A sneak peek on ‘Moana’.

[Originally made by Sapphire Rainymist, with inputs from Sarah Diamondswirls.]

(This is the important post we were keeping a secret until now. We have worked on it for the past few days, actually. 😛 )

 

Hey guys, Sapphire Rainymist and Sarah Diamondswirls here! (Our first post together!) We are here with a new post about Disney’s next Disney Princess movie:

 

Moana will be released around 2017-2018.

 

It might sound like it’s a movie similar to Pocahontas, but instead of the story happening in Native America, it’s in a group of islands at the Southern Pacific Ocean. Moana is set to be released around 2017, but with Frozen’s recent success, it’s no wonder that fans are clambering for the details of this movie already.

Moana is an animated musical comedy movie that will be released around 2017-2018 (Rumors say that it will be released around March 9, 2018.) It is described as “A mythic adventure set around 2000 years ago and across a series of islands in the South Pacific.” Moana is also one of the only two princesses to come from a fairly minor place (Polynesia). The other is Ariel who lives somewhere near the Atlantic Ocean.

There is also a rumor that the name “Moana” is changed to “Spirited”, following the theme of Tangled, Brave and Frozen. Rapunzel, The Bear and the Bow and The Snow Queen were the original titles for Tangled, Brave and Frozen, respectively.This theory is followed to gain a larger number of male audiences. Like, a boy wouldn’t be as interested in a movie called The Snow Queen as he would be in something called Frozen. This rumor has not been confirmed by Disney Officials just yet.

Only one piece of Moana concept art has been seen online so far, but it was quickly by Disney on the grounds that it wasn’t an official release. Still, that was all fans needed to inspire their own Moana fanworks. Tumblr is already alive with people drawing their own interpretations of the Polynesian princess, from cute, ukulele-playing girly-girl to tough, muscular sailor.

The ‘leaked picture’, which apparently is the concept art for Moana.

Despite Disney’s denial for the fact that that the leaked concept art for Moana (picture above) is official, it is strongly believed that it rightfully belongs to Disney, as previously Disney had denied the leaked art for Frozen, but later released it.

An early sketch and concept art of Queen Elsa of Arendelle.

An early sketch and concept art of Princess Anna of Arendelle.

 

The final concept art of Elsa, Anna, Kristoff and Sven.

 

Aside from the ‘leaked’ concept art and Sarah’s fan art (See below), there are many other art that people say, is what Moana would look like.

 

 

This concept art shows Moana splashing around in a pool of water.

 

This fan art shows a colored sketch of Moana.

 

 

This painting shows a scene from Polynesia, and three girls, one possibly being Moana.

 

If sources are to be believed, then the Polynesia situated film’s lead character, Moana, would be similar to some other Disney Princess, particularly Mulan from Mulan (1998) and Merida from Brave (2012). Moana could be the next good role model for little girls.

A still from Disney Pixar’s Brave (2012)

 

Moana would be directed by the John Musker and Ron Clements, the makers of beloved Disney movies Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, and The Princess and The Frog. This would be the directors’ first full CG animated film. Rumors initially speculated that the animation style of “Moana” would resemble the hand-drawn/digital blend used in Disney’s Oscar nominated short ‘Paperman’ but Musker told Indiewire that “it’s far too early to apply the Paperman hybrid technique to a feauture” stating that the technique still has many complications (including color use) to sort out before it can be used for a full-length film.

A scene from Paperman

Plot: The main character is Moana Waialiki, a sea voyaging enthusiast, and the only daughter of a chief in a long line of navigators. When her family needs her help, she sets off on an epic journey. The film will also include Demi-gods and spirits taken from really mythology (Possibly Greek or Roman), much like Disney’s Hercules.

Controversies: As stated above, people suggest that the supposed ‘concept art’ is how Moana would look like. Disney didn’t confirm this, but someone eventually found out that there was a concept art that was signed by an official Disney artist, and it is the same piece which Disney denied as a Moana concept art.

Moana would be Disney’s first black CG princess, and the fifth princess that is not white, the first being Jasmine (Aladdin), the second being Pocahontas (Pocahontas), the third being Mulan (Mulan) and the fourth being Tiana (The Princess and The Frog), after a serues of white ones of white ones like Rapunzel (Tangled), Merida (Brave), Elsa and Anna (Frozen). With four years to go until Moana is released, some of its target audience haven’t even been born yet, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t already bringing happiness to the hearts of Disney fans. As one teenage girl wrote on her Tumblr blog:

“as a person of polynesian descent, i got extremely excited when disney’s moana was announced and didn’t really know why and then i realised THIS is what representation feels like.”

We can hope that Moana would be brave, head-strong and fearless, meeting peoples’ demands. As we already mentioned, a lot of people are already creating a lot of Moana fan-art, inspired by the concept art.

Moana fan-art, by Sarah Diamondswirls

“Above is the picture of Moana I (Sarah Diamondswirls) drew. It is inspired by the Moana concept art, and is how I imagine Moana to be. There are quite a few people out there making Moana fan-art, and I am proud to be one of them.”

Moana also has a similarity to Disney’s “Lilo and Stitch”. They both live in tropical places, wear similar outfits, and possibly, both dance the hula. Both of them aren’t white, too. But there are still differences, one being their places. Moana is in Polynesia, and Lilo is in Hawaii. It seems that Polynesia has adopted Hawaiian customs.

A hula dancing scene in Disney’s ‘Lilo and Stitch’.

 

Plus, some people predict that Moana will end up looking like Lilo’s sister, Nani Pelekai.

 

Lilo’s sister scolding Stitch.

 

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So, guys, how did you find this post? Me (Sapphire) and Sarah tried to make this post interesting. We hope you like it! 😀

 

 

Any thoughts? Tell us in a comment, below! 🙂

 

~Sapphire Rainymist & Sarah Diamondswirls ❤