Long ago on the Polynesian island of Motunui, the people worship Te Fiti, the goddess of nature—a living island whose heart powers the ocean. The heart rests in a precious pounamu stone, the source of Te Fiti's life-giving energy. Maui, the shape-shifting demigod of the wind and sea and master of wayfinding, steals Te Fiti's heart and grants humanity the power of creation. Te Fiti disintegrates, and Maui is forced to flee as Te Kā, a volcanic demon, rises in anger. The world fractures as Maui loses both the heart and his magic fish hook to the depths of the sea, slipping away from the shoreline and from memory.
A thousand years pass, and the ocean chooses Moana, the daughter of Motunui's chief Chief Tui and Sina, to restore Te Fiti's heart. Yet the island’s leaders try to shield her from the truth of the sea, hoping she will follow a path toward becoming the island’s chief. Sixteen years later, Motunui is blighted—vegetation withers and the fish supply dwindles. Moana senses a deeper call and a need to venture beyond the reef, even as her parents urge caution. She longs for a life on the water, and her curiosity grows into a quiet insistence to find a way to heal the land.
Moana’s longing leads her toward the sea, even though the old ways seem closed. She sets out with her pet pig, Pua, and an adventurous spark, but a powerful tide pushes her toward shipwreck before she can cross the reef. In a secret cavern of ancient ships, Moana’s grandmother, Tala, reveals Motunui’s lost voyaging past and explains that Maui’s theft of Te Fiti’s heart set off a chain of darkness that keeps the ocean unsafe. Tala also makes clear that Te Kā’s creeping shadow can be cured only if Moana can seek out Maui and convince him to restore Te Fiti’s heart. With those words, Tala, though gravely ill, pushes Moana toward a fate she has always felt inside her.
Empowered by the ocean’s gift—the heart—Moana receives the blessing to pursue her destiny. Tala’s final wisdom helps her gather courage, and she sails from the cavern aboard a camakau, accompanied by her loyal, if dimwitted, rooster Heihei. A typhoon hurls her across the sea, and she ends up on another island where Maui is stranded, still wary of facing the past. She confronts him, insisting that his power can be used for good, and though he hesitates, he is won over by her determination and joins her on the voyage. Their uneasy partnership marks a turning point as they navigate new dangers together.
The pair are pursued by coconut pirates, the Kakamora, who crave Te Fiti’s heart and test the limits of Moana’s resolve. After eluding the attackers, Moana and Maui learn there is a larger hurdle to overcome: Maui must reclaim his lost fishhook from Tamatoa, a gleaming, gleeful giant coconut crab who dwells in Lalotai, the Realm of Monsters. While Moana distracts Tamatoa with her quick wits, Maui retrieves the hook, only to discover he can no longer control his shape-shifting the way he once did. He is overpowered by Tamatoa, but Moana’s courage and quick thinking help them escape. Maui opens up about his past, revealing that his first tattoo marks the day his human parents abandoned him and that the gods granted him his powers out of pity. Inspired by Moana, Maui agrees to teach her the art of wayfinding, and the two begin to truly trust one another as partners.
They press onward toward Te Fiti’s island, but Te Kā is waiting, dark and consuming. Moana refuses to turn back, and the confrontation with Te Kā leaves Maui’s fishhook badly damaged. Fearing another loss, Maui abandons Moana, and her hope falters as the ocean briefly takes the heart away—from Moana’s hands and toward the vast blue. Yet Tala’s spirit returns in a moment of resolve, reminding Moana of her true calling. With that renewed resolve, Moana retrieves the heart and sets a course back toward Te Fiti, trusting the ocean to guide her.
Maui, changed by Moana’s faith in him, reappears just in time to buy Moana space and time to reach Te Fiti. He fights Te Kā to give her a chance, even as his hook is destroyed in the struggle. Moana realizes—through a revelation about Te Kā—that Te Kā is Te Fiti, corrupted in her absence. The ocean parts, clearing a path for Moana as she makes for Te Fiti with the heart. She returns the heart to Te Fiti, and the goddess heals the ocean and the islands, restoring life to the seas.
Maui apologizes to Te Fiti, who in turn repairs his hook and Moana’s boat before sinking back into the earth and becoming, in a sense, a new island. Moana bids farewell to Maui and Te Fiti, then returns home to reunite with her parents. She places a shell atop the stacked stones that mark the lineage of Motunui’s chiefs, signaling her new role as chieftess and wayfinder. With the path ahead opened and the ocean once again a source of life, Moana takes up leadership of her people, guiding them back to their ancient voyaging, accompanied by Maui as a vigilant companion and ally.
