Moana is set in the islands of ancient Polynesia, a thousand years after the demigod Maui stole the heart of the mother island Te Fiti. That theft let loose a darkness that's slowly killing islands. On Motunui, the coconuts are rotting and the fish have vanished, and the chief's daughter, chosen by the ocean itself as a child, finally defies her father to sail beyond the reef and set things right.
Disney released Moana in November 2016, directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, with songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foaʻi and Mark Mancina. Moana 2 followed in November 2024, taking Moana on a longer voyage with a crew of her own. This guide covers both films, from the family on Motunui to the gods, monsters and spirits of the ocean.
- Studio
- Walt Disney Animation Studios
- Moana (2016)
- Dir. Ron Clements, John Musker
- Moana 2 (2024)
- Dir. David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, Dana Ledoux Miller
- Setting
- Ancient Polynesia, beginning on the island of Motunui
- Lead voices
- Auliʻi Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson
Moana, Maui and the people of Motunui
Motunui is a happy, inward-looking island whose people stopped voyaging generations ago. Moana's story begins with that rule against crossing the reef, and the reasons each family member has for keeping or breaking it.
Moana
Wayfinder · Daughter of the chief
Moana is the stubborn, curious heir to Motunui. She loves her island and her people, yet she can't stop looking out at the water. The ocean picked her as a toddler, and at 16 she sets sail alone to find Maui and return the heart of Te Fiti, teaching herself to navigate along the way. She isn't fearless; she capsizes, panics and nearly gives up. Her strength is that she keeps going back to the question of who she is. By the sequel she's an experienced wayfinder with a role to play for all the peoples of the ocean.
- Voice
- Auliʻi Cravalho
Maui
Demigod of the wind and sea
Maui is a boastful, enormous demigod who pulled islands from the sea, lifted the sky and slowed the sun, at least by his own telling. With his magic fishhook he can shapeshift into a hawk, a shark, a whale or an insect. He stole Te Fiti's heart as a gift for humanity, lost it and his hook in a fight with Te Kā, and spent a thousand years marooned. Under the bluster is a hurt child: his human parents cast him into the sea, and he's been chasing people's love ever since. Moana's patience with him, and his slow respect for her, is the heart of both films.
- Voice
- Dwayne Johnson
Gramma Tala
Moana's grandmother · Village eccentric
Gramma Tala dances with the waves, tells the old stories nobody else wants to hear and calls herself the village crazy lady. She's the one who shows Moana the hidden cave of voyaging canoes and tells her that their ancestors were wayfinders. Shortly after Moana leaves, Tala dies, and she returns as a glowing manta ray spirit who guides Moana at her lowest point.
- Voice
- Rachel House
Chief Tui
Chief of Motunui · Moana's father
Tui is a warm, devoted father and a good chief who bans anyone from sailing past the reef. As a young man he went out against his own father's orders and his best friend drowned. His overprotectiveness comes from grief rather than tyranny, and his eventual acceptance of Moana's calling is one of the quieter payoffs in the first film.
- Voice
- Temuera Morrison (singing: Christopher Jackson)
Sina
Moana's mother
Sina is the steady presence who understands Moana better than Tui does. She doesn't argue openly with her husband, but when Moana decides to leave, Sina helps her pack. It's a small scene with real weight.
- Voice
- Nicole Scherzinger
Hei Hei
The rooster
Hei Hei is a cross-eyed rooster so dim he tries to eat rocks and walks straight off ledges. He stows away on Moana's canoe by accident and somehow survives the whole voyage, occasionally saving the day by pure chance. He's one of the film's most quoted comic characters despite never saying a word.
- Voice
- Alan Tudyk
Pua
Moana's pet pig
Pua is Moana's loyal little spotted pig. He stays behind on Motunui in the first film, to many viewers' disappointment, but sails with her in Moana 2. His wide-eyed sweetness makes him a toy-shelf favourite.
Gods, monsters and spirits
The world of Moana is alive with mythic beings. Some are drawn loosely from Polynesian stories, such as Maui himself; others, like Tamatoa, are inventions for the film.
Te Fiti
The mother island
Te Fiti is the goddess whose heart, a small green spiral stone, has the power to create life. When Maui stole it, she disappeared and the islands began to die. She's mostly seen as a vast sleeping island in the shape of a woman, and her awakening is one of the film's most beautiful images.
Te Kā
The lava demon
Te Kā is a towering creature of fire and ash who guards the way to Te Fiti and defeats Maui twice. The film's big reveal is that Te Kā is Te Fiti, consumed by rage after losing her heart. Moana resolves the conflict with understanding rather than force.
Tamatoa
Giant crab of Lalotai
Tamatoa is a colossal, vain coconut crab who lives in Lalotai, the Realm of Monsters, and covers his shell in treasure, including Maui's lost fishhook. He gets a single sequence and a glam-rock number, "Shiny", and steals the show. He's petty, theatrical and holds a grudge against Maui for taking one of his legs.
- Voice
- Jemaine Clement
The Kakamora
Coconut pirates
The Kakamora are tiny warriors in coconut armour with painted faces, sailing a fleet of ships lashed together. They attack Moana and Maui to steal the heart in a chase that riffs on desert action films. In Moana 2 they return in a different light, as uneasy allies.
The Ocean
A character in its own right
The ocean in Moana is alive, playful and often impatient. It chooses Moana as a child, pushes her back into the boat when she wants to quit, and nudges Maui along when he sulks. It never speaks, and still has a recognisable personality.
Mini Maui
Maui's living tattoo
One of Maui's tattoos is a miniature version of himself who moves around his body and acts as his conscience, cheering, scolding and miming what Maui won't say aloud. The hand-drawn animation was supervised by veteran Disney animator Eric Goldberg.
Moana 2 characters
Moana 2 is set three years after the first film. Moana receives a vision from her ancestors calling her to find the lost island of Motufetu, once a meeting place for all the ocean's peoples, which the storm god Nalo has hidden away. This time she sails with a crew.
Simea
Moana's little sister
Simea is Moana's adoring younger sister, born after the first film. She doesn't come on the voyage, but she's the reason Moana is so torn about leaving. Their goodbye sets the emotional stakes for the whole film.
- Voice
- Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda
Moni
Historian · Maui superfan
Moni is an enthusiastic young storyteller who knows every legend about Maui and gets to meet his hero. He's the crew's most excited member, and his fan worship of Maui gives the demigod some of his best scenes.
- Voice
- Hualālai Chung
Loto
Engineer and boat-builder
Loto is a brilliant, slightly scattered inventor who keeps redesigning the canoe mid-voyage. She's one of the funniest additions to the cast and a practical counterweight to the crew's dreamers.
- Voice
- Rose Matafeo
Kele
Grumpy farmer
Kele is an older farmer who complains about almost everything, from the sea to the food to the very idea of the voyage. He's a running joke, and his grumbling gives the young crew someone to win over.
- Voice
- David Fane
Matangi
Demigoddess with bat wings
Matangi is a mysterious demigoddess who lives in the dark, has bat-like wings and her own history with Nalo. She meets Moana in a dark cavern and pushes her toward the idea that you sometimes have to get lost to find your way.
- Voice
- Awhimai Fraser
Nalo
Storm god · Main antagonist
Nalo is a god of storms who cursed Motufetu and keeps the ocean's peoples apart, because peoples who are connected grow too strong for him to control. He's mostly seen as lightning and darkness rather than a full character, and his story is clearly unfinished at the end of the film.
Tautai Vasa
Moana's ancestor
Tautai Vasa is the great wayfinder of Moana's line who first tried to reach Motufetu. He appears to Moana in a vision and sets her on her mission.
Moana voice cast
| Character | Voice actor | Films |
|---|---|---|
| Moana | Auliʻi Cravalho | Moana, Moana 2 |
| Maui | Dwayne Johnson | Moana, Moana 2 |
| Gramma Tala | Rachel House | Moana, Moana 2 |
| Chief Tui | Temuera Morrison | Moana, Moana 2 |
| Sina | Nicole Scherzinger | Moana, Moana 2 |
| Hei Hei | Alan Tudyk | Moana, Moana 2 |
| Tamatoa | Jemaine Clement | Moana |
| Simea | Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda | Moana 2 |
| Moni | Hualālai Chung | Moana 2 |
| Loto | Rose Matafeo | Moana 2 |
| Kele | David Fane | Moana 2 |
| Matangi | Awhimai Fraser | Moana 2 |
Much of the cast has Pacific Islander heritage. Rachel House, Temuera Morrison and Jemaine Clement are New Zealand actors, and Auliʻi Cravalho and Nicole Scherzinger have Native Hawaiian roots. A live-action remake, with Dwayne Johnson returning as Maui and Catherine Laga'aia cast as Moana, followed in 2026.
What Moana is really about
Both films are about identity and inheritance. Moana's people have forgotten that they were voyagers, and she recovers that history not by rejecting her island but by understanding it more deeply. Maui's arc mirrors hers: he has to learn that he's worth something without the hook or the applause. The Te Kā reveal makes the point that what looks like a monster may be someone who has had their heart taken.
The sequel widens that idea from one island to many, focusing on connection between peoples and the responsibility of leading a crew. Moana sits naturally alongside other Disney heroines who save their families by breaking a rule, such as Mirabel in Encanto and Elsa and Anna in Frozen. For more on what makes her stand out, see our guide to female protagonists, or browse every Disney lead in our Disney and Pixar A–Z.
Watch order
- Moana (2016) — Moana meets Maui and returns the heart of Te Fiti.
- Moana 2 (2024) — three years later, Moana and her crew search for Motufetu. It assumes you know the first film.
Moana 2 began life as a planned Disney+ series and was reworked into a theatrical film, which is why its story leaves several threads open. For more on how sequels like this come together, see sequels and spin-offs.
All Moana character names A–Z
C–H
- Chief Tui — Moana's father
- Gramma Tala — Moana's grandmother
- Hei Hei — Rooster
K–L
- Kakamora — Coconut pirates
- Kele — Moana 2 crew
- Loto — Moana 2 crew
M
- Matangi — Demigoddess (Moana 2)
- Maui — Demigod
- Mini Maui — Living tattoo
- Moana — Wayfinder
- Moni — Moana 2 crew
N–S
- Nalo — Storm god (Moana 2)
- Pua — Pig
- Simea — Moana's sister
- Sina — Moana's mother
T
- Tamatoa — Giant crab
- Tautai Vasa — Ancestor (Moana 2)
- Te Fiti — Mother island
- Te Kā — Lava demon
- The Ocean — Living sea
Frequently asked questions
Who are the main characters in Moana?
Moana, the daughter of Motunui's chief, and Maui, the shapeshifting demigod she enlists to return the heart of Te Fiti. Around them are Gramma Tala, Chief Tui and Sina, the animal sidekicks Hei Hei and Pua, the giant crab Tamatoa, the coconut-armoured Kakamora and the lava demon Te Kā.
Who is the villain in Moana?
Te Kā, the lava demon blocking the way to Te Fiti, seems to be the villain, but the film reveals she is Te Fiti, turned to rage after her heart was stolen. Tamatoa and the Kakamora are obstacles along the way. In Moana 2, the main antagonist is Nalo, a storm god who has cut the ocean's peoples off from one another.
Who are the new characters in Moana 2?
Moana's crew, Moni, Loto and Kele, plus her little sister Simea, the demigoddess Matangi, the storm god Nalo and Moana's ancestor Tautai Vasa. Maui, Hei Hei, Pua, Gramma Tala, Tui, Sina and the Kakamora all return.
How old is Moana?
Moana is 16 in the first film. Moana 2 is set three years later, which makes her around 19.
Who voices Moana and Maui?
Auliʻi Cravalho voices Moana and Dwayne Johnson voices Maui in both films. Cravalho was cast as a teenager from Hawaiʻi with no previous film roles, and the first film was her screen debut.
Is Moana a Disney princess?
Yes, Disney includes her in its official princess line-up, though in the film she insists she isn't a princess but the daughter of the chief. Maui teases her that anyone with a dress and an animal sidekick counts.