And he does, but not before he steals her boat, throws her off of it, and, ultimately, tries to abandon her. 'I am Moana of Motunui, you will board my boat,' she demands when they first meet. His success is tantamount to her own, and their journey isn't easy going. Moana spends the entire film believing the ocean chose her to be Maui's sidekick to help him regain his confidence and magical abilities. 'We didnвЂ™t want to make her robotic in a way that made an audience member would feel like, вЂOh, well I could never do that, because sheвЂ™s perfect every single time!вЂ™ We didnвЂ™t want her to be perfect, we wanted her to be real.вЂќ вЂњThere are times when Moana fails, and we wanted to see her fail because thatвЂ™s what makes her human,' he said. For those who might find her unrealistically capable - a Mary Sue, perhaps - Bush hopes theyвЂ™ve given her enough facets to avoid that pigeonhole. вЂњThereвЂ™s this way of viewing female heroes that they canвЂ™t be all things, and we hope that Moana can be all things,вЂќ Bush said. But Moana isnвЂ™t looking to be saved sheвЂ™s looking to do the saving herself. The only thing separating Moana from Te Ka is also the only thing that can save her life: her friend and namesake, the ocean. In the movie's last moments, Moana stands before the villainess Te Ka, the fearsome lava monster who's also the assumed guardian of Mother Island Te Fiti. That was a conscious effort to evolve what kind of heroes we can put on screen.вЂќ Throughout the movie, she never gives up, no matter whatвЂ™s thrown at her. 'I think we all feel like we need to evolve these stories, specifically with the female protagonist,' Moana screenwriter Jared Bush told BuzzFeed News in a phone interview. But, most importantly, she's her own hero.

The title character of Moana subverts the established Disney Princess formula in several ways - sheвЂ™s DisneyвЂ™s first Polynesian princess, her body is more realistically proportioned than past princess iterations, she isnвЂ™t under any pressure to marry despite her royal status, and in the place of a love interest, she has the demigod Maui, her flawed but charismatic mentor.

Maui miana and te fiti costumes