• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Is Moana the best animated film Disney has ever made?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Bulzeeb

Member
havent seen that movie yet, might go this week and I am expecting gorgeous animation but since this is a musical disney film, I know I wont be enjoying it as much as zootopia since musicals are not really my cup of tea, but who knows, I might be surprised.
 
remember when the character moana was first introduced. and some guy on here was like id make moana moan?
Oh
gaf_the_abominable_snowman_id_make_moana_moan_by_digi_matrix-daq03fe.png

no...
 

Timeless

Member
Very close. I only like Lion King more because it had better songs, a deeper story (even if
it's based on Hamlet
, seemingly more care placed into the structure of the whole things, and 2D animation being better than 3D, and talking animals being better than people. ;)

However, Moana is my current #2 Disney (not Pixar) movie and one of my top 40 favorite movies of all time. I loved Frozen, especially the music and animation, but the story was a little lacking. This movie has a much more even story.

It's
the most progressive Disney movie I've seen so far. The crab pushes forward male representation into what women got with Frozen and to a lesser extent, Mulan. Same thing for Maui. He's a heavyweight and there's no jokes to my knowledge about his weight. The whole movie is a love letter to everything I like. An oceanic story, a soundtrack with 100% great vocal tracks, strong characters who have reasons to do what they do. We're a long way from "because I said so" The Little Mermaid. This movie is a remake of Zelda Wind Waker, complete with 3 boss fights and 1 definite ZELDA boss fight (when the crab turns out the lights and has light-up eyes, it's something I'd expect to see in Zelda). It's amazing.
 
It's pretty good, but is also predictable and the character arcs are kind of cliche. The animation is gorgeous and the music is fantastic though, and the stuff at the end is phenomenal and almost makes up for the cliche plot. I'd say top 10. Zootopia would be in the top 10 too.
 
I loved Moana and it's already in my Top 5 Disney movies ever.

But I don't think it's better than say The Lion King or Beauty & the Beast. Time will tell though.

There is one thing I can definitively say: it has, hands down, the most incredible/amazing climax of ANY Disney movie I've ever seen. I won't say anything else, but I was in absolute awe.
 

robotrock

Banned
I'm glad we can all shit on that Twitter joke. Seriously, who was that for?

My five year old son definitely doesn't understand what a Twitter is, and any self respecting adult in that theater would just roll their eyes at that reference.
 

Timeless

Member
Oh my GOD NeoGAF

Get some perspective of history

This company made Pinocchio for fucks sake
Pinocchio
is terrible for everything but animation quality and perhaps songs. Snow White still holds up but Pinochhio is a basic morality tale which is stuck in the morality of the 1940s it was created. Many characters besides Pinocchio have questionable motivations.
 
it's one of the most fun movie Disney made and the movie structure really felt video gamey, complete with level and boss battles, hahaha.
 

The Lamp

Member
I'm glad we can all shit on that Twitter joke. Seriously, who was that for?

My five year old son definitely doesn't understand what a Twitter is, and any self respecting adult in that theater would just roll their eyes at that reference.

To be a lighthearted moment for conscious adults, not throw you out of your chair laughing.
 

mr jones

Ethnicity is not a race!
I loved Moana and it's already in my Top 5 Disney movies ever.

But I don't think it's better than say The Lion King or Beauty & the Beast. Time will tell though.

There is one thing I can definitively say: it has, hands down, the most incredible/amazing climax of ANY Disney movie I've ever seen. I won't say anything else, but I was in absolute awe.

Eh....

I think Prince of Egypt did it better, if I'm thinking of the same scene you are.

Please don't get me wrong. I LOVE Moana. FANTASTIC visuals. I now have an unhealthy crush on an animated character.

But man. Please keep in mind that this is from the house that made The Lion King. And Aladdin. And Tangled. And Beauty and the Beast. And Big Hero 6. And the Little Mermaid.
 

Raging Spaniard

If they are Dutch, upright and breathing they are more racist than your favorite player
It was good and people have a propensity to call the latest thing they enjoyed as BEST EVER. I felt like it had some pacing and world building issues, but its taken some nice cues from Miyazaki films.

The Disney library is too big and robust to call any new movie the best after 4 days lol.
 

UCBooties

Member
Moana is excellent but for me it's not quite the top. Maybe expectations were a little too high going in but for me Zootopia is still number 1.

For recent fare I think my ranking would be something along the lines of:

Zootopia>>>Frozen>>>Tangled>>>Moana>>>Big Hero Six with Moana and Tangled being pretty close to a tie.
 

mr jones

Ethnicity is not a race!
It was good and people have a propensity to call the latest thing they enjoyed as BEST EVER. I felt like it had some pacing and world building issues, but its taken some nice cues from Miyazaki films.

The Disney library is too big and robust to call any new movie the best after 4 days lol.

Boom.
 
It was good and people have a propensity to call the latest thing they enjoyed as BEST EVER. I felt like it had some pacing and world building issues, but its taken some nice cues from Miyazaki films.

The Disney library is too big and robust to call any new movie the best after 4 days lol.

I haven't called any Disney animated film "THE BEST EVER" since I saw The Lion King in 1994. Moana changes that.
 
A completely ineffectual fucking moron. And he's glorious.

Fun Fact - Originally he was going to talk and be the new Sebastian, but they thought it was too hard for the audience to like him.

They were then going to scrap him all together before deciding at the last minute to make him dumb.

2TQn7gnl.jpg
 

y2dvd

Member
The Lion King still holds that title, but Moana was highly enjoyable. Can't get the soundtrack outta my head.
 
Fun Fact - Originally he was going to talk and be the new Sebastian, but they thought it was too hard for the audience to like him.

They were then going to scrap him all together before deciding at the last minute to make him dumb.

2TQn7gnl.jpg

I take it the pig being a main character was another late addition to the cutting room floor?
 
but its taken some nice cues from Miyazaki films.
Is there more silence and slower pacing, more of a focus on visuals and animation than just constant dialogue? Cause those are my favourite parts of a Ghibli film. And what I loved from the new film The Red Turtle which had some collab with Ghibli.
 

Dalek

Member
It's definitely near the top. Time will tell where it stands, though. That said-the soundtrack is out of this world.
 
There is no main villain unfortunately, but there's an awesome monster crab side villain with one of the best villain songs Disney ever did.
Ehh..

I mean, don't get me wrong, I loved the crab and Shiny is awesome. But one of the best villain songs? I immediately thought of Friends on the Other Side and Be Prepared, both of which I'd put way above Shiny as far as villain songs go. Not to mention the fact that they're sung by, you know, actual villains.
 

I Wanna Be The Guy

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
Moana is excellent but for me it's not quite the top. Maybe expectations were a little too high going in but for me Zootopia is still number 1.

For recent fare I think my ranking would be something along the lines of:

Zootopia>>>Frozen>>>Tangled>>>Moana>>>Big Hero Six with Moana and Tangled being pretty close to a tie.
But Frozen sucks.
 

Slacker

Member
Ehh..

I mean, don't get me wrong, I loved the crab and Shiny is awesome. But one of the best villain songs? I immediately thought of Friends on the Other Side and Be Prepared, both of which I'd put way above Shiny as far as villain songs go. Not to mention the fact that they're sung by, you know, actual villains.

Does The Backson Song count from Winnie the Pooh? ;)
 
I haven't seen Moana, but I just watched Zootopia last night and I was blown away. I would put it ahead of a lot of Pixar films. There were CGI sequences where my jaw was on the floor and it takes a lot these days to impress me, but Zootopia has them.

I'm just glad Disney has their mojo back, after struggling during the Pixar dominant era.
 
Seems like you are praising it too much just for not being a conventional Disney princess movie, especially regarding the ethnic and cultural aspect. I agree that it's refreshing and good to see it but like others said, we should wait until the initial impact sink. The story is really good and the movie is fun, especially the visuals and it may be the best movie from this new era, but overall I still think Mulan is the best Disney "princess" movie, and I only realized that when I watched it again when I was older. Lion King is still my GOAT.
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
In all honesty I'd rate Lilo & Stitch as one of the best Disney animated films because of how different it is from a lot of their stuff. It was just weird enough and had such a lovely aesthetic to its art and had a lot of heart. Then again I'm from Hawaii so I'm pretty biased on that.
 
Walt Disney Animation Studios have been making films since 1937. Including several of the greatest American movies of all-time, that have held up oiver generations of audiences, such as Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, Bambi, The Three Caballeros, Sleeping Beauty, and Beauty and the Beast

but yea that movie they released last weekend is the best one ever
 

Malyse

Member
You just really turned me off of this movie....

It's not remotely a minion.
Walt Disney Animation Studios have been making films since 1937. Including several of the greatest American movies of all-time, that have held up oiver generations of audiences, such as Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, Bambi, The Three Caballeros, Sleeping Beauty, and Beauty and the Beast

but yea that movie they released last weekend is the best one ever

It's hyperbolic, but it's also a really good movie. It's also the best Princess movie in a long time. Better than Frozen, Tangled, or PATF
 
It's really really good. I'd say it's the pinnacle of the Princess movie formula. I can't look at the early 90's movies objectively, though, not enough to declare Moana better than B&tB, Aladdin and the Lion King, but someone with completely fresh take probably would. My kids will absolutely grow up feeling that Moana and Zootopia are better than the 90's movies, and they'll be right.
 

Figments

Member
Nothing comes close to Disney's non-princess 2D animated films.

My top 4:

1) Treasure Planet
2) El Dorado
3) Mulan
4) Atlantis
 
yea Mulan is the thing that stands out on that list. Not bottom 5 Disney films Atlantis and Treasure Planet, or Dreamworks film El Dorado
 
Walt Disney Animation Studios have been making films since 1937. Including several of the greatest American movies of all-time, that have held up oiver generations of audiences, such as Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, Bambi, The Three Caballeros, Sleeping Beauty, and Beauty and the Beast

but yea that movie they released last weekend is the best one ever

Just because a company has been consistently good for a long time doesn't mean that they can't ever top their earlier creations. That thought process is just asinine. Your example of Beauty and the Beast joining the pantheon of Disney classics 54 years after Walt Disney Animation Studios was formed proves my point for me.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom