Moana

[jazzflower92]

http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/ocea ... y=KAKAMORA

Also if anyone thinks the Kakamora are just a made up group of creatures for this movie then think again. Instead of being a Minions cash in, they actually are found in Polynesian mythology. Although I am sure there is no stories about them being pirates, it does say they were nasty hobbit like creatures who lived in caves and preyed on children and travelers.

[JeanGreyForever]

I'm not impressed with the humor so far for this trailer either. It's actually somewhat put me off this film, but at least the opening was really nice. Also is it just me or does Moana's accent seem to fluctuate in the trailer? There are some scenes that her accent is easily apparent but in other scenes it sounds really American.

It looks more and more likely that the villainess—if this lava blob even has a character or gender anymore—will be disappointing just like Gothel. And after starting with so much potential, too, just like Gothel. Even as a blob or some natural force, I doubt it’ll be as good as, say, characters like Monstro and the Firebird. You're right, Sotiris, the design looks awful. It almost looks like the glitchy "witch" at the end of ParaNorman, only worse.

I'm hoping the volcano goddess can shift forms so what we see in the concept art is her resting form but when she is engaging in battle mode, she becomes the genderless entity seen in the trailer. I agree that it looks really bland in the trailer and really generic; like one of the elemental Titans from Hercules whose designs I wasn't fond of either. It would be really annoying if they changed her design and gender because I was looking forward to a villainess (and one that would stand alongside Ursula and Maleficent, not Gothel.)

yeah, if the water is her friend why would a journey on the ocean be so daunting for her? it removes much of the danger from the situation.

That actually blew my mind to read, but you're right.... She can "speak" with the ocean but still has to deal with it's dangerous aspects?

Why can't Moana just say, "Hey, ocean, be nice and let me cross"? At least Elsa had the reason that her emotions made her magic berserk.

I hope they address this in the film somehow.

Maybe just because it's not an immediate recognizable as a girl/princess name like Rapunzel is? Or because it also means "ocean" (though probably not, since the average person wouldn't know that)?

I'm glad that they went with Moana as the title, though. Fortunately, it wasn't Splashed or something like that.

Rapunzel isn't even a feminine name though. It's the German name for a vegetable. And while Rapunzel is a well known fairy tale, it's more along the lines of Rumpelstiltskin than say Snow White or Jack and the Beanstalk.

[D82]

In addition to the trailer, Disney has released a new still:




And here's the Moana Special Effects Crew shirt:

https://twitter.com/heybrucewright/stat ... 0898828288


Regarding the music in the trailer, it may not be from the movie. At least, it features this previously composed song by Te Vaka:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ36kDG7oas[/youtube]
Source: http://nameofthesong.blogspot.com.es/20 ... music.html


And Lin-Manuel Miranda said the following on Twitter about the music:

New #Moana trailer is here!
You can hear my incredible songwriter collaborator Opetaia Foa'i!

Source: https://twitter.com/Lin_Manuel/status/7 ... 20?lang=es

[sunhuntin]

I think it's going to be a common response for people to roll their eyes at Moana's powers. None of the princesses before Elsa had any special powers, and the first princess to come after Elsa controls the ocean. Thank God Lasseter had no power at Disney in the '90s. Could you imagine how he'd have trashed up TLM, Aladdin, and B&tB?

cos they bought marvel, and superheros are IN!

im actually struggling to think of any human [ie, not fairies, genies and witches] characters of the past that had great powers, except for hercules, and he was part god so not sure if he counts?

[ce1ticmoon]

Rapunzel isn't even a feminine name though. It's the German name for a vegetable. And while Rapunzel is a well known fairy tale, it's more along the lines of Rumpelstiltskin than say Snow White or Jack and the Beanstalk.

Well, I just meant in terms of the fairy tale and character being recognizable in general. But yeah, you're right that it probably doesn't have quite the recognition of those other examples, at least here in the US. I was just throwing things out there as to possible (weak) explanations for the sudden 180 they did with the title when compared to the previous two 'princess' films.

[JeanGreyForever]

Rapunzel isn't even a feminine name though. It's the German name for a vegetable. And while Rapunzel is a well known fairy tale, it's more along the lines of Rumpelstiltskin than say Snow White or Jack and the Beanstalk.

Well, I just meant in terms of the fairy tale and character being recognizable in general. But yeah, you're right that it probably doesn't have quite the recognition of those other examples, at least here in the US. I was just throwing things out there as to possible (weak) explanations for the sudden 180 they did with the title when compared to the previous two 'princess' films.

I understood your point perfectly and it makes sense since Rapunzel is still essentially a literary/folkloric character with western roots unlike Moana who is an original creation and Polynesian culture would be even less known here in America. I just believe that the name Rapunzel really isn't as girly or princessy as Disney marketing made it out to be and I think out of all the title changes so far, this was the least necessary. I'm so glad we didn't get a ridiculous title for Moana like Spirited.

[Atlantica]

So annoyed by the fact I feel this way .... but the trailer did absolute nothing for me. As has been mentioned prior is it the EXACT same formula ... rehashed yet again.

I would be totally down at this point to have Disney to a 'typical' Disney 'romance' movie and do away with the Pixar-in-another-guise storytelling.

This is all a real shame, especially as Ron & Jon are two of my favourites.

[jazzflower92]

So annoyed by the fact I feel this way .... but the trailer did absolute nothing for me. As has been mentioned prior is it the EXACT same formula ... rehashed yet again.

I would be totally down at this point to have Disney to a 'typical' Disney 'romance' movie and do away with the Pixar-in-another-guise storytelling.

This is all a real shame, especially as Ron & Jon are two of my favourites.

Then people here would still complain about Disney still going back to a repetitive formula anyway.

[Atlantica]

But I don't think it is a particularly repetitive formula though ... The Little Mermaid is different to Cinderella, which is different from Snow White etc. Oh I don't know, I'm not hating on ALL the newer Disney movies by any means, as two are among my very favourites (Zootropolis and Tangled). Its just that it felt a bit grating in the Moana trailer is all. Like, I'd seen it all before.

Again, this could be the Disney marketing machine which is notoriously bad. Give me the Japanese trailers for any of them and it looks like you are pitching a completely different movie.

[Disney's Divinity]

Then people here would still complain about Disney still going back to a repetitive formula anyway.

Romance is not a formula. A buddy roadtrip is.

[jazzflower92]

Then people here would still complain about Disney still going back to a repetitive formula anyway.

Romance is not a formula. A buddy roadtrip is.

That's not what many others say.

[Disney's Divinity]

Snow White has romance, Lady and the Tramp has romance, Aladdin has romance, Frozen has romance--they were all released 10-20 years apart and have very little in common. That's not a formula. 7 films in a row following the exact same beats in a roadtrip film with two characters who initially hate each, but come to love each other (either platonic or romantic, take your pick) and appreciate their differences, is a formula.

[Sotiris]

7 films in a row following the exact same beats in a roadtrip film with two characters who initially hate each, but come to love each other (either platonic or romantic, take your pick) and appreciate their differences, is a formula.

They even have a formula for their shorts as well. Paperman and Feast tell the exact same story in a incredibly similar way. Average Joe finds out-of-his-league girl, loses girl, then reunited with her with the help of sentient paper planes/dog.

What I don't understand is how critics haven't picked up on this and constantly praise these films as innovative and original. I think it's because the bar for animated films is so low that when something even slightly above average comes along is heralded as a masterpiece.

[ce1ticmoon]

Do critics really herald them as masterpieces, though? They get positive reviews sure, but of the last six WDAS films (and I'm not counting WTP since it clearly is an outlier in this discussion), all of them land in the 7 range in terms of average score on RT and 70s range in terms of Metacritic scores (I don't consider the RT % because that only really tells us whether critics generally lean negative or positive). Only Zootopia has arguably truly received masterpiece-level praise, and even then, it barely got an average score over 8 on RT.

Since Toy Story 3, only Inside Out (and again, arguably Zootopia) has had truly universal acclaim among critics when looking at both Pixar and WDAS. And that's generally my perception, even without looking at the exact numbers for the scores. For example, Frozen had a lot of acclaim, but also seemed to have a lot more middling reception compared to Zootopia.

But I think you're right that WDAS perhaps does get a bit overpraised because of the lower bar set by much of mainstream animation. I think they have had a consistency that the other studios (including Pixar these past few years) haven't been experiencing, even if that consistency is just in the "good, not great" or even "slightly above average" territory.

I'm of the opinion that I don't really mind tropes and formulas as long as they're done well, but I do agree with the general consensus around here that the buddy roadtrip format is becoming a bit tiring. Big Hero 6 landed outside of that format a bit, but somehow it ended up being the most bland and uninteresting of the bunch.

[Disney's Divinity]

It was already tired when it started. I mean, can you even magine it from the perspective of the audience who can't differentiate between studios. For a decade before TP&TF, Pixar had 10 films following that formula, then 6 more from Disney.

If there's anything this tells us about the general audience, is that they have no standards and will slobber down the same thing repeatedly. That and they lack the brain power to even register they're being given the same thing over and over. That's why as much as people love to take the piss ouf of Disney's live-action re-makes and reboots and offshoots, Disney Animation is not on any kind of higher ground when it comes to originality right now.

[Sotiris]

If there's anything this tells us about the general audience, is that they have no standards and will slobber down the same thing repeatedly. That and they lack the brain power to even register they're being given the same thing over and over.

[jazzflower92]

It was already tired when it started. I mean, can you even magine it from the perspective of the audience who can't differentiate between studios. For a decade before TP&TF, Pixar had 10 films following that formula, then 6 more from Disney.

If there's anything this tells us about the general audience, is that they have no standards and will slobber down the same thing repeatedly. That and they lack the brain power to even register they're being given the same thing over and over. That's why as much as people love to take the piss ouf of Disney's live-action re-makes and reboots and offshoots, Disney Animation is not on any kind of higher ground when it comes to originality right now.

You guys are a real joy to hang around.

[DisneyEra]

It was already tired when it started. I mean, can you even magine it from the perspective of the audience who can't differentiate between studios. For a decade before TP&TF, Pixar had 10 films following that formula, then 6 more from Disney.

If there's anything this tells us about the general audience, is that they have no standards and will slobber down the same thing repeatedly. That and they lack the brain power to even register they're being given the same thing over and over. That's why as much as people love to take the piss ouf of Disney's live-action re-makes and reboots and offshoots, Disney Animation is not on any kind of higher ground when it comes to originality right now.

You guys are a real joy to hang around.

Reaction to the trailer has been Steller, on YouTube the trailer is near 3 million views, 50,000+ likes vs. 1400+ dislikes. Even Grace Randolph, one of the Revival Era's biggest critics "particularly Frozen" had high praise for the trailer. I believe the dislike for the Revival Era is it has yet to show any letdown. Both Frozen & BH6 were the highest grossing animated features worldwide of their respective years & won Oscars for Best Animated Feature. Unless Dory can gross an additional $70+ million, then Zootopia will also be the highest animated grosser worldwide of 2016, & the front runner for the Oscar. So whether you like them or not, you got to give these films their do. Me, I dislike Pixar sequels "Car 3, Toy Story 4", but I understand why Disney keeps making them. They're very profitable & families enjoy them. So while I may not like or agree with these sequels, I would never say people are stupid for seeing them. That's just being a jerk

And as for the "Buddy Road Trip" formula growing tiresome, this is what was happening during the release of Pocahontas during the Renaissance "which also was growing tiresome in the eyes of some"[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZZLVSodAB0[/youtube]

[Tangled]

I come to this thread and all I feel is nothing besides, "Man, I really loved Zootopia, and I thought it was original and refreshing compared to most other animated movies these days (including Pixar films). Also, most animated Disney movies have horrible trailers. Also, the new Trolls trailer makes that movie seem way more cliche than anything Disney Animation has put out in a long time. Also, I really want to rewatch Animaniacs."

Every piece of media has a formula, since every writer is influenced by whatever he or she finds appealing/thinks the audience will find appealing. The original Star Wars trilogy is a cliche hero's prophecy story, but that doesn't stop it from being one of the most beloved series of all time (and the new Star Wars trilogy seems to be reusing that formula, but I don't care because The Force Awakens was good enough to stand on its own). Filmmakers just keep on building upon what is currently popular, just as how Walt Disney kept on relying on musical fairy tales after Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs became a box-office smash almost 80 years ago.

Similarly, Disney doing The Lion King and releasing Toy Story definitely caused a shift in animated film storytelling, since TLK and TS appealed to people who even disliked the traditional (and, yes, formulaic) fairy tales that Disney was doing beforehand (which is a reminder that, back in 1995, Toy Story was nothing like any other animated film at the time, and it wasn't just because of the CGI). Of course, once you lean the scale one way, it's hard to go back to the way you were before, especially when it seems like people are more receptive to how you are now.

[Disney's Divinity]

And as for the "Buddy Road Trip" formula growing tiresome, this is what was happening during the release of Pocahontas during the Renaissance "which also was growing tiresome in the eyes of some

You're right, and Pocahontas was the 5th film that followed that formula at the time. Moana is the 7th that is following this one (17+th if you include PIXAR, which is now owned by Disney). So your point about why the '90s could be criticized for being formulaic but the revival can't is....what again?