Line #23 Trivia/Moana


1	* ActingForTwo: As well as Heihei's vocal effects, Creator/AlanTudyk also plays an elderly villager who suggests eating Heihei.
2	* ActorSharedBackground:
3	** With the exception of Heihei (who is, mind you, a chicken with no dialogue) and the elderly villager who wants to ''eat'' Heihei (both played by Alan Tudyk), all of the film's speaking roles are performed by actors with Hawaiian, Sāmoan, or Māori ancestry, and the only singing done by non-Islander performers are Christopher Jackson, who sings Chief Tui's parts, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, who sings the English portions of "We Know The Way".
4	** Wrestling/DwayneJohnson (Maui), Oscar Kightley (who plays a fisherman), and former Pittsburgh Steelers player Troy Polamalu (the villager with the leaking roof) are Sāmoan.
5	** Auli'i Cravalho (Moana) and Nicole Scherzinger (Sina) are part Native Hawaiian.
6	** Rachel House (Grandma Tala), Creator/TemueraMorrison (Tui), and Jemaine Clement (Tamatoa) are Māori.
7	** The te reo Māori dub adds Māori voice actors Jaedyn Randell (Moana), Piripi Taylor (Maui), and Amanda Ashton (Sina) to the original Māori cast members.
8	* AwesomeDearBoy: Part of why Creator/DwayneJohnson agreed to the role was the thrill of seeing his Oceanic heritage so beautifully depicted in a major motion picture, and he admitted to crying TearsOfJoy over it many, many times during production.
9	* CashCowFranchise: More ''Moana'' merchandise is sold than that of ''Franchise/{{Frozen}}''. It helps that, unlike ''Frozen'', it appeals to both young boys[[note]]Not just older male viewers aware of the GirlShowGhetto phenomenon, who were a PeripheryDemographic for ''Frozen''.[[/note]] and young girls, since it has one female lead and one male lead. Ever since Creator/DisneyPlus launched, it's been one of the most popular movies on the service. And in 2023 alone, Nielsen reported that it's the most watched movie on any streaming service.
10	* CelebrityVoiceActor:
11	** In the Norwegian dub, Tamatoa is voiced by famous and seasoned singer Bjørn Eidsvåg, making it his first time ever voicing in an animated film.
12	** Polish dub has rock musician Maciej Maleńczuk as Tamatoa and comedian Igor Kwiatkowski as Maui.
13	* DirectedByCastMember: Rachel House (Grandma Tala) directed the te reo Māori dub.
14	* DVDCommentary: The DVD, Blu-ray, and Digital HD copies include one by directors Musker and Clements, the only commentary provided for a Disney Animated Canon movie from TheNewTens.
15	* KidsMealToy: Subway released a set of three wristbands and a set of three Kakamora figures.
16	* MilestoneCelebration: In 2023, Disney chose this as the last of eight movies to send back to American cinemas during its 100th anniversary, with the MassiveMultiplayerCrossover ''WesternAnimation/OnceUponAStudio'' attached to the start.
17	* MultipleLanguagesSameVoiceActor:
18	** Rachel House (Grandma Tala), Temuera Morrison (Tui), Jemaine Clement (Tamatoa), and Oscar Kightley (fisherman) voice their characters in the original English and the te reo Māori dub.
19	** Auli'i Cravalho (Moana) and Nicole Scherzinger (Sina) voice their characters in the original English and the ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi dub.
20	* NonSingingVoice: Moana's father's speaking voice is done by Temuera Morrison while his singing voice is by Christopher Jackson, making this the first Disney film since ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'' to use this trope. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRYPYStuEvI Mind you, Temuera can actually sing.]]
21	* PlayingAgainstType:
22	** Creator/AlanTudyk, known for voicing humorous antagonists in previous Disney films, plays Heihei, a dimwitted chicken whose lines consist entirely of crowing and clucks.
23	** This is John Musker and Ron Clements' first time directing a computer-animated movie, albeit one with a lot of hand-drawn effects, after having directed several hand-drawn ones for two decades.
24	* ProductionPosse:
25	** The film reunites John Musker and Ron Clements, the legendary directing team behind ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid\|1989}}'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'', ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'', ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'', and ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog''.
26	** ''Moana'' marks Christopher Jackson's third time working with Lin-Manuel Miranda, since both previously appeared in the original Broadway productions of Miranda's ''Theatre/InTheHeights'' and ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}''. Phillipa Soo who was also in the original Broadway cast of ''Hamilton'' is credited as an "additional voice".
27	* RealLifeRelative: The woman who says "She's doing great!" after Moana suggests relocating the coconut grove is Puani Cravalho, the mother of Auli'i Cravalho, Moana's voice actress.
28	%% Have not be able to verify the claim made by this example and it is in conflict with statements made by the screenwriter and director. Have contacted troper who posted this requesting a reference, but commenting out the example pending verification.
29	%%* TheRedStapler: The film makers changed the script to [[AvertedTrope avert]] this. In the original scripts (and some promotional material), it appeared that Pua the Pig would be Moana's NonHumanSidekick. However, concern was voiced that the character's popularity might cause an uptick in the purchase of miniature pigs, notoriously difficult pets that often end up abandoned once their novelty wears off. Pua was moved to the background and Heihei accompanied Moana in his place.
30	* ReferencedBy:
31	** In ''Literature/BothCanBeTrue'', Daniel's mom obsessively watches Disney movies after separating from her husband. When she puts on ''Moana'', Daniel leaves the room before Moana's grandmother dies so he won't cry over it again.
32	** In ''VideoGame/InfiniteCraft'', Moana and Maui are possible items to craft.
33	* RenamedToAvoidAssociation: Both the movie and the character were renamed to ''Vaiana'' in most of Europe and parts of Asia to avoid a trademark conflict with a cosmetics brand. In Italy, it's called ''Oceania'' to avoid association with a porn actress.
34	* SpoiledByTheMerchandise:
35	** The novelization of the film got released a month before the film came out.
36	** The Franchise/{{Lego}} set "Moana's Ocean Voyage" has a play feature where [[spoiler:the mountain with Te Ka's image and color scheme spins to reveal Te Fiti, after Moana returns her heart.]]
37	* SwanSong: This is the last Musker/Clements film in the Disney canon. John Musker retired a couple of years after release.
38	* ThrowItIn: Jemaine Clement improvised quite a few of Tamatoa's lines (as seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoTbjbutz7k here]]).
39	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
40	** The original idea was for the film to branch away from the Disney Princess template and focus entirely on Maui, with the story being a loose conglomeration of a few of the legends about him. Then the crew actually traveled to the South Pacific and became so fascinated with the culture that Moana was created as the new focus character.
41	** In early designs, Maui had a shaven head, [[InkSuitActor furthering his resemblance]] [[Creator/DwayneJohnson to his voice actor]]. However, as the team did research, they gave him a thick mane of hair to represent his [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mana mana]].
42	** Some songs never made it into the final product. For example, Lin-Manuel Miranda's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os4SoXATqLA "Unstoppable"]]. (WARNING! The song includes spoilers for the movie.) Some parts of Lin-Manuel's songs did end up being used: the instrumentals in the beginning of "You're Welcome" are very similar to "Unstoppable", and part of the lyrics of "More" ended up in "How Far I'll Go" (the "Every turn I take..." bit). Opetaia Foa'i also wrote several songs which didn't get used, one of which seems to have been [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MJa4uY3Vmg a lullaby from Tui and Sina to Moana]].
43	** Heihei was originally conceived as a much more serious, no-nonsense character that was determined to keep Moana out of trouble and remaining on the island, sort of like a [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Sebastian]] {{Expy}}. However, the chicken became unlikable, so they went in a totally different direction. Pua also had a larger role in earlier drafts, but it was decided that having an adorable, intelligent animal along for the ride would give Moana too much comfort on her journey.
44	** Some sources suggest that the Kakamora battle scene is what ultimately saved Heihei from being dumped entirely. After someone suggested that Heihei could be the story's comic relief, artist Sunmee Joh boarded a funnier version of the Kakamora scene where, instead of just fighting over the Heart of Te Fiti, Moana and the Kakamora were carrying a chicken around the entire time. John Lasseter's reaction to this change apparently gets referenced at the end of the film with Maui's line of "The chicken lives!"
45	** Tamatoa was initially conceived of as a headless giant inspired by such a being in folklore.
46	** Lalotai was originally planned to be more of a traditional underworld (taking the form of a glowing underwater village amongst the coral) where Moana would meet the spirits of her grandmother and ancestors. The goddess Hina would have also been part of this sequence, though depicted as Maui's overbearing grandmother.
47	** In Taika Waititi's first draft of the script, Moana had nine older brothers who were the ones who taught her how to sail (making her the youngest child and only girl) and who she had to go and rescue.
48	** In early drafts, Moana was meant to be 14, but was aged up slightly to 16 for the final product. Coincidentally, Auli'i Cravalho was 14 when she was cast and during recording, and 16 when the film was released. Had she remained 14, Moana would have been the youngest "princess" in the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon since Snow White (who was also 14).
49	** One scene originally had Moana taking out her anger on some coconuts by batting them out into the sea with a stick like baseballs. This was changed to her throwing sticks when the film's oceanic consultants pointed out that wasting her island's most valuable resource during a temper tantrum, ''in the middle of a food crisis'', would make her less sympathetic.
50	** In early drafts, Moana was written as [[{{Fangirl}} absolutely idolising Maui]] and obsessively knowing all of his legends, only to be disappointed when [[BrokenPedestal she sees what he's like now]]. In the finished film, she knows very little of Maui or his past feats and only seeks him for her mission, though [[DevelopmentGag Maui initially mistakes her for a fan]] when they first meet.
51	** Te Fiti's lava form Te Ka was originally named Te Pō after Hine-nui-te-pō, the goddess of the night and death that killed Maui with her VaginaDentata when he tried to steal the secret of immortality from her in the original myths.
52	** The directors originally wanted to make a film based on Terry Pratchet's ''Literature/{{Mort}}'', but a litany of problems meant that they had to abandon the idea and focus on a different film, the end result being ''Moana''.

Context Trivia / Moana