with Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, Big Hero 6, and Zootopia. Those are four fine films (Zootopia remains one of the best movies of 2016), and Disney hopes to continue the critically admired, commercially profitable winning streak with Moana. Considering it stars The Rock as a demigod, I don’t think Mickey Mouse has to worry about living in the poor house any time soon.
Directed by The Little Mermaid and Aladdin‘s John Musker and Ron Clements, Moana follows an “adventurous teenager,” Princess Moana Waialiki (voiced by newcomer Auli’i Cravalho), “who sails out on a daring mission to save her people.” While doing so, she meets Maui (Dwayne Johnson) “who guides her in her quest to become a master wayfinder. Together, they sail across the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous monsters and impossible odds, and along the way, Moana fulfills the ancient quest of her ancestors and discovers the one thing she’s always sought: her own identity.”
That checks off a lot of Disney hallmark boxes. But what about the soundtrack that your kids will play on a loop until it drives you mad? Moana has you covered: Tony Award-winning Hamilton genius Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote original music with Opetaia Foaʻi and composer Mark Mancina.
As far as I can tell, Moana only has one problem: I just don’t buy the Rock as a shirtless, charming muscle man who makes faces like this.
Now, if he had a fanny pack…
