Te Fiti's appearance was based on the real island of Tahiti, with its reefs, forests, and lagoons in particular taking heavy inspiration from the main Tahitian island.
Bora Bora's Mount Otemanu is one of the South Pacific's most iconic landmarks. As Moana grows up during the movie, it's easy to see how her fictional island Motunui was heavily inspired by Otemanu.
Disney's Moana is set on the fictional island of Motunui.
Te Fiti's island was based on Tahiti. While Moana combines aspects of many Polynesian cultures, there are a few islands that more closely resemble Motunui than others. Geographically and visually, Motunui closely resembles Tutuila and Tetiꞌaroa — both of which were reportedly visited by Disney's production team.
Is Moana 2 Being Made? Currently, there are no official plans for an animated Moana 2 movie being developed for a theatrical release. However, in January 2022, Disney did confirm that a Moana sequel series was in the works for release on Disney+. This will continue the young heroine's story under director David G.
Moana's very name means “ocean” in many Polynesian languages, and the name Tala, the name of Moana's grandmother, means “story” in Samoan.
Tahiti's biggest island (Tahiti) was the inspiration for Te Fiti or the Mother Island and with its lush green forests, turquoise lagoon, and azure-blue reefs, it doesn't take an expert to see the connection, and an off the beaten track cave on Tahiti-iti (translation little Tahiti) was the inspiration behind the cave ...
Māui is a character from Māori and Polynesian mythology. Though the stories about him do sometimes differ, he is consistently depicted as a clever, talented trickster. He's a demi-god, and he has supernatural powers, but still looks human. According to legend, Māui was a premature baby.
Native peoples of the Pacific resumed voyaging again a thousand years later. Clements and Musker set the film at that point in time, about two thousand years ago, on a fictional island in the central Pacific Ocean, which drew inspiration from elements of the real-life island nations of Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga.
Inspired by Polynesian mythology, Moana is depicted as the strong-willed daughter of a chief of a Polynesian village, who is chosen by the ocean itself to reunite a mystical relic with the goddess Te Fiti.
Kosrae Island Tourism
There is no better way to describe a beautiful, peaceful island shaped like a tranquil sleeping woman.
Maui (/maʊwiː/) is a fictional character from Walt Disney Animation Studios' 56th animated film, Moana. Created by directors Ron Clements and John Musker, and voiced by Dwayne Johnson, Maui is loosely based on Māui from Hawaiian mythology.
Maui is traditionally known as a trickster god — that means he likes to cause mischief, even if his actions are mainly done to the benefit of mankind. Ultimately, Maui took the heart simply because he could. Stealing it would prove his prowess, gain him infamy with the humans, and cause chaos all in one go.
Moana in te reo Māori
“The language has got to be made cool and sexy and relevant to young people, and this movie is the perfect way to make that happen. . . There's no other film in the Maori language that would attract whanau and kids like that,” he said, using the word for families.
Among the iwi of New Zealand, Hina is usually considered to be either the elder sister or the wife of Māui. The most common story that presents Hina as the wife of Māui tells of Te Tunaroa, the father of all eels, who one day visited the pool where Hina bathed.
It is a beautiful Hawaiian given name meaning "ocean, sea, or expanse of water." The name has been a firm favorite among Polynesian communities for years, gaining global popularity with the release of Disney's epic animated film in 2016.
Birth. Māui is the son of Taranga, the wife of Makeatutara. He was a miraculous birth – his mother threw her premature infant into the sea wrapped in a tress of hair from her topknot (tikitiki) – hence Māui's full name is Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga.
Whilst the character is entirely fictional, it's interesting to note that the name Tamatoa actually means “trophy” in the Maori language. This is very apt because Tamatoa is all about collecting treasure and souvenirs from the people he has defeated.
In Disney's Moana, Te Kā was a 300-foot lava monster whose challenges led us to develop a library of reusable effects and new pipeline technology to streamline cross-departmental collaboration. This Foundation FX workflow became a core strategy for delivering complex effects across multiple sequences.
Moana Is 16 Years Old
While the ages of Disney Princesses are rarely discussed in their respective movies, Moana's age is given as 16, and the movie doesn't try to hide the fact that she is still quite young.
The name "Lilo" means "Generous One" and its origin is Hawaiian. It can also be interpreted as "Lost" and this would give the song title "He Mele No Lilo" a loose translation as "Lullaby of the Lost". The name Nani means "Beautiful" in Hawaiian.
While I didn't see any women in the movie with a malu, I did notice that Moana's mom has a malu-style tattoo on her hands.
"As a proud Polynesian woman, it's not often that you see a film like Moana come out. It headlines our Pasifika culture, and it's lead by our Polynesian artists in the industry. Moana represented true Polynesian strength, determination, and pride.