“Moana” is a must-see movie for any Disney-lover looking to be transported back to their childhood.

The movie follows Moana (voiced by Auli’i Cravalho), who grew up with the expectation that she’ll follow in her father’s footsteps and become the next chief of her island village.

But there’s a catch: no one on the island is allowed to go past the ocean reef a couple hundred feet out into the ocean.

The society has  an inexplicable fear of the water.  Yet, Moana has always felt a strange  calling to the ocean.  Once her father (voiced by Temuera Morrison) picks up on this, he continually tries to stomp out the curiosity.

While his efforts seem to work, nothing can truly sway Moana’s passion for the sea.

For a time, Moana goes on with her daily life, but a few years down the road her island’s surrounding waters are suddenly void of fish and the crops that were once plentiful are no longer.  This deterioration leads Moana’s eccentric grandmother (voiced by Rachel House) to tell her the truth that she’s been hiding: Moana has been chosen by the ocean to reverse an age old curse that’s slowly been destroying all of the surrounding islands.

With this newfound knowledge, Moana, who has never gone more than a couple hundred feet off her island and has no knowledge of sailing, must sail away to find Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson).

Maui, a demigod, is the one responsible for the destructive curse, and is the only hope of reversing it.  Moana must somehow convince him to make things right.

What ensues for Moana  is a life changing, high stakes journey that forces her to find herself and define what type of leader she will be.

She’s pushed out of the only comfort she’s ever known and into a completely new world.  The journey she goes on pushes her to redefine herself and what’s important to her.

This movie lived up to Disney’s reputation of providing an adventure-filled, heartwarming film that’s captivating for someone of any age.

It received a very impressive 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, which I think was well deserved.

The movie itself was wholesome with a good message for kids in a similar vain to a couple of movies that Disney has recently released.

It was all about pushing through challenges and learning to solve problems without enlisting the help of others.

“Frozen” and “Brave”, two major movies preceding “Moana”, were similar in the sense that none have been the “typical” princess-in-search-of-a-prince movie that became popular in the ‘90s.

Instead, “Moana”, like the other two, was action packed and empowering.  Moana faced many challenges and, rather than depending on others, pushed forward on her own.

The prominent female protagonist was able to teach girls and boys alike that nothing should stand in their way and be a reason to give up, whether it be physical weaknesses, emotional restraints, or hot lava sea monsters coming up from the deep.

In many ways, it also had many strong connections to “Mulan”.  In both movies, the female protagonists are forced to go against the existing expectations held for them in search of something more.

In “Mulan’s” case, this was a gender stereotype.  In Moana’s, it was expectations for her future as well as common beliefs about the ocean among her community.

Moana has to risk everything in order to do what she thinks is right, even when those around her may not fully support that decision.

Despite the familiar themes in the movie, “Moana” became something wonderfully new through its quirky characters, incredible graphics, and intriguing South Pacific legends.  But above all else, my favorite part had to be the music.  No Disney movie is complete without the sporadic outbreak of song and “Moana” was no exception.  Throughout the movie, the plot was enhanced (and clarified) through upbeat and comical numbers.  My favorite was hands down “You’re Welcome” sung by none other than Dwayne Johnson.  I had no idea that he could sing, but the song was anything but a disappointment.

With so much preceding “Moana”, I was half expecting it to be a flop, but the movie lived up to its hype and is definitely worth a watch if you’re looking for something to do this weekend.