Moana

You know the music is going to be special when it involved inspiration from Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Moana follows in the footsteps of Frozen as giving the Disney Studios another gigantic hit. It is technically perfect, filled with animated characters who look almost human and centers on an open sea adventure that will capture the attention of both adults and children.

On top of that, it has a musical score that is every bit as good as what you heard in Frozen. Rather than distract your attention from the story, the songs play hand-in-glove with developing the intriguing plot.

The film centers on Moana, lovingly voiced by Auli’i Cravalho, a princess in waiting on a South Sea island. With their food supply disappearing, she ventures on an heroic boating excursion through the South Seas to try to save her people’s way of life. She hooks up with Maui (Dwayne Johnson), a  conceited, self-absorbed demigod who reluctantly joins forces to save life on our planet. Their relationship is both satirical and moving, and it is no wonder that this film is knocking them dead at the box office.

As Moana fights to overcome monsters and villains that challenge her on her adventure, she seeks to find a way to rediscover the forgotten heritage of her island people while also hoping to define her own identity. Ironically, like The Eagle Huntress, this is at its heart a feminist film showing that girls will not accept a world where they are forced to take a backseat to men.