Moana: Don't Call her "Princess"!

       

WELL, HERE SHE IS!

While Disney's new strong heroine Moana isn't based on a fairy tale, there are a multitude of folklore connections and tie-ins, and, despite the "don't call her Princess" promotional catch phrases being quoted around the web, you shouldn't be too surprised if this story is added to Disney's "fairy tale realm", albeit an island version, in the months following the film's release.

Moana, the title character of the upcoming animated adventure, definitely sounds like a classic Disney princess. She’s an adventurous, compassionate, and beautiful young woman who sings, talks to animals, and even has a royal pedigree as the daughter of a Polynesian chief.        

But you won’t hear the creative minds behind Moana give their lead character that distinction. “We don’t describe her as a princess,” producer Osnat Shurer told Yahoo Movies at an early press day at the studio’s Burbank offices in August. “We don’t think of her as a princess. We just think of her as one of our strongest lead characters.”

If you haven't seen much in the way of trailers, take a look at this compilation one that was released just last week.

Although it's a little long, the bonus here is the included Japanese trailer which teases an entire scene of Moana as a baby, playing with (yes, "with", not "in") the Ocean:

Although Moana is clearly - at her debut - supposed to be set apart from fairy tale princesses and have strong ties to folklore and myth (as opposed to that time and space of Once Upon A Time), the unfortunate reality is that there is no "folklore/myth" niche in Disney marketing, so she - and all he surrounding magic and lore - will likely end up in the Disney fairy tale mix. (To be clear, we are not advocating this, just looking at patterns and projecting what will happen down the marketing road...) We're not the only people watching and waiting to see how this folklorific film (think terrific and folklore mashed together) pans out in terms of marketing and the eventual "image" Moana settles into either.

From Yahoo:

Foreign title & poster - so beautiful!

...Given what a lucrative business the stable of Disney princesses has been for the company — just ask any parent who has ever waited in line to take photos with Cinderella, Aurora, or Belle — it’s somewhat surprising to hear Moana‘s filmmakers distance themselves from the tradition. 

But we’re also clearly in the middle of a cultural shift on gender depictions in film. In recent years we’ve seen Snow White reimagined as a live-action warrior (Snow White and the Huntsman), Jane Austen’s Bennett sisters battle the undead (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), and the Ghostbusters get a gender flip. And soon, we’ll finally have female-led comic-book movies with Wonder Woman (2017) and Captain Marvel (2019). 

... Perhaps most telling is a scene filmmakers mentioned in Moana that confronts the notion of her identity head-on. Musker and Clements described a moment in which Maui, a physically imposing but playful mentor to Moana, is teasing her. “He says, ‘Hey, princess,’ derogatorily,” Musker said. “And there’s a line where she says, ‘I am not a princess!’”

Back to legend and folklore.

The demi-god Maui is the most obvious connection to Polynesian myth and legend but the question is which one? Here's a summary:

The teaser trailer introduces us to the demi-god Maui and his impressive achievements. If you're Hawaiian and confused because you can't recognize them all, it's because he was actually created using multiple versions of the myth known in the Pacific: Maui can be found in the mythology of several islands such as Hawaii, Tonga, Samoa, Tahiti, French Polynesia and New Zealand. And if there's one attribute that he keeps in all these different cultures, it's that he's pretty much iconic.

What we're most interested in, however, is the Ocean, which has it's own personality and connection with Moana, and how that is treated with regard to folklore, superstition and the many legends of the Pacific. There hasn't been much speculation about the Ocean as yet, though its scene with baby Moana is an instant hit with audiences everywhere, but this is the role usually reserved for sidekick animals, benevolent fairies (especially those akin to the Blue Fairy in Pinocchio) or enchanted objects. Having such a huge part of nature, that is, the ocean, have a very intimate connection to the main character provides a different story telling platform and we're curious to see how it's handled.

We're also curious bout the "Lava Witch" (seen looking very impressive in the first artwork promos last year, though not present - we think - in the current trailer, unless she has transformed to something very skinny and less crone-like). Unlike Mother Nature stories or vengeful gods tales, this "character" of the Ocean appears to be something else, something more like a character you would very much meet in a fairy tale (especially if written by Hans Christian Andersen), while the Lava Witch seems like a cross between Pacific Island deities and Norwegian folklore. We know there will be more folkloric and mythic references in the film, so despite this not being "fairy tale" it's still a great opportunity to talk classic tales and how they overlap with our beloved realm of "fairy".

Fairy Tale Bonus of the Day:

Curious about Moana's origins and geographical roots? There's an interesting article that came out at the end of last year, when Moana was still being introduced to the public as Disney's next strong female heroine. It's gets a little technical in the geography versus the language and doesn't cite myth, legend or folklore much so we're not excerpting any here, but it's a fascinating read nonetheless. Go dig into Moana's history HERE at The True Origins of Disney's Moana.

Fairy Tale Bonus 2 of the Day:

A Little Bit About Moana’s Mini Maui

Maui’s body is covered in tattoos and, being a powerful demigod, they’re a bit more animated than your traditional body art. There’s even a tattoo of Maui himself who becomes an actual character in and of himself.

“Most of these tattoos represent his past accomplishments,” says Mack Kablan, Animator Supervisor on Maui. “His deeds of derring-do. And within these visualizations there’s a small figure representing Maui himself, and over the course of creating the story we started to refer to him as ‘Mini Maui’ because he became a character in his own right. He actually has a personality and a relationship with big Maui. He is, first of all, Maui’s biggest cheerleader and supporter. He is Maui’s alter ego, he can be swaggy and confident too, but more than anything else, he’s his conscience.”

The best part about Mini Maui? He’s being animated in traditional, HAND-DRAWN style by the wonderfully silly Eric Goldberg – animator of Aladdin’s Genie! (source)

The Nutmeg Princess Now Lives Underwater in Grenada (& A Brief Discussion of 'Story Forensics')

You've likely seen some of the incredible sculptures from this underwater park in Grenada around the place. The statues have been designed to promote coral growth and are now ecosystems themselves, in fact it would be accurate to say the statues together are a living, artificial reef. (If you visit and dive to see them, please don't touch! Just pose and selfie. ;)

It should be noted that the diver and artist-sculptor who creates these eco-encouraging art pieces (and is doing amazing things to battle our rapidly disappearing coral reef systems around the world), is specifically attuned to both the historical and the folkloric aspects of "Spice Isle', in fact, he calls those topics a 'passion':

Known as Caribbean’s ‘Spice Isle’, Grenada has much to offer its visitors, especially seagoing tourists, from amazing forest reserves to picturesque waterfalls to a vast array of gorgeous white sandy beaches to name but a few. But what draws more and more visitors from every part of the globe year after year is the stunning-and-unique-of-its-kind Underwater Sculpture Park –the newest attraction of the island’s beautiful shallow waters, based on the original sculptures of the famous British sculptor and diver Jason De Caires Taylor, who has a special passion for creating fantastic pieces of work showcasing Grenada’s history and folklore. (Travelvivi)

I couldn't resist showcasing some examples. Click on the images to see them full size:

 

 

 

The newest sculpture was just, um, 'planted', less than a month ago and now that the dust, er, sand, has settled and the local sea life is becoming acclimated, these beautiful photos are starting to appear online.

Nutmeg Princess almost ready to be 'put to bed'

From Travel Weekly:

The Nutmeg Princess statue has been added to Grenada's Underwater Sculpture Park at Moliniere Bay, just north of the capital of St. George's on the southwest coast of the island.
The 11-foot-tall statue joins 100 sculptures at the park that opened in 2007 and serves as an artificial reef that forms a substrata for the growth of marine life.
...The Nutmeg Princess depicts Grenada’s first fairy tale princess emerging from a large nutmeg pod and reaching to the heavens with a handful of the spice Grenada is known for.

This is not from a traditional tale - well, not exactly anyway. The Nutmeg Princess is a 'well-loved classic' folktale written in 1992 (yes, very recently!).

The story goes like this:

The idea for the story was the result of a school visit where a little girl put up her hand and asked if (author, playwright and storyteller) Keens-Douglas knew a story about a black princess. At the time, he didn't, but it was all he needed to inspire him. 

You can go debate about whether it's possible to write a 'real' 'new fairy tale' or not, but for the record, I'm on the side of 'absolutely it's possible - rare, very rare, but possible'. Almost always the ones that stick are grown out of older stories, with the storytellers/writers well-rooted in folklore and tales, and while most 'new' tales are really just variations, I do believe that sometimes, there might just be a new one...

I don't know enough of the pattern markers to 'measure' how old a specific tale really might be (whether the writer knew that or not) and I don't have a 'story-forensics* & lexicology' database that casts a wide enough net to track it either in the multiple classification types, but there are 'tells'. For instance, at a quick read through, this tale feels like a repurposed myth, but I've also read a range of Caribbean tales and know the boundaries between myth and fairy tale are a little more blurry in this part of the world than we're used to.


Does that mean it's not new? Although unlikely, the answer really is 'No'. Because there's that sliver of possibility that it just might be. New-but-familiar is that extraordinarily elusive combination that many artists, from writers to musicians, strive for, with many never knowing whether or not their 'successes' are truly new or not!

What a brain stretcher. I'd like to hand this over to a PhD candidate please!

In the meantime, all those who would like to join me in cross-checking the story-forensics database, please put on your geek gear, ink your tattoos, bring your uber-hack skills and wear boots and your ATU credentials. I'll meet you in the lab, where the cool soundtrack is. (Note: We do accept tweed if you can 'bring it'.) Oh yes - and be prepared for lively debates... ;)

Note: I now have a yen to re-read Seanan McGuire's Indexing... man I wish that series had kept on going! Just adore the concept and have a feeling it was just a teensy bit ahead of its time.

*Yes - forensics: you can't tell me you haven't thought how people use and twist fairy tales can't be considered a crime from time to time! ;)

Disney's "Moana" Begins Casting with The Rock

IMPORTANT NOTE:  Before you get too excited about the art included below, they are the PERSONAL WORK of Brittney Lee from a few years ago. Although Brittney is (now) a Disney artist, she did NOT create these as part of the Moana concept and development process. The reason they keep making the rounds on the internet in conjunction with Moana news is because they are beautifully rendered, animation-style examples of nature gods and goddesses, like we can expect to see appear in the film. Expect the Disney versions to be completely different though - and epic. We've been told to expect EPIC. 

The image above and at the end of the post ARE, however, official Moana images from Disney.

Now that the record is straight, enjoy. :)

I completely missed getting this up a couple of weeks ago, and the news has been (somewhat sadly) eclipsed by all the Beauty and the Beast news everywhere, however, Disney's Polynesian-based animated feature Moana has begun casting.

Dwayne Johnson (aka "The Rock") will play a "benevolent demi-god named Maui" who joins the heroine on her cross-Pacific adventure. And he'll be singing too.

Moana (2018) - The main character will be Moana Waialiki, a sea voyaging enthusiast, and the only daughter of a chief in a long line of navigators. When her family needs her help, she sets off on an epic journey. The film will also include demi-gods and spirits taken from real mythology.

(Oh my - look at all those contract papers..!)

There seems to be a good effort happening with regard to being both diverse and authentic in both casting and research (in January 2015, some Maui native teens were being auditioned for roles as well - no decisions have been officially announced).

Excerpted from a much longer article in the Huffington Post, near the end of last year (emphasis in bold is mine):

Personal work by Brittney Lee (NOT created for Moana concept art)

"I grew up reading the novels of Melville and Conrad. And the South Seas, the exotic world that a lot of their stories are set in, was extremely intriguing to me. Just looking at the art which comes out that corner of the globe -- the carvings, the statuary, the sculpture -- I thought that it all begged for this bigger-than-life treatment that you can only get with animation," John (Musker) remembered. "So to expand on that idea, I then began reading up on the mythology of this area. Which is when I came across these incredible tales about Maui, who's one of the great cultural heroes of the South Pacific." 

Personal work by Brittney Lee (NOT created for Moana concept art)

..."So Ron and I developed this very simple storyline. And John (Lassiter) being John, he said 'I love this arena. I love the bare bones of the story you've got. But this really begs for research. On the ground research.' So we were forced, as it were, " Musker said jokingly, "to go to the South Seas two years ago. We've gone twice now. Two big research trips. And those trips have been revelatory and kind of life-changing in a way. In that it made us take our very simple outline and rework the whole thing." 

"When we visited those islands, John and I were especially interested in meeting people who lived on islands where they had grown up surrounded by an ocean. We wondered how that might effect your point-of-view. And we learned a lot. We learned all kinds of things that we didn't know. We learned how the sea and the land are one and the same. How these people think of the ocean as something that unites the islands, not something that separates them," Clements recalled. "And then we learned about the great migration and how the people of the Islands take great pride in the fact that their ancient ancestors invented this way of navigation called dead reckoning which involved studying the stars and the currents. And way before the European explorers or the Vikings, these people had this very, very incredibly advanced techniques of navigation." 

Personal work by Brittney Lee (NOT created for Moana concept art)

"So many of these ideas in terms of respect for nature, respect for the ocean and the elements -- all of these things -- really had a huge influence on us and then began to make their way into this film's story," Ron continued. "Which is why Moana is now the most ambitious thing that John and I have ever attempted. There's definitely an epic aspect to this story. ...as it is with any of these things, you just hope that -- in the end -- you can get it right." 

...much of Moana (is) taking place in the open ocean and with this film's title character encountering enormous sea creatures and mythic figures ... We've got this story that's set 2000 years ago which we're building around a 14 year-old heroine.

With such awareness and emphasis on authentic diversity being needed for this film, it should be a good boost for Disney's image overall, and especially for the princess line. No doubt we will be hearing much more about Moana very soon...

Sources: HERE, HERE, Twitter & Instagram