Apia, SAMOA — Samoa will have a special treat before the holidays as Auli'i Cravalho, the voice of Moana, and Ron Clements, John Musker and Osnat Shurer the filmmakers of Disney animated Moana will be in Samoa on Wednesday (Samoa Time).
There will be a special Screening of Disney's MOANA at Samoa’s Cinemas on the same day. According to Dionne Fonoti a local contact for Disney, the team of researchers, started their trips to Samoa from 2011- 2016 in the lead up to the making of MOANA.
“This particular trip is to personally thank the Samoan government and people for all the support of the film as different people, like me for instance, have been involved since the beginning.
“So the special screening on Wednesday is to officially share the film with Samoa and express the deep gratitude and respect of the filmmakers and Disney to our people,” says Fonoti.
According to the Moana press kit, sent to Samoa News, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Moana” is a sweeping, CG-animated feature film about an adventurous teenager who sails out on a daring mission to save her people.
“Moana is the 16-year-old daughter of the chief of Motunui. She’s brave, determined, compassionate and incredibly smart. She has a never-say-no attitude and a profound connection to the ocean,” says director Ron Clements. “So it’s troubling to her, to say the least, that her people don’t go beyond the reef surrounding their island,” adds director John Musker.
The press kit says that the story is inspired in part by oral histories of the people and cultures of Oceania, where filmmakers traveled to learn as much as possible. “For centuries, the greatest navigators in the world masterfully navigated the vast Pacific, discovering the many islands of Oceania. But then, around 3,000 years ago, their voyages stopped for a millennium — and though there are theories, no one knows exactly why.
“Navigation — way finding — is such a big part of Pacific culture,” says Musker. He said there are many theories, but no one is certain about what may have led to the 1,000-year gap in explorati