Moana came to theaters in 2016 with a pretty big idea: a Disney movie with no prince/love interest. That’s pretty big for Disney, and I was all for it.

“An adventurous teenager sails out on a daring mission to save her people. During her journey, Moana meets the once-mighty demigod Maui, who guides her in her quest to become a master way-finder. Together they sail across the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous monsters and impossible odds. Along the way, Moana fulfills the ancient quest of her ancestors and discovers the one thing she always sought: her own identity.”

Essentially, as some base knowledge a “way-finder” is a person who can voyage into the sea and know where they are in the big ocean.

The musical numbers are incredible in this film, easily singable and very memorable. I pulled up the soundtrack after the movie just to listen to it again. I think someone told me that the actual Hawaiian language was used in almost all of the songs which is super cool.

The whole idea is that this being who kept the islands safe has her heart stolen by Maui and everything is beginning to turn black and die. As the sickness begins to reach Moana’s island, she knows she has to do something. And she’ll get her help from the ocean itself. It did choose her after all. The ocean is it’s own character and is there along the trip to help Moana reach her goal (and provide comedic relief and well as the little chicken sidekick).

Moana is headstrong and independent, knowing what she wants and determined to get it. With the push of her grandmother passing away, she sets out to save her village with the heart of Tahiti (the being mentioned before that turned evil).

I loved the fact that there was no love interest. It’s all I’ve ever wanted in a Disney movie with the idea of “you don’t need a man to achieve your dreams”. The characters were really well done and I appreciated the character development. Said character development can also be found in the musical numbers as the song lyrics change throughout.

With the theme of finding yourself, this is now one of my favorite Disney movies and will continue to be until another loveless movie comes out. Then perhaps there will be some competition.