SO! The trailer for Moana, Disney's latest
animated princess movie, has finally landed online! This film has been hotly
anticipated by audiences; primarily because of Dwayne Johnson, but also because
it promises to be a celebration of Polynesian culture. This is fairly new for
Disney - who are usually criticised for their lack of diversity.
Overall, I really liked this
trailer. It mixes amazing visuals with good, old-fashioned family humour. The phenomenal
animation also reflects how Disney has progressed since introducing this style
with Tangled. However, whilst this trailer looks pretty, it is not flawless.
I'll be getting into what I like and I didn't through 5 points that really
stood out for me.
The trailer starts off with a hieroglyphic
animation of Maui (Dwayne Johnson) – a Demi-God. This was done both beautifully
and stylistically, leaving me in awe. Afterwards it’s shown that the
hieroglyphs are actually Maui's tattoos, and that he's narrating his own story.
I thought this was a great way to introduce his character. He's cocky and
brash. Not to mention, Dwayne Johnson's voice fits so well with the animation
that it feels so organic and real. A brilliant job by the animators. That being
said... This trailer may have focused too much on Maui; considering he gets almost
all of the dialogue. Given that the film is named Moana, you'd think the
trailer would try and build on her character instead. But Maui is definitely
going to be a fan favourite.
Moana
The first look at the film's title character
was perhaps the most bittersweet part of this trailer. On the plus-side her
design is fantastic! She's possibly the most physically realistic princess that
Disney has ever produced. Whilst she is beautiful, her beauty seems more
natural than others such as Ariel and Aurora. However, while it's great to see
Moana, she doesn't really speak in this trailer. She does say
"Umm...." in reaction to Maui's flamboyancy, but that's all we get
from her. The trailer had the opportunity to flesh out Moana and didn't take it
sadly. This can be understood though, for the actress Auli'i Cravalho is a
newcomer, meaning Disney aren't entirely sold on her audience appeal; unlike
Dwayne Johnson who has a huge fan base behind him already.
In this second long
blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot we see Moana in action. Previously, many Disney
Princesses have been criticised for being too passive, but Disney are aspiring
to change that. First with Merida from Brave and now with Mona, who also
appears to be quite active – a lot more than her fellow princesses; showing
that Moana will be both a realistic princess that girls can relate to and also
a role model for them. Hopefully this isn't the only thing she does for herself
though.
The Ocean
This part of the trailer got me so
excited. When Moana was first announced, Disney released some concept art for
the film. One of them was Moana and Maui on a sail, riding waves, which was
stunning and beautiful, largely due to the sense of adventure and excitement
that came with it. Therefore, when the sail showed up in the trailer I got
excited as it reminded me of that original concept art and how great it is that
it’s been incorporated into the film, as sometimes early concept art doesn't come out in the final product.
Just want to say, I know next to nothing about Polynesian culture. Nor do I know anything about Maui, (who derives from mythology), so when I saw him turn into a giant bird it caught me off guard. I'm not sure if that's something Maui can do in mythology or not, but it was definitely unexpected! That being said, I do like how his fish-hook is incorporated into his wing. It looks really cool!
Overall, this trailer was pretty good! I
do wish they put more focus on Moana instead of Maui, but it shows so much
promise and I can't wait until this film comes out!
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