Moana directors have given hope for a new generation of Disney princesses as they claim, "the possibilities are pretty open" for an LGBTQ princess since the production of Moana is a complete contrast to a damsel in distress. Moana is the first Polynesian princess, who is voiced by Auli’i Cravalho. For the directors of the film, this means that Moana pushes audiences into new territories.
Directors, Ron Clements and John Musker, call the star of the film a "badass" which is different than the original story was meant to be told. Moana was actually meant to be a film about the demigod, Maui. Musker shares, "There was sort of a rescue mission where there was a girl whose lover had been kidnapped, and basically, she went to rescue the guy. That was one of the myths that we used for the original story."
While the directors went off to learn about the culture, in their three-week research trip, this is when the story's focus changed to Moana. Compared to most Disney films, it was never about romance but a quest to rescue her people. This is also why Moana's body type is different than those of the Disney princesses. Directors made "her legs fuller and her hips are fuller to make her capable of these action stunts that we wanted to do, where she can dive off cliffs and those sort of things.”
In short, Moana is certainly not a stereotypical Disney princess and since the film has challenged what the public knows about their portrayal of female leads, The Huffington Post asked Clements and Musker if it was possible to have an LGBTQ Disney princess. The directors replied that while they might not have control over it, they felt that anything was possible at this point.
Musker explained the process, "It would be driven by a director or a directorial team that really wanted to push that and if [Disney Animation’s Chief Creative Officer] John Lasseter liked the idea, but I would say we haven’t ever really [had] restrictions placed on what we’ve done.”
Well, there you have it! Moana has begun to blur the divide of the concept of what a Disney princess is.
The film is currently playing in theaters.