Her journey begins, filled with tests that push her to develop her skills and confidence. Moana takes on various duties and starts facing challenges, including failed coconut harvests and unsuccessful fishing trips. Despite her suggestions to venture beyond their usual limits, her father firmly refuses. As she grows, Moana embraces her responsibilities as the future chief of Motonui. Gramma Tala encourages her to listen to her heart, while Chief Tui emphasizes the importance of staying within the reef for safety.

Moana Themes

Now that the villagers can return to wayfinding, they release the boats from the hidden cave. Inspired by Polynesian mythology, Moana is depicted as the strong-willed daughter of a chief of a Polynesian village, who is chosen by the ocean itself to reunite a mystical relic with the goddess Te Fiti. When a blight strikes her island, Moana sets sail in search of Maui (Dwayne Johnson), a legendary demigod, in the hope of returning the relic to Te Fiti and saving her people. She then forms a crew and embarks on a voyage to recover the lost island of Motufetu and restore the channels that connected the people of the sea. Growing up, Moana has a complicated relationship with her father whose laws forbidding sea travel conflicts Moana’s love for the sea. Despite this, Moana loves her father and wishes to live up to his expectations when taking his place as chief of Motunui.

Moana Timeline

• The story reflects the importance of remembering one’s roots while shaping the future.
• The ocean clears a path for Moana, allowing her to return the heart to Te Fiti, who heals the ocean and islands of blight.
• A visit from her ancestors tells her she must break the curse imposed by the power hungry god Nalo by bringing the island of Motufetu to reconnect the people.
• Moana realizes Maui is no longer a hero since he stole the heart and cursed the world, and convinces him to redeem himself by returning the heart.
• While Moana distracts Tamatoa, Maui retrieves his hook, only to find himself unable to control his shape-shifting.
• She nevertheless escapes her cell while Tamatoa is distracted and uses a makeshift duplicate of Te Fiti’s heart to lure the crab’s attention away from Maui.
• She takes her little sister to that cave where Tala showed Moana their history and tells Simea about Tautai Vasa.

Moana tells the ocean to clear a path, allowing her to return Te Fiti’s heart, and the restored goddess heals the ocean and islands of the blight. Maui apologizes to Te Fiti, who restores his hook and gives Moana a new boat before falling into a deep sleep and becoming a mountain. Moana bids farewell to Te Fiti, returning home where she reunites with her parents and the rest of the villagers. She then succeeds her father as the chief (Chiefess) and also becomes the wayfinder, leading her people as they resume voyaging. Moana’s grandmother, Tala, tells the story of Maui, the shape-shifting demigod of the wind and sea and master of sailing who stole goddess Te Fiti’s heart. However, Te Fiti disintegrates, and Maui is attacked by Te Kā, a volcanic demon.

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Her crew repairs her raft, but when the group ventures forth to confront Nalo, they encounter a gigantic storm. As they continued their journey after retrieving Maui’s Fish Hook from Tamatoa, Moana and Heihei watched Maui regain control of his shapeshifting abilities. When Heihei ate Maui when turned into a beetle, Moana was horrified until Maui turned back into his true form, with Heihei stuck on his finger. After surviving an encounter with Te Ka, the first thing Moana did was check to see if Heihei was okay before checking on Maui, leading her to get an argument with him over his hook getting damaged. The next morning, after discovering to have arrived at Maui’s Island, Moana and Heihei met Maui who was forced by the Ocean to allow Moana to accompany her. When attacked by the Kakamora, Moana witnessed them kidnap Heihei after he foolishly swallowed the Heart of Te Fiti when it fell out of her necklace.
Maui is devastated, begging for Moana to wake up, but when she’s unresponsive, he begins uttering a magical chant in the hopes of summoning help to resuscitate her. His chant is answered by Tautai Vasa, Grandma Tala, and the rest of Moana’s ancestors. Together, they manage to rekindle Moana, while also granting her a wayfinder’s tattoo and turning her into a demigoddess, with her oar becoming her magical object like Maui’s giant fishhook. Maui is also given his demigod powers and tattoos back, including Mini Maui, and together, they are able to raise Motufetu. Maui tells Moana that he didn’t want her to come along with him to save Motufetu, because she might die. As they approach his storm, Nalo sends his giant eels to wreak havoc on Moana, with one managing to swallow Moni, and another damaging the sail of the raft.

• The legend of the demigod, Maui, looms large in the island’s stories—an exuberant, larger‑than‑life figure whose charisma and power are matched only by his mischievous nature.
• Moana orders him to return the heart, but upon seeing it, Maui tries to leave the boat, only to be brought back by the ocean.
• Tala reveals a hidden cave filled with their ancestors’ voyaging canoes, reigniting Moana’s spirit of navigation.
• However, Te Fiti disintegrates, and Maui is attacked by Te Kā, a volcanic demon.
• It also gave Moana the confidence she needed to finish her quest in stopping Te Kā’s curse.
• Moana loves her sister dearly, and Simea wants to be just like Moana when she’s older.

Moana realizes that the love she holds for her people and the sea is what brought her this far. It is what ultimately defines who she is, and explains why she’s the one capable of saving the world. When she resurfaces, Tala is gone, but Moana’s determination is stronger than ever.

Moana

3 years after she returned Te Fiti’s heart, Moana is now on the search for other people besides her island. A visit from her ancestors tells her she must break the curse imposed by the power hungry god Nalo by bringing the island of Motufetu to reconnect the people. The craftswoman Loto, experienced elder farmer Kele, and historian and fanboy Moni. After restoring Te Fiti from her cursed form, allowing the goddess to bring life back to the dying Polynesian islands, Moana and Heihei journeyed back to Motunui where they were welcomed back by their people. Once Moana became chief and brought back the tradition of wayfinding, she was joined by Heihei as she started leading a new generation of wayfinders. Once she followed her grandmother’s advice, Moana discovered she and her people were descended from voyagers who sailed beyond the seas to find new islands.

Lego Disney Princess: The Castle Quest

Unfortunately, the allure of her heart attracts other beings, and only one, the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), dares to seize it. Armed with his magical fish hook, Maui travels to Te Fiti and steals her heart, a small green gemstone adorned with a spiral. This theft results in the decay of Te Fiti’s island, and soon darkness begins to spread.

Interestingly, the film’s ending also hints at a larger universe, with a post-credits scene teasing a connection to The Little Mermaid through Tamatoa, suggesting a shared Disney mythos. Overall, Moana ends on a hopeful note, emphasizing that true heroism involves compassion, self-awareness, and the courage to confront ancient wounds, inspiring future generations to explore and seek harmony with the world around them. Get detailed profiles with their roles, arcs, and key relationships explained. Maui warns that Nalo’s realm is deadlier compared to the mortal realm and that fighting him will spell certain death for mere mortals. Nalo’s monsters ambush the group, damaging their raft and washing them ashore on an isolated island. With Moana revitalized, the group plans to have Maui raise Motufetu so that Moana can touch it, as that is the only way to stop Nalo.
The ocean clears a path for Moana, allowing her to return the heart to Te Fiti, who heals the ocean and islands of blight. Maui apologizes to Te Fiti, who fixes his hook Moana as well as Moana’s boat before falling into a deep sleep and becoming an island. Setting sail on a camakau from the cavern, Moana is caught in a typhoon and shipwrecked on an island where she finds Maui, who boasts about his achievements. She demands that Maui return the heart, but he refuses and traps her in a cave. She escapes and confronts Maui who throws her off the boat multiple times but due to the ocean he reluctantly lets her onto the camakau.