Disney’s Moana Finally on Blu-Ray and Digital Download!

Moana is Finally Coming Home!

Is everyone as excited as we are to finally have Disney’s Moana in our home? Whenever we see a movie we love, it feels like a countdown to the day when we can finally have them home with us. We were invited to a reception at Disney’s Animation Studios to hear about all of the fun, exciting and educational Bonus Features that you can look forward to. Disney’s Moana is available for Digital download on February 21st and in stores everywhere on March 7th.

A Warm Welcome!

We were welcomed to the event by traditional Polynesian dancers and musicians to help prepare us for the fun in store. We were lucky enough to not only be the first to see some of the bonus features but also hear from Director Ron Clements and Producer Osnat Shurer themselves about the amazing experiences they had while making Moana.

Voice of the Islands

One of the many bonus features available on Moana is a must-see documentary for the whole family, Voice of the Islands. The 30 minute documentary serves as an educational experience that shares how the filmmakers not only fell in love with the Pacific Island culture, but were also so excited to share it with the rest of the world, through Moana.

Producer Osnat Shurer shared a few obstacles that she faced while developing Moana, including the difficulty of creating one of the main characters and maintaining the integrity of another. One of the characters she was referring to was the CGI development of the ocean as a central character. This was a first for the graphics department and was an obstacle that they met and overcame, with perfection. I don’t know about you, but the ocean in Moana is pretty breath taking to me.

Another struggle that Shurer was faced with early on in development of Moana’s story was maintaining Moana’s role as the main character. Once Maui’s character was introduced, she fought for Moana to maintain her status as the star of the story. It was very important to Shurer to have Moana be the hero of her own journey, and show everyone that it wasn’t about gender, it was about protecting her power and sense of self.

The bonus features included with Moana are such a gift to everyone who watches them. You will see how so much of the beauty of the Polynesian and Pacific Island culture is represented within Moana and where it came from.

Also included in the bonus features, is deleted songs that although incredible, just didn’t make the cut. And go behind the scenes with the musical geniuses that came together to create all of the beautiful songs you hear in Moana. Trust me, the music features are awesome.

You’re also going to definitely going to want to check out the short film Gone Fishing.

I’d have to say my favorite part of Moana’s Bonus Features was learning even more about the Polynesian and Pacific Island culture. It was incredible to hear from the group of experts that producers joined together to form the Oceanic Trust and see the appreciation that everyone involved with the film have for one another.

Don’t forget: Disney’s Moana is available for Digital download on February 21st and in stores everywhere on March 7th.

(Cynthia Duarte is the Editor of the popular LA lifestyle blog, Kinda Silly Mommy. Visit her on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.)