The movie Moana communicates not only religious themes, but ecological themes and messages as well. The very start of the movie, after being initiated into the story through the ritual telling of myth, the viewer finds a young Moana showing concern for a baby turtle who is being preyed upon by birds as it tries to make its way to the sea. Realizing this peril, she abandons a beautiful seashell that has captured her attention in favor of helping the small creature get safely to the sea by employing a large leaf to shelter it from the predatory birds. This intimate relationship between Moana and the earth is more explicitly communicated as she states, “the ocean is a friend of mine”. Affirming this friendship, the viewer finds the ocean waking Moana up after she has fallen asleep and begun to drift off course. In this way, the film depicts nature as a friend, not as something scary or foreign. After the heart of Te Fiti is restored, Te Fiti is awakened from the monster she had become without her heart; again taking her form as a green goddess of the earth or islands. As she sets her green hand down against the barren earth, life goes forth as lush, green plants and flowers spread hastily across the island.
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