MOANA | FAMILY MOVIE REVIEW INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND KIDS

"MOANA"
(2016) (voices of Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson) (PG)

QUICK TAKE:: Computer-Animated Comedy-Musical: A teenager sets sail to find a disgraced demigod and return a previously stolen, sacred stone to put an end to the curse it's wreaking on her island.

PLOT:

Moana (voice of AULI'I CRAVALHO) is the teenage daughter of Chief Tui Waialiki (voice of TEMUERA MORRISON), the ruler of the idyllic island of Motunui somewhere in the South Pacific. Much like her grandmother, Gramma Tala (voice of RACHEL HOUSE), Moana has long been drawn to the ocean, but Tui forbids her, or anyone for that matter, of traveling past the protective reefs that encircle the island. Instead, he wants her to stay with him and her mother, Sina (voice of NICOLE SCHERZINGER), and eventually replace him as chief.

Unbeknownst to Moana, however, events from one-thousand-years-ago will impact her life in ways she couldn't imagine. And that involves a demigod known as Maui (voice of DWAYNE JOHNSON) who did everything in his power to provide for Moana's ancestors. But when he stole the heart of Te Fiti -- a carved stone with the ability to create life -- in hopes of giving it to humankind, things quickly went awry. Not only did he lose the stone and his magical fishhook that allowed him to shape-shift into any animal, but that theft sent a curse around the world.

And now it's reached the shores of Motunui, resulting in ruined crops and no fish to catch inside the reef. Learning from Gramma Tala about her people's past explorer heritage and that if the heart of Te Fiti is returned the curse will be lifted, Moana sets sail with only a scatterbrained chicken, Hei Hei, as her traveling companion. Once she finds Maui -- long-stranded as a castaway -- and convinces him to join her on her quest, the two set sail for their destination, all while dealing with various obstacles including a number of coconut pirates, a gargantuan crab known as Tamatoa (voice of JEMAINE CLEMENT), and Te K?, a monstrous lava creature.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: It's a good bet many will (especially if they're into Disney animated musical comedies).

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG: For peril, some scary images and brief thematic elements.

To continue reading the review and all of the highly detailed, scene-by-scene listings of the sex, nudity, profanity, violence and more (15 categories):

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