Initially I hated “Moana”.  It had good music and great animation, but I wasn’t into the story.  I just didn’t get it.
Luna, on the other hand, loved it and watched it over and over.  Which meant I watched it over and over.
As I did, I started to notice more and more similarities to “Star Wars”.  Yeah, I know… You’re gonna say, “It’s the hero’s journey, John. Most stories are constructed this way.”
Ok, sure, but DAMN!  A dead elder who returns as a transparent color (Obi Wan/ grandmother)?  A cocky guy (Han Solo/ Maui)  who’s all about himself and abandons the hero right before the final battle (Death Star/ goddess)…. Only to return right at the very moment the hero’s about to get killed… so the hero can finish the quest?  And the resolution to the quest is popping a small thing (laser/ amulet) into a small hole (vent shaft/ recess) on a very large enemy (death star/ goddess)?
Come on!  Even retrieving Maui’s hook is like rescuing Princess Leia! 
Anyway, the similarities to “Star Wars” go on and on.  
And I started to like “Muana” more and more.
John Vogel