I watched Moana because I’ve been wanting to see it for two years straight. I had, for a while, lost interest in Disney movies but Frozen reawakened that excitement. I literally own Frozen, I enjoyed it that much. I know most of the songs by heart and the story was superbly told as it was unlike any Disney princess movie I had seen. So, since then I watched Zootopia, which I loved, and Inside Out, which I actually didn’t like that much if I’m being honest but I had never gotten around to watching Moana. Well, I’ve finally seen it and I can honestly say, it’s a beautiful movie.
There is a lot of heart to this story and what made it such a fantastic film for young girls to see is the fact that it truly stayed front and center on Moana through the entirety of the movie. The story never deferred from her, she was always the hero through the vast majority of the film, and it showed that girls can be just as heroic as the boys any day. Whenever she found herself in tough situations she used her wit and determination to get out of it and whenever she was at her lowest she found the inner strength to keep going. Moana isn’t a story about a princess falling in love with a prince but rather a young woman wanting to save the world and that is a powerful change to the narrative of girls in Disney movies. Continue reading Movie Review Flashback: ‘Moana’ Is a Beautiful Movie For the Empowerment of Young Girls