The Big Picture
- Moana's age, 16, is less of an issue in her story as it doesn't include a romantic plot, but it still relies on a young girl to overcome dangerous challenges and save the world.
- Disney princesses have always had an age problem, with characters as young as 14 falling in love, defying parents, and getting married. Some stories also involve mature challenges that are far above the age of the child.
- While Moana and other recent princess movies cut out the romantic plot, they are still teenagers and face mature themes and responsibilities that may be unrealistic for their age. Disney has improved the age issue but hasn't fully solved it.
Watching Disney films is a different experience for adults. With a target audience of children, they often feature young characters, but this is most evident in their Disney Princess franchise. These beloved stories are often criticized for the youth of their heroines, especially with the mature aspects of the stories. But some of the princess' ages are more problematic than others. At sixteen, Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) is in the middle of the pack, but her ending makes her age less of an issue, at least on the surface.
Her film, Moana, is one of the more recent additions to the franchise and doesn't include a romantic plot. Instead, it is an adventure story where the young girl saves the world while learning about herself and her ancestors in the process. With this simple summary, her young age doesn't come across as an issue, but the fact that it doesn't end in marriage doesn't make Moana's youth totally acceptable. In fact, the story is still relying on a runaway child to overcome dangerous challenges, deal with the grief of losing her grandmother, and ultimately save the world. And is sixteen old enough to travel across the ocean with an immortal man she's never met? In Moana, Disney side-steps the more classic issues surrounding their characters' ages, but it still isn't wholly unproblematic.
Disney Princesses Have an Age Problem
Since Snow White and the Seven Dwarves in 1937, Disney princesses have been an important portion of the studio's films. But the ages of these girls have always been a dubious choice at best. With ages ranging from fourteen to nineteen, these characters are known for tragic backstories, defying their parents, and happy marriages at the end. Snow White (Adriana Caselotti) is the perfect example. At fourteen, she falls in love and marries a man she doesn't know. Another moment that calls into question the youth of characters can be found in The Little Mermaid when Ariel (Jodi Benson) proclaims, "I'm sixteen years old. I'm not a child anymore." This outburst is in reaction to her father's rules, intended to keep her safe. It's a rude awakening for the audience when they suddenly become old enough to see the flaw in her argument. While the young viewers may see this as grown-up, it truly isn't. This issue appears frequently. Because these stories are based on dark fairytales, they have mature elements, like Cinderella's implications of abuse or Mulan (Ming-Na Wen) going to war at sixteen. Each film ends with the princess in a different place than she began, but the stories all feature mature challenges that are often far above the age of the child.
Moana has its problems, but it isn't like the earlier Disney princess movies. As time passed, Disney updated the model, and in the case of Moana, Merida (Kelly Macdonald), and Raya (Kelly Marie Tran), cut the romantic plot altogether. It's undeniable that Disney is aware of the issue. Most of the more recent princesses fall on the older end of the age range, with Raya and Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) both eighteen and Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) nineteen. Moana and Merida are the exceptions to this trend, but even the older characters are still teenagers. The live-action remakes haven't directly addressed ages, but none of the actresses were teenagers, which, at the very least, makes them seem older than their animated counterparts. Moana's ending shows her restoring the heart of Te Fiti and returning home after saving the world to take on a leadership role while helping her people go back to their old ways of voyaging through the open seas. The issues with Moana's age are better hidden than other princesses, but they are still very present.
Moana's Age Isn't Ideal for the Story
While the overall story seems to work for Moana's age, there are more than a few issues with her youth. For one thing, the story revolves around Moana running away from home, finding a perfect stranger to travel with her, and accomplishing dangerous tasks when she's never left her island home before. There is danger even in just sailing, considering she never learned to do it and relies on the ocean being her friend. There is the added issue of her actively defying her father's rules. With the fitting immaturity of a teen, Moana believes Tui's (Temuera Morrison) refusal to let her sail is an effort to deprive her. Yet her grandmother, Tala (Rachel House), explains the truth. Tui once wanted to sail beyond the reef too. But when he tried, his friend drowned. Tui's rule is because he has a very reasonable fear of her getting hurt.
Of course, with the food sources diminishing, Tui's refusal to seek other solutions is misguided, but Moana acts impulsively and risks her life without much thought. This plays into the overall issue of the responsibility pushed onto her. The film features many adults. Moana's parents, who are leaders of their community, do nothing. Maui (Dwayne Johnson), the demigod who created this mess, goes on the journey, but in the end, it comes down to Moana to return the heart of Te Fiti, not any of the full-grown adults. And her responsibility doesn't stop there. The film ends with her shell on the stack of rocks showing that Moana took over as chief, which is a big job for her age. Moana may be a talented leader, ushering in a new era for her people, but with her father still around, why is she shouldering such a responsibility?
'Moana' Includes Mature Themes Unsuited for the Character's Youth
Like other Disney films, Moana has mature themes. Though the prevalent idea of self-discovery is understandable for her age, much of the rest of it is not. The film includes her grandmother's death and touches on Moana's grief. Certainly, that is an experience teenagers can have, but few deal with it on their own as Moana did, and it is a heavy subject no matter how it's handled.
Ultimately, the issue comes down to a lack of experience. Whether in love or just life in general, these characters are usually naive. Though Moana has no love interest, she is still young to be totally independent. And, especially considering she is one of the few princesses to have both her parents, she shouldn't have to be. Moana shoulders a lot of responsibility for a sixteen-year-old. Just because the issue is improved from the previous princesses doesn't mean Disney has solved their age problem.
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