MOANA (2026)

The film starts on the island of Motunui, where Gramma Tala (Rena Owen) telling a group of children a tale about their land. Thousands of years ago, the mother island Te Fiti was formed and brought life across the ocean and surrounding islands. One day, the legendary shapeshifting demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) stole a tiny green stone that is the heart of Te Fiti. This caused her to disappear, cutting off all the magic brought by her. A volcanic monster named Te Ka emerged. Maui tried to fight the creature, only to get knocked out and causing him to lose his magic fish hook that grants him his powers.

While the other children are terrified by the monsters, Moana (Emma Puahi-Shapazian), daughter of Chief Tui (John Tui) and his wife Sina (Frankie Adams), is enchanted by the story. Moana later goes by the ocean and spots some birds trying to grab a helpless little turtle. Moana carefully guides the turtle back to the water. This causes the Ocean to come to life and interact with Moana. Tui warns his daughter not to go past the shore.

As Moana grows, she learns about the ways of the people in Motunui (“Where You Are”) as she prepares to one day become the new chief. She also bonds with her animal sidekicks, Pua the pig and Heihei the rooster. When she is 16, Moana (now played by Catherine Laga’aia) continues to go by the Ocean with Gramma Tala. She show Moana that she has the heart of Te Fiti, which she recovered the day Moana first interacted with the Ocean. Moana also wants to put her stone on the highest mountain, as the previous chiefs have done.

Moana sees that the coconuts in the area are starting to spoil rapidly, and the villagers are struggling to grab any fish in the ocean. Moana suggests that they sail beyond the shore to find a solution, but Tui does not want Moana leaving the village. Sina explains to Moana that Tui once went sailing during a storm with his cousin, and the ensuing waves caused an accident that killed Tui’s cousin. He never forgave himself and wants to prevent Moana from suffering the same fate. Moana gets Pua and attempts to sail on her own (“How Far I’ll Go”), but her boat is quickly destroyed and she is washed up back on the shore, found by Gramma Tala.

Tala tells Moana about a cavern up in the mountain. She travels up there and finds a drum, as well as what look like old sails. Moana bangs the drum, and some torches turn on by themselves. She then sees a vision of her ancestors, as they were all voyagers and wayfinders (“We Know The Way”). Realizing that her people are capable of sailing, Moana tries to tell this to her father, but Tui says Gramma Tala has told him about this before, and he refused to listen. Another villager then comes to get Tui and Moana because Tala is ill.

The family gathers in a tent, where Gramma Tala is on her deathbed. She speaks to Moana one last time, giving her a necklace to carry the heart of Te Fiti inside, and telling her what to do when she finds Maui. Moana hops on a new camakau and heads off on her mission (“How Far I’ll Go (Reprise)”). The lights in the village go out, and a manta ray spirit manifests in the Ocean, indicating that Tala has passed since she earlier told Moana that she wants to come back as a manta ray.

In the morning, Moana discovers that Heihei has stowed away on her boat. As she tries to navigate her way toward a star constellation where she thinks Maui is located, Moana ends up crashed on a small island. Maui emerges and tries to take her boat for himself. He is covered in tattoos, and the one on his chest, “Mini Maui”, interacts with him the most. After he brags to her about who he is (“You’re Welcome”), Maui traps Moana in a cave and prepares to sail away, along with Heihei as a “boat snack”. Moana finds a way out of the cave and forces Maui to help her restore the heart of Te Fiti since it’s all his fault anyway, with help from the Ocean.

On their way to find Te Fiti, Moana and Maui find themselves confronted by the Kakamora, tiny little coconut-like pirates. They attack the camakau while trying to make a grab for the heart. One of the Kakamora gets it, and Moana takes it upon herself to retrieve it. After evading blowdarts and other dangers, Moana gets the heart back and manages to steer her boat out of the Kakamora’s path, causing their ships to collide into each other.

Moana continues trying to improve her wayfinding skills, even though Maui is still cynical about the whole mission. Their next stop is to find the crab creature Tamatoa (Jemaine Clement), a scavenger that collects all the treasures that fall to the bottom of the ocean. Tamatoa resides in the Realm of Monsters, which is accessible through an opening in the ground. Sure enough, Maui’s hook is on Tamatoa’s shell. Moana dresses up as a trinket to get the crab’s attention while Maui tries to get the hook. Moana tries to praise Tamatoa as some kind of legend, which gets him to start singing about his love for treasures (“Shiny”). When Tamatoa spots Maui, he taunts the demigod over a tattoo on his back depicting a woman throwing a baby away. Moana distracts Tamatoa by making it seem like she’s going to give him the heart, but she tricks him with a fake rock. Moana and Maui escape via a geyser, which hits Tamatoa and makes him fall on his back.

As they continue their journey, Moana gets better at voyaging and bonding with Maui, while back on Motunui, the villagers continue to struggle, and Tui seems to have sadness over Moana’s absence. Maui also has to get used to having his fish hook back since his shapeshifting powers aren’t 100% yet.

Moana asks Maui about the tattoo on his back. He reveals that his birth mother got rid of him by throwing him in the river. He was found by the gods and granted his abilities to become Maui. He gave gifts to humanity in the hopes that they would love him. Maui wanted to use the heart so humans can have the gift of creation, but he realizes he’s made a mistake.

The duo reach Te Fiti, where Te Ka emerges and tries to attack by hurling fireballs. Maui shapeshifts into a hawk to fly past the beast, even getting her wet so that her lava arms can harden. However, Te Ka proves to be too powerful, severely damaging the hook and preventing Moana and Maui from reaching their destination. Maui feels that he is useless without the hook, so he leaves Moana. Feeling defeated, Moana tells the Ocean that it chose wrong by picking her, and she gives the heart back to it.

Moana is visited by the spirit of Gramma Tala, who encourages her to finish her mission. With her spirits restored, Moana dives back into the water and recovers the heart.

Moana sails back toward Te Fiti, and Maui returns to help her. Moana evades Te Ka’s attacks, but when she goes to the island, she sees that Te Fiti is nowhere to be found. That’s because Te Ka IS Te Fiti, now corrupted without her heart. Knowing what she has to do, the Ocean clears a path for Moana (“Know Who You Are”). Te Ka calms down as she realizes what Moana is doing, and she allows Moana to restore the heart. Te Fiti is brought back to her former glory, and Maui apologizes for his actions. The mother island grants him a restored fish hook. Moana and Maui part ways as friends.

Moana returns to Motunui and is greeted by her family. She undergoes the village’s ceremony so that she may become chief. Instead of placing a stone on the mountain, Moana puts a conch shell. Her first act is to lead the villagers on a voyage across the sea (“We Know The Way (Reprise)”), accompanied by Maui.