‘Moana’ ready to jump into action

As Disney returns to the sea nearly two decades after “The Little Mermaid,” the animation studio’s newest heroine feels a whole world away from Ariel.

In the 1989 undersea film, of course, the young heroine pines for a man from afar, literally losing her voice in the process. In the new “Moana,” by contrast — which also, like “Mermaid,” includes Ron Clements and John Musker as directors — the seafaring title character embarks on a Polynesian journey of self-discovery that does not involve a romantic lead.

Moana, in other words, is no Disney princess.

“Disney does have a legacy of female heroines,” says Bill Schwab, the film’s art director for characters, “but I feel like Moana is unique.”

Historically, of course, Disney’s classic storytelling formula for its animated heroines has included landing a love interest, from “Sleeping Beauty” and “Cinderella” right up through “Frozen” and “Tangled.” To find a strong Disney princess who is an exception, you have to look toward such films as Pixar’s “Brave.”

At the center of Moana’s individuality is the Disney team’s focus on creating a teenage adventurer.

“From even the early versions of the script, she was going to be an action hero,” Schwab tells The Washington Post. “That (extends) all the way to the way her costume functions. We never let that out of our sight: Moana was going to be doing all this incredible sailing and … going toe to toe with (demigod) Maui.”

As a powerful heroine, Schwab says of Moana, “she can hold her own.”

Part of that physicality involves capturing the age-specific movement of a 16-year-old. “You try to get those mannerisms — that spirit of being a teenager,” Schwab says.

When the filmmakers found voice actor and singer Auli’i Cravalho, a native of Hawaii, they found a fresh talent who fully embraced the indomitable spirit of Moana. “She brings so much of her teenager-ness” to the role, Schwab says.