"... If you start singing, I'm gonna throw up!" xD
One of the best lines in the ENTIRE movie! That's right folks, it's time for some Moana facts!
Fact #181
In the trailer Maui says he lassoed the sun with a fish hook and pulled the land from the ocean. These are Maori legends detailing how New Zealand came to be. Maui pulled the land up while fishing. He lassoed the sun because the days were too short.
Fact #182
Lin-Manuel Miranda was signed on to write the music for (2016) before the Broadway stage musical "Hamilton" became a worldwide phenomenal hit. After it did, he would often chat with the rest of the crew through Skype from backstage, sometimes still in costume.
Fact #183
Dwayne Johnson is a firm believer that voice-acting is the most difficult career in acting, and is personally annoyed by celebrities being cast in animated films despite their bad delivery in voicing their characters. When Johnson was cast for the film, he repeatedly asked the other voice-actors present if he was indeed giving a good performance.
Fact #184
Auli'i Cravalho is the youngest Disney Princess voice ever, being only 14 years old, and turning 16 by the time the film came out.
Fact #185
Moana is the second Disney Princess to have a story not based on a fairy tale or legend, nor having a love interest. The first one was Merida from 2012, four years prior.
Fact #186
With actors/actresses consisting of Dwayne Johnson, Auli'i Cravalho, Rachel House, Temuera Morrison, Jemaine Clement, Nicole Scherzinger, Oscar Kightley, and Troy Polamalu, this marks the first time where Polynesians performers are the main focus of a Disney/Hollywood film.
Fact #187
First musical film for Dwayne Johnson.
Fact #188
The first Polynesian-themed Disney animated feature film since Lilo & Stitch 2002.
Fact #189
The first baby in the Production Babies credit is Sebastian, Lin-Manuel Miranda's son, who was born during the making of Moana and is named for the crab in the Little Mermaid.
Fact #190
When he first gets his hook and is trying to shapeshift, Maui changes into various animals. For a split second, he turns into Sven the Reindeer from Frozen (2013).
Fact #191
The first draft of the screenplay was written by Taika Waititi, who would go on to direct Thor: Ragnarok, set to debut in 2017, another film featuring a mythological deity wielding an enchanted weapon.
Fact #192
Although this is a computer animated film, Maui's tattoos are hand-drawn animated.
Fact #193
Fifth Harmony member and pop star Dinah Jane auditioned for the role of Moana. She was long rumored to be the voice of Moana until the official announcement of Auli'i Cravalho was released.
Fact #194
When Moana first meets Maui, he cocks his eyebrow in a strange way. This is the people's eyebrow, a signature move of Dwayne Johnson from his wrestling career.
Fact #195
Directors John Musker and Ron Clements put in months of research and even immersed themselves in the Polynesian culture in order to make the film respectful to the culture and mythology of the Polynesian people.
Fact #196
Villagers are seen beating a rug which resembles the magic carpet from Aladdin.
Fact #197
Dwayne Johnson had always wanted to work with directors John Musker and Ron Clements, having loved Aladdin when it came out in 1992 and his daughter loved both Aladdin and The Little Mermaid.
Fact #198
Heihei is voiced by Alan Tudyk, while Pua's vocalizations are sampled from real pigs, making this one of the few animated projects by Disney where neither Frank Welker nor Dee Bradley Baker supply the animal vocal effects.
Fact #199
One flower that blossoms near the bottom right at the end is the magic flower from Rapunzel.
Fact #200
The genie's lamp from Aladdin can be seen on Tomato's shell.
Fact #201
In Tamatoa the crab's song, "Shiny," he mentions Moana's granny saying "listen to your heart," and describes himself as dazzling "like a diamond in the rough." These may be references to previous Disney animated films, Pocahontas and Aladdin.
Fact #202
One of the Kakamora has face-paint very similar to Baymax from Big Hero 6.
Fact #203
This is Dwayne Johnson's third Disney movie after The Game Plan in 2007 and Race to Witch Mountain in 2009.
Fact #204
In the undersea Kingdom of Monsters Godzilla is seen fleetingly.
Fact #205
In Europe and Asia both the protagonist and the movie are renamed to "Vaiana". Not only didn't Disney want to avoid association with Italian porn star Moana Pozzi, but the, lesser known, main reason was actually that there's a cosmetics brand that owns the legal copyright to the use of "Moana" in Europe. In countries where an English-spoken, subtitled version was released, the name in all spoken dialogue and songs is changed (e.g. the song "I am Moana" changes to "I am Vaiana"). This means the actors had to record twice some parts in order to allow the film to be screened in Europe in English.
Fact #206
Jemaine Clement also voiced the Inter-dimensional gaseous being "Fart" on the show Rick and Morty, who sang a song titled "Goodbye, Moonmen".
Fact #207
Moana's father has a tattoo that is reminiscent of Dwayne Johnson's Samoan tribal tattoos on his left pectoral muscle and left arm.
Fact #208
No human characters meet Maui except Moana.
Fact #209
Although Moana's pet pig Pua is featured prominently on almost every TV promo and poster, his role is more minor in the actual film.
Fact #210
When Gramma Tala is lying sick in the tent, the shell call that alerts Moana and her father is the same sound used in Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland.
******
I hope you all enjoyed these facts as much as I did!
YOU ARE READING
Disney Facts! Volume 2
RandomWelcome to VOLUME 2 of the magical fact book of all things Disney! In this book you'll read interesting facts about the parks, movies, characters, and if you're lucky, the cartoons as well. Some are interesting, some are funny, and some are even don...
