On November 23, 2016, Moana became Disney's 56th animated feature film, one which would shatter several structures that the company had been dealing with in previous productions. Directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, the movie focuses on the young daughter of the Chief of Motunui, a Polynesian island. Unlike the sedentary nature of Motunui's inhabitants, Moana is called by the ocean at a very young age, and she eventually embarks on a journey in order to save her island from the darkness ahead and, at the same time, to discover her inner voice.
With a cast headed by Auli'i Cravalho and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Moana is a completely innovative film in terms of plot, production, and visual effects. For one thing, Moana was the first Disney princess designed with a realistic body. Additionally, in line with the approach taken in Frozen a few years earlier, it featured an empowering story of self-realization Moana is on a mission to help herself and her people, and at no point does the story focus on a love affair with another character. A further groundbreaking feature of this film was its research and creation process. For Moana, the crew was inspired by Polynesian culture and traveled twice to the southern region of Oceania to investigate the place, learn about the culture, and to incorporate their findings into the movie's scenery, characters, and clothing. In the midst of these trips, per Slash Film, they formed the Oceanic Story Trust, a team of experts from various fields, among them anthropologists, academics, navigators and educators, who assisted the creative team in making the film accurate.
Moana is one of the most special effects-driven Disney films, mainly concerning the water movement and the hair of the main character. They even had to come up with a new kind of animation for the latter, per Insider, which involved studying hair behavior at the Walt Disney Animation Studio, where they invited women with Moana's curl pattern to take part in their research to define the way their hair shifts from dry to wet. Moreover, its catchy songs, composed by the renowned Lin-Manuel Miranda, placed the movie amongst some of the best Disney movie soundtracks. In this article, we will take a look at a few fun facts about Moana's cast.
10 Pua's Voice Comes From Real Pigs
In Moana, the main character is surrounded by two animal sidekicks who keep her company at different moments of her adventure: Heihei and Pua. The latter is an adorable pink pig who behaves quite like a puppy, and is probably one of Moana's biggest supporters. The decision to include this character in the film was made following the crew's findings on trips to Oceania where they observed that there were many pigs and roosters around the area and that they often accompanied the travelers. An interesting thing about Pua is that, unlike Heihei and the rest of the characters in the film, its voice was delivered by several real pigs.
9 Auli'i Cravalho's Mom Voiced a Character
Auli'i Cravalho was only 14 years old when she was selected to voice Moana. Being so young, it was certainly important for her to count on her family to support her in the project, so what better way to feel supported than to have your own mother as part of the film? A fact that few people know about this production is that Puanani Cravalho, Auli'i's mother, lent her voice to one of the villagers of Motunui, credited as Villager No. 2. Although the character only had a few lines, it helped Carvalho to feel supported during her filming duties and to create a special memory with her mother.
8 Most Members of the Cast are Polynesian Descendants
The cast responsible for voicing the main characters of Moana featured Auliʻi Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Rachel House, Temuera Morrison, Christopher Jackson, Jemaine Clement, Nicole Scherzinger and Alan Tudyk, among others. We are aware of the importance that the crew of this film gave to researching and trying to replicate as best as possible some aspects of the Polynesian culture, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that this decision has also affected the cast, which consists mostly of Polynesian actors, who are either Hawaiian, Samoan, or Maori. The only person who does not meet this criteria is Tudyk, who is American.
7 Temuera Morrison, Who Plays Tui, Also Plays Boba Fett
Tui is the Chief of Motunui village and Moana's father. As a leader, he is quite sociable and respected by his community, while as a father, he is extremely overprotective. His fear of the ocean conditions his relationship with his daughter and ends up creating a rift between them. Something very interesting about this character is that he was voiced by Temuera Morrison, known for his performance in the Star Wars films, where he played Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back, The Mandalorian, and The Book of Boba Fett. Nevertheless, the portions of the movie in which Chief Tui is singing are not performed by Morrison, but by Christopher Jackson.
6 Moana is Auli'i Cravalho's First Movie
The immense talent that Auli'i Cravalho showcased in Moana makes one think that this young woman had already had some experience in the entertainment industry. However, that was surprisingly not the case: this Disney production was the first film in which Cravalho appeared, for which she earned several nominations and awards, including a Teen Choice Award for Choice Breakout Movie Star and the Alliance of Women Film Journalists' award for Best Female Animated Character. Following that movie, the rising star went on to portray Moana in the short film Gone Fishing and the movie Ralph Breaks the Internet, and later played other minor characters in the NBC series Rise and the 2022 film Crush.
5 Many Cast Members Reprised Their Roles in Other Languages
.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=1500&dpr=1.5)
Thanks to the Polynesian heritage of the people chosen to be part of the cast, a number of them were able to participate in the translation of the film into other languages. Auli'i Cravalho and Nicole Scherzinger, who played Moana's mother Sina, reprised their roles for the Hawaiian language version of the film, while Rachel House, Temuera Morrison, and Jemaine Clement, who voiced Moana's grandmother, Moana's dad, and Tamatoa the crab, reprised their roles in the Maori language version of it. Originally, the movie was translated into 45 different languages, and in subsequent years, another six languages were added.
4 Cravalho's Striking Physical Resemblance to Moana is Purely Coincidental
When designing Maui, the arrogant and powerful demigod, several features of the actor who portrayed him, The Rock, were taken into consideration and incorporated into the character. However, the character of Moana was actually designed even before the actress who would voice her was selected, so Auli'i Cravalho's resemblance to this Disney princess is no more than a fortuitous coincidence. Still, the animation team worked hard in order to incorporate some of Cravalho's gestures and mannerisms into the character, as they felt it would enrich Moana's narrative.
3 Maui's Look is Inspired by Dwayne Johnson's Grandfather
Besides using some of Dwayne Johnson's features to design Maui, such as his dimples and smile, a lesser-known fact about his character is that much of him was actually based on The Rock's grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia of Samoa. The man was a professional wrestler who started his career in New Zealand around 1960 and later went on to the United States. Another thing Maivia had in common with his grandson was acting, as, in 1967, The Rock's grandfather was cast in the fifth installment of the James Bond saga, You Only Live Twice. These are some of the things that made Johnson's part in the movie Moana even more special.
2 Auli'i Cravalho Was the Last Person to Audition for Moana
After watching this Disney movie, it's almost impossible to imagine Moana at all without Auli'i Cravalho's gentle voice. And yet, that could have happened, and actually came pretty close: the young girl was literally the last person to audition for the princess part, beating hundreds of young actresses. In fact, if it hadn't been for a casting agent who insisted that she should audition, Carvalho might not even have done it: she had seen so many auditions by other girls on social media that she was pretty sure she'd never get the part. Fortunately, not only did she get the lead role, but she also became the youngest actress ever to voice a Disney princess, at the age of 14.
1 There Were No Auditions for the Role of Maui
As opposed to what happened with the vast majority of Moana's characters, for whom auditions were opened to find talented people to portray them, Maui's character was never added to the audition calls because the producers already had the perfect actor in mind for the part: the legendary Dwayne Johnson. They were so eager for him to play the demigod that they even added his own traits to the initial sketches, as mentioned before. Luckily, the actor was thrilled with this offer, not only because he seemed to like the character, but also for the challenge of having to sing for the movie. Ultimately, Moana turned out to be one of Johnson's favorite projects.