Imagine you and your family sitting around a campfire. Your grandfather has told stories his entire life. These stories are the backbone of you who you are. They have been told for generations. You are familiar with their characters and beats.
One day, while gathered around, he gets a sparkle in his eye and says, “There’s one I don’t think I’ve told you yet.” You lean in.
That’s about what it feels like to watch the new Disney animation film Moana 2.
Moana 2 is somehow better than the first because it reaches for and connects with that mythic part of our hearts.
Disney’s newest picture opens by reminding us that Moana is perhaps the most admirable of Disney’s princesses. Her work in the first film has opened up the seafaring ambitions of her family and community. Now she travels looking for evidence of other communities.
She discovers a shard of pottery on an abandoned island which inspires her ancestor to ask her to finish his journey of finding Motufetu, the island depicted on the pottery.
Nalo is an envious god of the seas. When humans connect with one another, they are more powerful, which threatens him. So he was the one to sink Motufetu and keep the islands apart.
Nalo has even imprisoned Maui for encouraging Moana back onto the seas.
Moana has an adorable and scene-stealing little sister, who represents everything good and beautiful about family. She hesitates about leaving on such a dangerous journey again. But ultimately, gathers a colorful group of her tribemates to join her as they seek the lost island and try to reconnect the people of the sea.
Along the way, Moana continues to grow into her leadership role. The team, of course, runs back into Maui. The kakamora, the anthropomorphic coconuts of the first film, are back and recontextualized. If you’re curious what the most popular stuffed animal will be this Christmas, I’d bet on them. And all of it is realized in the same beautiful animation of the first film.
There is a lot for Latter-day Saints to like here. Like the first film, Moana is fiercely loyal to her family, but here that inspires a sense of duty and sacrifice, without the complicating rebellion of her first adventure.
The movie includes one of the best villain songs in recent memory. The lyrics often sound like Nehor explaining how life is full of choices so cut loose and break the rules. I’ve become so accustomed to the heroes in children’s movies repeating these sentiments it was a shock to hear duty lauded as a positive.
In the end, Moana progresses as a character in a way that will have some theological resonance due to her growth and the grace she finds.
There is a new musical team behind this film, Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear. They may not have the name recognition of Lin-Manuel Miranda who wrote the songs for the first, but while the music may not have quite the same level of lyrical complexity, overall, the music is even better. I immediately turned on the soundtrack on the way home, and I imagine Maui’s song, “Can I get a Chee Hoo,” finding its way onto the pump-up playlist of many a youth soccer team.
A five-year-old I watched it with said, “All the girls in my class will like Moana because we want to be like Moana.” As a father, I would like my children to be like Moana too.
If you watch this one with your children, I’d ask questions that focus on Moana. Why did she decide to leave again? What important things have you been asked to do? Why did Moana bring friends? How can we ask others to help us? How did Maui help Moana when she felt discouraged?
Parents may want to know there are some intense scenes that might be too much for sensitive children, but most kids four and older should be able to handle them. And tattoos are a major plot point.
Three and a half out of five stars. Moana 2 released nationwide November 27.
