'Moana' Fan Theories That Might Just Be Right (2024)

Redditor u/SketchesFromMidgardspeculatesthat since the Heart of Te Feti is able to grant life to vegetation, humans, and animals, it also protectsMoana from danger while in her possession. Previously, Maui took the Heart from its rightful place and faced the wrath of lava monster Te Ka. Since Mauihad the Heart, a strike from Te Ka did not burn or end him but only knocked the stone into the ocean depths.

Gramma Tala gives the stone to Moana and almost immediately afterward becomes sick and passes away. The stone kept Gramma Tala from harm all of those years, so it does the same for Moana on her journey to return it. That is why Moana survivesthe storm that washes her up onto Maui's island, the fall into the Realm of Monsters, and the confrontation with the coconut assailants.

During the course of the movie, Maui asks why the ocean would choose a young girl with no sailing experience to return the Heart of Te Fiti to its rightful location. Why not have Maui return what he took? Or why couldn't the ocean, which is shown to haveanthropomorphic traits, replace the stone itself? Redditoru/graaahspeculates that the ocean knows Maui is afraid ofTe Ka and will not willingly take on the task. Maui is required for the mission, but another person is needed to push the demigod into action.

The ocean doesn't know where to return the Heart, but Maui does. Moana is chosen for her ability to persevere and drive Maui into action to complete his part of the ocean's plan.

Moana sets sail to find Maui so he can lead her to the rightful location ofthe Heart of Te Fiti. Following a terrible storm, the princess wakes up on an island whose only inhabitant is Maui. Redditoru/87StickUpKidtheorizes that the ocean took the life of Moana in the storm so that she could be reborn as a demigod.

Later in the film, Moana is able to push a stone statue over, fight hundreds of coconut people assailing her boat, and even free dive to the bottom of the oceanto retrieve the Heart.These do not seem to be things a mortal human can do, u/87StickUpKid claims, buta demigod likeMaui can. The Redditorfurther notes that Moana enters and leaves the Realm of Monsters, a place where Maui says no mortals can go.

Redditoru/copernic10believes that the ocean didn't choose Moana for the arduous journey to retrieve Mauiand gain his help to return the Heart of Te Fiti to its rightful place. Instead, Gramma Tala picked Moana for the task so their people could become great explorers of the oceans once again. The Redditor points to the conversation between Maui and Moana where the demigod reveals he's never heard of an Ocean God, making it improbable that one exists.

Redditoru/Kizadekposes a similar theory with an important twist: Gramma Tala sends Moana on her quest because Tala is the Ocean God herself. The Redditor cites the following clues:Gramma Tala dances with the ocean, she tells Moana she saw her receive the Heart of Te Fiti as a child when she wasn't visibly present, and Tala is the one that insists to Moana that the ocean chose her. Furthermore, when Gramma Tala posthumously appears to Moana, she laments putting so much onto her granddaughter's shoulders - a sign that Tala is the Ocean God that chose Moana for the task.

Moana finds a cavern filled with the boats of her ancestors, but the boat she takes on the voyage - according to Redditoru/Underwateraven- is a special vessel given to her by the ocean. When Moana sees a vision of her ancestors exploring the seas, there is no trace of the boat she eventually sails beyond the reef. That boatalso happens to be just the right size to hold Maui, Hei Hei, and Moana, while also being swift enough to maneuver through awkward passages. Furthermore, Moana'sboat has a unique symbol that is also seen in the sand on both occasions whenthe ocean gifts Moana a shell. The Heart has similar markings on its surface.

Redditoru/ResidentMarsupial1doesn't believe Maui usescharm and a catchy song alone to trick Moana into leaving her boat unguarded. Instead, Maui has the power to hypnotize individuals that are suggestible. He tests this on Moanaat the beginning of his song "You're Welcome."

Maui: So what I believe you were trying to say is... "thank you."
Moana: "Thank you?"
Maui: You're welcome.
Moana: What? No, no, no. I... I didn't... I wasn't... Why would I ever...!

After successfully entrancing Moana into saying something she didn't want to say, Maui knows he can continue the hypnosis with different techniques. Maui uses arm pull induction and then a butterfly induction to gain Moana's trust, and pushes her to drop her defensive stance. Once successful with the hypnosis, Maui leaves her in a cave and takes off with her boat. The illusion broken, Moana breaks free of her prison and goes after the demigod.