The Aloha Spirit and Music of Moana Press Conference

The Moana Press Junket

The 56th film from Walt Disney Animation Studios comes “Moana,” a fantastic CG-animated feature film about an adventurous teenager who sails out on a daring mission to save her people. I had the amazing pleasure of attending the Moana press junket in Santa Monica, CA all opinions are my own. 

The story of Moana was inspired in part by the oral histories of the people and cultures of Oceania. Three thousand years ago, Polynesian voyagers, which were well-known to be the greatest navigators in the world voyaged across the Pacific discovering thousands of islands. These voyages were made without modern instruments but by their knowledge of the stars and ocean waves and currents. However, and seemingly out-of-nowhere their voyages across the ocean stop and no one knows why they stopped or why they started back up again. However, there are lots of theories about it. In the story of Moana, the heroine known as Moana (which means “ocean”) is at the heart of the rebirth of wayfinding.

The weather could not have been more perfect for an afternoon spent in Santa Monica for the Moana press junket. I was undoubtedly more than excited to be in the same room as the filmmakers and cast of Moana especially Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Lin-Manuel Miranda. I am happy to say that the experience did not disappoint. The air was filled with magic as the sun set over the Pacific ocean as I learned about the immense research and thought that went into creating Moana. 

Moana’s Oceanic Trust

When first thinking of setting an animated feature in the beautiful Pacific Islands, directors Ron Clements and John Musker recalled from their youth beloved novels and paintings about the Pacific. But once they began exploring the incredible tales within Polynesian mythology a few years ago, the filmmakers realized they needed to dive much, much deeper. They knew they needed to go to the islands of the Pacific to see the places and meet the people in person. So Clements and Musker, along with a group of Disney Animation artists, traveled to the southern region of Oceania over the course of two fully loaded trips. Clements, Musker and several members of the production team ventured first to Fiji, Samoa and Tahiti, and later to New Zealand. “We wanted to meet people who grew up on islands; we wanted to listen and learn what makes these Pacific Island cultures so remarkable.” Among the many people they met, one meeting stood out, recalls Clements. “An elder on the island of Mo‘orea asked of us something so simple and so revealing: ‘For years, we have been swallowed by your culture,’ he said. ‘This one time, can you be swallowed by ours?’” The research trips opened the filmmakers eyes and they realized in order to create a fictional story set 2,000 years ago they needed to invite the experts they met during the trips to be a part of the creation of the film. That is how the Oceanic Story Trust was created. Filmmakers wanted their voices to influence the film for everything from the story, to the look of the environments, to the characters. The Oceanic Story Trust included a team of experts such as anthropologists, academics, educators, linguists, master navigators and cultural advisers all who collaborated with Disney’s creative team.

The Music of Moana

A huge part of the film Moana is definitely the rhythm of the soundtrack. Lin-Manuel Miranda said during the Moana press junket that when he was offered the job of Moana he immediately went to the studio and started banging on drums and started really trying to the pulse of Moana in a way that honored the unique musical heritage and incredible rhythms that come out of this part of the world. 

“You’re Welcome”

When you see Moana, you’ll have the opportunity to hear one of the best song’s of the film sung by none other than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson himself. It’s a fantastic song that sums up his character “Maui” perfectly. In fact, when Dwayne accepted the role he said, “So what are you giving me to sing?” Lin-Manuel Miranda said that Dwayne was really excited for the opportunity to sing! Lin-Manuel Miranda went to YouTube where the answers always lie. Miranda was a big fan of Dwayne’s wrestling days and there was a time during his heel turn era where he would pull out a guitar and taunt whatever town he was in. Dwayne would be like: “can’t wait to get out of Chicago…”. It was from these funny old YouTube videos that Miranda got a really good sense of his vocal range from that 10-minute super cut and then the rest of it was just writing lyrics that embody the spirit of Maui, who is this amazing demi-god, trickster god and once I had the title, You’re Welcome, which only Dwayne can pull off and where the audience still have you love him and root for him.

The Aloha Spirit

Dwayne Johnson and Auli’i Cravalho mentioned a term, called “Aloha Spirit” and Dwayne Johnson described it’s something that is very special, it’s very meaningful to them and their Polynesian culture. For example, for those  that have had the opportunity to visit Hawaii or any of the Polynesian islands, it’s a very special thing. It’s an intangible feeling, that when you get off the plane and you have your feet on the ground, energetically it takes you to a different place. That’s Aloha Spirit. Dwayne Johnson went on to say that the opportunity that he had, just as Polynesians to be part of a story and to bring to life a story of his Polynesian culture in this capacity with great partners at Disney, musically with the masters, was just a really, really special opportunity for him.

The opportunity to hear from the filmmakers and cast of Moana themselves was a special experience from an even more special film. Stay tuned for our full Moana review!

Moana will be in theaters nationwide November 23rd 2016!