From the very first teaser, I knew I would like the character of Maui. He has everything that’s great about a Disney character: he’s funny, snarky, his tattoos have minds of their own, and he has an amazing magical accessory (in this case, a giant fish hook) that lets him change into different animals! And best of all, he’s brought to life by Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson. Maui, in my opinion, has one of the most awesome proper introductions for a character that I’ve ever seen.

See, Moana’s voyage to find Maui seems to end in disaster when her boat is caught in a storm. Moana begs the ocean for help and finds herself stranded on a desert island…but she isn’t alone! As it turns out, this is the island Maui’s been stranded on for the last thousand years (give or a take a decade) and is he ever surprised to find Moana on the island with him. Maui, shocked that Moana doesn’t know anything about him (besides the fact that he stole the Heart of Te Fiti and cursed the oceans), decides to introduce himself via a song where he says “You’re Welcome” for everything he’s ever done for the humans.

And as it turns out, Maui’s done a LOT over the last few thousand years: he made the sky, brought fire, the winds, created coconut trees, the tides, grass and he even pulled the sun closer to the Earth to make the days longer. Not only that, he’s covered in magical tattoos that represent all of his victories.

Hearing all of this, Moana is in awe of Maui and delighted as she piles her arms full of presents. Which makes the next part rather funny: as the song winds down, Maui begins dropping hints that he’s about to do something sneaky, for instance:

It turns out that all this time Maui has been plotting to swipe Moana’s boat (well, he is a trickster god among other things, so this isn’t exactly unusual behavior) but first he needs to get Moana out of the way, so at the very end the song’s spell suddenly breaks and she finds herself stuck in a cave, her ‘presents’ nothing but seaweed and old coconuts and Maui covering the entrance with a boulder so she can’t get away!

 

As I said earlier, this is one of the best character introductions I’ve ever seen: listening to this song tells you everything you need to know about Maui. He’s full of himself, sly and also eager to please (to a point anyways). And honestly, the first time I saw this film I had no idea the Rock could sing this well! I mean I knew he could sing a little but wow he’s got a great voice! This scene also contains some great 2D animation, both in the background and with Maui’s tattoos

What do you think of “You’re Welcome” and Maui’s introduction? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and have a great day!

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