Disney's Moana has become yet another in the studio's long line of hit animated musicals. However, it turns out there's even more to see, and hear, in a new bonus scene brought to us by The Rock. The scene is entitled "Gone Fishing" and depicts a scene that may or may not actually be from the movie, though if it is, we're really not sure where it's located.
The scene depicts our two lead characters, Moana and Maui, sitting on the edge of the water with the demi-god explaining that Moana needs to stop playing with the ocean and command it to do what she wants. He tries to show her this by pulling fish out of the water with his magic fishhook. His results are less than impressive. This is, unfortunately, only part of a larger sequence, of course. It's being put out there to tease the Blu-Ray release of Moana next month. You'll have to pick it up to see the entire thing. It's a fun little scene, with another piece of wonderful music which just makes Moana's overall soundtrack that much more impressive.
The Rock calls this a "bonus scene" on Twitter and we're honestly not quite sure what that means. Is a bonus scene the same thing as a deleted scene? That would make the most sense, but if it's a deleted scene, it's not entirely clear where the scene would fit in the film. Maui has his magic fishhook, and he knows how to use it as he easily transforms, which would put this scene fairly late in the film, but there's no island that the pair spends any time on together at that point in the story. What's more, this doesn't look like just any island. It looks like Moana's island. The jets of water that blast through the rocks and bounce Maui around look to be the same ones that Moana runs through during the "How Far I'll Go" song.
It's possible that this isn't actually a deleted scene and instead something extra the animation team put together after the fact, possibly an epilogue to the story, but if that's the case, why is it a "scene" and not an animated short? Maui's attitude regarding Moana's relationship with the ocean also doesn't seem consistent with how he would feel at the end of the movie. Also, Moana's control of the ocean seemed to be connected to her possession of the Heart of Te Fiti, which she wouldn't have if this takes place after the main story is over.
Yes, I'm completely over analyzing this, but only because I'm excited to have something new from Moana to look at. It was a beautiful movie with some of the most fun characters I had a chance to spend time with last year. I'm certainly hoping they'll be even more additional content to check out when Moana is available for digital download starting February 21.
