I don't know why I though Moana was a Pixar film, but the longer it went the more it became clear that it wasn't. Moana is a paint-by-numbers Disney film that is super predictable and where Pixar movies usually have a legitimate adult appeal, Moana is purely a children's film that hammers on its message until you roll over and accept that nothing more is coming. The humor doesn't even try to hit older audiences with everything being equivalent to a Nick Jr show. There is a running gag that there is a scrawny chicken that is stupid; it is constantly walking into the water and almost drowning or pecking at the ground or rocks next to food. Everything is just childish. We getting walking coconuts and ocean waves nodding in agreement. The songs are barely songs instead of exposition dumps. Really the only good thing would be the animation, which 90% of the time look great (although sometimes they make some unique choices with the water textures) but a few times it looks like they cut the frame rate or skimped on elements. Moana is an unaltered Disney moral movie for kids and nothing more. Disney has been doing fairly well making family movies and not kid's movies, but Moana lacks the sophistication and broad appeal that a Disney/Pixar movie would have had. Moana is no Toy Story, Moana is Elmo's World.

Musically second only to The Little Mermaid in my own personal ranking of Disney Animated Musicals and really a simple tale but oozing with charm, wonderful characters and amazing animation that feels like another character. The ocean comes to life (miles and miles ahead of the ocean in The Little Mermaid but that’s over 25 years difference!) and the dialogue is engaging, funny and poignant. My favorite character is actually Tamatoa, the crab voiced by Jemaine Clement who I thought stole the movie with his presence, visually and vocally. That song: ‘Shiny’ he sings is killer while the other song: ‘How Far I’ll Go’ is monumental and empowering. The movie was a beautiful experience.