Moana (2016)

I decided to watch this because the church we’ve been attending was showing it as part of their celebration of the arts so I wanted to “follow along at home.” For some reason, when this first came out, I kind of turned up my nose at it, but now I don't know why. Am I just getting too old to be excited about a cartoon?

The story is a bit like Whale Rider's: a girl has a destiny that is neither confirmed nor condoned by the elders of the community, so she must fulfill it on her own. Some of the ‘magical’ stuff was a little heavy, but the animation, voice-work, and music were all stellar. I liked this one quite a bit.

But enough with the crazy animal sidekicks. Just because you call “tongue in cheek” attention to the fact that it’s there doesn’t make it a worthwhile trope.

B+