Moana

[DisneyFan09]

Love this pic: How Far I'll Go to Paint with all the Colors of the Wind

No wonder that picture was made. Due to Pocahontas being the first non-Caucasian female lead (yes, I'll ditch the word Princess for this time), she's labeled as a predecessor to her followers. All of the following non-Caucasian female leads have been compared to Pocahontas (even those who were deuteragonists, as Esmeralda, Kida and Nani). Though I guess that comparison is rather fair and legit for those aforementioned reasons. But perhaps Moana does deserve the comparison the most, due to her originating from a tribe. And just a note; The brief scene where Moana paddles with her canoe in Where You Are does bring back thoughts to Pocahontas.

Though Disney has always been accused for racism for many reasons, at least Musker and Clements were the ones who were responsible for the non-White leads in the Revival era. Though several naysayers have screamed racism due to this era having more Caucasian Princesses than the opposite. In many ways, Moana is a full circle for Musker and Clements, since they began this era with a non-Caucasian Princess and made a film with a another one (though this era hasn't officially ended though). And yes, we'll exclude Elena from this .

[estefan]

I finally watched the Moana Blu-Ray and the "Maui Gone Fishing" short struck me as a deleted scene they decided to use a bonus short for the Blu-Ray instead. The shot of him turning into a bird was even used in the teaser. I'm wondering if anyone else had the same suspicions about it.

[D82]

^The shot at the end with Moana high-fiving the ocean was also used in promotional material. It could've begun as a scene that got deleted, as you say, or maybe as an animation test like the scene where toddler Moana meets the ocean.

[DisneyEra]

Love this pic: How Far I'll Go to Paint with all the Colors of the Wind

No wonder that picture was made. Due to Pocahontas being the first non-Caucasian female lead (yes, I'll ditch the word Princess for this time), she's labeled as a predecessor to her followers. All of the following non-Caucasian female leads have been compared to Pocahontas (even those who were deuteragonists, as Esmeralda, Kida and Nani). Though I guess that comparison is rather fair and legit for those aforementioned reasons. But perhaps Moana does deserve the comparison the most, due to her originating from a tribe. And just a note; The brief scene where Moana paddles with her canoe in Where You Are does bring back thoughts to Pocahontas.

Though Disney has always been accused for racism for many reasons, at least Musker and Clements were the ones who were responsible for the non-White leads in the Revival era. Though several naysayers have screamed racism due to this era having more Caucasian Princesses than the opposite. In many ways, Moana is a full circle for Musker and Clements, since they began this era with a non-Caucasian Princess and made a film with a another one (though this era hasn't officially ended though). And yes, we'll exclude Elena from this .

The public also needs to support these Poc women better. Moana is the only one now that's in the Mainstream, while Mulan is riding the Nostalgic train with the upcoming live-action feature. Pocahontas is almost universally hated & no one seems to even care/remember about Tiana. Also, it seems via merchandise that Ariel/Cinderella/Belle & Frozen get better treatment, but is that Disney's fault or the public for supporting the Caucasian princesses more? They're will always be controversy whenever WDAS does a new Poc princess feature. I hope they continue doing so in the future regardless of what anyone says. Hopefully that Thanksgiving 2020 feature will be another & not a another damn sequel.

[JeanGreyForever]

How popular has Moana the actual character been? I've read lots of articles that her merchandise hasn't been selling very well despite the movie being a box-office hit. Mulan has always been popular amongst millennials, which is why I'm guessing she was picked to get a live-action film. The problem is that the little merchandise she gets is directed towards little girls who aren't as interested in her. Also Mulan may be popular amongst the young crowd, but she isn't well known to older generations the way the Walt era classics and Big 4 Renaissance films are. I've heard lots of stories from the Disney Parks that older guests don't know who Mulan is although they pretty much always recognize Pocahontas. Pocahontas is my fav out of the four you listed and while she isn't very popular, she certainly is iconic, both as a Disney character and as a film. I think beyond controversy though, people find the film boring and also the character boring especially when paired with Gibson's John Smith (who brings his own set of baggage). Personality-wise, Pocahontas reminds me more of the earlier Walt-era heroines, which I guess makes her stick out when compared to more dynamic heroines like Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, and Esmeralda. Since I love both the Walt-era heroines and the Renaissance ones, Pocahontas has always been one of my favs. Tbh, I'm not a fan of Tiana or her movie, but it does seem like the limited exposure she gets is just to met a racial quota, otherwise she would probably be completely non-existent. Personally, I think the most underrated heroine is Esmeralda considering she actually was a DP for a while but now gets no exposure. I know people always talk about fears of the DP line kicking out Pocahontas and Mulan and how that would be unlikely because of the flack Disney would get for removing two of their POC princesses, but people don't seem to realize that they already have done this with Esmeralda. I wish that would get more exposure so she could get reinstated, but I suppose the time for that is up. I would like if Disney could give some of their "underrated classics" more attention so that they could actually be considered classics, the way the Walt-Era "flops" got their own time and prestige over the years. Alice in Wonderland anyway. I think Pocahontas and Hunchback both deserve far more than what they get now. Hopefully the non-Disney live-action film based on Esmeralda will make Disney reconsider their stance on Hunchback considering they cancelled the Esmeralda ABC limited series show as well as Hunchback on Broadway.

[thedisneyspirit]

And yes, we'll exclude Elena from this .

We should. Who cares about Elena? Latina representation/princess my ass ...She's more like the Taco Bell princess than anything else, so throw her back into Taco Bell.

[unprincess]

^aw I think she's cute, I like her show. It could be worse. You ever have to suffer through Dora the Explora? My niece loved that show, I had to watch it with her often, it could get torturous.


I agree that Id love to see more of the POC princess/heroines in media & merch. So much for Hasbro saying they were gonna do a better job of that then Mattel, right! Lightening the skin colors for the Poca and Jasmine dolls doesn't help matters.

Of course the heroine I wish we'd see more of is Megara. Jim Shore made figures of Herc and Hades for the film's anniversary but I wish they had made one for Meg like they did Esmeralda.

[blackcauldron85]

13 Things You Didn't Know About Moana
https://ohmy.disney.com/movies/2017/05/ ... bout-moana

[Disney's Divinity]

I had already read that they originally were going to have Pua go with Moana on the adventure, and then some idiot in the uppers told them to switch Pua with Heihei--which, despite being a stupid decision considering Pua is far superior to Heihei, doesn't really harm the movie--but now I read here that Heihei was originally "sassy." I wonder if Heihei completely changed after they decided he was going to be the one going on the trip with Moana.

[blackcauldron85]

Heihei was such a different character early on in development:

http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Heihei

Originally, Heihei was Chief Tui's loyal and cranky pet rooster and sidekick. He was portrayed as aggressive, proud, and judgmental, with most of his attempted comedy coming from these negative traits. The filmmakers felt this version of the character didn't work for the shifting story. Major discussion of scrapping Heihei's character from the film, entirely, had begun. Four months before animation of the film was to begin, John Lasseter assembled the team to decide the fate of Heihei...The filmmakers took this time to put focus into reworking Heihei's character to preserve his place in the movie. The result was a drastic change of Heihei's character, turning him into what co-director Ron Clements believes "might be the stupidest character in the history of Disney Animation".

I think that Heihei is hilarious and am glad that he was on the journey. (I do wish that we got to know Pua more, though, because he is adorable, and he's very loyal to Moana.) (I also admit that I'm a big Jar Jar Binks fan, too, so I like characters that others may find annoying...)

[Disney's Divinity]

I don't hate Heihei, I just think Pua deserved the screentime more between the two of them.

[DisneyFan09]

Agreed. Pua was way more adorable and endearing than Hei Hei. However, in later viewings I did grow to actually appreciate Hei Hei more and finding him funnier.

[D82]

Are you the next Moana? Academy nominated Disney movie puts out casting call for Maori remake
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... paign=1490

[estefan]

Before people freak out, that article title is wildly inaccurate. They're not remaking Moana. They're just dubbing the film into Maori. I think that's awesome. There's definitely a heavy Maori influence in the film.

[D82]

I didn't notice the title of the article was so misleading! Yes, they're only dubbing the film into Maori, not remaking it. It's also great that the actors from New Zealand are reprising their roles for this.

[blackcauldron85]

Make sure to watch all the way through!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aHGssCxMo4[/youtube]
(via slashfilm.com)

[Sotiris]

A collector's edition box set was released in Japan on July 05, 2017.

[Sotiris]

I'm not sure if this has been pointed out before but here's the cameo of Musker & Clements in Moana.


Source: http://ew.com/movies/2017/09/14/disney- ... din-moana/

[Disney's Divinity]

A collector's edition box set was released in Japan on July 05, 2017.

http://i.imgur.com/RAuVAp9l.jpg

Japan gets all the nice things. We have to get hideous, crowded, clipart-infested, smirking trainwreck covers. But America is home of McDonald's, the Kardashians, and Trump, so... What can you expect.

[JeanGreyForever]

A collector's edition box set was released in Japan on July 05, 2017.

http://i.imgur.com/RAuVAp9l.jpg

Japan gets all the nice things. We have to get hideous, crowded, clipart-infested, smirking trainwreck covers. But America is home of McDonald's, the Kardashians, and Trump, so... What can you expect.

Even their merchandise for the Disney Parks is far better than what we get. I see their stuff on Ebay all the time and they really love the classic Disney characters. Pinocchio, Dumbo, Chip and Dale, The Aristocats, Alice in Wonderland, and some of the more obscure Mickey and Friends characters. I also prefer their princess line which is a truncated one of what we have featuring only the most popular princesses: Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, and Rapunzel.