Moana

[blackcauldron85]

Minor spoiler in the 4th-from-the-bottom paragraph:
How (and Why) Maui Got So Big in ‘Moana’
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/movie ... .html?_r=1

Meet the team who brought Maui to life for Disney's "Moana"
http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief ... -quot.aspx

[unprincess]

love that art for the Ron/Jon art exhibition! especially the Doppler & Amelia one, the Hercules Pantheon of Gods one and Jasmine & Rajah! wish I could go there!

[Tangled]

Does anyone know when we should expect the soundtrack to be available? Like, what time did the Frozen soundtrack come out? I want to buy a digital copy but I didn't preorder, so I don't know if I should attempt to stay up late because I’m excited or if I should just sleep and wait until morning. I know it'll probably be midnight, but I don't know what timezone. I'm in EST, and I'm definitely going to sleep early if it's coming out at 3 in the morning here.

Edit: I did some digging around in the Frozen and Tangled threads, and 11-12 EST seems to be the time.

[D82]

Does anyone know when we should expect the soundtrack to be available?

I think it will be available to download at midnight, like you said. In some countries where it's already the 18th it's available now. I can already listen to it on Spotify. I'm new to Spotify and I don't know if you can listen to it outside Europe, but here's the link in case it works for you: https://open.spotify.com/album/5OqqckNbS1CBwuD6uWirHc

[Sotiris]

I've just listened to all of the songs in full. I have to say I'm quite disappointed. Considering all the buzz surrounding the music, I was expecting a much better soundtrack. If you don't count the reprises, I only liked two songs.

Here's my ranking of the songs.

Note: I'm not including Tulou Tagaloa (it's just some brief Native chanting), An Innocent Warrior (it's the pre-existing song Loimata e Maligi), Logo Te Pate (another pre-existing song), Know Who You Are (it's a brief reprise of Loimata e Maligi sang by Moana in English).

1. How Far I'll Go
Your typical 'I want' song. It's far better in vocals and orchestration than Alessia Cara's rendition. Auli'i Cravalho brings a sweetness to her performance which compensates for her unrefined vocals. The music is pleasant and the lyrics are complementary to the melody but it lacks a certain 'oomph' to make it truly stand out.

2. I Am Moana
This doesn't really qualify as a different song. Half is a reprise of Where You Are sang by Grandma Tala and the other half a second reprise of How Far I'll Go sang by Moana. It's powerful and intense, even though Cravalho sounds a little off-pitch towards the end.

3. How Far I'll Go (Reprise)
A well-written reprise that successfully communicates the sense of urgency and determination of the scene.

4. Where You Are
This song introduces the islanders, Moana, and her role in her community. It serves a similar function to 'Belle' in Beauty and the Beast. It fulfills its purpose as an opening number and has a catchy tune.

5. We Know The Way (Finale)
The reprise is a little better than the full song.

6. We Know The Way
Sounds like a rejected Phil Collins song from Brother Bear.

7. You're Welcome
The Rock. singing. and. rapping. Do I need to say more? The music's obnoxious and the lyrics are incredibly cringe-worthy.

8. Shiny
Probably, the worst song in the movie. Jemaine Clement's delivery is annoying and tiresome. The entire song is gratuitous. It could have easily been replaced with a line or two of dialogue.

[Tangled]

I can already listen to it on Spotify

Thank you! However, the Spotify link doesn't work here aside from We Know the Way and the Alessia Cara version of How Far I'll Go. Spotify's selection is different depending on the country. Still, Australian iTunes has previews to all the songs on the Deluxe Edition, just in case any North Americans can't wait another few hours and want to listen to random 29 second long snippets to not feel left out.

[D82]

Thank you! However, the Spotify link doesn't work here aside from We Know the Way and the Alessia Cara version of How Far I'll Go. Spotify's selection is different depending on the country.

OK, I imagined that would be the case, but I wasn't sure. I'm sorry the link didn't work. Be pacient, it's only a few hours away now!

[taei]

This was pretty much my reaction to listening the Moana song:



Who the heck did the producing on this soundtrack??!! It seems like they didn't record at a studio, but instead just record a karaoke session! None of the songs sound like they were professionally produced.

Auli'i Cravalho.... man, I hope this was worth it Disney, because she pretty much messed up each song cause she's not professionally trained. I mean, her vocals are good, but man, she has ZERO control over them. Like seriously, this is not what I would expect from a Disney movie! Even the Fox movies and DreamWorks had better producing for their songs. Just bad.. really bad... What also ruins the song is the rushed producing for the song.. Like, there is no breathing space, especially the jarring transition between the first chorus and the second verse. And you continue with the very shaky second verse, like how could anybody at Disney approve this?! Just..... OMG..

I know a lot of you will tell me to calm down and bla bla... But when you have music that came out over 30 years ago sounding better than this, then you kind of have to see it from my point of view.

Also, Shiny.... Yet another song that sounds like it was just a tryout, a practice, and not an actual fully produced song.. I mean there's an interesting melody, but man, Clements voice just doesn't work here.

Like.... I was worried about Lin Manuel Miranda the minute they announced that he'd be the song writer for the songs for this movie, but this is far worse than I thought it was going to be. There's just so much repetition in his writing, I think the worst being Shiny... That song is just... Like I didn't even have like low expectations for it...
And honestly, why would Disney ever consider making him work on another movie?! I think The Princess and the Frog had better songs!

What's funny is that the least jarring song in the soundtrack to me was probably You're Welcome, haha.

It would have been How Far I'll Go, and I kind of hoped it would be, but listening to the full song... was just... wow.

[kiseki]

"How Far I'll Go" - Janella Salvador http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbeaY3BHXVA
I don't have a way to listen to the full version yet. This is the Philippines (in English) version.

They're all up on the Disney Music VEVO channel.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa'i - We Know The Way https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOwVQvAIK-k
Auli'i Cravalho - How Far I'll Go https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UpGDU9kFho
Where You Are https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVzDrqOmYiY
I Am Moana (Song of the Ancestors) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2Lm1-W0jow
Know Who You Are https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EboJrjl_ELI
Olivia Foa'i - Tulou Tagaloa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl1fSuPiIdA
Auli'i Cravalho - How Far I'll Go (Reprise) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keGr19WWwoA
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa'i - We Know The Way (Finale) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oayAR76zwV8
Dwayne Johnson - You're Welcome https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyv0ZlW0yS0
Jemaine Clement - Shiny https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQzAi-a9Bv8

Lin-Manuel Miranda - Unstoppable (Outtake) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os4SoXATqLA
Marcy Harriell - More (Outtake) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGtjl5YbPdQ
Lin-Manuel Miranda - Warrior Face (Outtake) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glh2cpUWSIg
Marcy Harriell - More (Reprise - Outtake) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upjbIJESEUU

https://www.youtube.com/user/DisneyMusicVEVO/videos
Not sure if I missed any major songs. I believe they uploaded the entire soundtrack, score/demo/outtake/karaoke/instrumental tracks and all.

[blackcauldron85]

Thanks so much for posting the links, kiseki!!! I am in love with this soundtrack. (I'm also a huge fan of the Tarzan & Brother Bear soundtracks...) I'm headed out this morning to get the CD.
Here's the pop version of "You're Welcome" (Jordan Fisher/Lin-Manuel Miranda):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI3E11_Im7k

I like "Shiny." It's funny. (I'm listening to it as I type.) (If anyon'e's curious, here's Lin-Manuel's demo of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnOUgFjs9sg)

[Tangled]

Man, it's great that Disney uploads this stuff for free now.

I know that the focus is on Lin-Manuel Miranda, but Mark Mancina was truly the winner of the soundtrack here. His score is exquisitely peak 90s-Disney while still fitting the setting perfectly. It met my expectations from his excellent work on Tarzan. I also forgot how much I missed backing choirs. The orchestrations are what definitely elevated the songs beyond Tangled and most of Frozen for me personally. In my opinion, Tangled suffered from struggling to find a musical identity while Frozen just felt like it was playing it safe while only having one really good, standout song (Let it Go, which itself suffered from being in the first third of the film. No musical number past that could remotely compare to that scene). Meanwhile, Moana’s music all fits well together, songs and score, and it seems to knowingly save the best for later on in the film.

As for the songs themselves, I’m honestly glad that for once the quality seems to be rather consistent. I know nothing about music so I'm not going to talk about all the songs individually, but there are no numbers that are complete, noticeable peaks in quality like “I See the Light” or “Let it Go”, and I actually think that will benefit the movie. It harkens back to the good old days when there were multiple qualifiers for the "best" musical number in a single Disney movie. Take The Lion King, for instance. If you ask a group of 5 people what the best Lion King song is, there’s a good chance that no more than 2 people will share an answer, because all the songs are good for different reasons. I feel like it will be the same for Moana, albeit on a less highly-acclaimed scale because…The Lion King (although Mark Mancina worked on both, and knowing that, it's easy to tell that Moana's soundtrack is drawing a lot of inspiration from The Lion King. I'm totally OK with that).

Personally, my favorite song is "I Am Moana", because I love triumphant, emotional reprises where at the end the choir joins in. It feels so...nostalgic and comforting, I guess, like it's something lost from my childhood. Even aside from that, it's just damn powerful and moving in a way that I haven't heard a Disney song even attempt to be since Tarzan came out.

I also think I like "Shiny". It’s unique, but it still fits with the rest of the soundtrack. It’s fun while still sounding menacing. I don’t really know what else to say about it. It’s nothing like any other Disney song, but that’s not a bad thing. I remember thinking “man, this sounds weird and trippy. Why is Keith David talking so much rather than singing? I’m not sure if I like it or not” when I listened to "Friends on the Other Side" for the first time before watching Princess and the Frog, and that song is now one of my favorite villain songs period. I don’t know if "Shiny" is on that level, but it definitely reminds me of that. (However, I also think that PatF has the best soundtrack when compared to Tangled and Frozen, so I’m guessing I’m an outlier on DVDizzy when it comes to Disney soundtrack opinions).

[Sotiris]

This was pretty much my reaction to listening the Moana song.

Who the heck did the producing on this soundtrack??!! It seems like they didn't record at a studio, but instead just record a karaoke session! None of the songs sound like they were professionally produced.

Yes, the overall production was subpar for some reason which is really odd for a Disney movie.

Auli'i Cravalho.... man, I hope this was worth it Disney, because she pretty much messed up each song cause she's not professionally trained. I mean, her vocals are good, but man, she has ZERO control over them.

You're right. I personally don't mind that much because I like the sound of her voice but you can tell she's had no vocal training or experience.

Like.... I was worried about Lin Manuel Miranda the minute they announced that he'd be the song writer for the songs for this movie, but this is far worse than I thought it was going to be. There's just so much repetition in his writing, I think the worst being Shiny... That song is just... Like I didn't even have like low expectations for it...And honestly, why would Disney ever consider making him work on another movie?! I think The Princess and the Frog had better songs!

Couldn't agree more.

[blackcauldron85]

Nine Amazing Facts About “Moana”
http://www.laughingplace.com/w/articles ... cts-moana/

Creating Disney Animation's 'Moana' was a team effort
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/film ... -bush.html

‘Moana’ Directors Say ‘Possibilities Are Open’ For An LGBTQ Disney Princess (And Ron & John talk about Moana)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/moa ... tion=women&

I also forgot how much I missed backing choirs.

Yes!!!! If you hadn't mentioned that, I may not have been listening to the score before I have to head to work.

Just from going through the score tracks on the CD, the last 6 songs are super-strong and amazing (Te Fiti Restored, Hand of a God, Voyager Tagaloa, Toe Feiloa'i, Navigating Home, The Return to Voyaging). Other standouts to me are Tr. 19 (The Ocean Chose You), Tr. 21 (Tala's Deathbed), Tr. 29 (Te Kata Attacks).

I feel like it will be the same for Moana, albeit on a less highly-acclaimed scale because…The Lion King (although Mark Mancina worked on both, and knowing that, it's easy to tell that Moana's soundtrack is drawing a lot of inspiration from The Lion King. I'm totally OK with that).

I thought Hans Zimmer worked on TLK, & Mark Mancina did Tarzan & Brother Bear...(but TLK score is pretty magnificent).

However, I also think that PatF has the best soundtrack when compared to Tangled and Frozen, so I’m guessing I’m an outlier on DVDizzy when it comes to Disney soundtrack opinions).

I adore TP&tF very much; I've always listened to that soundtrack just as much as the ones for Tangled & Frozen, despite initially being super-sad when it was announced that Alan Menken wasn't working on it.

[Musical Master]

First of all, yeah I agree the soundtrack sounds a little off (maybe it's the instrumentation that overpowers the vocals) but with that said, I REALLY am loving what I'm hearing.

Where We Are- The first song sounds very nice, like a South Pacific Island version of "Belle". It's the kind of song that sets up the characters and island itself with a nice, catchy beat. Very good vocals here which is a bonus.

How Far I'll Go- This is a very good song that I really loved the first listen, sure Auli'i Cravalho's vocals are a little unpolished but I think it works for a teenage girl like Moana. Lin Manuel Miranda is a very good lyricist that makes songs that tell the story and helps the characters and what they're feeling; this song proves it.

We Know The Way- I think this song works the best in context for the movie shows it as a vision Moana has when discovering the boats for the first time. Lin's vocals fit in pretty well with Opetaoa Foa'i's vocals and the chorus.

How Far I'll Go- Wow, what an epic reprise that was. The orchestrations and Caravalho really takes this up a notch.

You're Welcome- Sure the Rock's singing may throw some people off a loop at first, but I kinda like this song's lyrics and catchy beat to the point where it's growing on me, it's infectious!

Shiny- Okay, this song may take some getting used to but I do like how slightly dark the song is and builds by the end. After listening to it, I can tell that John Musker and Ron Clements may have wanted David Bowie to play this character but his passing made that idea go out the window. Jermaine Clement is good enough for this character and song.

I Am Moana- If the first reprise didn't do it for you then this is the one that takes the cake. The belt at the end was pretty good and Dave Metzger's orchestrations in Moana are better than his orchestrations for Frozen and that's saying a lot coming from a guy who loved Frozen's soundtrack.

Know Who You Are- Can't wait to see how this song plays out in the movie. It's short but very moving and powerful.

We Know The Way (Finale)- Very good reprise to end the movie on a good note.

And the score is why we need Mark Mancina in more Disney movies. It's epic, thrilling and grand which I felt was missing in the past Disney musicals this decade. Sure, I liked Christophe Beck's score in Frozen, but Mancina's work here is a thousand times better. All in all, I was very impressed with what I heard, sure Frozen is still the winner when it comes to it's songs but Moana comes at a very close tight second.

[Sotiris]

I just noticed that the tribal chanting in "I Am Moana" is quite reminiscent of Adiemus.

[Disney's Divinity]

Just reading the reviews here (still waiting until I see it in theaters to listen), you all have me terrified. I don't think Miranda is untalented by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm not a fan either; I expected the soundtrack would be serviceable if not to my taste. Very odd if this ends up one of the worst of the Revival. I still wish the Lopezes had done this movie, personally (they're the only other option besides Miranda now, it seems).

[MerPrincessJamie]

Is it me or is Loimata e Maligi not on the soundtrack?

[Sotiris]

^It is. It was simply renamed to "An Innocent Warrior".

[MerPrincessJamie]

Thank you

[PatrickvD]

So it kinda sounds like they threw Pocahontas, Mulan, Tarzan, Brother Bear and Lilo & Stitch in a blender and this just kind of popped out.

Overall it's ok, but I'd rank it below all of the above actually.