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[Toothless]

Appealing equally to the eyes, ears, heart and funny bone, Moana represents contemporary Disney at its finest — a vibrantly rendered adventure that combines state-of-the-art CG animation with traditional storytelling and colorful characters, all enlivened by a terrific voice cast. A delight.

Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter

Walt Disney Animation Studios [delivers] a musical adventure that’s a worthy addition alongside “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin,” two now-classic cartoons also brought to life by directors John Musker and Ron Clements, whose gift for hand-drawn animation translates beautifully to the realm of CG here.

Peter DeBruge, Variety

Culturally accurate and with a pleasing ‘know who you are’ message, this South Pacific adventure tale nevertheless settles into empowerment cliches. ... Its cultural setting is fresh; its storytelling, less so. It navigates the reefs but it doesn’t discover a whole new world.

Steve Rose, The Guardian

Moana isn’t just another solid princess-specific adventure. It’s acknowledgment of Walt Disney using its awesome corporate power, either through outright original stories or using stories from other cultures, to craft yet another piece of potent and primal female-centric myth-making. That can be Disney’s legacy if they so choose. I’m a sucker for this sort of thing, provided it’s good. Moana is very good, and thus I enjoyed the hell out of it.

Scott Mendelson, Forbes

“Moana” does what it does so well that you wish its makers had imbued it with some X factor that separates the classics from the merely beloved. If you don’t mind Disney’s business as usual dressed up with a little hibiscus, then you’ll enjoy this latest journey of self-discovery.

Alonso Duralde, The Wrap

Moana has a lot of the hallmarks of your classic Disney adventure — the goofy animal sidekicks, the feel-good messages — but its heroine is something new, a smart and fiery deviation from your standard European lovestruck princesses. (Thankfully, Moana doesn’t have a love interest.) The result is a pitch-perfect addition to the animated Disney canon.

Devan Coggan, Entertainment Weekly

Glad to hear this is good. There were rumors recently were people said the movie might not be up to snuff; but thankfully, it's another great Disney movie in their recent run.

 

[Saucycarpdog]

Awesome to hear! After Zootopia I'm psyched to see this!

Spoiler

still want Zootopia to win the oscar though

 

[Litan]

Yes! It's good!

 

[Maximo]

Fuck Australia for delaying it till late December....need to see it.

 

[Ogodei]

I'm surprised. I figured the polynesian theme would be a bit too obscure for folks. Though i suppose Disney made The Emperor's New Groove work.

 

[HiiiLife]

Poly GAF we made it.

 

[Lifejumper]

Can Disney lose?

 

[D i Z]

I'm looking forward to this in a major way.

 

[mjc]

Can Disney lose?

Nope, they've got the golden touch right now.

 

[MrSaturn99]

Cautiously optimistic for this, as I wasn't in love with Frozen/BH6/Zooptia like everyone else. Looks pretty, regardless.

 

[SchrodingerC]

Can Disney lose?

We'll see if another Lone Ranger or TomorrowLand is released.

 

[DoctorFling]

I don't really care for Disney's CG films, hope this one will change my mind. Having the Rock is a good step towards accomplishing that.

 

[LumpOfCole]

Can Disney lose?

No. Iger is going to have his own chapter in business textbooks within 10-20 years time, if for nothing else but his ability to acquire talent and IPs better than arguably any other business leader in recent history.

 

[Gordon Shumway]

Fuck..FUCK..Rogue One was to be the only movie left this year. Fam is gonna wanna see this one too..

Money money money..

 

[Messofanego]

"(Thankfully, Moana doesn’t have a love interest.)"

 

[Bronx-Man]

I'm surprised. I figured the polynesian theme would be a bit too obscure for folks. Though i suppose Disney made The Emperor's New Groove work.

Poly GAF we made it.

Dawg, y'all forgot about the GOAT Disney movie?

 

[demosthenes]

Nope, they've got the golden touch right now.

Disney is playing civilization and entered a golden age like 5 years agof.

So happy that this is getting pretty positive reviews.

 

[Psychoward]

Awesome to hear! After Zootopia I'm psyched to see this!

Spoiler

still want Zootopia to win the oscar though

Kubo is better :/

 

[Discotheque]

We'll see if another Lone Ranger or TomorrowLand is released.

Damn shame lone Ranger was such a big l for them. Best live action Disney movie in a minute

Lilo and Stitch was just OK. This looks really good though. Music sounding great as well. Might even be better than frozen and tangled

 

[KeyBladerXIII]

In it solely for my boy Lin-Manuel Miranda. Don't care about cliches, I just need that music.

 

[J-Skee]

Reviews looking solid.

I just watched Zootopia for the first time about two weeks ago & I've been meaning to ask this question: Has Disney Animation Studios surpassed Pixar in terms of quality?

 

[Bronx-Man]

Kubo is better :/

To this day I still can't get over Brave winning the Oscar over ParaNorman AND Wreck-it Ralph.

 

[borghe]

Awesome to hear! After Zootopia I'm psyched to see this!

Spoiler

still want Zootopia to win the oscar though

"after" Zootopia? Disney (Feature Animation) has pretty much been on an unprecedented string of hits since Tangled. At the very least they should be tied with the early 90s renaissance.

Reviews looking solid.

I just watched Zootopia for the first time about two weeks ago & I've been meaning to ask this question: Has Disney Animation Studios surpassed Pixar in terms of quality?

ehh... consistent quality? Yes. However Inside Out and Finding Dory were both amazing. But then you have The Good Dinosaur, Monsters U and Brave which were "just" really good.

 

[Skiptastic]

"after" Zootopia? Disney (Feature Animation) has pretty much been on an unprecedented string of hits since Tangled. At the very least they should be tied with the early 90s renaissance.

Agreed. Tangled, Frozen, Zootopia. All excellent films.

 

[kunonabi]

Cautiously optimistic for this, as I wasn't in love with Frozen/BH6/Zooptia like everyone else. Looks pretty, regardless.

I'm in the same boat. I want this to be good but I couldn't stand that those movies. I think I'll wait for my friend to see it with his kids and get his opinion before I decide to see it in theatres or not.

 

[borghe]

Agreed. Tangled, Frozen, Zootopia. All excellent films.

In fact
Tangled
Winnie the Pooh
Wreck-It Ralph
Frozen
Big Hero 6
Zootopia

All I would consider as modern classics.

 

[Skiptastic]

In fact
Tangled
Winnie the Pooh
Wreck-It Ralph
Frozen
Big Hero 6
Zootopia

All I would consider as modern classics.

Jeez, I forgot about BH6 and WIR. I did like those movies quite a bit, too.

Haven't seen that Winnie the Pooh though.

 

[StopMakingSense]

In it solely for my boy Lin-Manuel Miranda. Don't care about cliches, I just need that music.

Yep. Gonna get himself that EGOT.

 

[Mr. Smiley]

"No love interest"

Guess I'm there day 1

 

[Ghostmaster]

To this day I still can't get over Brave winning the Oscar over ParaNorman AND Wreck-it Ralph.

I mean the animation Oscar is probably the most worthless Oscar of them all (and that is saying a lot). I feel like every year we have a thread about how the majority of voters don't even watch the movies but are like - "hey it's Disney/Pixar, that must be best".

 

[MHWilliams]

Can Disney lose?

Yes.

 

[Famassu]

Fuck Australia for delaying it till late December....need to see it.

Try being Northern European. February 2017. xD

 

[Bronx-Man]

Who the fuck thought waiting six years to make an Alice sequel was a good idea?

 

[Zero315]

Kubo is better :/

Funimation also announced today that Your Name. (AKA the film that dominated Japan's box office for over two months and has garnered tons of accolades) is also now in the running for best animated feature.

Looks like the race for that award is shaping up to be pretty damn good.

Spoiler

We all know Disney is gonna win because they don't actually bother to watch the animated films.

 

[Rocky Raccoon]

I already spent my movie budget this year on Civil War and Doctor Strange. 2016 is a good year for movies.

Now I have to wait for digital releases.

 

[Lights and Waves]

Praying there's at least some Lilo and Stitch reference in this movie!

 

[TheGreatDirector]

Thank god it's good. 2 for 2 for Disney Animation this year.

 

[Mr. Poolman]

In fact
Tangled
Winnie the Pooh
Wreck-It Ralph
Frozen
Big Hero 6
Zootopia

All I would consider as modern classics.

I will add Coraline (not CGI)

 

[aadiboy]

I mean the animation Oscar is probably the most worthless Oscar of them all (and that is saying a lot). I feel like every year we have a thread about how the majority of voters don't even watch the movies but are like - "hey it's Disney/Pixar, that must be best".

There was that one year where Spirited Away somehow won.

 

[marrec]

To this day I still can't get over Brave winning the Oscar over ParaNorman AND Wreck-it Ralph.

You know Kubo is going to lose out this year and it's going to be a tragedy.

 

[Saucycarpdog]

Kubo is better :/

I loved Kubo but I have to put Zootopia a tiny point above it. I went into Zootopia thinking about a Buddy cop movie with furries, came out with a Buddy cop movie that dealt with racism and bigotry and had an amazing voice cast.

 

[George Oscar Bluth II]

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

I will add Coraline (not CGI)

Not Disney.

 

[jb1234]

It looks good but man, I miss hand-drawn animation.

 

[Messofanego]

Kubo is better :/

Kubo, The Red Turtle, Your Name, Psychonauts The Forgotten Children, My Life as a Courgette, When Marnie was There, and Ethel and Ernest. Great year for animated films, even when not counting Disney/Pixar.

 

[kswiston]

I mean the animation Oscar is probably the most worthless Oscar of them all (and that is saying a lot). I feel like every year we have a thread about how the majority of voters don't even watch the movies but are like - "hey it's Disney/Pixar, that must be best".

There was a voter who admitted to letting their kid pick thst category in the past.

Zootopia is going to win this year. 8 people watched Kubo.

 

[y2dvd]

Reviews looking solid.

I just watched Zootopia for the first time about two weeks ago & I've been meaning to ask this question: Has Disney Animation Studios surpassed Pixar in terms of quality?

Nothing touches Golden Age Pixar but as far as lately, I would say yeah.

 

[Volimar]

Really glad to hear. It looked like fun from the trailer.

 

[liquidtmd]

. It navigates the reefs but it doesn’t discover a whole new world.

$10 says this guy had this play on words lined up before he saw the film

 

[creatchee]

Is this going to make The Rock the biggest star ever?