✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we send newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Support Us Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • Shopping
  • CW SHOPS
  • Support Us
  • Get Started
  • Tickets
  • CW SHOPS
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
Cinema

Disney's Moana review: ★★★★★

02 Dec 16 – 31 Jan 17, Show times vary

The hottest new kids film of the year: Disney's 2016 animated film Moana is the the story of a powerful young teenager on a mission to save her people

By Helena Kealey on 15/11/2016

1 CW reader is interested
Moama, Disney Film 2016
Moama, Disney Film 2016
Disney's Moana review: 4 Disney's Moana review: Helena Kealey
Family friendly Moana, Disney 2016: REVIEW: Culture Whisper says: ★★★★★


"You're in a dress and you've got an animal sidekick: you're a princess." 16-year-old Moana may object, but Maui (Dwayne Johnson) is right: Moana is definitely another addition to the Disney princess franchise.


Second only to JK Rowling's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Moana is the family film that's been touted as the most exciting release of the year, and for good reason. Presumably trying to re-create the popularity of Frozen, Moana's story is all about female empowerment, self acceptance and the power of friendship. A feel-good story such as this couldn't have come at a more necessary moment.


Generally when it comes to Disney princesses, the studio either conjures up fantasy world in which to set it (say, Frozen or Cinderella) and winds up accused of having a white-centric world view or, when they do attempt to embrace other cultures, gets told they're guilty of ethnic stereotyping and cultural appropriation. They have been extremely brave to stray into Polynesian mythology.


The gamble pays off nicely. In what could easily be liberal, climate-change fanatic's perfect dream, Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) must rescue her blissful pre-industrial island by returning the 'heart' of Te Ka to the green goddess and reversing all the ecological damage and destruction that has come about as the result of man's careless hedonism. To do so, she must defy her father's orders to never sail beyond the reef, recruit the help of a narcissistic but essentially kind demi-God, Maui and together fight against the forces that want to claim the heart for their own so that they may have the power of creation.



Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, who together gave us the Disney classics The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and The Princess & the Frog and featuring music by none-other than 2016's hottest musical triumph, Lin-Manuel Miranda (he of Hamilton fame), Moana is a heart-warming story full of funny moments, but definitely without the sophistication in either language or plot that big hitters such as Frozen and Zootopia boast.

A lovely family-friendly film, but (like Maui himself) probably not destined to be the internationally beloved success story it was hoping to be.





What Disney's Moana review:
Where Various Locations | MAP
When 02 Dec 16 – 31 Jan 17, Show times vary
Price £various
Website Click here for more information



Most popular

Things to do in London this weekend: 24–26 March. Photo: The Parakeet, Kentish Town
Things to do in London this weekend: 24–26 March
Irene Maiorino and Alba Rohrwacher in My Brilliant Friend season 4, HBO/Sky Atlantic (Photo: HBO)
My Brilliant Friend, season 4, Sky Atlantic: first-look photo, release date, plot, cast
Best art exhibitions in London. Photo: Thin Air at the Beams
Top exhibitions on now in London

Editor's Picks:


  • 1. FIND A WINTER WONDERLAND

    The best Winter Wonderlands and ice-rinks in all of London

    2. WHAT TO WATCH THIS WINTER

    Family Christmas shows to book

    3.CHRISTMAS THEATRE FOR TODDLERS

    What to take your little ones to


    4. THIS WEEKEND WITH THE KIDS

    What to do this weekend with the family


Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
1

Moana

Disney

Children’s Films

You might like

  • Natural History Ice Rink, South Kensington

    Natural History Museum Ice Rink

  • Storks, 2016 Film Release

    Storks, Children's Film Review 2016 ★★★★★

  • Up

    Family Film Screening, Up, and music workshop at Royal Albert Hall

  • Image courtesy of Science Museum

    Wonderlab: The Statoil Gallery, Science Museum ★★★★★



  • The Culture Whisper team
  • Support Us
  • Tickets
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
×