Is Moana A Disney Princess? Auli’i Cravalho Has Thoughts

There’s nothing quite as iconic in Disney lore as the Disney princess. After all, these characters go way back. I mean, Sleeping Beauty came out in 1959. Cinderella nine years before that. And Snow White? 1937. Frozen's Elsa and Tangled's Rapunzel are more modern takes of the Disney princess, one that doesn’t just wait for their prince to save them, but they’re still literally royalty, by nature of their stories and inspired fairytales, and live in great castles and wear gilded crowns; The Princess & The Frog's Tiana, an independent and aspiring restauranteur, technically becomes a princess after marrying Prince Naveen. But there’s a group of Disney heroines where it’s less clear. Mulan, a princess? She’d probably describe herself as a warrior first. Historically, Pocahontas was the daughter of the Powhatan tribe’s powerful chief, but the title of princess feels culturally inaccurate. 

It’s a question that many Disney adults have debated, and Moana 2 appears to wink at the confusion. As she heads into her final battle, Moana breaks the animated fourth wall, looks at us, and says she’s “still not a princess.” Ahead of the Disney-animated sequel’s release, I ask Auli’i Cravalho to settle it once and for all: Is Moana a Disney princess? For the voice of Moana, the answer isn’t as simple as a yes or no.

“In this day and age, we want a princess who is not afraid to journey out on the open oceans. A princess who's got muscles from sailing her own canoe. Someone who is the hero of her own story,” Cravalho says, as waves gently wash up on O’ahu’s shores, where our interview takes place, behind her. “So if Moana wants to say she's not a princess, it's only because she's used to being called a hero. But in today's day and age, princess and hero are interchangeable words.”

It’s a thought that’s worth considering, why we think in such exclusive terms and box people into categories to make sense of who others are and what their identity is. Why can’t Moana be both a princess AND a hero? Does it even matter whether she is or isn’t? At the end of the day, what is the most important is Moana’s self-assurance in her main character energy.

The same could be said for Cravalho, whose parents are of mixed Native Hawaiian, Puerto Rican, Portuguese, Chinese, and Irish descent. She says she often finds herself, as so many of us do, having to overexplain her heritage outside of her community. “When I'm in Hawaii, I know my identity. … I am a proud Hawaiian. And when I leave Hawaii, I think, ‘Oh, who am I?’ Other people look at me, and they ask what is your ethnicity? And I am so rooted in my culture that to be asked that, I kind of get thrown sometimes.” 

Moana 2, in theaters now, is set three years after the events of its predecessor as the titular wayfinder voyages across the ocean once again, only this time with a motley crew to help her find other island communities and secure her people’s future. Much like 24-year-old Cravalho, who was originally cast a decade ago, Moana has grown from the first film and is in fact the first Disney heroine to have aged (shocking!). She no longer has the childlike fearlessness of exploration, and feels the pains of leaving home, especially her baby sister Simea, and the responsibility laid upon her shoulders as a leader of her village. It’s a maturation you rarely see displayed in a Disney movie, but one that we all experience as we get older.

“For a lot of young people, a lot of adults in general, when they are taking on a new role or voyaging further than they’ve ever gone before, it is anxiety-inducing,” Cravalho says. “But luckily, like Moana, if you have a crew by your side, if you are willing to put yourself out there no matter the journey, whether it takes loops and turns and it isn’t as straightforward as you thought it might be, the growth is absolutely worth it.” 

And for Moana, we might see that growth continue.

No spoilers but a mid-credits cutscene leaves open the possibility of a potential Moana 3. There’s no word yet on whether the project has been greenlit, although the sequel’s record-breaking $221 million Thanksgiving box office haul will only help its chances. Also unclear is whether Cravalho, who recently played Janis in the film adaptation of the Mean Girls musical, will return to voice our favorite voyager. In June, the lei was officially passed to Catherine Laga'aia, who will portray Moana in the upcoming live-action film — a move that Cravalho, who will serve as an executive producer, cheered.

But Cravalho is clear that more stories that celebrate island communities are needed. I ask her what heroine in Hawaiian history deserves her own biopic, and Cravalho’s eyes light up. “I’ve never been asked this before!” she exclaims.

“I mean [Princess] Kaʻiulani would be incredible,” she says. "[For] someone who is alive and well, Sasha Colby should have her own biopic for the things that she has done for the trans community. I love Hawaiian history, and I think we should be the ones to tell the story.” 

From Disney princess to a real-life Hawaiian princess? We’re manifesting it.