Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1529871
WINTER 2024 39 D E PA R T M E N T end. But when he was brought in sooner, the team found that he injected a level of silly energy that they'd been missing. Introducing Maui to Moana's new friends felt like combining two friend groups, and Logam used that comedic dynamic to develop new gags. One in particular features a new character; Moni, who is the story keeper for the island of Motunui, turns into the world's biggest fanboy when he meets a real demigod in the flesh. The key to nailing the filmic iteration of the Moana project was finding Moana's emotional root in her sister, Simea, an unexplored aspect of her character in the first film. Moana had always been a community-driven character, but tying her to a little sister added stakes—she had to build a better world for her and come back safely. But with Simea at home on the island and Moana at sea on a tiny raft, reminding the audience of those stakes could never be as simple as a phone call. Instead, the creative team landed on the token on Moana's necklace as a way of signaling her emotional state. Given to Moana by her Gramma Tala on her deathbed, it's a symbol of love between Moana and Simea, and if Moana touches it, she's thinking of home. Beneath this heart of the film, Green and Logam were always careful not to lose the silliness. The musical sequences helped with this goal, allowing them to balance heart and humor all in the span of a few minutes. Logam took stylistic inspiration from music videos, using the song sequences as a chance to take fun visual risks, but he always returned to the humanity of the characters. By the time the film made it from a television series to a fully-fledged feature, Green was Head of Story, and the project had taken turns he never expected it to. But one woman's analysis of the project's theme at an early screening stuck with him throughout the journey: "No matter what your past has been, you can always make a different choice and do something new with who you are." Even when the crew was deep into one version of the project, it could still be turned around and made it into something new. THE KEY TO NAILING THE FILMIC ITERATION OF THE MOANA PROJECT WAS FINDING MOANA'S EMOTIONAL ROOT IN HER SISTER… Moana's longstanding friendship with Maui deepens the movie's themes about the importance of community. WINTER 2024 39