The film ‘Moana’ is an animated film that is based in Polynesia. The story revolves around a heroine, Moana who is the chief 's daughter. She sets on a quest to explore the world beyond the island where she lives. In the process, she ends up saving her own people. Her father makes a decision that because of her heroic act, she must remain on the island so that she can later take over as the leader. However, Moana defies her father and sets on a journey full of experiences that ends up fulfilling her own desires. According to Garcia et al. (30), the creators of the film have employed the wide use of dualism, particularly symbolism which the audience can easily associate with. This study seeks to explore the use of symbolism in the film.
The title ‘Moana ' is a Maori word which means a large collection of water or an ocean. Moana the chief’s daughter has a deep connection with the ocean. The attachment is so great that she was named after the ocean. According to Zittoun (345), people with symbolic names tend to have an inner desire to lead, organize, and achieve as their names suggest. As expected, Moana is a natural born leader. She is persuasive and uses her skills to inspire her team while on a mission to save her
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She is the one who personally encourages Moana to sail away from the island to lands beyond, without caring about her father’s opinion. The journey undertaken by Moana symbolizes the transformation that one undergoes one they people aside from their fears and listens to the wisdom of the old. The grandmother takes her to a cave which is regarded as a sacred place on the island. The cave is a symbol of the innermost dark place in a person that they may have forgotten. Within her, Moana sounds a drum which symbolizes the inner power of a determined heart (Madeline, and Dundes 91). She is able to discover the long-forgotten legacy of her people when they used to sail across the