Optimistic joy tries to control things, but sad sadness gets in the way without meaning to. Each emotion has its own color, personality and voice, and they try to work together as much as possible. Inside the inner space of 11-year-old Riley is a headquarters run by five consolidated emotions – joy, sadness, fear, anger and disgust. Pete Docter translates basic courses in child psychology into a colorful and vibrant celebration of visual metaphors, connected to an immersive action plot. Like many childhood films, “The Voice in the Head” tells about the difficulties of a girl’s absorption in a new school, but this time the story is experienced from the inside. In other words: everything Disney knows how to do, with extras. And alongside all of these there are moments of existentialist connection to nature that took inspiration from Miyazaki’s films, and they contribute to “Moana” a pinch of rest. The great songs written by Lin Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton”) are harmonious, danceable and make you want more.

The animation is beautiful, and the folkloristic context allows it to occasionally deviate from the typical realistic line. The dumb-as-a-shoe rooster that accompanies them is also an atypical sidekick.

The curious and stubborn girl is a great protagonist, and the relationship between her and the arrogant and muscular Maui is not romantic as usual – the narrative is more “Buddy Moby”, including matching jokes. It’s a fable about a Polynesian girl who rebels against her fearful father, and with the encouragement of her “crazy” grandmother, sets out to sea to look for the shape-shifting Maui (Dwayne Johnson, in a role adapted to his size) in the hope that he will help her return the heart he stole from her to the goddess of the islands and repair the ecological disaster he caused. This dialogue is not only clever at the expense of the Disney princess films, but also makes it clear that “Moana” wants to continue the brand, but also to turn to a new path, like its bold heroine. “I’m not a princess,” Moana defies, “I’m a chief’s daughter.” “If you wear a dress and have an animal as a sidekick, you are a princess,” Maui explains to her.

Moana full movie 2016 trailer