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This critique draws heavily on Blake Snyder's "Save the Cat" three-act structure for films. If you haven't read Save the Cat I highly recommend it to everyone, not just aspiring screenwriters and film students. Near the end of the second act of the film, Moana experiences the "all is lost" moment (this moment comes roughly 75% of the way through the runtime of nearly all major theatrical films made after 1970). In Moana, "all is lost" when Maui abandons Moana and Moana tearfully returns the Heart of Te Fiti to the ocean spirit, pleading with the spirit to choose someone else. In traditional screenwriting, the "all is lost moment" is usually followed by a period known as the "dark night of the soul" where the protagonist, now bereft of everything, contemplates their tragic circumstances. This is often the part of the film where the hero returns home only to find they no longer fit into the world they left behind when the adventure started (compare Stranger than Fiction (2006) where Will Ferrell returns to the scene of his ruined apartment after Dustin Hoffman tells him he has to die). This homecoming can be symbolic in cases where the protagonist's home is inaccessible, as it was in The Croods (2016). In Croods, Nicholas Cage symbolically returns home by seeking shelter in a cave after he throws his family to safety and is left alone on the other side of a chasm. Nicholas Cage finds no comfort in his cave because without his family he has nothing. Back to Moana. Moana throws away the Heart of Te Fiti and her dark night of the soul lasts all of ten seconds before the ghost of her grandma shows up and sings a song to cheer her up. The emotional impact of that scene was stunted by the quick turnaround from despair to hope. So, how would Moana accomplish a homecoming, symbolic or otherwise to fix this issue? Well, earlier in the film, Moana has a nightmare that she's returned to her home island only to watch it turn to ash due to the blight that is killing all life on earth. I contend that dream sequence was misplaced. Moana SHOULD have cried herself to sleep after casting away the stone and that's when she should suffer the nightmare of her home turning to ash, thus fulfilling both her symbolic homecoming as well as the contemplative time she needs to gain the resolve to break into the third act. The dream sequence doesn't really make sense thematically or plot wise as it's placed in the movie right now and would have had a much greater emotional impact immediately following her moment of despair. Dear Disney I hope you're paying attention. Applewhite fucked around with this message at 22:02 on Feb 16, 2021 |
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Feb 16, 2021 21:57
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I ain't reading all that. I'm happy for u tho. Or sorry that happened
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Feb 16, 2021 22:02
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moana was kind of boring
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Feb 16, 2021 22:04
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finalellipsis posted:moana was kind of boring Well what do you expect with the obviously amateurish level of screenwriting at work here? Not to mention rhyming "go" with "go" in that one song.
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Feb 16, 2021 22:05
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If *I* had written Moana, it would have been much more exciting, I can promise you that.
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Feb 16, 2021 22:06
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I dont give a poo poo and would rather die in agony for over week than know
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Feb 16, 2021 22:06
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Why didn't Moana just devour the heart and attain apotheosis?
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Feb 16, 2021 22:08
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2 to 4 weeks of continuous just my head being slowly caved in with one of those rubber mallets for woodwork
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Feb 16, 2021 22:08
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super sweet best pal posted:Why didn't Moana just devour the heart and attain apotheosis? A good question.
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Feb 16, 2021 22:10
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I like the Rock, he seems pretty cool
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Feb 16, 2021 22:10
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I had a coworker who suggested this movie to me, which they did all the time. But for some reason for Moana they followed up the next week. "You see Moana yet?" I hadn't yet. But his insistence now made me not want to. He asked several more times after and towards the end he started to sound hurt at my weak feigning that I will soon. It became a rift in our working relationship lol. Yep thats my Moana story thanks for reading. I will never see this movie.
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Feb 16, 2021 22:10
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super sweet best pal posted:Why didn't Moana just devour the heart and attain apotheosis? Possibly because she doubted her ability to fend off the hordes of greedy monsters that would no doubt challenge her for supremacy.
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Feb 16, 2021 22:10
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sure okay posted:I had a coworker who suggested this movie to me, which they did all the time. But for some reason for Moana they followed up the next week. "You see Moana yet?" Unless they implement my proposed fix, you're not missing much.
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Feb 16, 2021 22:11
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You have a point there OP. I think that bothered me too but I wasn’t sure why. The only reason I have any opinion at all about Moana is because I watched it with my daughter dozens of times when she was a toddler to the point where I just accept everything about it and I’ll probably always love it. She called the movie “chicken on a boat” and user to yell CHICKEN! whenever Heihei was on the screen. One time when she was riding in my shopping cart at Home Depot she pointed at a stranger and yelled “YOU WILL BOARD MY BOAT!”
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Feb 16, 2021 22:19
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Ralph Hurley posted:You have a point there OP. I think that bothered me too but I wasn’t sure why. The only reason I have any opinion at all about Moana is because I watched it with my daughter dozens of times when she was a toddler to the point where I just accept everything about it and I’ll probably always love it. My children watched Moana, Frozen 2 and Croods back to back to back nonstop for all of 2020. Croods is the superior film. Frozen 2 sucks hardcore poo poo.
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Feb 16, 2021 22:21
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I believe it was Pick who did an excellent job of dismantling the heap of turds that was Frozen 2.
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Feb 16, 2021 22:22
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Applewhite posted:This critique draws heavily on Blake Snyder's "Save the Cat" three-act structure for films. If you haven't read Save the Cat I highly recommend it to everyone, not just aspiring screenwriters and film students. Having seen Moana around 100-200 times I agree with your assertion, but don't find the dream sequence that out of place. I think you could easily put the dream before Gma Stingray comes back and it'd make sense, but it is also OK where it is. Overall of all the Disney movies my daughter has forced me to watch Moana really holds up to repeated viewings, versus a terible Movie like the Bee Movie that I have been forced to watch at least 200+ times.
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Feb 16, 2021 22:24
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Unlike every other girl her age that I have met, my kid was totally indifferent to all things Frozen and for that I’m grateful.
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Feb 16, 2021 22:26
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Derpies posted:Having seen Moana around 100-200 times I agree with your assertion, but don't find the dream sequence that out of place. I think you could easily put the dream before Gma Stingray comes back and it'd make sense, but it is also OK where it is. Overall of all the Disney movies my daughter has forced me to watch Moana really holds up to repeated viewings, versus a terible Movie like the Bee Movie that I have been forced to watch at least 200+ times. The dream sequence doesn't RUIN the movie where it is, but it doesn't really add anything where it is either, whereas it would add quite a lot by making it Moana's symbolic homecoming scene. Also, a pretty good "whiff of death" moment, though the grandma's ghost also checks that box.
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Feb 16, 2021 22:27
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Applewhite posted:My children watched Moana, Frozen 2 and Croods back to back to back nonstop for all of 2020. Croods is the superior film. Frozen 2 sucks hardcore poo poo. My daughter, despite being a total Ana in spirit and hair color is obsessed with being Elsa, probably because we are in Utah and everyone with Blonde Hair and Blue eyes influences this and I feel bad. Why doesn't anyone want to be Ana? She is way more interesting and seems to have a personality beyond just loving everything up.
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Feb 16, 2021 22:28
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Derpies posted:My daughter, despite being a total Ana in spirit and hair color is obsessed with being Elsa, probably because we are in Utah and everyone with Blonde Hair and Blue eyes influences this and I feel bad. Why doesn't anyone want to be Ana? She is way more interesting and seems to have a personality beyond just loving everything up. Elsa got magical powers
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Feb 16, 2021 22:30
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Derpies posted:My daughter, despite being a total Ana in spirit and hair color is obsessed with being Elsa, probably because we are in Utah and everyone with Blonde Hair and Blue eyes influences this and I feel bad. Why doesn't anyone want to be Ana? She is way more interesting and seems to have a personality beyond just loving everything up. DeadFatDuckFat posted:Elsa got magical powers It's this.
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Feb 16, 2021 22:31
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Applewhite posted:The dream sequence doesn't RUIN the movie where it is, but it doesn't really add anything where it is either, whereas it would add quite a lot by making it Moana's symbolic homecoming scene. Also, a pretty good "whiff of death" moment, though the grandma's ghost also checks that box. No argument really from me, in the classic story telling sense as you describe it'd be a lot more impactful if she wakes up form the nightmare then Gma Ray Ray shows up and brings her back the heart (because at that point no way in hell she can dive down and find that, a much more major plot point failing in my opinion once she tossed that pebble overboard that thing would be GONE). I do enjoy reading some of the really dumb takes people had on Moana though. The main one being Maui was not "Beefcake Ripped" enough and this somehow made the whole movie a racist caricature. Disney does have some significant problems with how they've represented other cultures but Moana is IMO as a dumb white guy forums poster named Derpies pretty well done, researched, and cast. They did almost gently caress up by having a non Pacific islander be the voice of Moana at some point but thankfully found Auli'i Cravalho who slayed it. Not gonna lie, the soundtrack holds up as well and is one of the least offensive child musics mini derps demands.
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Feb 16, 2021 22:33
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DeadFatDuckFat posted:Elsa got magical powers Applewhite posted:It's this. The real magical power of that movie is how the hell does an Ice Farming Doofus like Kristof marry into royalty. He is the real hero of the story. Props to that felluh living the dream.
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Feb 16, 2021 22:35
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Derpies posted:The real magical power of that movie is how the hell does an Ice Farming Doofus like Kristof marry into royalty. He is the real hero of the story. Props to that felluh living the dream. I agree, he even smells weird. A true success story
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Feb 16, 2021 22:37
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Derpies posted:I do enjoy reading some of the really dumb takes people had on Moana though. The main one being Maui was not "Beefcake Ripped" enough and this somehow made the whole movie a racist caricature. Disney does have some significant problems with how they've represented other cultures but Moana is IMO as a dumb white guy forums poster named Derpies pretty well done, researched, and cast. They did almost gently caress up by having a non Pacific islander be the voice of Moana at some point but thankfully found Auli'i Cravalho who slayed it. Not gonna lie, the soundtrack holds up as well and is one of the least offensive child musics mini derps demands. Maui had to be an ugly pig man or he would have been sexually menacing to Moana.
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Feb 16, 2021 22:37
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DeadFatDuckFat posted:I agree, he even smells weird. A true success story I forgot what the clue was but I believe canonically Kristoff has a big penis.
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Feb 16, 2021 22:38
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Applewhite posted:This critique draws heavily on Blake Snyder's "Save the Cat" three-act structure for films. whoops im done
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Feb 16, 2021 22:43
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The 2016 Disney movie "Moaner" was renamed "Vagina" in Europe
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Feb 16, 2021 22:44
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Applewhite posted:I forgot what the clue was but I believe canonically Kristoff has a big penis. Probably something one of those stone trolls said. They really blew his spot up imo.
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Feb 16, 2021 22:45
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Dang It Bhabhi! posted:whoops im done You may not agree with it but that's how modern films are made and it works.
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Feb 16, 2021 22:48
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Applewhite posted:Maui had to be an ugly pig man or he would have been sexually menacing to Moana. Living in Utah which has a pretty sizeable Islander presence I didn't even think he looked like an ugly pig man, just looked like a buff as hell Islander that probably would be rucking people over left and right in Rugby or pancaking people in the American Football. Kudos to Disney to not hold Maui to a western beauty standard, and lets be honest who wouldn't want that dudes loving flow.
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Feb 16, 2021 22:49
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i can literally recite every single word from the movie Moana
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Feb 16, 2021 22:52
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I liked the crab
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Feb 16, 2021 22:54
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I never watched moana and now I never will Hack frauds
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Feb 16, 2021 22:54
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Demon Of The Fall posted:i can literally recite every single word from the movie Moana Welcome to the club fellow dad. Can I help discourage you from ever buying an electric smoker and teach you the fine arts of smoking meat with charcoal like god intended?
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Feb 16, 2021 23:00
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Derpies posted:Welcome to the club fellow dad. Can I help discourage you from ever buying an electric smoker and teach you the fine arts of smoking meat with charcoal like god intended? How would an electric smoker even work? That sounds like an abomination.
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Feb 16, 2021 23:08
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Whenever my niece visits she arranges my hair so it looks like Anna's.
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Feb 16, 2021 23:17
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Applewhite posted:How would an electric smoker even work? That sounds like an abomination. you basically do all your BBQ with a dumb app and some wood pellets that look like hamster feed.
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Feb 16, 2021 23:27
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Derpies posted:you basically do all your BBQ with a dumb app and some wood pellets that look like hamster feed. Booo.
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Feb 16, 2021 23:27
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