5 interesting facts about animation

This Friday, the 5th, the release of “Moana – Um Mar de Aventuras” in Brazilian lands, completes 7 years, as the film was released on the same day and month in 2017. The animation raised more than US$ 645 million around the world and won two Oscar nominations, including Best Animated Feature.

The film tells the story of Moana (Auli’i Cravalho), a 16-year-old Polynesian girl who decides to venture across the Pacific Ocean to unravel the mysteries surrounding her ancestors. During her journey, she comes across the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) and decide that together, they will cross the ocean to face fierce creatures and save Te Fiti, the goddess with the power of life. Watch the trailer!

To celebrate the anniversary of the critically acclaimed animation, Recreio brought some interesting facts about the production and its behind-the-scenes. Check out:

1. Polynesian Culture

John Musker It is Ron Clements, the animation directors, wanted to portray Polynesian culture in a respectful way. Therefore, they traveled to the islands of Fiji, Samoa and Tahiti to do intense research into the traditions and customs of this culture.

Despite all the effort to respect culture being recognized by the Polynesian people, when the film was released, some debates arose about the construction of some characters, such as Maui and Grandma Tala.

2. Voice of Moana

Disney opened applications so that several girls could try out to be the official voice actress for Moana. Including, the Dinah Janewho was one of the members of Fifth Harmony, participated in the auditions.

But whoever got the role was Auli’i Cravalho, who was 16 years old at the time. She was born in Hawaii and until then had no professional experience in dubbing or film. At first, the young woman would not participate in the auditions, as she thought there were already too many girls signed up, but a talent agent who discovered her convinced her to sign up.

3. Original story

Unlike the other princesses, Moana’s story was not based on a fairy tale. She is the second Disney princess to have a completely original story. The first was Merida, protagonist of the film “Brave”, by Pixar. Another point in common between these two princesses is that they do not have any love interest throughout the plot.

4. Tribute to David Bowie

The composer of the animation’s soundtrack, Lin-Manuel Mirandarevealed that the music of Tamatoa, the giant crab played by Jemaine Clementwas a tribute to David Bowie. According to the composer, the song “Shine” (in Portuguese, “Brilhe”) was based on the work of the British artist. Remember the excerpt!

5. Different names

The animation does not have the same name in all countries. The original title is “Moana” and here in Brazil it received a complement: “Moana – Um Mar de Aventuras”.

But in some places, the name of the film changes completely: in some places in Europe, like Portugal, the film is titled “Vaiana”. In Italy, the production is called “Oceania”.