What Moana teaches our kids and why you SHOULD watch it.

One of the things that I really do love about the school holidays, despite all my protestations that might have you believing that I detest them and want to ship my sprogs off to Antarctica until they’re 25 (possinly 30), is spending the evenings together, homework and post-school stress free.

After school evenings are usually frantic. We’ve got to do homework but the kids what to play, Edith wants to pester her brothers but they’re tired and grouchy, and as if playing referee to them isn’t enough I am rushing to try and cook something nutritious with whatever I left in the fridge because I haven’t had time to do a shop… The holidays, by contrast, are usually slow evenings spent on the sofa, chatting, cuddling and watching TV.

This time round, we’re all about Moana.

I love my Disney, this is not a surprise to anyone who knows me or reads the blog frequently. I LOVE it.

I’ve always felt like Disney projects a positive image to my children, something that I know a lot of people disagree with, but I hold firm to the belief that their image, especially the modern image (which was admittedly WAY overdue) is a hugely positive one. Moana is not only a huge role model for Edith as a strong female lead who is NOT a princess, but also for the boys in so many different ways.

Moana, for those that haven’t had chance to see it, is the daughter of the village chief who isn’t content with the stay put attitude of life and believes that she has to help her community, at all costs. She sets off to find an errant demi god who stole the heart of a goddess and cursed the world and make him put it back.

That’s a basic run down without giving too much away, but what I really adore about this character and why we’re pretty much watching it until we’re singing “You’re Welcome” in our sleep, is that this is a fearless woman who is doing something selfless and, yes perilous, for the good of others. She isn’t going to sit around and be told that she should be content, she wants to smash through the Disney version of the glass ceiling, needs no male influence to rescue her, doesn’t fall in love and go goo goo eyed at the first chance and KICKS ASS. Moana isn’t one of the elite, she’s a tribes woman, yes the daughter of the chief, but not living in a palace, she’s working with her hands, and emphasis is put on how she will be expected to work with the fellow people. She’s one of them. She’s part of a team. When she meets the hero (Maui) she doesn’t swoon, she tells him to pull his finger out and eventually they work together and again, instead of conquering the bad guys, Moana looks deeper and sees that this isn’t really a “bad guy” after all, teaching my kids that sometimes we act the way we do because of events outside of our control and that compassion and understanding is what makes the world turn.

So in love with Moana are we that we have the singing Moana doll and she is the first thing that the boys and Edith pick up in the morning, not to mention that they are all walking around carrying her necklace, another lovely gift from Jakks to our family as a part of the #MoanaNightIn campaign. I’m supposed to urge you to have a night in with Moana, pretty much like what we’ve been doing most nights during the holiday, but I don’t think a night in is enough! If you’re kids love Disney then I would embrace Moana, talk about her until you’re blue in the face and sing those songs alongside your doll.

In continuity from Frozen, where one of the heroine’s doesn’t need to fall in love to complete herself, we have the same thing with Moana. It teaches young children that they are strong enough to stand alone without the need for a partner.

Have you seen Moana? Are you a fan?