History YMMV / Moana

* 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 ''WesternAnimation/{{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]].

* EvilIsSexy: A sizeable portion of the fandom thinks this of Tamatoa. No, seriously. But to be fair, it's Jemaine Clement. [[ArousedByTheirVoice When he talks]], [[Series/FlightOfTheConchords it's business time]].

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Quite a few fans believe Tamatoa should've been the BigBad and Te Kā should've (somehow) been his {{Dragon}} -- a two-for-one way of averting their aforementioned TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter examples.

** With ''Frozen''. Seeing as how ''Frozen'' was the previous contemporary Disney Princess movie, and both are very well-received, fans of ''Moana'' tend to compare the movie to ''Frozen'' a lot.

* OlderThanTheyThink: Many people (including on this wiki) thought that the title was a continuation of the OneWordTitle trend starting with ''{{WesternAnimation/Tangled}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'', 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}}''.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: Creator/AuliiCravalho coming out as bisexual a few years after this movie's release, but still managing to land gigs at and outside of Disney afterwards, adds some poignancy to Moana giving into her desires to defy the norm (desires so strong, that she feels compelled to ask, "What is wrong with me?"), but earning the respect of her family and community afterwards.

** "...in SONG FORM!" [[labelnote:Explanation]]Tamatoa's line that leads into his VillainSong (and occasionally the line preceeding it: "Are you just trying to get me to talk about myself? Because if you are... I will gladly do so!") has become very popular with various musicals fandoms for obvious reasons.[[/labelnote]]

** Moana and [[WesternAnimation/Frozen2013 Elsa]], due to both pointedly lacking any kind of romantic interest, leaving the fans free to imagine any kind of sexuality they want.

* 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.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment:
** The encounter with the Kakamora (read: demonic coconut pirates). The sequence added very little to the movie's plot, and they're never mentioned again.
** Moana's dream sequence in which she sees her island being overtaken by darkness. It does underline the reason she's on this journey to begin with, but her island is never implied otherwise to be in any immediate danger, and the scene mostly only serves as a segue between Maui teaching her to sail and their arrival at the entrance to the Realm of Monsters.

** Consider the coconut! (The ''what?'') [[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]]
** ''{{Toys/Bionicle}}'' fans had a field day when they learned that Moana's home island was "Mata Nui". [[note]]Actually spelled [[http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Motunui Motunui]]. A case of PopCulturalOsmosis, since most of ''Bionicle'''s early names came from Maori words.[[/note]]
** "WELL TAMATOA HASN'T ALWAYS BEEN THIS GLAM..."

* {{Narm}}:
** “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.
** After the movie's uplifting ending and Polynesian chanting, the credits immediately segue into an electronica cover of "How Far I'll Go" with an obnoxious use of autoTune. After the film went out of its way to make the singing sound natural and used authentic instruments and chanting, it really takes you out of the atmosphere.

** Consider the Coconut!(The ''What?'') [[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]]

* UncannyValley:
** Moana's mouth opens just a little too wide when she strikes the last note on the first iteration of "How Far I'll Go."

** What did Maui mean by “not ''since'' I ripped off his leg”(in response to Moana saying he must have gotten along with Tamatoa)? And how did Tamatoa know exactly how to [[Main/BreakThemByTalking hit him where it hurts]]? Many fans created backstories about a friendship between them that ended badly.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** The opening song contains a lyric by Moana's father: "In time you'll learn, just as I did, you must find happiness right where you are." This takes on a significant new meaning when we later learn that [[spoiler:his best friend drowned as a direct result of their attempt to leave the island]].
** In his song "You're Welcome", Maui has a line "Cause Maui can do anything but float!". At the time, it seems a funny BadassBoast about him being able to do ''almost'' anything because he is a demigod. Later, when we find out his parents tried to drown him (which was the reason he was turned into a demigod to begin with), this line becomes more painful to hear.

** In his song "You're Welcome", Maui has a line "Cause Maui can do anything but float!". At the time, it seems a funny BadassBoast about him being able to do ''almost'' anything because he is a demi-god. Later, when we find out his parents tried to drown him (which was the reason he was turned into a demi-god to begin with), this line becomes more painful to hear.

** Both films present a very broad depiction of their culture's respective mythologies. But with ''Moana'', there's generally a ton of overlap between Pacific islands with regards to Pacific mythology. ''Raya'', on the other hand, was a CultureChopSuey of Southeast Asian cultures that received criticism for being too minimal or too specific to some cultures and subcultures while alienating others (dragons feature prominently in the story, and are important in Vietnamese culture but not so in Indonesia or the Philippines). ''Moana'' cast talent with heritage from different parts of the Pacific Islands (Auli'i Cravalho and Nicole Scherzinger are Hawaiian, while Dwyane Johnson is mixed Samoan and Temuera Morrison is Maori for instance), but it was considered more acceptable since they were all cast from within the Polynesian Triangle. ''Raya'' however cast mostly East Asian actors, despite being inspired by Southeast Asian culture (and the two are very different), perpetuating a [[InterchangeableAsianCultures a pet peeve of many Asians]]. Overall, ''Moana'' was considered mostly a triumph for representation, while ''Raya'' was viewed as a botched attempt.

** A story that seems overly derivative of more famous animated works - ''Moana'' has several story beats that resemble ''{{WesternAnimation/Pocahontas}}'', ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'' and ''{{WesternAnimation/Mulan}}'' and ''Raya'' resembling ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. Likewise, despite the interesting premise, several characters and plot points that felt wasted compared to the Disney formula that was taken. ''Moana'' being presented as more of a Disney Princess movie however largely meant that a lot of those formulas were somewhat expected, whereas ''Raya'' shared so many similarities to ''Avatar'', and its adherence to the Disney formula led to criticism that it lacked the maturity and nuance of the latter.
** Both films present a very broad depiction of their culture's respective mythologies. But with ''Moana'', Pacific mythology in general varies from area to area, with a lot of overlap between different islands. ''Raya'' on the other hand was a CultureChopSuey of Southeast Asian cultures that received criticism for being too minimal or too specific to some cultures and subcultures while alienating others (dragons feature prominently in the story, and are important in Vietnamese culture but not so in Indonesia or the Philippines). ''Moana'' cast talent with heritage from different parts of the Pacific Islands (Auli'i Cravalho and Nicole Scherzinger are Hawaiian, while Dwyane Johnson is mixed Samoan and Temuera Morrison is Maori for instance), but it was considered more acceptable since they were all cast from within the Polynesian Triangle. ''Raya'' however cast mostly East Asian actors, despite being inspired by Southeast Asian culture (and the two are very different), perpetuating a [[InterchangeableAsianCultures a pet peeve of many Asians]]. Overall, ''Moana'' was considered mostly a triumph for representation, while ''Raya'' was viewed as a botched attempt.

** Moana fans and ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'' fans are getting along nicely, thanks to sharing a composer and having racially-diverse casts. [[note]]The movie features Phillipa Soo (as additional voices), Christopher Jackson (the singing voice of Moana's father), and Lin-Manuel Miranda (who was one of the song writers and sung the English lyrics of "We Know The Way"), the actors who portrayed Elizabeth Schuyler, George Washington, and Alexander Hamilton, respectively in Hamilton's original production.[[/note]] Hamilton's cast even gets a Special Thanks in the credits.

* 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.]]

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Maui. While not a bad person by any means, it's hard for some to feel attached to him when he has to be arm-twisted into fixing his mistakes and it takes him forever to bother showing the slightest bit of concern for Moana's well-being [[spoiler:(when the two of them go into the Realm of Monsters and Moana falls from a ledge, Maui just gives a deadpan 'She's dead' and moves on without trying to help)]]. He [[WouldHurtAChild Would Hurt A Young Woman]], since [[spoiler: leaving her on an island without food or water (and worse, sealed in a cave at first) was basically murder. "You'll love the island" was a vicious thing to say.]]

* GirlShowGhetto: Seems to have broken it, by becoming Disney's most successful animated movie since ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'' to have a feminine-sounding title. Its domestic grosses (both unadjusted and adjusted for inflation) and unadjusted worldwide totals even surpassed that of ''WesternAnimation/{{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.

* BrokenBase: "Shiny" is easily the clearest example in terms of soundtrack. Some folks hate it because it's so different from the other songs and would be a BigLippedAlligatorMoment if it wasn't for the [[{{Foreshadowing}} last part]]. Others love it ''because'' it's so different, as it perfectly illustrates [[CreepyAwesome Tamatoa's nature]].

** ''{{Toys/Bionicle}}'' fans had a field day when they learned that Moana's home island was "Mata Nui". [[note]]Actually spelled [[http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Motunui Motunui]]. A case of WeirdAlEffect, since most of ''Bionicle'''s early names came from Maori words.[[/note]]

** The other creatures in the Realm of Monsters could also count, especially the Franchise/{{Godzilla}}-like beast walking in the background and that masked...''[[EldritchAbomination thing]]''.