- “I am Moana of Motunui. Aboard my boat, I will sail across the sea and restore the heart of Te Fiti.”
- ―Moana
Moana Waialiki[1][2] is the protagonist and heroine of Disney's 2016 animated feature film of the same name. Born on the island village of Motunui, Moana is the daughter of Sina, 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[]
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 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 goes barefoot.
Role in the Film[]
Moana listening to Gramma Tala's story with the other kids
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.
Moana as chief-in-training.
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.
The ocean returns to confirm Moana's destiny.
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 Granna 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 leaves Motunui and begins her journey.
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.
Entering the Realm of Monsters.
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.
Moana's inspirational encounter with her ancestors.
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.
Moana looking fondly to the ocean after being gifted the seashell from her childhood.
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.
