Moana (character)

Moana is the titular protagonist of Disney's Moana film series. Born on the island village of Motunui with an inherited love for the seas and voyaging, Moana is the eldest daughter of Chief Tui and Sina and the older sister of Simea.
Moana is the twelfth official member of the Disney Princess line-up.Disney Princess | Official Site
==Background==
===Official Description===
:Moana is the vibrant, tenacious, and optimistic daughter of the Chief of Motunui, thriving on her island but drawn to the ocean. When her island is threatened by a dark force, Moana sets sail outside the reef and her comfort zone to right a wrong, save her people, and find the answers she's been searching for her whole life.
===Personality===
As described by Gramma Tala, Moana "stands out from the crowd". She is sea-loving, headstrong, strong-willed, practically fearless, and physically capable. Though she has moments of self-doubt, she has great pride in who she is, and is generally too stubborn to back away from new challenges. Moana approaches new experiences and tasks with the utmost seriousness, and will stand her ground to fight for what she values even when all seems lost. Despite her lack of experience outside of Motunui, Moana can present herself as an imposing force despite her size and has bested the most fearsome beasts and impossible obstacles across the seas of Oceania while relying almost solely on her own intelligence.
For all her strengths, Moana suffers from major identity crises. Surrounded by a loving family and a supportive community of neighbors, Moana cares a great deal for her people, and the village in which she was born and raised. However, she also has a passionate love for the ocean and the idea of voyaging beyond her home island's barrier reef. Throughout Moana's life, voyaging had been prohibited as a means to keep the people of Motunui safe, but even so, Moana's spirited and tenacious attitude kept her dreams of experiencing life beyond her island alive. At the same time, Moana was happily devoted to her village during her time as chief-in-training. An intelligent and resourceful leader, Moana was quick to remedy any problems her village faced and was masterful in keeping herself composed and optimistic during times of a crisis. Moana's loyalty towards her family and people actually played a part in her crippling identity crisis. As she cared for them immensely, she occasionally felt extreme guilt for being drawn to the sea, as lamented in her song "How Far I'll Go"; she believed that if she were to pursue the ocean, she would ultimately disappoint the people she loved. Simultaneously, she felt an obligation towards her ancestors, wanting to reinvigorate their ways of wayfinding as a means to honor them and the legacy they left for her people. These conflicted emotions would ultimately act as Moana's greatest challenge throughout the film.
When it was revealed that she had been chosen by the ocean to restore the legendary heart of Te Fiti, Moana did not put her focus on the potentially devastating outcome of her mission, but the unity between her love for Motunui and her dream of voyaging in the tradition of her great ancestors. Though this would ultimately benefit all parties, this mindset is perhaps Moana's greatest flaw. In being heroic and deathly devoted to her goals, Moana can be selfish in that she is willing to endanger others in order to prove she is capable of confronting her ambitions without fail. Both Tui and Maui confront Moana on this during the film's events, and though she denied both accusations, she knew - deep down - that this was correct. She can also be reckless with herself in this regard, as she drove herself out to sea without proper training in the ways of wayfinding or even sailing. She fears very little, but because of this, she can occasionally bite off more than she can chew. However, these acts are not done with malicious or even notable intent. Moana is extremely sympathetic and caring, which drives her to perform life-threatening stunts for what she genuinely believes to be the greater good.
Even as a child, Moana was a courageous youth who displayed bravery, a longing to leave home and sail beyond the reef to experience adventures. As other children feared Gramma Tala's story of Te Fiti and Maui, Moana was fully invested and excited. However, due to a lack of experience out in the sea, Moana wasn't aware of the dangers that came along with it. For instance, Maui teases Moana during his song "You're Welcome" and, with her transfixed, he shuts her in a cave so he could steal her boat. Throughout her adventure to return the heart of Te Fiti, Moana was dunked, sent flying, or occasionally stumbling as well as slipping on her feet. Like most teenagers, Moana was also wide-eyed and shy, having a tendency to stammer when she speaks, fidget with her hands, flinch when frightened, and stand or stagger in a pigeon-toed stance. Nevertheless, Moana held her own against the dangers of the sea. Although initially thinking the Kakamora are "kind of cute", only for them to immediately attack, Moana was able to board the Kakamora's ship and survive their attacks as well as dodge the darts being shot at her. Moana also had the ocean on her side whenever she needed help, such as when Maui repeatedly flung her overboard, the ocean popped Moana back onto her canoe, dripping wet. Upon entering Lalotai, Moana is attacked by a frog-lizard monster and a sloth monster, where she scream or squirm in panic, having never been so afraid in her life as the monsters attempts to eat her. Moana felt fear and shock as Tamatoa flipped her into the air and clutched her in his pincer, hanging her midair before attempting to eat her. Despite the odds, Moana refused to give up and kept on going with her strength and bravery, though at times she can be reckless, cocky and gets confused easily in her lack of experience. Still, Moana would keep going, asserting her stance and using her wits to find her way out of situations by unorthodox methods.
In contrast to this, Moana grows with failure and responsibility. When the Kakamora try to steal the heart of Te Fiti, Moana fights back, successfully recovering the heart and defeating the pirates. After Maui refuses to assist her in battling Te Kā following a disastrous first encounter on her account, she works up the courage to redeem herself by facing the lava demon alone. She is also empathetic and looks to help herself by helping and understanding others first. This is most notably seen when she puts hours worth of focus on coming to understand Maui and the reasoning behind his own inner demons. In doing so, she was able to exhibit self-loving wisdom (specifically regarding how one should look inside themselves for strength and guidance, and not in someone else). Moana would later use this to encourage herself during her darkest hour.
As she grew with her adventure, Moana discovered more about herself. She came to realize that no one can define who you are, other than yourself; she was neither meant to be devoted solely to the sea or solely to her people, but to herself. As such, she was able to bring her two loves together, ultimately recreating and honoring what came before her: a unity between her people and the sea.
===Physical appearance===
At 16 years old (19 in the sequel), Moana of Motunui has a slender yet muscular build that sets her apart from previous Disney princesses and heroines. She has medium brown skin, brown eyes, thick eyebrows and eyelashes, wide nose, full brownish-pink lips, and long, wavy, black hair. Moana usually wears her hair down, only tying it in a top bun sporadically when sailing.
Moana's outfits are all made out of Tapa, Pandanus, leaves, feathers, and other natural resources found on Motunui. For her regular outfit, she wears a tube top made out of red Tapa with a layered style accessorized with seashells along the perimeter. She wears a red sash made from the same material that wraps around her skirt made out of shredded Pandanas and layered Tapa, with a slit for mobility purposes on her journey. She is also barefoot. When leading on Motunui, she wears a lei made out of green leaves and pink flowers. After Gramma Tala's death, Moana dons her blue necklace that carries in it the heart of Te Fiti.
In the very beginning of the film, Moana, being a 2-year-old toddler, wears a traditional Polynesian cloth diaper made from a simple piece of fabric, possibly made from woven coconut or woven plant fibers, that got wrapped around her waist and secured with a knot, decorated with a light-brown color and some orange-colored curves. The rest of the accessories she has include a necklace with bones that is a symbol of her connection to the ocean and a hibiscus flower in her headband that is a symbol of beauty and respect to nature.
During a brief dancing scene in "Where You Are", Moana wears a dress similar in style to her regular outfit, this time with a red skirt and a white top adorned with a white Pandanus collar, seashell necklace, and a lei made out of green leaves and white flowers, as well as bracelets and anklets on both hands and feet made out of the same material and encrusted with white seashells. At the beginning of the film, she has a pink flower on her head.
Moana also wears a Samoan-inspired ceremonial dress during the same song with a red Tapa top and skirt adorned with red tassels, a white Pandanus collar, skirt, and belt, red-feathered arm cuffs, and green leaf bracelets, both with white seashells around the edge. The dress is topped off with a traditional Samoan headdress made out of shredded red Pandanus, white feathers, seashells, and other natural items found throughout Motunui.
The final outfit Moana wears in the film is her voyager dress in the film's epilogue. Moana's voyager dress is made out of fresh leaves and plants in contrast to her previous outfits, all made out of dried materials. Moana's top is made out of bright red leaves to symbolize her new role as Chief of Motunui. Her belt is made out of red Tapa with a panel of green leaves cascading down the layered skirt made out of shredded Pandanus. Moana wears a lei made out of red and green leaves and encrusted with white flowers, as well as a leaf cuff on her left arm and on her right ankle.
===Abilities===
*Ocean connection: Though Moana does not technically possess the skill to bend water to her will, she does share a unique and exclusive connection with the ocean itself. Sometimes the ocean helps her when she's in need. For example, when Maui leaves Moana with her boat, and repeatedly throwing her overboard, the ocean popped her back on board, dripping wet.
*Athleticism: Growing up on an island has provided Moana with an environment that allows her to use her strength and agility to traverse throughout it. As seen during "How Far I'll Go", Moana is physically dominant, as she was seen zip-lining and running at a fast pace without losing stamina. She also has a natural talent for swimming and can endure being underwater for a considerably long period of time for a human. During her brief time trapped in Maui's cave, Moana demonstrated incredible leg strength by moving and toppling over a statue of the demigod many times her size and weight, so she can climb out through a tiny crevice. Moana also held her own while fighting back against the Kakamora and has demonstrated that she is able to outrun various monsters.
*Master sailor: Though inexperienced at first, Moana has always been drawn to the sea as a result of her ancestral heritage. When she first embarked set sail with Pua in an attempt to go beyond the reef, her sailing skills left much to be desired, and as a result, she was nearly killed by the strong currents. However, she made it past almost effortlessly the same night, and throughout her adventures with Maui, steadily learned various necessities and tricks that would ultimately lead her to become a talented sailor - and by extension - a master navigator.
*Demigoddesshood: After perishing in the act of breaking Nalo's curse on Motufetu, Moana was revived as a demigoddess, receiving demigoddess tattoos and having her oar turned into a magic totem. The full extent of her demigoddess abilities is unknown, with the only mystical ability displayed being the power wayfinding to guide people across Oceania.
==Appearances==
===Animated Appearances===
====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 centuries before their time. As a result, a lava demon known as Te Kā was born, and the world was plunged into 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. 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. Just then, Moana is acquainted with the ocean, which reveals itself to have a mind of its own. Having witnessed her purity with the baby sea turtle, the ocean grows fond of Moana and chooses her as the heroine destined to save the world. It provides her with the heart of Te Fiti, but when Tui arrives and takes her back to the village, Moana drops the heart and leaves it 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. 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 soon-to-be chief of the village. She thusly spends her time learning under her parents on how to assist her people across the island. 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 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 to have the heart of Te Fiti in her possession and explains that the ocean chose Moana to restore it. Not knowing how to sail, Moana rushes to Tui and her people to ask for their assistance in restoring the heart. Once again, Tui forbids leaving the island, ignores her, and throws the heart away. As Moana recovers it, she finds Tala's walking stick on the grass.
Moana and her parents rush to the medics, where Tala lies on her deathbed. She encourages Moana to find Maui and restore the heart with her last ounce of breath. Moana reluctantly accepts her grandmother's dying wish, packs supplies, and takes one of her ancestor's boats that unknowingly had her rooster friend, Heihei, aboard as well. As Moana leaves, her grandmother's light fades out, and her spirit guides Moana past the reef and into the seas. The following night, the ocean carries Moana to Maui's island, where the two meet and fail to see eye to eye. Maui is more concerned with the sight of Moana's boat, which he steals by trapping Moana in a cave. She manages to use her wits to escape and makes it to Maui with the help of the ocean. She 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 comply 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 Lalotai, 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. She evades several monsters, one of which tried to eat her, until eventually finding Tamatoa's lair and the fishhook adhered to Tamatoa's shell. Moana 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 drive the crab's attention away from Maui. The two escape, and once they have reached safety, 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, pries 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 she pushes herself regardless 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 to earn the love he was denied by his parents. 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). Simultaneously, Maui furthers 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 eventually decided that they're ready to face Te Kā. Maui encourages Moana to utilize her 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. Believing the ocean chose wrong in Moana as the world's savior, Maui refuses to return to Te Kā, instead suggesting they part ways as all hope is lost with his fishhook in such critical condition. Leaving Moana sad and upset, Moana stands her ground at the thought of backing down and tearfully tries to force Maui to stay, only to be met with rejection as the demigod uses some of his remaining power to shape-shift into a hawk and fly off into the night.
Sad and alone, Moana is approached by the ocean. She mournfully confesses to 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 ghost, 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. Unable to understand, Tala encourages Moana to open up to her emotions to understand why she feels hesitant to return home. Moana comes to realize that the everlasting love she holds for her people and the sea is what brought her so far, is what ultimately defines who she is, and explains why she's the one capable of saving the world. Encouraged, Moana dives into the sea and retrieves the heart of Te Fiti. When she resurfaces, Tala is gone, but Moana's determination is now even 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 eventually catches on and attacks. Moana is thrown off her boat and is nearly killed by the lava demon until Maui returns with a change of heart. 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 quickly comes to the realization that the lava demon is Te Fiti. Just as Te Kā is about to finish Maui off, Moana uses the heart to get her attention as she tells the ocean to clear a path. When she confronts Te Kā, she then sings "Know Who You Are" in the moment of certain doom, which the song tames Te Kā, who finds peace in Moana's inspiring words and turns herself into molten rock. Moana places the heart into Te Kā's chest, and the lava monster's body crumbles away, reviving the radiant and lush Te Fiti.
The Goddess revives the dying islands across the world, as well as Moana's boat and Maui's fishhook. Moana asks Maui to return home with her, but Maui warmly denies, instead of 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 off. Shortly afterward, Moana and Heihei sail for Motunui. They arrive just as Motunui recovers from the curse entirely. Tui and Sina spot Moana arriving home and lovingly greet her, with Tui acknowledging that going past the reef suits her. With her deed having restored the safety of the sea, Moana succeeds her father as chief (chiefess), and the people of the village bring out their ancestor's boats. Voyaging starts again, and Moana makes her mark of leadership on Motunui's sacred mountain with a seashell given to her by the ocean, symbolizing the unity of her duties to her people and her passion for the seas.
====Gone Fishing====
Moana interacts with the Ocean back on her home island of Motunui. She is interrupted by Maui, who tried teaching her to 'command' it instead. This leads to Maui getting humiliated by the Ocean while trying to fish, much to Moana and Mini Maui's amusement. After his ego is completely deflated, Moana then returns the fish (intended to be Maui's lunch) to the Ocean as she corrects him on her name, leading to Maui being thrown to the sky by the Ocean through a geyser.
====Ralph Breaks the Internet====
Moana returns in Ralph Breaks the Internet, joining all the other Disney Princesses at Oh My Disney. She is first seen greeting netizens behind all the other princesses. Vanellope manages to find refuge in the Disney princesses' private quarters to get away from the First Order Stormtroopers, where the ladies are on break; Moana can be seen talking with Anna and Elsa. As the princesses mistake Vanellope as a threat, they surge at her with their respective weapons; Moana prepares to hit Vanellope with her oar. Luckily, she and the other princesses begin to soften and ease their hostility when Vanellope tells them that she is a princess too. Moana, Mulan, Merida, and Anna are the only ones who do not ask Vanellope a question to prove what kind of princess she is. After declaring Vanellope to be a princess, they soon admired her casual modern outfit, and switched their trademark attire to modern casual outfits; Moana wears an orange tank top reading "#SHINY" along with the artwork of Tamatoa, and white shorts; along with Ariel, she is also seen barefoot throughout the film. They then talk about how they like to break into song. Pocahontas says what works is to find a body of water and stare at it, where Moana replies that she sings to the ocean. After C-3PO tells the princesses to get ready to meet the quiz participants, Merida bids farewell to Vanellope in a thick Scottish accent, which Moana says they cannot understand her.
Moana also later appears participating in the rescue to save Ralph from falling down from the Google skyscraper, creating a magical wave that Ariel swims through. When Ralph falls into the Royal Mattress wearing Snow White's dress, he notices the princesses after Prince Naveen kisses him. After the princesses tell Ralph that they are Vanellope's friends, Moana says "You're welcome". Much to Yesss and Vanellope's amusement, Ralph says Snow White's dress is not made for a big boy.
In the credits, the toddler version of Moana makes an appearance as a modern-day girl named Mo coming home after seeing the very movie. Mo tells her mother that she was unhappy over a scene that was in the trailer, which was not in the film itself, so her mother encourages her to play a mobile game, Pancake Milkshake, to feel better. Mo does so, but while playing, she sees both Ralph and Vanellope crash the game. Ralph then overfeeds the bunny character who explodes from pressure, causing Mo to scream in horror.
====LEGO Disney Princess: The Castle Quest====
Moana appears in the crossover special, taking place sometime after the events of her film. She and four other princesses (Snow White, Rapunzel, Tiana, and Ariel) are summoned to a mysterious castle, where Ariel's father, King Triton, has been imprisoned by the arrogant hunter Gaston in a plot to steal his trident. Ariel accepts to complete three challenges alone in the castle to save her father, but the other princesses vow to assist her, with Moana saying "If the ocean or its king needs me, I'm there. Count me in.". The princesses split up into groups, with Moana teaming up with Ariel. The duo is tasked by the Wardrobe to find the Magic Carpet, which has been plundered by pirates. Moana battles the pirates while Ariel infiltrates their brig to free the Carpet, only to be confronted by the brig's captain, Iago. After the parrot is defeated by being blasted with a cannon, Moana and Ariel manage to escape with the Carpet in tow. After reuniting with the other princesses, the group faces Gaston and Maleficent as the final challenge. After being tamed by Snow White, the dragon turns against Gaston. The princesses escape, then they help Ariel reclaim her father's trident and free him. The princesses are dubbed heroines and learn from the Magic Mirror that the castle is theirs to claim.
====Moana 2====
Moana appears in the sequel alongside Maui, again serving as the protagonist. In the years following the first film, Moana has been on her own adventures and gained a little sister named Simea.
After returning from her latest excursion, 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 rouge 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 meteor that Tautai Vasa and her ancestors had shooting across the sky to lead them to Motufetu.
However, during their journey, the meteor 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.
===Live Action Appearances===
====Moana====
Moana will appear in the live action re-imagining of the 2016 film as the protagonist.
===Other appearances===
In Zootopia, a feline version of Moana can be seen on the cover of Duke Weaselton's bootleg copy of Meowana.
A doll version of Moana makes a cameo appearance in a 2016 Holiday commercial for Target, where she is shown turning on the stage lights for the rehearsal of the "Toycracker".
An emoticon version of Moana appeared in the As Told by Emoji episode based on Moana.
A little girl, resembling her modern day counterpart Mo, appears in the Short Circuit film Drop. She is sitting in a car playing with a toy during a rainstorm when she catches sight of the sentient rain drop and makes contact with him.
In the series finale of At Home With Olaf, a short clip of her film featuring herself appears during a montage of heartwarming moments from Disney films playing in Olaf's song "I Am with You".
A woman cosplaying as Moana appears in the Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers film. She appears as one of the audience members during Baloo's show at Fan Con. Later, a can of Moana-themed nuts is seen in Sweet Pete’s locker at the Russian spa, with Moana herself pictured on it.
In Once Upon a Studio, Moana appears after the ocean dispenses her from her painting and dropping Flounder in her hands with him begging for water. She rushes to Merlin for help, and he uses his magic to cast a spell for water in the Mad Hatter's hat and puts Flounder in it. She later appeared in the group photo along with the rest of Disney characters. In the original animatic of the short, Moana was originally going to sing part of the second verse of "When You Wish Upon a Star", instead of Pocahontas.
In Wish, Moana was among the Disney animated characters that appeared during the credits.
==Video games==
===Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ===
Moana is featured as a 5-star golden magic combat medal obtained for optional quests in promotion with the film. In addition, a Moana costume appears as customizable attire.
===Disney Heroes: Battle Mode===
Moana is a playable character in Disney Heroes: Battle Mode. Moana is a Mid-Line Damage role hero. Moana fights using her Oar and Powers of Ocean. Moana's basic attack is hitting her oar to send small wave of water towards nearest enemy. Moana also uses her Oar to shield herself and summon a spirit of her grandmother, Gramma Tala, to heal and grant energy to Moana. Once per wave, when Moana's HP drops to a certain percentage, she jumps into the middle of enemies and changes to a melee range, hitting enemies with her oar, in this stance Moana also gains core speed attack.
Moana's friendship campaigns are with Mickey Mouse and Merida. Moana also have friendship campaigns with Maui, Pleakley, and Olaf.
In update 6.7 (November 2024), Moana received her new voyager costume, as part of events for release of Moana 2. 
===Disney Melee Mania===
Moana appears as a playable character in this game.
===Disney Dreamlight Valley===
Moana appears in this game, even in the early access, but has withdrawn to her home realm behind the corresponding door in the Dream Castle with Maui for their own protection from The Forgetting. The Night Thorns blocking it can either be removed for free upon first unlocking the Dream Castle, or removed at a later time for 3,000 Dreamlight.
Upon arriving in the realm, it appears Moana and Maui had a falling out, as they are heard angrily yelling at each other before Maui storms off in disgust. Speaking to Moana, she needs help repairing her canoe. After scavenging for the items she needs to fix it, she asks that the player speak to Maui about helping deal with the sea stones blocking her canoe in as she doesn't want to damage it if she attempts to leave the island with them still in the way. Speaking to Maui, he only will help if the player answers a few trivia questions about him, suggesting speaking to Moana for the details. After getting the info from Moana, the player answers Maui's questions correctly, and pleased to see a fan of his, Maui upgrades the player's Royal Pickaxe to be able to break small sea stones, thus freeing up Moana's canoe. The player joins Moana as she sails out to the open ocean, before finding a memory that suggests looking in one of four locations around the area for something to light their way through the mist up ahead. Once the player finds a torch Moana can put on the front of the canoe to light their way, they soon reach a new area, where when the player fishes up an albino fish from next to the canoe, Moana is happy to have found a new fishing spot for her people, and agrees to return to Dreamlight Valley, but needs a home there first before she shows up.
After finding a good spot for her house on Dazzle Beach and paying Scrooge McDuck to have his McDuck Construction Company build Moana's fale for her, she'll arrive in the valley from the Dreamlight well in front of the Dream Castle. Later, she notices a broken canoe lying on Dazzle Beach, and asks the player to gather materials to fix it up for her to use to collect fish from around the area. Once the canoe is repaired, Scrooge can be paid to improve it to allow Moana to bring in a bigger catch and reduce the energy consumption the player uses when fishing.
As for her friendship quests, her first one involves apologizing to Maui for leaving him back in their realm when she came to the Valley. Despite offering him some food, Maui is only slightly willing to forgive Moana. Only after crafting an oar for Moana to present to Maui as a gift and watching their reconciliation is he finally able to accept Moana's apology. It also during this time that the player finds something called a Leader Shard, both after helping Moana repair the canoe, and after her and Maui patch things up with each other. These serve to help Moana regain her memories that were lost due to The Forgetting.
Her next quest regards traveling into the Forest of Valor as she needed to collect some flowers from there. As more pieces of Moana's memory are found, she then needs some fruit collected. After that, she needs some coconuts, which leads to her finding another Leader Shard in the process, and realize that Pua might still be in the Valley and they need to find Pua by luring him out with the coconuts.
Moana's next quest has her find that Pua had opened the coconuts, so he is in the area, so she has the player check the Peaceful Meadow as Pua probably went there for a drink. After finding more tracks, it leads them to Chez Remy as Pua probably looked for more food. They find Pua was just there as there was some partially-eaten food there along with more tracks. Thinking Pua got spooked and went to the Forest of Valor for shelter, they head there and find Pua, but he's been trapped in Night Thorns. The player frees him, and causes another Leader Shard to appear, which they return to Moana, who's grateful that Pua is safe and the Leader Shards will help her remember what The Forgetting made her forget once they find more of them.
==Disney Parks==
===Disneyland Resort===
Moana currently makes meet-and-greet appearances at the Disneyland park in Adventureland.
===Walt Disney World===
Moana began making appearances at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort on November 16, 2016, prior to the film's release. She later became available for meet-and-greets at Disney's Hollywood Studios. During colder weather, she'll wear a long-sleeved, coat-styled version of her trademark dress to keep warm while seeing Guests out in the parks or from the parade floats.
At the Magic Kingdom, Moana appears in the nighttime spectacular Happily Ever After, where she performs "How Far I'll Go".
As of August 2017, she appears in the boat finale of Fantasmic! where she replaced Mulan standing next to Donald before swapping spots with Stitch. But beginning in 2022, during the revamp of the show, she will play a major role.
Also in 2022, she will appear alongside fellow Disney characters in the Disney Adventure Friends Cavalcade.
In April 2023, she made a debut appearance at Disney's Animal Kingdom for its 25th Anniversary on Earth Day.
Moana now makes regular meet-and-greet appearances at Epcot at the new attraction based on her film near the entrance to the World Showcase. Around the time of the debut of her sequel, Disney Imagineers started having her make meet-and-greets in her Moana 2 default attire seen in the film.
===Tokyo Disneyland===
When Tokyo's version of It's a Small World was refurbished in 2018, a Moana figure was added to the Pacific Islands section, sailing on her boat with Pua. She wouldn't make an official park appearance until April 2023 in the Disney Harmony in Color! Parade as part of the resort's 40th Anniversary Celebration.
===Disneyland Paris===
On November 18, 2016, Moana made her debut at the Disneyland park during the "You're Welcome" pre-parade, in which she toured through the parade route to the music of Maui's signature song. She later began making meet-and-greet appearances at the Art of Animation attraction on November 20.
===Hong Kong Disneyland===
Moana appears in Moana: A Homecoming Celebration, performed in Adventureland.
===Shanghai Disneyland===
In front of Enchanted Storybook Castle, Moana appears alongside Maui in the Summer Blast stage show. She also stars as one of the hosts in Moana: A Homecoming Celebration, retelling the story of her journey.
==Other apperances==
===Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade===
Moana appeared in the 2021 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade riding on the float based on the newest ship to the Disney Cruise Line fleet, the Disney Wish, along with fellow Disney Princesses Cinderella, Tiana, Rapunzel, and Jasmine. Joined by Flynn, Aladdin, Anna, and Elsa, along with the crew consisting of Captain Minnie Mouse, Admiral Mickey Mouse, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, and Chip 'n' Dale, Moana and the other characters gave the parade that little bit of Disney magic as the float made its way from Central Park West to 34th Street so special guest singer Jordan Fisher could perform "Together We Set Sail" in Herald's Square to the crowd, despite Disney and the USA still recovering from the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its mutations.
Moana returned to ride on the float again for the 2022 parade, joined by many of the characters from last year, but in place of Chip 'n' Dale, Anna, and Elsa, Moana was joined by Mulan, Raya, Mirabel Madrigal, Spider-Man, Black Panther, and the husbands of Cinderella and Tiana, Prince Charming and Prince Naveen, all together to perform one of the shows from the Disney Wish proper, dubbed "Seas The Adventure", to the Guests attending the parade, with Moana one of the main characters in the performance, which included snippets of "A Whole New World" and "When You Wish Upon a Star", ending with a flourish of streamers and confetti, putting smiles on the faces of all the Guests, and adding that spark of Disney Magic to Macy's long-standing Thanksgiving tradition for the second year in a row that the float and Cast Members attended the parade. After reaching the end of the parade route, Moana and the other characters prepared to return home to Disneyland in Anaheim and Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista to resume their duties there for Disney's holiday festivities until invited back for another Macy's parade, which may be possible if Macy's decides to bring the float back for a third consecutive year and Disney's executives agree to allow the characters to attend the parade again.
Disney and Macy's agreed to have the "Magic Meets The Sea" return for the 2023 parade, and Moana was among the returning faces of Theme Park Characters riding on the float this year as part of the Disney 100 celebrations." The float was also repainted to represent the Disney Treasure, sister ship of the Disney Wish, with the Treasure set to join the fleet in 2024. Moana, wearing her winter attire again alongside Tiana, Anna, and Mirabel, and joined by the Fab 5, Elsa, Peter Pan, Rapunzel, Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, the Peddler, Spider-Man, Black Panther, Naveen, and Miguel Rivera, rode on the float while once more escorted by backup performer and liaison Cast Members ahead of Ronald McDonald, the NYPD Marching Band, and Chase of the PAW Patrol, as this year's song they performed in Herald Square, "Let's Set Sail", played on the float's loudspeakers. The NBC broadcast of the parade broke to a commercial just as the float arrived at Herald Square, giving Moana, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Genie, and the Peddler time to help their backup performers set everything up for the performance, so when the broadcast returned from commercial break, and Al Roker and his co-hosts introduced them, they put on another wonderful performance to add that little bit of Disney Magic to the parade for the third year in a row "Magic Meets The Sea" made an appearance in it.
Disney and Macy's will be in discussion about having the float, Moana, and many characters, return for the 2024 parade to promote the Disney Treasure again as Macy's has already begun their planning for next year's parade. Details regarding the float's return will be announced through various media should Disney CEO Bob Iger and Macy's CEO agree to have Disney participate in the parade again, even after the end of the Disney 100 Years of Wonder celebrations. Also, since Moana has been on the float for all three years it has appeared so far, it is a sure possibility that she'll be there again next time, and as always, in her winter version of her dress because of the cold weather in Manhattan that is normally there on Thanksgiving, but only if Iger and Macy's select her as one of the characters to join the Fab 5 again next year.
==Relationships==
==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.Moana's brothers by visual development artist Minkyu Lee
**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 Vaiana due 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.
*She is the first tautai (master wayfinder) that her people have had in a millennium.
*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.
== Variants ==
* Moana (Moana 2026)
==References==
==External links==
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ar:موانا (شخصية)
de:Vaiana (Charakter)
es:Moana (personaje)
fr:Vaiana Waialiki
hr:Vaiana
it:Vaiana
ja:モアナ　(キャラクター)
nl:Vaiana Waialiki
pl:Vaiana
pt:Vaiana Waialiki
pt-br:Moana (personagem)
ru:Моана (персонаж)
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