Popular Culture Review 30.2
Later in the film , Moana has visions of her island becoming rotten and black , with her people hungry and struggling . Even though Moana is drawn to the ocean , and longs to find out about the world beyond the reef , her father is firm . The island is their home , and the reef is their safety barrier�no one goes sailing beyond it .
Later in a cave , a hidden secret is unveiled ; we see depictions of Islanders sailing very large boats , much larger than the small fishing boats that the people of Motunui use inside the reef . Moana then has a vision of people who look like those who live on Motunui , but who are roaming the ocean , using stars as a navigational tool . She hears them sing : “ We are explorers .... We tell the stories of our elders in a never-ending chain .”
Moana learns that people stopped exploring the seas at the same time that Te Fiti ’ s heart went missing . They found a safe island and decided to stay there . Moana is to be the one who restores Te Fiti ’ s heart , and , when she does , the goddess then starts to rejuvenate the destroyed lands around her : green leaves start to emerge , and they quickly start to reinvigorate the blackened and dying islands . Where darkness was once spreading across the Pacific , now there are tropical plants and flowers .
As Motunui rediscovers a luscious version of itself , its inhabitants also rediscover something from their past : the desire to explore what lies beyond the ocean reef is reignited in them . As the Islanders celebrate Moana ’ s return and the re-greening of their island , they drag the large boats out of the secret cave . Finally , we see the Islanders sailing the large boats out beyond the reef . Te Fiti ’ s heart has been restored . The oceans are safe again . The islands are healing and the people of Motunui have embraced their ancestors ’ natural penchant for exploration .
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