History YMMV / Moana

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** Moana goading Maui by telling him no one thinks he's a hero anymore and obviously playing on his over-inflated ego to get him to join the quest hits a lot harder when we learn [[spoiler:Maui bases his entire sense of self worth on how humans are grateful for his heroics.]]

* HilariousInHindsight:
** With ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'', another Disney-owned movie studio, Marvel Studios, seemed to pick up the slack caused by ''Moana'' becoming the DAC's first movie in years to avoid a certain twist.[[note]]Specifically, the twist in which someone earns the hero's trust, then betrays him/her during the third act; Ego the Living Planet provides hospitality to the Guardians, until it becomes revealed that he only wants to use his long-lost son, Star-Lord, to help conquer the galaxy.[[/note]]
** The infamous TrollFic ''FanFic/MRATrilogy'' features Moana as the feminist BigBad.[[note]]The series came out when the premise of Moana was announced.[[/note]] Details of the movie's production show that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O00-9oCPZ08 a sexist sub-plot did exist at the time]].
** Moana insisting that Maui not call her a princess feels ironic after her addition to the official Franchise/DisneyPrincess roster.
** One of the songs, "We Know the Way". In 2018, [[Memes/SonicTheHedgehog do you know the way?]]

* StrawmanHasAPoint:
** Moana's father Tui is mostly treated as a barrier to her desire to explore the sea and to use it to help their people, but he ''does'' hold a genuine grievance against the ocean, even more so upon the reveal that it's a GeniusLoci. From his perspective, he's preoccupied with trying to find a practical solution to the island's problems when his daughter barges in shouting about how they should go sailing across the sea in search of a demigod of legend under the assumption that a green rock she claims to have found is actually some sort of CosmicKeystone. While Moana does turn out to have been right, it's not hard to see why Tui was so frustrated and dismissive of her.
** Maui may have stolen the Heart, but he had never seen the negative consequences this caused for Moana's people, having been trapped on an island for a ''thousand years''. Given the [[AMythologyIsTrue All Polynesian and Pacific Islander Myths Are True]] setting, his showboating when Moana arrives is perfectly appropriate: he is ''personally responsible'' for every aspect of her people's life, from the island they live on to the coconuts they eat to the sun that grows their plants to the tide that brings the fish. Without firsthand knowledge that his action ''one thousand years ago'' caused bad things to happen, he has no reason to be humble, or to assume anything but gratitude from a person to whom he gave ''her entire way of life''.
** The scene where Maui leaves Moana is treated as a sign of his continual overreliance on his hook that he just needs to get over, but he ''was'' right to criticize her recklessness. She has been throwing herself into dangerous situations throughout their time together, culminating in her trying to sail in close to a gigantic lava monster when Te Ka could clearly see them coming, instead of falling back to try another approach or at least planning out some distraction that could grant her an opening. The fact she ignored Maui's repeated insistence that they turn back and quickly brushed over his hook being damaged when it's their only source of protection against Te Ka wouldn't help their chances seem any less suicidal.
* TakeThatScrappy: Since Heihei is written as an intentionally annoying character, it can be fun to see the Ocean throw him into a basket and then place it inside the boat just for good measure.

* OlderThanTheyThink: Many people (including on this wiki) thought that the title was a continuation of the OneWordTitle trend starting with ''{{WesternAnimation/Tangled}}'' and ''{{WesternAnimation/Frozen}}'', completely ignorant of the fact that Disney has been using one word {{Protagonist Title}}s for a very long time with films such as ''{{WesternAnimation/Pinocchio}}'', ''{{WesternAnimation/Dumbo}}'', ''{{WesternAnimation/Bambi}}'', ''{{WesternAnimation/Cinderella}}'', ''{{WesternAnimation/Aladdin}}'', ''{{WesternAnimation/Pocahontas}}'', ''{{WesternAnimation/Hercules}}'', ''{{WesternAnimation/Mulan}}'', ''{{WesternAnimation/Tarzan}}'', and ''{{WesternAnimation/Bolt}}''.

** Tamatoa only appears for one scene, but his catchy yet creepy VillainSong makes him quite memorable. Just ask WebVideo/SchaffrillasProductions.

** Tamatoa only appears for one scene, but his catchy yet creepy VillainSong makes him quite memorable. Just ask Creator/SchaffrillasProductions.

** Moana's father. Despite being a sympathetic character with a tragic and chilling backstory, he didn't play a very big role in the movie's events and his CharacterDevelopment in regards to his fear of the ocean is barely explored. We also don't really get to understand why he refuses to believe in the supernatural.

* {{Adorkable}}: Moana is an ''Main/ActionGirl'' , but she's definitely quite endearing due to how incredibly dorky and goofy she can get. She's just precious.

* TheScrappy: The Ocean spirit is viewed this way by a portion of the movie’s fans. Since its abilities and range of influence are never set in stone, some viewed its inclusion as just a lazy way of getting Moana out of trouble when it was convenient to the plot and not helping her when it would’ve been too convenient.

** Moana's CurseCutShort after Maui traps her in his cave seems very out of character for her, since she isn't shown dropping anything close to a swear word even at points in the movie where one might be appropriate. As a result, it just comes off as a very crude and ill-conceived attempt at a joke.

* ClicheStorm: Despite the film's constant praise from Disney fans and critics alike, there are a few critics who accused the film of following [[StrictlyFormula the Disney formula]] too closely. There's a heroine who feels trapped and [[IWantSong sings about wanting more]] in direct contrast to a rather hamfisted opening song about how the island has everything they need, despite her [[OverprotectiveDad overprotective father's protests.]] One of her elder family members dies, and she [[TheChosenOne goes on a journey]] along with an [[NonHumanSidekick animal sidekick]]. An [[{{Narcissist}} egotistical guy]] joins her on her journey, and they have a PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure, resulting in the heroine [[TenMinuteRetirement wanting to give up.]] The egotistical guy [[ChangedMyMindKid comes back to help save the day,]] and the heroine's father changes his mind about being overprotective. So basically ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'' meets ''{{WesternAnimation/Pocahontas}}'' made in [[WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog Disney's]] [[WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}} Revival]] [[WesternAnimation/{{Frozen}} Era]].

** Consider the Coconut! [[labelnote:Explanation]]A line from the movie's first song ''Where You Are'' said by Moana's father that is very memetic among listeners due to how excitedly the line is delivered.[[/labelnote]]

** Though she is the BigBad and heavily built up throughout the story, Te Kā only appears in two brief scenes near the end. [[HolyShitQuotient But it certainly makes the best of those scenes.]]

** As noted in ClicheStorm, “Moana” recycles a lot of old Disney movie formulas and plays them entirely straight, including the third act PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure where the co-protagonists have a big fight and split up before the climax (usually right after they were getting really chummy with each other). The dialogue in this scene can get so rote and cliched, so forced, and so obviously designed to KickTheDog as hard as possible for drama, that it can come off as unintentionally funny.
--> '''Moana:''' Maui, you still have to restore the heart!\\
'''Maui:''' Without my hook, I am nothing.\\
'''Moana:''' That is not true!\\
'''Maui:''' (''screaming in her face'') WITHOUT MY HOOK, I AM NOTHING!!!\\
'''Moana:''' We’re only here because you stole the heart in the first place!\\
'''Maui:''' (''sneering'') No, we’re here because the ocean told you you were special, and you believed it!\\
'''Moana:''' I am Moana of Motunui! You will board my boat-\\
'''Maui:''' Goodbye, Moana.\\
'''Moana:''' Sail across the sea!\\
'''Maui:''' I’m not killing myself so you can prove you’re something you’re not!\\
'''Moana:''' (''dramatically tearing up'') And restore the heart of Te Fiti! The ocean chose me!\\
'''Maui:''' (''glaring dramatically'') It chose wrong.
** [[spoiler: Grandma Tala’s death]], for a similar reason, in that it seems to come right out of nowhere as a cliched grounds for Moana to depart on her quest. Moana is never shown [[spoiler: mourning her loss]] as the film goes on, and even the appearance of [[spoiler: Tala's ghost]] to give Moana a HeroicSecondWind fails to carry the weight of [[spoiler: her actually coming back from the grave.]] Instead, it comes off as though Moana is just happy to see her after being away from home for so long.

* BaseBreakingCharacter:
** Heihei, for being an intentionally annoying character, reactions to him are really mixed. Some legitimately think he's a funny character, especially for the way he was used in the Kakamora scene. Others absolutely despise his existence, rooting for the older villager and Maui to grill and eat him because [[TheLoad he's so useless]] and wishing that he actually was scrapped, like [[WhatCouldHaveBeen he was originally intended to be]]. And then there are plenty who forgot that he was in the movie at all.
** Tamatoa has slowly started to drift into this category as well. While there are plenty who like him and find him one of the most enjoyable aspects of the film, there's also a VocalMinority finding his song [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment pointless]] and feeling that they could easily replace him with another villain or another place where Maui's hook would lie and nothing would change at all!

*** Well the movie does directly show that [[spoiler: Ti Fiti as Te Ka cannot come into contact with water]], so it's fairly obvious that the Ocean cannot simply return the heart itself.

*** Judging by how Maui treated Moana after his initial frosty attitude evaporated [[spoiler: after she saved him from Tamatoa]], his initial cold treatment of Moana is clearly a side-effect that developed after spending ''[[FateWorseThanDeath 1,000 years in solitary confinement on a desert island]]''; considering [[GoMadFromTheIsolation what the effects of solitary confinement can do to a person, it's a miracle that Maui didn't straight up go crazy]].[[note]] To roughly simplify, Psychologists have stated that solitary confinement is the worst psychological torture that a person can go through due to many factors, including the fact that in order to be able to properly survive, humans need social interaction and meaningful activity, things that they are deprived of when kept in solitary confinement. The effects that it has on the brain differs from person-to-person but the basic symptoms include anxiety, panic, insomnia, paranoia, aggression and depression; as well as problems with impulse control, boredom, sensory deprivation, hallucinations, and difficulties with thinking, concentration and memory. Some people kept in solitary confinement lose the ability to maintain a state of alertness, while others develop crippling obsessions. Sometimes they become so despondent they attempt to take their own life, and the people feel as if they’re constantly on the verge of a breakdown. Long-term isolation can lead to stress, which causes the hippocampus, the part of the brain used in memory and decision-making, to shrink dramatically as a result, meaning that the longer people remain depressed and untreated, the more their hippocampus shrinks, leading to a difficulty in controlling stress and their emotions. The psychological effects of isolation last long after individuals are removed from isolation, as most people freed from solitary confinement find difficulty with social interaction, have difficulty reintegrating into society, feel emotionally numb, experience anxiety and depression, and sometimes even prefer to remain in confined spaces. But some people make it out, and if they’re fortunate enough to get into a warm and caring environment outside of solitary confinement, they manage to begin to regain their social skills. Basically, solitary confinement is, at best, akin to medieval torture.[[/note]] [[WhatTheHellHero The fact that the first thing Moana does when she first meets Maui is to immediately demand that he fight a lava monster just so Ti Fiti's heart can be restored probably didn't help matters either]]; and this is all before we soon learn that Maui is actually afraid of Ti Fiti's heart because it lead to him spending 1,000 years alone on an island and losing his fishhook.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Heihei, for being an intentionally annoying character, reactions to him are really mixed. Some legitimately think he's a funny character, especially for the way he was used in the Kakamora scene. Others absolutely despise his existence, rooting for the older villager and Maui to grill and eat him because [[TheLoad he's so useless]] and wishing that he actually was scrapped, like [[WhatCouldHaveBeen he was originally intended to be]]. And then there are plenty who forgot that he was in the movie at all.

*** Judging by how Maui treated Moana after his initial frosty attitude evaporated [[spoiler: after she saved him from Tamatoa]], his initial cold treatment of Moana is clearly a side-effect that developed after spending ''[[FateWorseThanDeath 1,000 years in solitary confinement on a desert island]]''; considering what the effects of solitary confinement can do to a person, it's a miracle that Maui didn't straight up go crazy.[[note]] To roughly simplify, Psychologists have stated that solitary confinement is the worst psychological torture that a person can go through due to many factors, including the fact that in order to be able to properly survive, humans need social interaction and meaningful activity, things that they are deprived of when kept in solitary confinement. The effects that it has on the brain differs from person-to-person but the basic symptoms include anxiety, panic, insomnia, paranoia, aggression and depression; as well as problems with impulse control, boredom, sensory deprivation, hallucinations, and difficulties with thinking, concentration and memory. Some people kept in solitary confinement lose the ability to maintain a state of alertness, while others develop crippling obsessions. Sometimes they become so despondent they attempt to take their own life, and the people feel as if they’re constantly on the verge of a breakdown. Long-term isolation can lead to stress, which causes the hippocampus, the part of the brain used in memory and decision-making, to shrink dramatically as a result, meaning that the longer people remain depressed and untreated, the more their hippocampus shrinks, leading to a difficulty in controlling stress and their emotions. The psychological effects of isolation last long after individuals are removed from isolation, as most people freed from solitary confinement find difficulty with social interaction, have difficulty reintegrating into society, feel emotionally numb, experience anxiety and depression, and sometimes even prefer to remain in confined spaces. But some people make it out, and if they’re fortunate enough to get into a warm and caring environment outside of solitary confinement, they manage to begin to regain their social skills. Basically, solitary confinement is, at best, akin to medieval torture.[[/note]] [[WhatTheHellHero The fact that the first thing Moana does when she first meets Maui is to immediately demand that he fight a lava monster just so Ti Fiti's heart can be restored probably didn't help matters either]]; and this is all before we soon learn that Maui is actually afraid of Ti Fiti's heart because it lead to him spending 1,000 years alone on an island and losing his fishhook.

** People have also been shipping Moana with [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid Ariel]]. Both are curious 16-year-old girls who love to explore, one comes from the ocean and wants to explore the land, the other wants to explore the ocean from her island. They also have strict but well-meaning fathers. That, and the idea is just generally cute.
** Moana and [[Disney/{{Frozen}} Elsa]], due to both pointedly lacking any kind of romantic interest, leaving the fans free to imagine any kind of sexuality they want.
** Maui and Disney/{{Hercules}}. Not only do their origins seem like the opposite of one another, their personalities could also work well. Maui would be the snarky experienced hero to Hercules' naive but optimistic rookie. His sweet and innocent side could contrast well against Maui's more world-weary attitude. Plus, he could help him deal with his inferiority complex, much like how his love for Meg helped her deal with her own issues.

** Pua. Is. Adorable. The cutest non-anthropomorphic Disney pig since [[Disney/TheBlackCauldron Hen Wen]]. There's a number of fans who are disappointed the sweet little pig didn't follow Moana on her quest like Heihei did.

** It's also extremely popular with fans of ''Disney/LiloAndStitch'', thanks to it being another Disney film that contains Polynesian characters. Some even theorize that Moana is an ancestor of Lilo and Nani.

* GirlShowGhetto: Seems to have broken it, by becoming Disney's most successful animated movie since ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'' to have a feminine-sounding title. Its domestic grosses (both unadjusted and adjusted for inflation) and unadjusted worldwide totals even surpassed that of ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'', the movie that kicked off Disney's "Let's make more money off of female-centric films by not including the heroine's name or royal title in the picture's name" tactics.

* OlderThanTheyThink: Many people (including on this wiki) thought that the title was a continuation of the OneWordTitle trend starting with ''{{Disney/Tangled}}'' and ''{{WesternAnimation/Frozen}}'', completely ignorant of the fact that Disney has been using one word {{Protagonist Title}}s for a very long time with films such as ''{{WesternAnimation/Pinocchio}}'', ''{{WesternAnimation/Dumbo}}'', ''{{WesternAnimation/Bambi}}'', ''{{WesternAnimation/Cinderella}}'', ''{{Disney/Aladdin}}'', ''{{Disney/Pocahontas}}'', ''{{WesternAnimation/Hercules}}'', ''{{WesternAnimation/Mulan}}'', ''{{Disney/Tarzan}}'', and ''{{Disney/Bolt}}''.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Just like ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'' before it, Moana's DubNameChange wasn't well-received, though at least this time, Disney had an [[ThinkOfTheChildren understandable reason]].

* ClicheStorm: Despite the film's constant praise from Disney fans and critics alike, there are a few critics who accused the film of following [[StrictlyFormula the Disney formula]] too closely. There's a heroine who feels trapped and [[IWantSong sings about wanting more]] in direct contrast to a rather hamfisted opening song about how the island has everything they need, despite her [[OverprotectiveDad overprotective father's protests.]] One of her elder family members dies, and she [[TheChosenOne goes on a journey]] along with an [[NonHumanSidekick animal sidekick]]. An [[{{Narcissist}} egotistical guy]] joins her on her journey, and they have a PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure, resulting in the heroine [[TenMinuteRetirement wanting to give up.]] The egotistical guy [[ChangedMyMindKid comes back to help save the day,]] and the heroine's father changes his mind about being overprotective. So basically ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989]]'' meets ''{{WesternAnimation/Pocahontas}} made in [[WesternAnimation/PrincessAndTheFrog Disney's]] [[WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}} Revival]] [[WesternAnimation/{{Frozen}} Era]].

* ClicheStorm: Despite the film's constant praise from Disney fans and critics alike, there are a few critics who accused the film of following [[StrictlyFormula the Disney formula]] too closely. There's a heroine who feels trapped and [[IWantSong sings about wanting more]] in direct contrast to a rather hamfisted opening song about how the island has everything they need, despite her [[OverprotectiveDad overprotective father's protests.]] One of her elder family members dies, and she [[TheChosenOne goes on a journey]] along with an [[NonHumanSidekick animal sidekick]]. An [[{{Narcissist}} egotistical guy]] joins her on her journey, and they have a PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure, resulting in the heroine [[TenMinuteRetirement wanting to give up.]] The egotistical guy [[ChangedMyMindKid comes back to help save the day,]] and the heroine's father changes his mind about being overprotective.

* ClicheStorm: Despite the film's constant praise from Disney fans and critics alike, there are a few critics who accused the film of following [[StrictlyFormula the Disney formula]] too closely. There's a heroine who feels trapped and [[IWantSong sings about wanting more]], despite her [[OverprotectiveDad overprotective father's protests.]] One of her elder family members dies, and she [[TheChosenOne goes on a journey]] along with an [[NonHumanSidekick animal sidekick]]. An [[{{Narcissist}} egotistical guy]] joins her on her journey, and they have a PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure, resulting in the heroine [[TenMinuteRetirement wanting to give up.]] The egotistical guy [[ChangedMyMindKid comes back to help save the day,]] and the heroine's father changes his mind about being overprotective.

* AwardSnub: While ''Moana'' got nominated for Best Animated Picture by the Oscars, the overall Score did not. And only one song - "How Far I'll Go" - picked up a nom leaving out "You're Welcome" (while ''Film/LaLaLand'' received two song nominations). Ultimately, ''Moana'' lost both Oscars to fellow Disney movie ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'' and ''Film/LaLaLand'' song "City of Stars" respectively. Moana's loss in the Best Song category left a lot of Puerto Ricans ''extremely'' bitter- after Hamilton's historic success in theater, people really wanted -- no, expected Creator/LinManuelMiranda to win, and thereby making him one of the few people who can brag about being an [[UsefulNotes/TheEGOTS EGOT]].

** It developed one with ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'' when it turned out it would be competing with ''Moana'' for the Best Animated Feature Academy Award at the 2017 Academy Awards. This was unfortunate because it was the first time in over a decade that Disney Animation Studios had two films nominated for the award. At worst, you have the fans that decry ''Moana'' as "just another Disney Princess movie" that hardly deserves the Oscar over ''Zootopia''. More reasonably, many other ''Zootopia'' fans say that, while respecting ''Moana'' as a good, if not great Disney movie, they feel that ''Zootopia'' deserves the Oscar better for having a much more emotion-driven and highly topical story. Since ''Zootopia'' ultimately won the Oscar over ''Moana'', the rivalry seems to be dying back down save for those who feel that ''Moana'' should have won instead.

* NightmareRetardant: The anemone-faced creature in the Realm of Monsters becomes a lot less terrifying when you learn it's a recycled character model of Flash the Sloth from ''{{Disney/Zootopia}}''.

* OlderThanTheyThink: Many people (including on this wiki) thought that the title was a continuation of the OneWordTitle trend starting with ''{{Disney/Tangled}}'' and ''{{Disney/Frozen}}'', completely ignorant of the fact that Disney has been using one word {{Protagonist Title}}s for a very long time with films such as ''{{Disney/Pinocchio}}'', ''{{Disney/Dumbo}}'', ''{{Disney/Bambi}}'', ''{{Disney/Cinderella}}'', ''{{Disney/Aladdin}}'', ''{{Disney/Pocahontas}}'', ''{{Disney/Hercules}}'', ''{{Disney/Mulan}}'', ''{{Disney/Tarzan}}'', and ''{{Disney/Bolt}}''.

* {{Shipping}}: Unlike other co-ed buddy Disney films such as ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'' and ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'', the film is good at keeping the chemistry between the two leads strictly platonic from beginning to end with no intended teasing subtext or anything suggestive. Raise your hand if you knew there would be Moana/Maui fics anyway. [[spoiler:On the other hand, you can find plenty of Moana/Te Fiti fan-arts and fan-fics.]]