In November of 2013, Disney Animation Studios released the princess craze of a lifetime: Frozen. Riding off of the success of the mega-million dollar movie, Disney announced another princess franchise, Moana. They were releasing toys, towels, bedding, and any other merchandise they could market to children before the movie even premiered. The weekend it opened, Moana brought in a staggering $56 million at the box office, and at time of publication, the movie had brought in $106.8 million in its first 12 days in theaters.

Auli’i Cravalho does an excellent job voicing Moana, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson brings Maui, the demigod with a magical fish hook to life. The movie is set in ancient Polynesia, on the fictional island of Motonui (pronounced MAH-tow-new-EE), and Moana is the daughter of the island’s chief. After the ancient demigod Maui steals the heart of Te Fiti, the mother nature of their culture, their island begins to die. Moana must find Maui and bring him to the island so that Te Fiti’s heart can be restored and Moana’s island can once again thrive.

The animation in this movie makes all the characters look absolutely real and the audience is enthralled with the movie from the moment it opens. Lin-Manuel Miranda, composer of the hit Broadway musical Hamilton, composed the music for this movie, and he brings the Polynesian culture to life within the music. This is Disney’s fifth princess installment with a person of color as the main character.

Disney Animation Studios has done a wonderful job with this movie. I cannot wait to pre-order its DVD on Amazon.