My husband and I saw
“Moana” opening weekend, and overall I really enjoyed the movie. Gorgeous
visuals, fun characters, great humor…on the downside, the songs weren’t
particularly memorable, and something about the plot struck me as awfully
familiar. I thought it was just because Disney liked to stick to certain
cinematic formulas, despite its effort to “break the rules” this time by having
no love interest for the heroic princess and instead focusing on her quest.
After thinking about
it for a while, it suddenly dawned on me why this story seemed so familiar:
“Moana” is Disney’s “Lord of the Rings.”
So you’re probably
thinking, “Huh? How so?” One takes place in a fictional Polynesian paradise.
One takes place in a fictional Celtic/Nordic fantasy world. One hero is a young
chieftain’s daughter with a thirst for adventure; one is a Hobbit who is
reluctant to be the bearer of the One Ring. But once you start looking at the
two stories, there are some interesting parallels that occur (warning: spoilers ahead!):
1.
The One
Ring vs. The Heart of Te Fiti - There is a small yet powerful magic item
that the hero must wear around his/her neck while returning it to the origin of
the item’s creation in order to restore balance to the world. Item also has
special carving/engraving on it.
2.
Mount
Doom vs. Te Ka - The hero must return item to the lava from whence it came.
3.
Goblins
vs. Kakamora - Small impish creatures out to steal the magical item, but
they’re not smart enough to accomplish the task.
4.
Smaug* vs.
Tamatoa - Gold-obsessed monster that
can be tricked if you distract it with flattery. Tamatoa is even a little bit Gollum in his lust for the Heart of Te Fiti; you can see the craving in his eyes when Moana shows it to him.
*Note: yes, I know Smaug is from
“The Hobbit” but it’s part of the LOTR story arc.
5.
Sauron
vs. Te Ka – The main villain is a huge, fiery-eyed creature that can’t
outright speak or move from the area it's confined to, but it does its best to keep heroes from getting to their goal
destination.
6.
Magical
fish hook vs. Sting - One of the heroes has a magical weapon enscribed with markings
that glow blue when its magic is activated.
7.
The Shire
vs. Motunui
- The hero lives in lush, green paradise that no one ever leaves, until
evil presence falls on the land that threatens to destroy them all, and the
hero is the only one of his/her people ordained to set out and save the world.
Okay, so technically Frodo had Sam, Merry and Pippin come with him, but Frodo
was initially the only one given the task to return the ring.
8.
The
Fellowship vs. Moana, Maui, Heihei
and the Ocean– The hero has to gather “special teammates” to complete quest.
These include a comedic companion who mostly gets into trouble and eats (Merry and
Pippin vs. Heihei), a great, stocky warrior whose bravado exceeds his abilities
at times (Gimli vs. Maui) and the one who endlessly supports the hero,
encouraging them to go on even in their bleakest moment (Samwise vs. the Ocean).
9.
Gandalf
vs. Grandmother Tala – There is a wise elder mentor who is considered a bit
of a loony outsider by the others in the village, is someone very close to hero, who “dies” during the story but
comes back in a magical way to help the hero.
10.
The
Ending - Hero doesn’t remain living in the homeland he/she saves but goes
off in a boat at the end.
So while it’s still to be seen if “Moana” will stand the
test of time as a Disney classic, maybe it’ll inspire a few kids to pick up
some Tolkien books when they are older.
