Moana Film Analysis

From Disney’s feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, through to many of its princess movies, the female protagonist is reliant on a male counterpart as either their goal or last hope. For example, Ariel in The Little Mermaid sacrifices her voice for a far off prince and Aurora in Sleeping Beauty can only be awoken by a kiss from one. However, as public opinions in society changed, Disney also shifted it focus when it came to dealing with female leads. To do this, they scripted strong and independent women, who could rely on themselves, rather than on some glorified man. Although transcendentalism does not solely focus on females when it comes to its ideals, the practice of self-reliance by these modern Disney princesses is in direct

I have chose to write my final discussion on the newest Disney movie Moanna. Moanna was the classic example of someone going through the Heros Journey. Although she already is held higher than most though because she is the daughter of the chief, so ultimately the next leader. She always longing for more. Her grandmother is the one that pushes her to go follow her heart, When the tribe is in trouble Moanna goes to the call of the journey to find Maui who is a shapeshifter. Maui was all about himself and did not care to help Monna help her tribe. Monna ends up helping Maui when he needs it the most, he teaches her how to sail and continue their journey. They are defeated though by a monster. Maui goes on about his way and Moanna is lost. Defeated

Moana contains many themes connected to the idea that nature is an escape from corrupt society. For example, Moana faces many problems on her island, such as the fear she will not make her father proud as the next chief, and the physical problems with the island not producing enough food to sustain its citizens. Therefore, Moana will often escape to the beach to be with her grandmother, who taught her to “dance” with the waves (Moana 2016). Moana uses the ocean as an escape from her problems in her home, and her society which does not accept her love for the ocean. Such a belief that nature can be an escape from problems is very transcendentalist. Next, Moana has to travel across the ocean to achieve her goal of restoring the heart of Te Fiti and saving her island. The ocean actually

The song “How Far I’ll Go”, sung by Disney’s Moana, clearly represents the Romantic period. Moana is brought up on an island, but is unhappy because she feels constantly pulled back by her father, the chief of the island. Moana has always felt a strong connection to the water, so when there is an opportunity for her to sailon the forbidden ocean, she jumps to the occasion. The song “How Far I’ll Go, sung by Disney’s Moana most clearly depicts the ideas of the Romantic period in the 21st century by expressing the concept of celebrating the individual.

In conclusion, the film She’s the Man shows the audience how gender gets represented in films. It shows the traditional femininity as well as the traditional masculinity. This illustrates that gender has impacts on power and gender relations to contribute gender inequality. Gender norms are enforced in films which maintain the power inequality difference between both genders. These issues confine the way modern films represent gender and gives a direct effect to the

Disney directly exposes the idea that young girls should make their main goal in life to find their prince charming, fall madly in love, and live happily ever after. Making young girls’ aspiration in life revolve around finding a man of their dreams “transfix[es the] audience and divert[s] their potential utopian dreams and hopes through the false promises of the images [Disney] cast[s] upon the screen” (22). Disney tells the audience that women need a man to be happy. Disney presents the idea that women are dependent on me. Just like in The Little Mermaid, Ariel goes as far as surrendering her voice, to a witch named Ursula, and abandoning her family in order to be with her prince. Ariel also trades in her life as a mermaid, drastically changes her body, and sacrifices her greatest talent all in order to win her prince. Disney sends the message that girls need to give up their talents and lives in order to be with a man. Disney suggests that a woman’s main priority is her lover, no one or nothing else. Disney effectively portrays women in a negative way, depicting them as weak and needy. No attempt to break the stereotypical gender roles of women are evident however, these stereotypes are growing as Disney instills this image of women in the minds of viewers.

Walt Disney over the years has impacted the lives of millions of children with his animated films. His Disney movies have evolved in the last years and have moved from the traditional damsel in distress theme. Specifically, the classic movie Cinderella gives the wrong idea about what it is to be a woman for young girls. The movie portrays a young woman facing emotional, mental, and physical abuse by her evil stepmother and later falls in love with a charming prince. However, if viewers take a closer look, Disney’s anti feminist message is firmly emphasized. The story of Cinderella is sexist due to it’s lesson to girls that beauty and submission will award them a rich bachelor. This is seen through Cinderella’s submissive behavior, Prince

In Disney films, there is a lot of misogyny amongst female main characters. Many people in our society have noticed a significant difference in the speaking roles between male and female characters that Disney created, as men had way more lines than the women. Because these movies were mostly created in the mid-late 1900’s, this was the time that there was plenty of prejudice against females. Now, in the year 2017, females are getting a little more equality than before to the point where many females now have jobs that were only for males in the 1900’s. Most Disney movies for that matter involve some sort of misogyny, even the ones that recently came out such as ‘Brave’ and ‘Frozen’. Examples of various levels of misogyny can be noticed in Disney films such as Ariel in ‘The Little Mermaid’ (1989), directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. The movie is about a 16-year-old mermaid who wants to live on land with a human Prince named Eric but is only able to after making a dangerous wish with ‘Ursula the Sea Witch’ to be a human for three days. In this movie ‘Ariel The Mermaid’, prejudice can be seen in Ursula, by a female having too much authority, Ariel cannot speak, and Ariel uses her appearance to attract others.

Growing up watching Disney movies you never notice how sexist they really are. I always watched The Little Mermaid, but watching it now is very different. When you are younger you just watch things because you like them, you do not necessarily understand them. As you get older you realize what you were really being taught. Walt Disney’s movie The Little Mermaid displays a lot of sexism and displays how society should see women and how women should act.

For assignment two, I have chosen the Disney movie Moana. Moana is a 3-D computer animated musical fantasy adventure film. The film music was composed by Mark Mancina, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Opetaia Foa’I. Moana was released in November of twenty sixteen, the movie takes place in Polynesia Islands of Motunui, Moana is chosen by the Ocean to return the heart of Te Fiti, but her father forbids her from going near the ocean. After Moana grows older, she sets out on her own to find Maui the shape shifting demi-God who stole the heart of Te, Fiti to help her sail across the ocean to return the heart and save her Island. The scene that I have chosen for this assignment is the scene where Moana. Sings the “who you are” song to Te

Walt Disney Animation Studios is a large part in America’s entertainment industry. Reaching children and adults through their many platforms, Disney has been influencing people for over 90 years. These films have played a huge role in the society displays of gender roles. This is seen in the representation in their characters, more importantly females. Culture has been going through changes in the past couple of decades and Disney reflects the changes in society through its characters. Popular culture rises with each of Disney’s films and become well known with their recognizable roles. The Disney Princess line up has been a rising influence since 1937 with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and continues to present with the current release of Moana, the most revolutionary Disney Princess as of yet.

When most people think about Disney movies, their mind often goes to the stereotypical princess movies in which the protagonist wears a pink ball gown. Time and time again these princesses must fight their way through the story in a luxurious ball gown in order to end up with a prince. However, there are many Disney movies that work to challenge these gender stereotypes. The movie Moana is a recent example of a Disney production that works to break the imposed stereotypes placed on children from an early age.

The original draft more generally based and less clear of what the exact thesis and argument was because I focused on other dynamics, such as patriarchy, in which I needed to narrow. Overall in the final prospectus, I argued that there are sexist themes portrayed in The Little Mermaid and the importance of analyzing and identifying these are because it is so prevalent and affective in real life society. Every argument has a purpose and a goal, and the goal with writing this paper is to bring awareness of this type of rhetoric in films in order to avoid falling or accepting its skewed

In the Disney movie, “Moana,” the main character demonstrates her personal strength as a woman capable of determining her own future. “Moana” breaks the typical Disney mold of a princess being associated with a prince as the main character. Moana realizes she has the sole power within herself to take the lead role to save her village by returning the Heart of Te Fiti. The Heart of Te Fiti is what gives the world and most importantly her people’s island life. When the Heart of Te Fiti was stolen by demi-god Maui the world fell to darkness and the island began to deteriorate. The pop culture aspect of female empowerment is exemplified in the scene where Moana is visited by her deceased grandmother, Gramma Tala, after a moment of self-doubt about being able to return the Heart of Te Fiti in order to save her people and island. In the scene Gramma Tala is deceased but visits Moana in the form of a vision. Moana envisions her people sailing the sea and her father upon one of the ships. Moana was struggling with finding her inner self and utilizes her visit from Gramma Tala, to acknowledge her self-power. In the movie Moana, the “I am Moana” scene exemplifies the current cultural theme of female empowerment being actualized when the main character, Moana realizes her own inner strength after understanding her cultural heritage, receiving inspiration from her grandmother, and embracing her role in building her future.

Mulan can be applauded for being one of the few movies in which the princess isn 't a delicate character that needs saving. "Pocahontas, Mulan, and The Princess and the Frog, had princesses who displayed more masculine than feminine characteristics in their three most frequent characteristics. This suggests a chronological movement towards a more androgynous princess"(England). Mulan is a great step towards the advancement in the way gender roles are presented in movies, however; there is still major underrepresentation and misrepresentation of females in media. Rebecca Collins studies the effects of media on mental health. She states, "If young girls do not see themselves reflected in media, this diminish their sense of importance and self-esteem"(Collins). It is important to be critical of how Mulan represents women, because young girls look up to the female characters they see in Disney movies.