Moana Sails In

With a flower in her hair and a smile, Auli’i (ow-lee-ee) Carvalho looks the part of Moana—Disney’s newest heroine. Moana, the animated film named after the character, is in theaters now. But the 16-year-old from Oahu, Hawaii, almost missed out on the role.

“When the main auditions were happening, I was in my freshman year of high school,” says Auli’i, who’s now a sophomore. “Schooling came first, and I wasn’t going to put a whole bunch of pressure on myself to get a role.” Instead, Auli’i and some of her friends tried out for a local nonprofit singing event. They didn’t get that part, but the casting director for Moana was there and insisted Auli’i audition for the role of Moana.

As soon as she was cast, Auli’i felt a deep connection with her character—Disney’s first Polynesia-inspired princess—because of their shared cultural background. Polynesia spans a massive triangular area in the Pacific Ocean. Hawaii, New Zealand, and Easter Island mark the three verticies. Although spread out over 9.9 million square miles, the region’s islands have much in common, including shared myths and a root language.

The creative team behind Moana wanted to make sure they did this unique region justice. Two core parts of the movie come from this shared culture: the mythical trickster Maui, played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (who is half-Samoan), and the navigational technique called wayfinding. Wayfinding enabled ancient Polynesians to sail between these spread-out islands—long before maps and GPS. It’s based on knowledge of the stars and the behavior of the ocean. It’s still used today. In the movie, Moana is on a quest to master wayfinding.

“Moana is incredibly empowering,” says Auli’i. “She travels hundreds of miles across the open ocean to save her people.”