Moana: The Ocean's Call and the Chief's Daughter

Joshua Noel: 00:01:15

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, demigods, islanders and kakamora of all ages, we welcome you to the wonderful world of Walt Disney's animation studios.

This is of course, part of our Disney era series, where we've been going through two or three different films in all of the various eras of Disney, including a few we met, we made up in a few that, you know, aren't really eras, but they shouldn't. I mean, Pixar is its own thing. We don't know. We're just going through Disney stuff. Right. And I am Joshua Noel.

I'm probably the biggest Disney on the team, but I have some competition. I love Disney, but so does my co host today, the one and only Elizabeth Clyde. How's it going today?

Liz Clyde: 00:01:57

Hello. It's pretty good today.

Joshua Noel: 00:01:59

I haven't done that in a while. The pain.

Liz Clyde: 00:02:02

Because I feel like. I feel like it was rude.

Joshua Noel: 00:02:04

I think, like, at some point it was like we were teasing you with it and then at some point it was like. Actually, that's just really fun to say.

Liz Clyde: 00:02:09

It is a lot of fun to say. And very few people know me by my premarried days, so it's always nostalgia to hear.

Joshua Noel: 00:02:17

Yeah. And it's a little funny though, because like a lot of our team that.

And it's like you just don't go by that and they have not met you since you've gone by that. They just know me and they just call me Ping.

Liz Clyde: 00:02:29

You call me Ping. But I don't mind. I like it.

Joshua Noel: 00:02:31

What's funny is I finally started actually calling you Liz, like doing it correctly. But now I already got everybody else saying the other. So it's fine, it's fine.

Liz Clyde: 00:02:39

That's why I just go by both Liz Pan, Clyde.

Joshua Noel: 00:02:41

Yeah. And then I confuse the audience because, like, I say Liz and then like in the show notes, it's going to be like, listen to all the episodes with Liz.

But then if they click it, the actual links they think says Pain.

Liz Clyde: 00:02:51

It's okay. We like to figure it out. There's.

Joshua Noel: 00:02:53

There's pictures, you know, it helps. So with that, of course, we do have to mention what we've been geeking out on recently.

Um, I've been trying to just catch up on a lot of things because I got my Steam deck, like early this year and then I got behind on literally everything. And the most daunting task, of course, is one piece. So I'm going to say one piece is what I've been geeking out on.

I've got to the point now Where I'm trying so hard to catch up that when I'm not watching the anime, I'm reading the manga of where I'm at in the anime so that, like, I'll get there quicker. Yeah.

Liz Clyde: 00:03:27

Well, I'm not sure when this airs, but it's still in theaters now, so it's relevant. Downton Abbey, the final.

Joshua Noel: 00:03:33

Oh, I don't have to watch it. Is it good?

Liz Clyde: 00:03:35

It was good. It was good. I wanted more, but if they gave me more, it wouldn't be like the closing. You know what I mean? It wouldn't be the final chapters. So.

But if I was going to rewatch the. Watch the movie, I had to rewatch all six seasons and the first two movies before I watched the movie.

Joshua Noel: 00:03:50

So I feel like the one character passing it was just hard for me to. I'm like, I can't imagine the show without her.

Liz Clyde: 00:03:57

Well, you watched a movie too, right?

Joshua Noel: 00:04:00

Yeah.

Liz Clyde: 00:04:00

Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, they did it well with the transition. Yeah.

Joshua Noel: 00:04:04

Like, I like it, but I'm just like, I don't know.

Liz Clyde: 00:04:06

It was still good without her.

Joshua Noel: 00:04:08

Yeah. Anyway, we can talk more about that later because I. I am going to watch it eventually, and that'll be a good thing to talk about with that.

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And today we're going to shout out two people who've done that, Trip Fuller and Jonathan Augustin. Today, though, we are talking about the film Moana.

This is going to be the third film we've covered in the revival era of Disney animation to catch up on our whole playlist of Reviews going through the different eras of Disney animation use that playlist in the description below. After this, we will be transitioning into kind of like a made up era of what I'm calling the Pandemic films.

Those films that were released during, you know, Pandemic era and beyond because you had a weird, weird moment where some animation took some weird turns because of what they could or could not do during isolation. And some of the movies weren't really released in theater and didn't get the attention we thought they should get. So we're gonna.

We're gonna cover them. We're going to cover them and then circle back around to a couple others from the Gold and Silver before we wrap this series up.

But we're more than halfway there. Yeah. All right. With that, let's. Let's go ahead. We're going to start our main topic today going into Moana.

First, Liz, could you just kind of tell people what is this movie? We don't have to, like, go through the plot just yet, but, like, what is Moana? And why do you think we wanted to do that?

Of all the revival films, why did we want to make sure we included this one?

Liz Clyde: 00:06:17

Because we are diverse and a cultured, systematic ecology. So. Of course. No, no.

But it is always refreshing to have a minority princess, just because if you look at historical figures, usually whenever they do the. The backgrounds, it's like Swedish or Paris or, you know, traditionally, like, white females. So this is a Polynesian island, I think it's not. Is it?

Is it. It's Polynesian island. Which islands is it, Josh?

Joshua Noel: 00:06:46

I've always considered it Polynesian islands, but I wasn't sure if it's because it says that in the movie or just because, like, in Disney stuff. At the Polynesian resort, they have a lot of Moana stuff.

Liz Clyde: 00:06:55

Yeah, they are doing that. So it's not. It's not Hawaii. It's not like the Lilo and Stitch High. So, like, kind of Polynesian.

I mean, you can even go like, maybe Pacific islands, just kind of that vibe. So she is a village chief's daughter. So technically she's a princess. Because we love a good princess.

Joshua Noel: 00:07:15

No, that's not a princess.

Liz Clyde: 00:07:17

I said technically, that's how she is classified.

I will still fight that Mulan's not a princess, but according to Disney, Moana and Pocahontas, because Pocahontas was the chief's daughters, too, and she's. I'm saying this is why Disney classified her. I just.

Joshua Noel: 00:07:33

I gotta disagree with Disney.

Liz Clyde: 00:07:34

Well, that's Fine.

Joshua Noel: 00:07:35

Pocahontas.

Liz Clyde: 00:07:37

Milan is not Milan.

Joshua Noel: 00:07:39

Yeah. None of them are Disney princesses because they're not princesses. And the one that gets me in the most trouble, Meredith, is not a Disney princess.

If for no other reason, then that's a Pixar film. Not even a Disney film.

Liz Clyde: 00:07:52

Oh. Lol. Okay, so it's. It goes on with the islands and we kind of have a little backstory of something is cursed, something's not right.

And so she's not allowed to go into the waters. But of course the waters call for her. So it's all about. It's Lily. If you think about it, it's the Little Mermaid plot. Right.

She wants to go on land, but then she. Moana, she wants to go into the.

Joshua Noel: 00:08:18

So many other movies.

Liz Clyde: 00:08:19

Right, Right. I mean, like, it's. It's pretty much the same plot. Right. Like she wants to go to the Hadaka.

Joshua Noel: 00:08:24

Act one is Pocahontas. Act two is Little Mermaid pretty much.

Liz Clyde: 00:08:28

So we go with her and she tries to pretty much break the curse by returning the heart to the. Returning the heart of Te Fiti where it belongs and get the village to pretty much be abundant again. The music is banger, though.

This is, I think when I like the most banger music we have, it.

Joshua Noel: 00:08:48

Does have one of the best. Best. I think it has the best soundtrack of the revival era. Encanto is the only real competition. I feel like, yes, either this or encanto.

Liz Clyde: 00:08:57

But at this moment in time, when it came out, encanto didn't exist. So like this had.

Joshua Noel: 00:09:01

But if we're gonna go with my made up era of pandemic, I feel like encanto kind of came out in that time.

Liz Clyde: 00:09:08

So. Yeah, but I'm saying. But this, but at this moment in time, if we're watching it for the first time, there's no competition.

Joshua Noel: 00:09:14

Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm just saying, like, as a whole, if you accept Disney's like, what is revival era? Those two are the best.

If you're going to go off my listing where we're going to make up that other era that started during the pandemic, this is the best in revival and encounters in some other era. We haven't named it.

Liz Clyde: 00:09:31

Right.

Joshua Noel: 00:09:32

I like it's like this island story, Chief's daughter, coming of age tradition. It's hey, aren't the Polynesian islands cool? And also, here's some demigods because remember when we did Hercules, that was cool, wasn't it?

And Little Mermaid was cool. Right? And Pocahontas Was cool. Right. It's very nostalgic for 90s kids.

But one way I've heard it put that I thought was really interesting, too, is a lot for younger kids.

You know, for us older ones, we're like, oh, this just is like a lot of these other Disney films, but for the younger ones, this is the first one that they saw a lot of the stuff, and maybe that'll get them interested so we can convince our children, like, hey, you like Moana? I bet you'd like Hercules. I bet you'd like Little Mermaid, and, you know, keep some of these Disney films alive because they're wonderful.

Yeah, Sorry. Anyway, so. Yeah, so. And we chose it for several reasons.

One, because it is one of my favorites and the music's banger, and it's just one of the more popular ones that isn't Frozen. And I'm just tired of people talking about Frozen. Like, I just. I don't have an Emmy to have more conversations about that film. Yeah. So.

So we did Moana instead.

Liz Clyde: 00:10:37

I like it.

Joshua Noel: 00:10:38

Yeah. So as far as, like, your relationship with this film, when's the first time you remember seeing it? How did you first react to it?

Has it grown on you more? Have you kind of. I don't. Lost interest in. Over the years?

Liz Clyde: 00:10:50

seen it probably three times.: 2016

Joshua Noel: 00:10:58

Yeah.

Liz Clyde: 00:10:59

So I didn't see it in theaters, but I remember when I saw it, I loved. I think I saw it on Disney plus for the first time. So priced out for the first time. Maybe like, not too long after it came out on Disney plus.

And I've listened to the soundtrack more than I've seen it.

Joshua Noel: 00:11:15

Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, this was at the point where I didn't have my own bills yet, but I finally got to that point in adulthood already where I was like, hey, I like Disney films, and I don't care that people think I'm too old to watch Disney cartoons. So I'm pretty sure I did see this in the theater when it came out, because I was just shameless at that point. And I was like, I don't care.

I love Disney and I'm here for it, and I loved it, and I still love it. Yeah. I think. What else to really say about it as far as, like, my relationship to it, I just, you know, I watched it, I enjoyed it.

I've always enjoyed it. It's never been one of my favorites, but it's always been like, hey, I am down to watch that. It's a good time.

You know, like, never has someone been like, what's your favorite Disney movie? Am I? And I have stopped and be like, oh, is Moana my favorite? No, that. That never happened.

Liz Clyde: 00:12:00

But, like, I would put it on for my niece, if I may. If I'm babysitting.

Joshua Noel: 00:12:04

Yeah. But if I know Moana is on, I'm gonna watch it. Or if I'm at, like, Disney and something Moana's happening, I'm there for it. Like, I love Moana.

Liz Clyde: 00:12:12

Yeah. In Disney parks, we would line up for that picture.

Joshua Noel: 00:12:16

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

Liz Clyde: 00:12:17

100.

Joshua Noel: 00:12:17

Yeah. Especially if it was the. The Rock.

Liz Clyde: 00:12:20

Yeah.

Joshua Noel: 00:12:22

Yeah.

Liz Clyde: 00:12:22

I would for sure line up for that picture.

Joshua Noel: 00:13:12

Oh, man. So why do you think this film is so significant to, like, general audiences?

Like, overall, this and Frozen and I guess Tangled are, like, for the new generation. That's. These movies are what, like, Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast and stuff was. To us, those are the ones that stick out. Why?

Liz Clyde: 00:13:31

Talking about this generation with Frozen, Tangled, Brave, and stuff like that, Once again, diversity. So in this film actually came out when there was a big stink about. There's still a big stink about diversity.

But I remember when this film came out, the first Halloween after it came out. White. Little white girls, which I say with the most love. I'm half white. Calm down, everyone. Don't cancel me.

They wanted to dress up like Moana, Right. And then so they were getting a lot of hassle. Like, you can't dress up. You're not Pacific Islander. This is offensive to culture. You know what I mean?

So I feel like that is why. One of the reasons why it's gotten on the radar. I'm like, if someone wants to be. Like, if my.

If my kid wanted to be Tiana, I would let her dress as Tiana. I mean, no paint or anything like that. But I'm like, it's.

Joshua Noel: 00:14:21

Yeah.

Liz Clyde: 00:14:22

People are, like, dressing up as clowns or, like, mystical creatures or anything like that. Like, you can be whatever you want to be on Halloween as long as we respect all cultures and all people, especially children.

Joshua Noel: 00:14:34

I feel like, you know, like, I don't want to get myself in trouble, but a lot of the appropriation stuff just gets on my nerves. And, like, there's different points.

Like, if you're appropriated in a not respectful way and you're just trying to, like, make a culture your own and, you know, acting like something you're not. There is a point where I'm like, yeah, that's gross. That's bad.

But, like, a lot of the times people are getting mad about stuff, and I'm like, really? The reason that that guy put the sombrero on his head and is celebrating his birthday isn't because he's like, haha, Mexicans.

It's because, like, he thinks it's cool. Like, it's actually an appreciation. And especially when kids do it, man, it's because they think it's cool.

It has nothing to do with, like, you know, like, no kids. Like, I wish Moana was white. No.

Liz Clyde: 00:15:16

Yeah.

Joshua Noel: 00:15:17

Like, that's not. That's not what's happening.

Liz Clyde: 00:15:18

Like, this is what a great time to teach about the culture. This is why they dress the way they dress and act the way they act, because the culture shapes them. But, you know, people just want to get offended.

But that is a tangent. So that's, I think, why this is such a big movie. Because it was one of the first times where the white kids wanted to dress like Disney princess.

Right. I mean, you had to want Tiana, but that wasn't as big of a deal.

Joshua Noel: 00:15:46

Yeah, I remember.

Liz Clyde: 00:15:48

Yeah, yeah. Not doing Halloween. That I remember. I didn't hear any. Any little white girls getting canceled about wanting to dress like Tiana, you know.

But also, it's a big deal because, once again, why Little Memory was so popular, it's kind of going against the. Your parents, even though they think it's best and they're trying to protect you. And so she's going on her own journey. Coming of age is a big deal.

They never really say, like, how old Moana is, so we can assume maybe like, 16.

Joshua Noel: 00:16:18

Yeah, that's what I was always.

Liz Clyde: 00:16:19

So, yeah, like, she's not like, marriageable age like some other, like, of the village chief daughters. Like Pocahontas was like, you know, looking for a husband like Anna and Frozen.

But so we can kind of assume she's 16, but she already has the weight of the village on her shoulders, and she already has expectations from parents. So I feel like that's really relatable at any age. Your parents expect you to be something, and she's not called to be it.

So now she has to go find her own journey.

Joshua Noel: 00:16:48

Yeah, yeah. The. I'm not going to attempt to say her name because I am bad at names, and I don't want to be disrespectful.

But the actress who played Moana is also incredibly young. This is her first real role. I think she actually was 16 when she filmed it. So, like, I think we can roll with 16.

Liz Clyde: 00:17:09

All right.

Joshua Noel: 00:17:10

I'm pretty. I feel confident. Although I can't find her birthday, so I can't confirm her age when this.

Liz Clyde: 00:17:15

Is stuff we are not meant to know.

Joshua Noel: 00:17:17

Yeah. Anyway. Yeah. My last thing, though, with all of that, I do wonder for kids arts and craft. Like, we learned a lot of stuff. Like, I love museums too.

Like, I like seeing stuff and like reading it. And when people are like, we tear down the statues and the plaques, no one reads them. It's just there to honor bad stuff.

And I'm like, but I've always read them. What do you mean no one reads them? I actually do read them. And I'm not, you know, I'm not saying we need to keep any bad statues or anything.

That's not where I'm going with this.

I am curious, though, because when I was a kid, one of the best ways that I learned about other cultures and like, arts and craft, we would make like the feather things and like the beads with, like Indian headbands. Yeah. And I'm like, that would be.

Liz Clyde: 00:17:57

Understand.

Joshua Noel: 00:17:58

Yeah. I understand why we don't do that. I do understand the stuff with appropriation.

I'm just curious, like, for people like me who are more hands on learners, if maybe we've taken this so far that, like, it's actually preventing some people from learning it as well. Maybe. I'm not sure. It was just a thought. Yell at me in the comments. If y' all want.

You can comment on Spotify now and you can comment on all captions.

Liz Clyde: 00:18:20

Yell at him for fun because it would entertain me greatly.

Joshua Noel: 00:18:23

Please. Yeah. So anyway, we already kind of discussed some of the story for this film already.

But you mentioned the parents, and I think it's an important thing. We did earlier this year for part of our annual theme of polarization, Will and I talked about the Disney children versus parents kind of tropes.

This one was really interesting. I think we're gonna look into it a little bit deeper later. But the reason I found this one really interesting is it wasn't as cut and dry.

Like, her dad just didn't think she should be with these other people. It wasn't like King Triton. It wasn't like the mom entangled, like she was trying to keep her captive. It wasn't like.

It wasn't even like Merlin and Nemo. Just like, it wasn't just like, oh, I'm gonna keep you safe from everything. It was.

No, her dad had trauma about this and his trauma was impacting his parenting and how he acted as a Chief. And what I really actually do love that we're gonna get into a little bit later. Moana didn't go, I'm gonna do what I want anyway, dad.

She listened to her dad. He said, okay, yeah, he probably knows best. And it wasn't until problems started arising on the island.

And, you know, she's trying to take on this chief role, and people like, what are we going to do? And she's like, well, we can't stay here and survive. That's not logical. But my dad said, we can't leave. She didn't know what to do.

She's really conflicted. And her grandmother is the one who actually showed her something else. So it wasn't like she was like, I'm rebelling against dad.

It was like his mom said, yeah, you don't know the whole story. There's more here. She wasn't just rebelling for the sake of rebelling.

She was rebelling because, a, she wanted the survival of her people, not because, oh, I just have to get out and see what's on land or something weird, you know, it wasn't because of some love interest. It was because she cared about her people. And she didn't just rebel against the tradition structure. Her tradition was challenged.

She had a little bit of deconstruction for those who, you know, such terms of like, hey, this is what she thought always was the case. They never left the island. And her grandmother showed her and helped her discover, yeah, that's not true.

And then she had to confront that and figure out what was the best way. It wasn't just plain rebellion. Like, it usually happens where parents are bad and kids need to rebel to become their own person.

It was a lot more nuanced. And I like that a lot, actually.

Liz Clyde: 00:20:40

I mean, we can all think of a time where we rebelled against our parents, even though, like, we knew it was wrong. But in this case, you know, you can argue it wasn't wrong because you did it to save her people.

You know, I mean, it's one of those things of, like, it's an ethical dilemma. Do you listen to. Do you follow society? Because, you know, this is the law and this is what's right.

Because you can even say that was the rule of the village, that you do not go into the water, you do not go past the COVID So you can even say, that's the law. So do you break the law for the majority, for the better good? Do you break the. Do you.

Do you break the law to save something else for the, you know, Better good of the village. And so big ethical dilemma. It wasn't like, you can't go to this party because it's dangerous. And she went to party for selfish reasons. So.

Joshua Noel: 00:21:31

Yeah. And it wasn't just for some boy, which I still. I like that.

Liz Clyde: 00:21:34

Yeah. I kind of, like, we all know. I love the romance and stuff like that. I like that. This was. It was refreshing. There was no romance.

Joshua Noel: 00:21:41

Yeah. She was just a strong leader who wanted to do what's best for her people.

Liz Clyde: 00:21:44

There wasn't even a boy who liked her, and she, like, ignored him. There was, like, no boy. Unless you were just a little guy at the beginning with during the holidays. Little. Like, little.

Joshua Noel: 00:21:54

Two, they should bring him back for Moana. Three, honestly, when the age description isn't that.

Liz Clyde: 00:21:58

Yeah. Like, he comes for her. Like, his.

Joshua Noel: 00:22:02

He actually just been waiting this whole time.

Liz Clyde: 00:22:03

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, it's like, I've come for you. I'm old enough now. And they fall in love, and we got to make sure he's illegal, though.

Joshua Noel: 00:22:10

Yeah, of course. Of course.

Liz Clyde: 00:22:11

Yeah.

Joshua Noel: 00:22:12

I. Yeah.

of broke the norm, especially: 2016

Nope. Her grandmother told some spiritual story. People thought she was crazy. And guess what? The spiritual story is just correct. There are gods.

All of this was true.

And I like that they did that a little bit different because, you know, usually in modern storytelling, it's like, we have to show spirituality, and all these old folk stories are actually not real. And it's like, sometimes it's fun to just be like, you know what? It is real. Let's go for it.

Liz Clyde: 00:22:51

Like, even during the first song, whenever they were doing, like, the village of Montanui and all that stuff, like, the grandmother's song, like, you know, mind what your father says. So, like, even then, even though the grandmother didn't believe what the grand.

What her son was doing was right, she was still like, you can still mind them. You can still do it in a respectful way. You can still, you know, I mean, you can still honor your parents.

I think she did a really good job in honoring.

Joshua Noel: 00:23:15

Yeah.

Liz Clyde: 00:23:15

That, like, she just wasn't, like, a jerk.

Joshua Noel: 00:23:17

Yeah, I did like that. I like that. There was a lot of respect and honor. It wasn't like any one character was like, screw the tradition. Screw everybody.

I'm doing my own thing. It was ultimately. Even though we had a lot of individual characters doing their own thing, it was ultimately for the whole community.

And that was just out. That was cool. Okay, so we got to get to the meat of it. 0 to 10. If you had to rate this film, how are you rating it?

Liz Clyde: 00:23:39

I guess I'll do it eight, because I would watch it again. And plus, shiny is my favorite song with that dang crab. I love that crab so much.

Joshua Noel: 00:23:49

Yeah, I'm gonna go seven and a half. And I do. I want to remind everybody, like, for me, when I do a rating, I'm comparing to other things. I'm not just saying, you know, zero is failed.

10 is perfect. I'm saying zero is the worst of the thing. So if I'm reading a Disney film, I'm comparing it to all other Disney films. Zero is the worst Disney film.

If I give something a zero, that's what I think about it. If I give it a 10, like Hercules, it's because I think it is the best Disney film. So Seven and a Half is pretty darn good.

If you're comparing it to all other Disney films, it's just not one of the best to me. You know what I mean? Like, I don't put it up there with Hercules or Milan or the Jungle Book, but it's better than average, I think.

I think, personally, I really enjoy it, and especially the characters and the color work in the music. Honestly, I almost feel like its presence in, like, parks and other things is almost more fun than the movie itself.

Liz Clyde: 00:24:49

Yeah. I mean, they are iconic.

Joshua Noel: 00:24:51

Yeah. Yeah. Like, they did a really good job making these characters. Okay, so we did want to discuss some of the history behind the film.

Is there anything for you specifically that you're like, I want to talk about this?

Liz Clyde: 00:25:03

No, I don't pay attention to that.

Joshua Noel: 00:25:05

Okay, then I'm going to be a nerd for a while.

Liz Clyde: 00:25:07

That's fine. And I'll comment on your nerd run a few stuff.

Joshua Noel: 00:25:10

Yeah. First off, this is the last film that will be directed and produced with John Musker and Ron Clemens at the helm.

For those who have been following along, they trained under Disney's original Nine Old Men, the original animators that did everything from the Seven Dwarves through, like, the Great Mouse Detective. Right. They started with Great Mouse Detective in the Black Cauldron.

So they were directly, like, discipled, if you will, from the original animators of Disney. So they do Great Mouse Detective, Black Cauldron, the Little Mermaid, Hercules, Treasure, Planet Princess, and the Frog.

And then this is their retirement film. They do this and bow out and it's phenomenal. All their work is phenomenal. I love them and this film. They had co directors.

And I kind of like this because this is almost like an apostolic secession deal. Right? Like, you have Disney's original nine old men who animate and probably didn't lay hands on and pray for Ron Clemons and them.

But, you know, they trained them. They worked with the originals. And now Don hall and Chris Williams are working with John Musker and Ron Clemons.

So Don hall and Chris Williams are learning from them so that they will continue the Disney legacy. Don hall and Chris Williams, if you didn't know, their first work is they started with Tarzan. It's just hard to go up from there, though.

Tarzan was so good. They got Bolt, you got big hero. 6 is Don hall and Chris Williams.

After this, you're gonna get Raya, Frozen 2, Strange World, which I think Strange World is severely underrated. Yeah. Don Hall, Chris Williams, also great. Trained by John Musker and Rick Clements, trained by Disney's nine original old men.

We just see this Disney tradition continuing strong and. Yeah. So we gotta shout out Don Paul and Chris Williams for their influence on the film as co directors.

Of course, I'm also going to have to mention Mark Mancina. So he did the scores for the film. So everybody gives Lin Manuel all the credit. He did write the songs. The songs are great.

But the actual scores, if you're, like, just talking about the music and the sounds and if you appreciate that as much as I do, that's Mark Mancina, who also did the same thing for Tarzan, Brother Bear. And then both of them want to film. So he hasn't been with Disney since Brother Bear. But both Tarzan and Brother Bear, the.

It was the Phil Collins, Mark Mancina team up. Moana is Lin Manuel Miranda and Mark Mancina.

So having him back, I think, really influenced the film because all of the music, all of the sounds, everything is just perfect for this film, in my opinion. I also don't know how to say his name, but the guy who plays Chief Tuohy. Yeah, well, I don't know the Chief now to say Chief name either.

But the guy who plays the Chief is also the Jango Fett and Boba Fett in all of the Star wars stuff. So, you know, got to give him props while we're talking about it as well, because, yeah, just a lot of talent, a lot of cool actors.

Obviously, everybody knows the rocks in this. I don't feel like that needs to be gone over. Everybody knows the rocks, right? Like, I think that's just pretty well known. Yeah.

So with that, the art and animation stuff too, I thought the art was interesting. I, and as a whole, am disappointed in Disney's art for the revival era.

I feel like they just decided CGI works and they stopped getting interesting with how they create their artwork.

And it really disappoints me because I love the original animation stuff of, like, Lilo and Stitch Hercules, the old Pinocchio film, even, like, I just. I like traditional animation and I'm disappointed by CGI when they rely on it too much. But that's, you know, that's just me.

However, for this film, the beginning sequence, as well as the tattoos on Maui are traditional art style. So those are actually all hand drawn. And I think they're beautiful. Wonderful.

This is actually the first film where CGI seems to successfully have gotten water and hair down, where it doesn't look terrible as that's always been a challenge in animation. So it looks like they finally did figure that one out. So that's really cool. And of course, the colors, man, the colors are just truly inspired.

It's funny because we mentioned this film is in Polynesia, but when Ron Clemens and then took the film to Disney, they were just straight up sent to Hawaii. They were like, yeah, you should go get some inspiration. And they just sent them to Hawaii before they had to write the film. Such terrible homework.

I'd be so disappointed if my work made me go to Hawaii to learn how to roll burritos. Okay. Some of the Easter eggs we wanted to mention, the directors are on a tapestry.

So if you didn't know, for most of John Musker and Ron Clemens films, if they're like, at the helm, they kind of sneak themselves into the animation somewhere. They're in the parades at Princess and the Frog and on here at one of the tapestries at the beginning comes down. You can see both of them.

On one of the tapestries, one of the Kakamoa pirates, Little Coconuts, are wearing a Baymax mask, if you pay attention. And that's an awesome, awesome Easter egg. I loved that Maui turns into Sven from Frozen for a short period. And that was pretty entertaining.

And at the very end, if you do like the end credits, Tomato makes a reference to Sebastian because he's stuck on his back still. And he's like, I bet if I spoke with a Jamaican ass exit my name was Sebastian, you guys would help me.

And that's just one of the best Disney incredibles, maybe the best Disney end credits, actually. Pretty. Pretty entertaining. Anything else as far as, like, the technical side art? Anything that stood out to you?

Liz Clyde: 00:30:29

Nope. I just enjoy watching the movie, and I don't care about the nerd stuff behind. I appreciate it, but don't look for it.

Joshua Noel: 00:30:38

Yeah, I mean, that's fair. That's fair.

So with that, I know you kind of gave at least one of these away already, but we always do like to pick a favorite song, scene, and character from the film. I've talked too much. I'm making you go first. Let us know.

What's your favorite song, what's your favorite scene, and who is your favorite character in Moana?

Liz Clyde: 00:30:57

Okay, fine, fine, fine. Well, we already talked about SHINee, the favorite song, and I'll tell you all about it.

So pretty much, Maui is looking for his hook because that's how they're gonna restore the heart of the Fiti. Right?

Joshua Noel: 00:31:09

But.

Liz Clyde: 00:31:09

But the crab has it, and so he just. He's like a hoarder. And I always joke, like, if I could, I would just be a goblin that hoards gold and count it all day, because that's just.

Joshua Noel: 00:31:19

That's just sounds dragon at that point.

Liz Clyde: 00:31:21

Yeah, dragon, goblin, something like that. You know, I just want to, like, hoard money. And I always say, like, thank God for my husband because he helps me not be.

Be a hermit, and he helps me spend more money. But I just relate to the crab. I'm like, shiny. Keep it. Don't want to lose it. It's mine now. I found it. So it was fun, and it was just a vibey. See?

Favorite scene. Gosh. I mentioned the. The hula dancing scene with the little boy was really great.

But, I mean, I guess, like, the moving scene, because very few times will I get emotional.

So I'm going to say this is a favorite scene, even though, like, it was sad, was when the grandmother, like, passed because she had a big stingray on her back. And so she was pretty much on her deathbed, and she was like, moana, you must go now. This is your time.

She encouraged Moana to, like, go on her advent, and when she passed, you could see her spirit kind of went into a stingray and kind of, like, propelled Moana's boat forward. So that was just kind of, like, so sweet and sad. So, yeah, great.

Joshua Noel: 00:32:26

That scene, actually, is why I've seriously been contemplating getting an elephant tattoo for my grandmother. She just loved elephants.

Liz Clyde: 00:32:35

I mean, do it. I'm a pro tattooer.

Joshua Noel: 00:32:38

Yeah. I mean, I Have a few. It's just like, I don't know if I love elephants. Them.

Liz Clyde: 00:32:43

I would do it. You know what? I'm crazy that half my sleep. Well, I have a sleep tattoo and a lot of it was made on a whim, and I regret none of it.

Joshua Noel: 00:32:51

Perfect.

Liz Clyde: 00:32:52

I would go get an elephant tattoo right now for funsies.

Joshua Noel: 00:32:56

Let's go together right now.

Liz Clyde: 00:32:57

All right, let's go.

Joshua Noel: 00:33:00

Oh, man. No, that's good. And what about favorite character?

Liz Clyde: 00:33:10

I guess the mom. The mom kept the dad in check.

Joshua Noel: 00:33:13

I always forget the mom is in the movie.

Liz Clyde: 00:33:16

Yeah, the mom.

Joshua Noel: 00:33:16

Yeah.

Liz Clyde: 00:33:17

Moana has both parents. How did we not talk?

Joshua Noel: 00:33:19

Weird that that's not never happened. Disney can't do that.

Liz Clyde: 00:33:23

Yeah. I mean, the only. Like you said earlier, the only reason why Murder had both parents is because it's Pixar.

Joshua Noel: 00:33:28

True. Not real Disney princess.

Liz Clyde: 00:33:31

Right. But yeah, she had both parents. So, yeah, I like the mom because she. I mean, if you think about it, she was the whole glue of the family.

She, you know, encouraged Marana to go as well. She kept by the grandma. She kept the dad level headed.

Joshua Noel: 00:33:47

Yeah.

Liz Clyde: 00:33:47

Yeah.

Joshua Noel: 00:33:48

I mean, I really want to say Heihei is my favorite character, but I chicken. Because, like, he's not really a character.

Liz Clyde: 00:33:53

But he's a character.

Joshua Noel: 00:33:54

He makes me laugh more than anything else. I love him. But instead. Okay, let's see. Favorite. I'll do a favorite song first.

My favorite song is gonna be We Know the Way, mostly because that song that's like where the sky meets the Sea is Calling. It was overplayed. It's wonderful. I love it. But it was overplayed. And I think We Know the Way.

It really has that, like, Pacific island kind of vibe to it. It's like a collective, like, ah, kind of. I don't know.

It reminds me of like a good worship song almost, because it's like we're singing in unison with a mission and I don't know, I love it. As far as favorite scene, I'm also gonna go with the grandma scene. Not the same one. A little bit earlier than that.

When she's like, acting like a crazy person and she's doing like this dance and like, Moana's coming up to her and saying all this stuff, and instead of being like, oh, no, you're wrong, or giving her the answer, she's like, why do you feel that way? Like, it kind of reminds me of like. Like Will when Will's in pastor mode and I'm talking to Will, and Will never gives me an answer. He's like, why?

Why do you feel that way? You know? And she very much does that. She's dancing, and then she's like, you see the stingray? That's what I'm gonna be.

And, like, just, like, everything about it, like, she's just so. What's. What's the word? Zen. She's so Zen in that moment, but also kind of just fun. Like, you just feel joy and acceptance. Like, she's accepted.

What's her fate? Like, all the stuff. And I'm like, I don't know. Something about that scene. It's just like, I love that Grandma something.

Liz Clyde: 00:35:28

She was great character.

Joshua Noel: 00:35:30

Yeah. Not my favorite character, though. My favorite actually is actually the titular character. This time, I'm going to go with Moana.

Man, that little girl acted her heart out in this film. And I actually love Moana, like, everything about it. Like, but from, like, yes, she has her flaws.

She's very clearly has her flaws all throughout the film. Right. Like, it's not like a perfect girl hero time, like certain other characters that Krishnashley likes to complain about.

She has her flaws, but at the same time, like, her motive is her people. Like, it's not a selfish motive. It's not the romance thing. And I don't know, I just find that so admirable.

And even the end when, like, she figures out everything about the Te Fiti. Why can't I say that word?

It's just one of those where, like, I don't know if anyone else has the heart to have discovered what she discovered and realized. Wait a minute. Healing is the answer. Not fighting. And I don't. She's just a cool character. I like her a lot. Yeah.

So that's our favorite character scene. Songs. I'm gonna quickly run through some of the other places you can find these characters in other movies, shows, stuff like that.

And Liz, if you can think of anything that I forgot, please shout it out. You have Once Upon A Studio. I think that was, like, the hundredth years of Disney.

They do, like, a short film as Once Upon a Studios, and you see Moana saving Flounder because it gets out of the water. It's great.

Liz Clyde: 00:36:53

Oh, I've never seen that.

Joshua Noel: 00:36:55

She's not in Kingdom Hearts yet, but it seems pretty likely she's going to be in Kingdom Hearts 4 and needs to be, because, man, that would be happy, happy, happy. Be a fun world. Epcot, of course, has the Journey of Water. It's not like an actual ride, but it is an attraction you can go through.

You can interact with some of the water.

We just did this really recently, meanwhile wife, and it was a lot of fun, mostly educational about, like, the importance of water, taking care of water, and clean water being something we should all help with stuff, you know? Of course, she's very prevalent in the Polynesian resort. Has her own store. Little carvings here and there of some of the characters.

Even sometimes she does story time and will come out and tell people stories, children's stories. At the Polynesian resort, of course, in Disneyland, Hong Kong, there is an actual attraction, Moana, a homecoming celebration.

So it's a show they do there for Moana. Of course, there's tons of toys and plushes of little animals.

And the firework shows they've had several times, where several of the songs have been featured heavily and even projected on the castle. And, of course, Ralph breaks the Internet. You see Moana interacting with the little girl from Wreck It Ralph.

And I think it's in the end credits you see baby Moana playing a video game. And that was kind of fun. But, yeah, that's all I can remember.

Do you remember anywhere else that these characters show up as far as, like, movies, parks, anything?

Liz Clyde: 00:38:14

Nope. If I did see it, I would forget instantly.

Joshua Noel: 00:38:17

Yeah, I think there is some other game, but I forget what it's called, so I'm gonna act like it's not real. I'm gonna go ahead. I think we should get a little bit more to some of the meat stuff, because we discussed some of the stuff that's in the film.

But I want to go a little bit deeper, especially with the tradition verse. Kind of like letting the spirit lead. So, like, ever since she was a girl, she felt the ocean calling out to her, and they make it spiritual.

Obviously, this is not a Christian film. This is about a different religion from the Polynesian people or, you know, whatever. Specific people, not really religion.

Liz Clyde: 00:39:50

They just, like, have a more in tune ness with nature.

Joshua Noel: 00:39:54

Yeah, it's like spirituality plus gods and nature and stuff. Yeah. Anyway. But she feels the thing with the water, she does actually have some kind of power where, like, the water reacts to her.

She can't control the water, but she has a relationship with the water. Of course, she does meet a demigod and has a relationship with him. So there's. There's, like, all of that.

But ever since she was a kid, she feels the water calling out to her. She feels something in her, calling her to go out, to not just stay on this island, but to go out.

And I thought it was really interesting how she Was basically told even as a child to ignore that calling. We don't go out there. It's too dangerous. Or, you know, this is just the rules. You're supposed to be a chief.

You're supposed to be here with the island people. And she does, for a time, accept that. She learns to be chief. The people go to her for answers, and she just keeps feeling that call back.

And when her island is actually getting to a point where it's destroyed and there's no other way, man, that call within her to go out gets stronger and she's like, we can't stay here. I have this calling. But our tradition says that we don't leave this island.

And it wasn't until the grandmother and some exploration showed her that what she thought was the tradition wasn't actually the tradition, there was something before them.

So you have a lot of interesting things before we get deeper into that though, just like on surface level, there is this struggle that she goes through that I feel like we probably can relate to, Especially since I grew up Pentecostal.

You're still in a Pentecostal church of this, like, where your spirit calls verse, like what the church says you're supposed to do or what, like, maybe you think the Bible should do. Have you ever had.

Because I know I have times where, like, what you thought your spirit was leading you to do, the church or the Bible or something is basically telling you that's not right. Have you ever had that kind of conflict?

Liz Clyde: 00:41:35

No. Like, you're talking about, like, so I feel like the Holy Spirit is leading me somewhere, but the church is telling me no.

Joshua Noel: 00:41:42

Yeah, yeah.

Liz Clyde: 00:41:43

Or.

Joshua Noel: 00:41:43

Or just like tradition or maybe spiritual leaders are like, that's not actually the spirit. Or maybe you're not listening, right?

Liz Clyde: 00:41:51

No, I mean, because we go. I mean, I am thankful enough to attend a church that is spirit led and scriptured.

Like, we've, you know, we follow scripture, all scripture points to Jesus, all that stuff.

But I mean, I can say because I grew up Catholic and so when I started getting into the Pentecostal movement, choosing to go that route against my Catholic upbringing. So I've had. Had to do that versus. But so not really in a church setting, but more against the parents and the faith I grew up with.

Granted, even Catholics do believe in Jesus, guys. It's just a different set of, you know, traditions. Yeah, I got out there.

Joshua Noel: 00:42:34

Yeah.

I'm curious if some of this is like, because you got to mature before you kind of was introduced to some of the Pentecostal stuff because, like, As a kid, I hear stuff, and I wasn't mature enough to understand a lot of it.

So I think I confused for a long time, like, my emotions with, like, the spirit, because I remember times where I felt like, no, God wants me to be with this girl. And, like, I really believed that.

Liz Clyde: 00:42:57

Oh, yeah, you didn't have to.

Joshua Noel: 00:42:57

And it was very obviously not true.

Liz Clyde: 00:42:59

Yeah, you didn't listen to the scripture where the heart is deceitful.

Joshua Noel: 00:43:03

Yeah. And, like, I needed scripture. I needed, like, parents or tradition or someone to step in and be like, listen, I know you think that's the spirit.

That's not the spirit, Dude.

Liz Clyde: 00:43:12

Favorite breakup line. God doesn't want us to be together.

Joshua Noel: 00:43:15

Well, that's true.

Liz Clyde: 00:43:19

But. Yeah. Well, here's the thing. God never told you to get together, but now you're saying God doesn't want you to be together.

Okay, you can't use that as an L, Josh.

Joshua Noel: 00:43:27

Oh, man, that's so funny, though. But.

But, you know, not just with, like, girls, but, like, different parts of my life or, like, where I felt like God wanted me to go to school, which, actually, I think that I might have been right about. But, like, there have definitely been times where I needed someone to step in and be like, I know you think that's spiritual.

That's not quite the spirit. Of course, there's also been times where I'm like, man, my spirit's telling me this, right? But everybody's saying it's wrong. I don't know.

And then upon further expl. Exploration, I'm like, actually, I think my spirit was right. So I. You know, I've had it both ways a little bit, I guess. Yeah.

The other thing that I've experienced is going to get into the other parts of the film. So she does discover. She finds, like, a cave. Her grandmother tells some stuff. She sees a cave, she discovers voyagers. Yeah, they were voyagers.

They did used to go out that whole line that she was told that the village doesn't leave this thing, the tradition that she was handed, she realized she was lied to. So you have this kind of deconstruction moment where she was like, wait a minute. What do I believe?

Because if I've just been doing this because I was told this is what we've always done, but it's not what we've always done. Now what do I do?

And then all of a sudden, that spirit calling her started making sense to her, and she was going, oh, I am supposed to be going out there. And then it kind of caused some family Rifts and stuff, but they fix it in the end. I think, again, this isn't a Christian film.

I think the film is more talking about parents and children and children coming of age, that kind of stuff. But as Christians, I can't help but think of times in my own life where this kind of thing has happened.

Specifically, I'll go with like young earth creationism. For a long time I was kind of taught this is what Christians have always believed, that the earth is this young.

And we've always been against evolution. We've always been against all this other stuff.

Then I got older, then I studied and I realized, yeah, for a long time actually most Christians did not read the beginning of genus literally. We did think the earth was young, but we did not read that book literally for a really long time.

And then we did change our mind on some things and we changed tradition on a few other things. There have been plenty of Christians, the last since Darwin, who did believe in evolution. There's also been plenty who haven't.

But the line that I was fed that we've always believed this way wasn't true. So for me, and I know I think we believe differently on this. But for me, who I've always kind of been like, the science says this.

Why does it say this if the Bible says that something's got to give? And then I realized, oh, there's.

For a long time Christians didn't read this part of Genesis literally made a lot of sense to me and what was I was feeling in my spirit. And that's just one example. There's a lot of stuff that I kind of, you know, I guess the hip things they deconstructed on.

But it was more of like I've re evaluated, changed my mind on some beliefs and stuff like that. And that's what this kind of part of the film makes me think of.

So, Liz, have you had anything that maybe you were challenged on that you've like changed your mind on? I mean, you said you grew up Catholic, so I guess, yeah, probably a few things.

Liz Clyde: 00:46:24

Yeah, yeah. I mean, nothing I would say whenever you're reading scripture, and as you kind of mentioned before, it comes with the maturity.

People naturally will read scripture with them as the center of it. And like, like you can. That's how it's.

Verses get taken out of contracts so much because they're looking for answers they want to hear and they make the verse applies to me. And I think it's like there was a book I read forever ago, I can't think of the name, like, reading scripture through Western eyes, pretty much.

It was a pretty interesting book.

And it just kind of like talks about how to read the Bible through the cultural aspect of how when it was written, because it is written, it is timeless. But you have to think like, it. Like, especially Paul's letters, it was written for the people during that time period.

And yes, we can take a lot of the core values and principles and apply to us, but, like, we don't have slaves today. We don't have multiple wives.

We don't, you know, I mean, like, especially like that verse that Christian and I will disagree on all the time about, like, the women being quiet in the synagogues. It's not women who can't preach.

Actually, the women being in the synagogues, it shows such, like, movement because they weren't even allowed in the synagogues at the first. And so that's kind of like, that was new. And so they had a lot of questions because they didn't grow up. Up learning like the, like the men.

And because they didn't grow up learning, like, the men, a lot of the basic stuff they had questions about. And so they kept on disrupting the sermon. Not because they were dumb or not because they were like, you know, wanting to be disruptive.

So, like, that's what Paul meant. Like, be quiet, listen, and then go home and ask your husband later. Because this is like, no one's going to, like, end today. No one's going to.

If anyone disrupted the sermon, we're going to be like, hey, save your questions for later. You know, same thing with the classroom.

If you have more questions, like, and if we have to get into it, like, let's save it for after class so we can move on with the material. That's what scripture is talking about. But so often people be like, nope, women needs to be quiet and preach.

So I feel like that, like, knowing stuff because I didn't just know that, you know what I mean? I had to learn the context of what the Bible was saying. Christian, if you're listening to this, boom, in your face Christian. And I, he's Baptist.

I'm a pastor within my church. And so, like, you know, we. We joke. But that's the beauty of this podcast. You can believe in different things and still get along.

But yeah, just kind of like, the more you learn, the more you will evolve and mature with your opinion. Like, hopefully you will go deeper in scripture. I pray.

I mean, you're not 65 and you're still chewing on the baby food of God for God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him. You know, like, I hope you know more than John 3:16 when you have 20 plus years in faith.

Joshua Noel: 00:49:27

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Agree with most of that. I will throw the caveat out that I don't believe in biblical inerrancy. So I can just be like, paul's wrong.

But I also think that I don't need to in this instance. And Liz is correct. That's just not what Paul was saying in the first place. Also, fun little bit of cultural things.

You know, not to over context things, but, hey, Moana is a strong female, so I think this is a good time to talk about strong female pastors.

Liz Clyde: 00:49:55

Hey, yeah, we love Moana. She would be the best pastor.

Joshua Noel: 00:50:00

Well, yeah. So, like, in her culture, her being a chief is just like, what happens. No one questions it.

Like, I don't think, you know, if suddenly they all became Christians, that Jesus is gonna come down and be like, how dare you? You were being chief. No, the context, though, that Paul was talking to. Yeah, the pagan temples at the time, the women priestess were prostitutes.

There's a reason they didn't want the women to look like they were being priestess, because in that context, that meant they were probably a prostitute. I don't think Christian women wanted to anyone to think that about them. I think it actually would probably have hurt their witness.

That's outside of all the different other cultural stuff that was going on that Liz talked about, there's several reasons why in their context, it makes sense, and in our context, it does not. No one sees Moana as a chief and goes that she's a prostitute. No one sees a woman pastor today and goes, I know what she does.

Liz Clyde: 00:50:50

In that church to be a chief, like how they did with Pocahontas. So good job, Moana.

Joshua Noel: 00:50:56

Yeah, Moana's great.

Liz Clyde: 00:50:58

Moana is fantastic.

Joshua Noel: 00:51:00

So good. Last, last thing. And I know we're going a little bit long, but I think this is an important one, especially for the two of us to talk about.

Liz Clyde: 00:51:07

They.

Joshua Noel: 00:51:07

The thing they do with the chief is really interesting. He's not like, oh, you can't go out there because just because it's dangerous.

He doesn't want her not to go out there because he doesn't like the other people and that we want to stay secluded. He's putting her trauma onto his daughter. And I think a lot of times we see that in real life, and it's really tempting to do that.

You know, it's tempting for me to be a backseat driver because, like, I have trauma around some car things. Right. And I have to go wait. I don't want to put my trauma to other people. I don't want to overreact to someone's driving or anything like that.

That's challenging. It's a hard thing to do. Do you like how they handled that as far as, like, he was. They showed his motivation kind of being from childhood trauma.

Liz Clyde: 00:51:48

Yeah, I mean, it was good, but also. Yes, it was traumatic, but it was just being a parent trying to protect your kid. You know what I mean?

Like, for example, I've put my hand on a hot stove and I know it's hot, so I don't want my kid to touch the hot stove. You know, you can argue, you know, it's the same context in this case. His friend died, you know, when he.

He went out because he didn't believe his father. And now he is living this life with regret and he knows the dangers of the sea firsthand. Same thing.

If I have a kid, I'm not gonna say, you know what you should do, or walk in that back alley at 1:00am That's a Smart. You know, I'm gonna. I'm gonna try and protect my kid. But it's good that they revealed. I love the communication of the trauma. He didn't gate keep.

Well, he kind of did. I think the mom said it, you know, but it was actually talked about and communicated. Yeah, it wasn't.

He hit it and took out this unknown anger and frustration on her. And she never understood him. Or when she did understand it, she had empathy and she had compassion.

And so she tried to look at it from his point of view. There was no my way or the highway type of deal.

Yes, a little bit on the dad's end, but even then they had open communication with that, which I think is very healthy. And they eventually did not have that in the Little Mermaid. So we have progressed. Disney.

Joshua Noel: 00:53:15

Yeah. Good job, Disney.

Liz Clyde: 00:53:17

Yeah.

Joshua Noel: 00:53:17

Yeah. I mean, I mean, I think maybe it would probably be on par with like, if I had a son. And he was like, I'm going to become a pizza delivery driver.

And I was like, no, you're not. Like, there's nothing wrong with me to pizza delivery driver, but with what I've gone through, get some other job, dude.

Like, it's not worth the risk. And I. I love pizza delivery.

I might would do it again depending on circumstances, but I'm like, I don't want anybody else to do that because, no, not people. That I care about anyway. Yeah, yeah, it's a good point there.

And I like what you said about just kind of seeing stuff from the other person's perspective. I think, as a whole, our culture could learn to do that better today in modern times.

You know, there's a lot of things happening in the world right now, and everybody wants to be like, how dare you believe this? And your people is what caused this, and. No, your people are what caused this, and why would you ever support this person?

And it's like, a lot of the times I agree with one side over the other for the most part, but also a lot of times, like, guys, people are just reacting to things that are happening in real time.

And a lot of the times people are being emotional, and you got to see why people are feeling this way, why people are supporting somebody maybe you don't like, or maybe why they care about this issue or why they aren't for certain things. You know, like, I'm trying not to say the political parts out loud, but I think you guys can. Well, listen, you guys know where I stand.

Like, I think Donald Trump is an evil person. I am against the MAGA movement as a whole because I think it's just unchristian. But I want a real Republican Party to happen again.

That would be really cool. I would be for it. I would join the party that cared about state rights.

But when it comes down to it, some people are on certain sides of maga not because they're evil and don't care about their neighbors and don't care if LGBT people have rights or not.

Some people are on that side because they genuinely feel like their people have been attacked and that the MAGA movement is going to protect their people. They're scared. And reacting in anger of how they post it online is just a stupid thing for me to do.

Instead, sometimes you got to hear people and go, hey, wait a minute. That's somebody who's scared.

And maybe their fears are valid or on, you know, on the other side, instead of just being like, oh, Josh doesn't like Christians, and that's why he's against MAGA and all this. And, like, hey, maybe.

Maybe you see, like, people like me are afraid for my neighbors who aren't Christian that I still care and love for, and I'm afraid.

Sometimes we just don't see the fear, and we just want to get straight to reacting and anger and gatekeeping and protecting people against their will, like Moana's dad. And sometimes it's maybe helpful to be like, Moana's mom and just kind of like actually hear people see from their perspective.

Take a pause, maybe listen to the ocean. Ocean's good. Yeah. All right. Anything to add, Liz? Any other thoughts about Moana, the shiny song? Anything?

Liz Clyde: 00:56:04

I mean, I felt like we didn't give Maui enough love, but, you know, you just have to watch the video of the movie and enjoy him all on your own.

Joshua Noel: 00:56:12

Yeah. And if you haven't seen the movie yet and this is what finally convinced you to go ahead, all I want to say is, you're welcome.

Liz Clyde: 00:56:20

Make way for a good time.

Joshua Noel: 00:56:24

All right, then, let's go ahead and wrap this up. We will do a bonus segment. I don't really have a question. We're just going to chat a little bit about Moana, too.

Just want to hear what Liz thinks about it. We'll see. But so if you want to hear his chat a little bit about Moana to head over to Patreon, we'll do that.

For now, though, Liz, you have any recommendations for our listeners?

Liz Clyde: 00:56:45

I mean, now is a great time to get into Demon Slayer because I also saw that movie last week. It was like a two movie in one week type of time for Liz. And I never go to the movies because I kind of hate them, so.

Joshua Noel: 00:56:58

And I love the movies. I just haven't felt the need to go for anything. And since, like, Fantastic Four, like, I'm.

Liz Clyde: 00:57:04

Perfectly fine in waiting for most things, but I refuse to wait for Demon Slayer or Downton. So that's fair. You know what? Honestly, if you haven't gone to the movie in a while, just go see a movie. Just go do it. That's my recommendation.

Go enjoy that popcorn.

Joshua Noel: 00:57:19

I recommend going to the theater also. I think just going to the movie theater is just. Just overall experience.

Liz Clyde: 00:57:25

I prefer going by myself.

Joshua Noel: 00:57:28

Yeah, what's the next Disney or Pixar movie that's gonna be in the. In the theater? Do we know?

Liz Clyde: 00:57:33

No idea. Google it real quick.

Joshua Noel: 00:57:36

That's what I'm doing. Zootopia 2.

Liz Clyde: 00:57:39

Oh, yeah. I would go.

Joshua Noel: 00:57:40

What?

Liz Clyde: 00:57:41

You know what? Honestly, guys, let's all go together.

Joshua Noel: 00:57:43

Yeah. Like what? What?

Liz Clyde: 00:57:45

We gotta see what Officer Hobbs is up to.

Joshua Noel: 00:57:48

I need to know, like, exactly when does Zootopia 2 come out here?

Liz Clyde: 00:57:53

Maybe we should get together, we all meet in the middle and go to the movies as Tron's coming out soon.

Joshua Noel: 00:57:58

But no, I was looking at Disney animations, but I want.

Liz Clyde: 00:58:00

Okay.

Joshua Noel: 00:58:01

November 26th. So Thanksgiving weekend, Zootopia 2 gets Thanksgiving weekend. That's big for Disney. Man. What exciting News right here.

Liz Clyde: 00:58:09

You guys just buy your tickets now?

Joshua Noel: 00:58:13

Yeah, yeah, we'll be all catching it in Chapel Hill with Will and Kevin. So if you guys want to.

Liz Clyde: 00:58:20

Is that the weekend of the. The conference?

Joshua Noel: 00:58:24

No, it's Thanksgiving weekend. I won't be in Chapel Hill. But our listeners don't need to know that.

Liz Clyde: 00:58:28

Oh, okay. Well, you just lied to them and called you. I'm sorry.

Joshua Noel: 00:58:32

Well, listeners, if you're on a laptop and want to rate and review and complain that I lied to you on air, you could do so at botchaser or goodpod. This is gonna help our show gain recognition, make it easier to find in search engines like Google. Maybe people can just Google is Joshua a liar?

And it'll pop up. Who knows? If you're on your phone, consider rating reviewing your comedy on a show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

It's going to prioritize a show in those app algorithms, which again is where most people listen to podcast. So it's a huge help. If you rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, it's free.

It takes literally seconds, not even a whole minute to do and it helps the show a whole lot. So we really appreciate you guys when you do those things. It's awesome.

We also really appreciate the people who use their money, support us because we don't have any money. Yeah, I don't have any money.

So after Apple Podcast activate Patreon, you also can financially support the show, like Trip Fuller and Jonathan Augustin, who are awesome, who will be at Theology Beer Camp as well as some of our hosts. So if you want to hang out with Tripp, Jonathan and some of us, man, Theology Beer Camp. It's a good time. We'll probably be there next year too.

I know Tripp will because it's his event. And remember, if you want your own shout out, you too can support our show for $3 a month on one of those three platforms.

Apple Podcast, Captivate or Patreon. Again, all of the Disney eras series that we've done so far, all these reviews, there's a link in the description.

You can listen to the whole playlist and see what other movies we have reviewed from the various Disney era. We are now wrapping up the revival era, getting ready to do our made up pandemic era of Disney films. So fun times, a good time to catch up.

And remember guys, we are all a chosen people, a geekdom, a free.