New Disney Movie “Moana” Breaks Royal Boundaries

Mira Bohannan Kumar, Reporter

Wednesday, November 23, is the much-heralded release date of the newest Disney princess movie, Moana. This film is special for several reasons. First of all, the eponymous Moana (played by Auli’i Cravalho) is Disney’s first Polynesian princess–she lives on an island in the Pacific.

Secondly, Moana has no official love interest in the film–she is not in a romantic relationship for any of the movie. Instead, she has a gang (much like Scooby) made up of eccentric characters–Maui (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) a demigod based on Polynesian lore; a slightly unhinged rooster, Heihei, who somehow manages to survive on the open sea; and a criminally adorable puppy-in-a-pig’s-body, Pua, who may cause me to collapse from emotional overload before the movie is half over.

Thirdly, Moana not only does not have a love interest, her main conflict has nothing to do with her needing one–she is an adventurer, a wandering soul whose chief desire is to return a precious artifact to its owner.

For all these reasons (and because Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote much of the score), Moana will be a cinematic experience you won’t want to miss. So head out and see this groundbreaking Disney princess make her own waves this Thanksgiving break!