Let’s take a tour around the…

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EPCOT, review, Theme Parks, Walt Disney World, World Showcase

The second half of Epcot, which generally opens roughly two or so hours after the first half opens though this has been subject to change in a variety of ways, the World Showcase is arguably the most popular section of the park itself. For those who want to tour the world in a single afternoon, I’m afraid you will not find such here because frankly speaking, it is almost impossible to see the entirety of the World Showcase without going at absurd speeds. While not everyone major country is located here, those that are do not fail to delight guests in some fashion or another.

MEXICO

The only self-contained pavilion in the World Showcase, Mexico’s entrance plays host to a gallery of artwork called “Animales Fantásticos,” which in itself features a lot of sculptured pieces of animal carvings that, frankly, are rather astonishing to behold. Beyond the gallery lies the interior of Mexico which features its sole ride, The Grand Fiesta Tour starring the Three Caballeros. The ride, like a majority of other attractions scattered across the World Showcase, is primarily an advertisement ride of sorts for its respected country but is still a nice relaxing boat ride away from the oppressive Florida sun and offers quite a few unique sights of Mexico.

The shops located in Mexico are little stands that offer a variety of gifts from clothing, to musical instruments, to animal wood carvings. Its primary restaurant, San Angel Inn Restaurante, overlooks the lagoon of the ride with a stunning backdrop of another ancient temple and is actually the sibling restaurant to another of the same name that has been in operation in Mexico since 1692. As of this post, the only character to meet in Mexico is Donald Duck in his Three Caballeros attire.

NORWAY

Designed to look like a quaint Norwegian village complete with a highly detailed Stave church, Norway’s architecture is based on four distinct styles found in its native land: Setesdal, Bergen, Oslo, and Ålesund. The primary restaurant Akershus features a hot and cold buffet alongside character dining with various Disney Princesses and, like in Mexico, is a sibling to another of its same name in Norway. The shops in Norway are decorated with large wooden trolls, and I do mean actual trolls not like those seen in Frozen, and sell a lot of clothing, candy, and statuettes of ancient Norse gods and trolls.

Its ride, formerly known as Maelstrom, has been revamped into Frozen Ever After where guests go through a quick tour of Arendelle from the humble castle to the troll knoll to Elsa’s illustrious ice palace. This ride has one of the most advanced animatronics I have ever seen and, had I not known otherwise, I’d have thought that Elsa and Anna were being portrayed by actual people. Speaking of the queen and princess, they, and on ocassion Olaf and some vikings, can be found here. More specifically for the royal duo at the Royal Sommerhaus.

CHINA

China… ah, now here’s a pavilion that never fails to draw my breath away. From the replica of the Temple of Heaven, which hosts the entrance to its sole attraction of Reflections of China, a circular 360° film exploring China’s history and amazing scenery, it holds a museum containing several Chinese artifacts including recreations of the Terracotta Army. The shops in China sell a variety of items including parasols, puppets, housewares, tea sets, wall prints, silk robes, porcelain goods, just to name a few. I personally enjoy perusing through the items that feature the Chinese Zodiac.

The China pavilion hosts two places to dine, the Nine Dragons restaurant that features full-service gourmet food and the counter-service Lotus Blossom Cafe that serves the more commonly recognized American-Chinese cuisine. Not going to lie, the egg rolls at the Lotus Blossom Cafe are to die for. Mushu, Mulan in her various guises, and Shang from the film Mulan can be found here.

GERMANY

Germany, my ancestral home, at least on my mother’s side of the family, is a pavilion that caters to the old and the young alike though with two entirely different ways. For adults, Germany hosts the Biergarten, a buffet restaurant that celebrates Oktoberfest all year round and features Schnitzel, strudel, and actual German beer, or so my grandfather would always attest. It hosts live entertainment and the drinks are served in one liter steins.

The shops at Germany sell a variety of German goods, including dolls, cuckoo clocks, those little animal figurines that are always so ridiculously detailed/expensive, and stein glasses of all sorts. There’s even a store dedicated to selling Christmas merchandise.

As of this post, there is no ride to be found in Germany though it was priginally intend to host a boat ride along the Rhine river that was to focus on German folklore similar to Norway’s, now former, Maelstrom, the planned attraction failed when  funding was not met and the space has since been made into a storage facility for floats, workshop, and cast member rehearsal space. Snow White and her seven dwarf friends can all be found here.

ITALY

Featuring Venetian, Florentine, and Roman architecture, Italy hosts a recreation of St. Mark’s Campanile bell tower and a replica of the Doge’s Palace alongside other hallmarks of Italian artwork and architecture. Musicians, clowns, and acting troupes often appear at the central piazza throughout the day and its shops are most notable in their wares of candy, wine, imported ceramics, and blown glass.

Much like Germany, Ital was intended to host its share of attractions. One was to be a gondola dark ride and the other an exploration of Roman ruins. It wasn’t until 2010 with the addition of the Via Napoli restaurant that Italy’s empty space was at last filled. Speaking of the food, when they say its authentic Neapolitan cuisine, they mean it. The water used to make the dough for the pizzas are imported all the way from Pennsylvania and the ovens are all wood burning ones to pay tribute to the three still active volcanoes in Italty. In point of fact, each of these three ovens are sculpted to possess the face of the god that their corresponding volcano is named for. Geppetto, Pinocchio, and Jiminy Cricket have been known to make appearances here.

THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE

So named for its sole attraction, the American Adventure is a lone building, much like Mexico, designed in the Colonial style of architecture. The lobby is a massive square room that has an oval shaped area in the middle for the Voices of Liberty, an eight member a cappella , to perform. The lobby area also hosts various historical pieces of American history such as the different versions of the American flag, paintings of life, and quotations from many famous American figures.

The attraction itself is an animatronic showing of American history across the years and is hosted, primarily, by Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain. The attraction’s biggest winning moment though is in its song “Golden Dream” that features a series of clips from American history and many historical moments or figures that are recognized almost instantly by all who watch it. The Liberty Inn restaurant features the classical American fast foods of burgers, hotdogs, and other such assortments while the Heritage Manor Gifts features a lot of trinkets that pertain to American history in some manner. There are no set characters for America and those that appear are random at best though it has been noted that Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, dressed in their patriotic finest, do make an appearance on the Fourth of July.

JAPAN

Hands down my favorite of the country pavilions, and one that my wallet tends to dread the most, the Japan pavilion features an actual torii, pagoda (as seen above), and a replica of a Japanese castle that frequently hosts a variety of displays of Japanese culture, most recently anime.

While it does not host an actual attraction, there has been many that have been considered. One such attraction was an indoor roller coaster akin to the Matterhorn Bobsleds of Disneyland, which since has become the Expedition Everest attraction in the Animal Kingdom theme park. Another was to feature, and I kid you not, freaking Godzilla. Why, oh why, that did not come to fruition, I will forever lament…

Still there are two chief sources of entertainment to be found in Japan. The first, Matsuriza, is a live performance of Taiko drummers and traditional storytellers at the pagoda. The second, Miyuki, is so named for the candy artist Miyuki whose craft involves shaping very soft, but also very hot dough, into intricate shapes and designs. To date, there are only fifteen people who are considered masters of this craft and Miyuki is the only woman amongst them.

The Mitsukoshi department store rightfully earns its name and is one of two existing stores in all of America. Its wares include clothing, bonsai trees, jewelry, books, manga and anime items, and all manner of toys simplistic and complex. For any fan of Japan, this is your store but be warned, all that you’ll find in your wallet afterwards is a gaping hole. As of this post, no Disney characters can be found in Japan though rumors abound of a certain hero team possibly making an appearance in the future…

MOROCCO

Designed to look like an atypical Moroccan city, the Morocco pavilion is the only pavilion in the World Showcase to have the country’s government aid in its design. No joke, King Hassan II himself sent Moroccan artisans to design and create the many mosaics found in this pavilion and because of the Islamic beliefs on the content of art, these mosaics contain no representations of people in them.

The Fes House is designed to represent the typical Moroccan home and many live plants, including citrus trees, date palms, and olive trees, can be found here. The restaurants here also serve the traditional Moroccan fare including roast lamb, and the shops specialize in rugs, leather goods, and traditional clothing. Aladdin and Jasmine can both be found here.

FRANCE

Designed to look like a Parisian neighborhood not far from the illustrious Eiffel Tower, France hosts the sole attraction “Impressions de France” which is a film that shows that beauty that is France though I make a fair warning, while the sights are a thing to see the musical score of this film can be a bit too relaxing to keep one awake throughout the show.

The shops in France are most notable in selling perfumes and other goods that can only be found in the country itself and the cuisine… oh man, if you thought the buffet in Germany was a belt buster, you have not seen the delicious delights that is French cuisine, most notably in its deserts. As of this post, Belle and the Beast from Beauty and the Beast, Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, Esmeralda from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and surprisingly Marie from The Aristocats have been known to make appearances here.

UNITED KINGDOM

Designed to look like the atypical British village, the United Kingdom plays hosts to the band British Revolution who perform many famous rock covers from such bands as the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and the Rolling Stones, just to name a few. Its primary restaurant, the Rose & Crown Pub is everything its name might imply and has had the recent addition of bangers and mash, as well as fish and chips added to its menu.

The shops at the United Kingdom feature a lot of varying merchandise such as teas, toys, books, and clothing, most notably those pertaining to the Beatles, Paddington Bear, Doctor Who, and more besides. There is one store in particular that features a lot of fine art statues of dragons that took all of my will power not to buy out. Well that and the fact that the Japan pavilion had long since emptied me of coin and bills. There’s even a store dedicated to the research and history behind one’s last name that, admittedly, doesn’t do much for those whose ancestry did not make a home on such soil.

Characters from Alice in Wonderland, most notably Alice and the White Rabbit, as well as Mary Poppins and Winnie the Pooh make frequent appearances here throughout the day.

CANADA

Like France and China, Canada features a film, aptly named O Canada!, that showcases the Canadian landscape. Admittedly, there was a bit of a scuffle to Canada’s history as, originally, Disney had wanted the Canadian government’s backing for this pavilion but they refused on grounds of how Canada was likely to be portrayed, with the stereotypical lumberjacks and all. Still, it has a fine place to dine in Le Cellier Steakhouse and its shops feature a lot of NHL merchandise alongside Christmas, plush toys, fine wines, and yes, delicious Canadian maple syrup. For reasons that I’ve yet to discover, only the animal characters from Pocahontas and Brother Bear can be found here on occasion.

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To all who come to this place of joy, hope and friendship, welcome…

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EPCOT, EPCOT Center, EPCOT theme park, Future World, review, Theme Parks, Walt Disney World

Sometimes known as Epcot Center, EPCOT is the unrealized dream of Walt Disney’s Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, a utopian city that would take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies and as such, would never be truly completed as it would always be introducing, testing, and demonstrating new materials and new systems. The city would have been circular with major businesses and commercial areas at its center with community buildings, such as schools and recreational areas, in the outer rims with homes lining the community proper.

Unfortunately, with Walt’s passing, the Walt Disney Company did not feel that they could implement his vision to its absolute fullest without his guidance, though they did make something of an attempt in the town of Celebration but that, in and of itself, is quite different from what EPCOT was initially planned to be.

The park itself is divided into two sections and it is the first section, Future World, that I will be discussing today. As its name might imply, Future World is, in essence, an expanded concept of Tomorrowland wherein many of the attractions feature the innovations of the future, and in some areas quite literally too. When EPCOT first opened, many of the pavilions, or attractions whichever you prefer, were created and funded by corporate sponsors such as Kraft for Living with the Land or Kodak for Journey into Imagination.

Though not plainly obvious, each pavilion symbolizes a concept of human innovation and were also granted its own distinctive emblem that symbolized in the early years of the park but have since faded into obscurity though many of them are still around to be spotted in the park proper.

Spaceship Earth is the first attraction to see and enjoy for most visitors of the park and rightfully so. Like Cinderella’s Castle for the Magic Kingdom, Spaceship Earth is the symbol of EPCOT as a whole and is hands down the most informative, and inspirational, ride in the park itself. The concept of the ride is simple, communication. Specifically, the history of the spoken and written words from across the globe, from the cave paintings of ancient man to visual communication via cellular phones in the modern era. In point of fact, Spaceship Earth had fairly recently undergone a change in its “future” setting as many of the concepts that were then initially believed to have been far into the future are quite common today.

As its name rightfully implies the Universe of Energy pavilion is all about energy from fossil fuels to solar. Sadly, this attraction is somewhat dated as its most recent update is now all of twenty years old and features, primarily, Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Nye the Science Guy as its hosts in a storyline that fits quite well in the 90’s but is a wee bit nonsensical by today’s standards. But in the end, who cares about any of that when you get to see some dinosaurs up close and personal?

Mission: Space is rather self explanatory and a space travel motion simulation ride of no equal as stated by seasoned astronauts. The pavilion does offer two distinct versions of its motion simulation, a softer “green” version and more realistic “orange” but both do not cater to anyone who has even a smidge of claustrophobia so if you’re not a a fan of tight and enclosed spaces this is definitely not the ride for you. If not and you’ve yet to experience the thrill that is a mission to Mars, well buckle your safety straps tight kids because this is going to be one heck of a ride…

One of my personal favorites in Future World, Test Track is the offspring of the former World of Motion pavilion and, somewhat, holds to its concept of motion insomuch that rather than focusing on the various means of transportation, Test Track is focused on the testing of vehicular transports. Original sponsored by General Motors, the Chevrolet update of Test Track has since offered something new, and surprisingly quite fun, to the experience of testing a motor vehicle. Prior to boarding their test car, guests can design their vehicle and throughout the ride itself see how said vehicle passes the various obstacles and can even chose to race their car against others after the ride itself. A small word of warning, though by no means an actual roller coaster, Test Track is one of the fastest rides in the park and can cause some serious illness to those prone to motion sickness.

Formerly known as the Living Seas, The Seas with Nemo and Friends still maintains its creed of living with, and studying, oceanic life and the pavilion itself hosts three attractions. The first is the primary entryway into the pavilion itself where guests board “clamobiles” and journey to the Big Blue World that is the oceans by way of Marlin and Dory renacting several key scenes from the film Find Nemo. The second is the multitude of aquariums within the pavilion which has several unique sealife including, but not limited to, dolphins, manatees, sea turtles, and several varieties of fish. The last, and by far most popular, attraction is the live show of Turtle Talk with Crush wherein the titular Crush from Finding Nemo talks and interacts with guests. Much like the Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor no show is exactly the same and I can guarantee you that you’ll find yourself laughing at least once in every performance.

Much like the Seas, the Land is a pavilion that hosts multiple attractions within its walls and is also, at least in Future World, the chief place to dine with a vast variety of fresh foods and restaurants whose ingredients are, quite literally, grown in house. The first attraction, and admittedly one that is slightly dated, is The Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable that features Timon, Puumba, and Simba from The Lion King telling the dangers and benefits of symbosis in nature and how even the tiniest of changes can have the largest of outcomes. The second, and easily most interesting attraction is Living with the Land, a boat tour of the various greenhouse and hydroponic facilities within the Land. Last, but certainly not least, is Soarin’ Around the World which has since changed from its earlier concept of hang-gliding across the sunny land of California to spanning the entire world.

The last pavilion, Imagination!, is one that I have several mixed feelings towards. Initially known as Journey into Imagination, the ride featured the wise, almost Saint Nicholas like, Dreamfinder whose task is to find and collect all the wonderful things that can inspire one’s imagination and even demonstrates one such result in the form of Figment, a spirit of imagination.

However, in more recent years the ride has since gone from the fantastical to the somewhat scientific wherein Dr. Nigel Channing of the Imagination Institute, the same president who helped create the shenanigans that resulted in the former Honey I Shrunk The Audience attraction, tries to give us a guided tour through the five senses with constant interruptions by Figment. It is a fun ride, don’t get me wrong, but while it does strive to bring back that One Spark, it just doesn’t ignite with me as it once did not so long ago…

As to characters, there are quite a few to be found throughout Future World in various locations that include the traditional “Toon Town” gang of Mickey and Friends, Figment on his own or sometimes in the arms of his creator/best friend Dreamfinder, Joy & Sadness from Inside Out, and, most recently, Baymax from Big Hero 6.

The ocean is a friend of mine…

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character reviews, Disney Adventurer, Disney Chief, Disney Princess, disney princesses, Moana, Moana (Film), Moana Waialiki, Princess, Vaiana

MOANA WAIALIKI

Otherwise Known As: Vaiana (In Some Countries)
Name Meaning: “Ocean”
Domain: Motunui
Premiered In: Moana (2016)
Voiced By: Auli’i Cravalho

Of all the Disney Princesses, official or not, Moana is by far the most distinct of them all. How distinct? Oh, let me count the ways… First and foremost, as one can rightly assume by her name above, Moana is the only official Disney Princess to have a last name as far as the film canon is concerned. True, characters like Vanellope and Elena have last names but Vanellope technically abdicates her throne for a presidency and Elena, for all her rising popularity is not technically a Disney Princess again, as far as the film canon is concerned.

More to the point, and by her own admittance, Moana does not consider herself a princess and rebukes any such thoughts to Maui, demigod of the wind and sea, straight to his face despite his own apparent evidence to the contrary. That being her style of clothing and the fact that she has an animal sidekick that in his eyes combined with her habit of singing on occasion makes her a princess.

However, contrary to the demigod’s evidence, I find myself agreeing with Moana. Personality wise, Moana is nothing at all like any Disney Princess that’s come before her. Though she is a teenager, being all of fourteen years old or so, there is no real “teenage rebellion” in any way, shape, or form.

While she is drawn to the sea, Moana does not let it become an obsession that leads her, and those closest to her. Heck, the only reason she initially goes out past the reef at all is to try and prove that there can be more fish, and thus more food, for her people and not because she simply wants to go out onto the ocean.

Though Moana does not shy away from her responsibilities as chief of her people and is not deterred by her father’s, or her people’s, actions towards her but is inspired by them and becomes a better leader for it. When her father showing her the stack of stones that each chief before them carried to the island of Motunui’s tallest mountain, she was not worried for the possibility that she might not live up to such a legacy but embraces it and overcomes it.

Even when her father, the still in charge chief, is standing right there next to her, villagers still go to Moana and seek her counsel in regards to the withering, if not outright infected looking, crops of coconuts.

What is truly one of the most defining aspects of Moana is that her story has not even the slightest bit of romance involved. True, the same could be argued for Merida but one must remember that a majority of the plot revolved around her unwilling engagement to any one of the three visiting clan heirs. Even Elsa, being technically a queen and thus exempt from inclusion, still has to deal with her sister’s far too over-the-top attitude in regards to true love and love-at-first-sight. That’s not to say that Moana has no love at all, far from it in fact.

It is her love of her home and her people that drives her, that inspires her, and what raises her to become the hero of her own story. From the very start of her journey, we are told that Moana is to find Maui and aid him in returning the Heart of Te Fiti that he had stolen all those centuries ago and thus doomed the world to a slowly eroding darkness. Even Moana herself believes herself to be nothing more than an aid to Maui and even then, not much of one as she, initially, had no experience in sailing, or wayfinding as it is properly named.

Initially until Maui himself taught her all that he knew of the art, though not willingly so as the Ocean took matters into its own… waves…? Yes, waves, and all but forced Maui into have to rely on Moana to at least reach the entrance to the Realm of Monsters in order to get his magical fish hook back from the clutches of Tamatoa.

But think about it, for just a moment… Moana is given the Heart of Te Fiti, chosen specifically by the ocean for the pure heart and courage she displayed as an infant, and look at what she accomplishes specifically throughout her story. She finds Maui and, with a little help from the ocean, gets him to help her put the heart back. She even goes so far as to outright deck him in the stomach with her oar and grabs him by the ear to loudly proclaim that he is not her hero.

I’m not going to lie Moana instantly went to being my personal Best Princess with that kind of gumption.

While one could say that Moana’s home island of Motunui is her domain, I do not believe that to be so. Aside from the fact that she, and by extension her people, are voyagers of the ocean and are more akin to nomads who make their homes wherever they may find them, I firmly believe that Moana does not find her island to be her domain.

While she cares greatly for her island home, which in itself is a tropical paradise that makes anyone even remotely familiar with the bitter hoarfrost and icy winds of winter weep with envy, Moana’s chief concern is first and foremost, her people. True, the island of Motunui will likely forever hold a special place in her heart.

Contrary to most Disney Princesses of the more recent eras, Moana has not one but two animal companions and neither of who are portrayed as being anything more than slightly above average animals. Or slightly… alright extremely less in the case of one. The first, a pig named Pua was initially supposed to be the defacto animal sidekick to Moana and still is insomuch that he is most distinctly Moana’s actual pet and not one that belongs to the village as a whole like Heihei the rooster.

Originally, Heihei was going to be something rather like Flick from Pocahontas in that he’d be a rude, rash, and outright arrogant little snit of a bird if ever there was one before he ultimately became, and I quote one of the co-directors here, “the stupidest character in Disney Animation.” That… might be a bit understated but honestly, seeing is believing has never been more true in concern to the stupidity of a rooster…

As of the time of this post, Moana does not have either a “Palace Pet” nor a “official” royal get-up of any sort. If she does attain a Palace Pet, I’ve no doubt it’ll either be something that makes little to no sense for her to have, and yes I’m still upset that Ariel gets a freaking a cat because darn it she’s a mermaid for criminy’s sake, or will be right on the mark.

If I were a betting man, I’d say something to do with the ocean, either a turtle or perhaps a hermit crab. As to a royal get up… hopefully it will not go the way that Pocahontas and Mulan initially did and, if at all, will be similar to her ceremonial attire that was shown in the film proper.

A drab little crab once…

Tags

Disney Villain, disney villains, Moana (Film), Tamatoa

TAMATOA

Premiered In: Moana (2016)
Voiced By: Jemaine Clement

Seeing as I had my own start by reviewing Disney Villains followed shortly by Disney Princesses before moving on to the films proper, I shall again follow that order with what has to be one of my favorite Disney Villains of… Hrm… Y’know, now that I think about it, has there really been an official name made for this most recent era of Disney films? Lemme check that real quick…

… Huh. Well, “officially” starting in 2009 with The Princess and the Frog, this era of Disney Animated Feature Films has been titled as the Revival Era, which I admittedly can’t disagree with entirely as the decade before was rather… lackluster save for a few diamonds in the rough. Still, with the hope that this is an era that’ll go for new lengths before leaping to newer heights, I myself shall refer to the more recent CGI films as the Disney Digital Era.

Stepping down from my little soapbox let me speak of the newest member of Disney villainy, the enormous crab of glimmer and glam, Tamatoa. Now, admittedly, Tamatoa is technically speaking not the primary antagonist of the film but the one whom is also not truly a villain in and of themselves either. Thus the role of actual in-film villain falls to Tamatoa though his is likely the most unique amongst all Disney Villains thus far, at least those in the feature films category.

To start with, Tamatoa does not have any form of lackeys to call his own, which in itself is not altogether unique. Shere Khan for example may have an applicable courtesy with his fellow Jungle Book villain Kaa but the snake is far from being the tiger’s sidekick. Likewise, and in more recent films, Mother Gothel may have conned the Stabbington Brothers into working with her but that’s all that there relationship was, a con.

More to the point though, Tamatoa doesn’t want, or need, lackeys to begin with because he, contrary to all Disney Villains past, has everything that he could ever want, or so he believes. Whereas most villains such as Scar or King Candy (AKA Turbo) had to take what was not rightfully theirs, or like Maleficent and Ursula acting out of vengeance for past wrongs, Tamatoa is a self-admitted hoarder of all things glim and glamorous and that is literally all that he claims to want.

By Maui’s own admittance, and from a few key lyrics in Tamatoa’s song that he sings with gusto upon Moana’s request despite suspecting it to be a distraction, which it is, we know that Tamatoa was at least inspired by the mortal-turned-demigod Maui. More specifically, Maui’s enchanted tattoos that appear on his skin whenever he achieves a great deed be it for good or for ill, including his own victory against the ginormous crab that resulted in the decapod losing a limb as a result.

Wanting to turn his own body into a work of art, Tamatoa had spent countless years finding and hoarding up every piece of gold and shiny treasure he could find and affix it to his shell with two pieces being beyond the weight of gold already resting upon Tamatoa’s back.

One such treasure was Maui’s magical fishhook, which had been lost centuries ago by the demigod, and could allow Maui to transform himself into a vast variety of animal forms and is both sharp and sturdy enough to cleave through molten rock. The other, less noticeable treasure brings a lot of questions to mind as to when this film takes place but there’s no denying the facts.

Somehow, someway, Tamatoa has found Genie’s lamp.

Moving on from that bomb of an easter egg, from start to finish for all of his scene in the film, Tamatoa is shown to be a unpredictable, and quite possibly insane, individual though this may be in part due to his own self-isolation from his fellow monsters. He can go from being murderous and menacing to comedic and, dare I say, outright cheeky at the drop of a hat. He also admits to eating anyone be they human, deities, and other creatures of the deep. He even admits to having eaten his own grandmother, which he admits took a week due to her enormous size.

… Now that mind sound incredibly disturbing, and frankly it really, really is, but one must remember that Tamatoa is, for the most part, a type of coconut crab, which are omnivorous and have been noted as scavenging the carcasses of their fellows. Heck, real coconut crabs have no known predators except humans, of course, and other coconut crabs! Then again, considering that coconut crabs can grow to be over three feet in length, that’s not that surprising…

Of all Disney Villains, Tamatoa is perhaps the most narcissistic of them all and yes I do include the likes of the Wicked Queen in that regard. He has a superiority complex that outsizes his own body and views anything that is not beautiful as being irrelevant and disposable.

However, despite all the treasures that he has accumulated and his proclamations of being the most beautiful thing there could ever be, there is an obvious desire for more from Tamatoa and it’s made all the more apparent by the film’s overarching message of identity, self-worth, and embracing the person you are on the inside. By the end of the film, Tamatoa is the only character to be shown to spurn this ideal and the consequence of it leaves him still stuck on his back alone and empty in the Realm of Monsters.

He even goes so far as to contemplate the uselessness of his treasure-laden shell and laments that if he were of a different name and possessing a certain manner of accent that people, that is to say the audience, would be more helpful towards him.