Poseidonis?unmask

ARIEL! Ariel is far and away the most aquatic princess and The Little Mermaid is a film dripping major thalassic iconography.

But look under the surface and there is no depth to the connection. All Ariel wants to do is leave the ocean: "What would I give if I could live out of these waters?" That's extremely problematic for the god of the sea. Ariel's entire arc is trading away her voice, taking on a new form and walking as a stranger in a foreign land. It simply doesn't match Poseidon's vibe.

Well, if not Ariel, then… Moana!? You're right. And here's why.

With the movie's maritime setting, Moana is off to a great start. Ariel gives up the sea, Moana claims the sea. Moana exhibits a bond with the sea's power that directly mirrors Poseidon's divine control over the waves. Moana even beats out Ariel when you factor in all of Poseidon's lesser known domains:

• Poseidon is the God of horses. He does not swim in the ocean, he rides a chariot that is pulled by a hippocampus. Unlike Ariel who swims, Moana has a chariot — her Polynesian outrigger canoe.
• Poseidon is the God of navigation and the patron of sailors. Moana's crowning achievement is the rediscovery of wayfinding and voyaging across the open sea.
• Poseidon is the God of earthquakes and his name translates as 'master of the earth'. He was a god of the earth, long before he gained his present day associations with the sea. Moana is the only Disney princess who sees an island rise from the sea floor, which is literal land-creation. And there's a descent to Lalotai, reached by splitting the ground open.

Poseidon is wrathful, brooding and tempestuous; Moana is resolute, dutiful and persistent, and they are both implacable. Moana's story arc features her refusing to give up despite major challenges. Nestled in Moana's film are unsubtle nods to Poseidon's eternal rivalry with Zeus, the sky god. "See the line where the sky meets the sea, it calls me." In Moana 2, she thwarts Nalo, the God of Storms (read: Zeus) by breaking his curse and raising Motufetu.

Finally, we have to address the Demigod in the room. Why does Maui feature so prominently in Moana's story? Why would Poseidon, a prideful god, choose to share the limelight and who would he share it with? Let's break down Maui's abilities:

• Maui held up the sky — like Atlas
• Maui stole fire from down below — like Prometheus
• Maui lassoed the sun — like Helios
• Maui harnessed the breeze — like Aeolus
• Maui pulled islands out of the sea — like Poseidon himself
• Maui, cast out at birth — like Hephaestus
• Maui, shapeshifter — like Zeus or Dionysus
• Maui, trickster god — like Hermes
• Maui killed an eel that was tormenting his mother — like how Apollo killed Python
• Maui buried the eel's guts and turned it into coconuts — an exclusively Maui trait since coconuts were entirely unknown to the ancient Greeks and never featured in Greek mythology

Maui is Maui.¹ And why? You have a spiteful, temperamental Greek God, antagonised by his fellow Gods — how would he get back at them? By bringing in another God from a different pantheon and painting them as best buddies. "This is Maui, he can do everything you guys can do and more, and we're best friends."

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Extra-diegetic. In terms of adjusted present day revenue, Moana at $930M adjusted loses to Snow White ($2.3 billion). But when one includes animated sequels, Moana plus Moana 2: ~$2.0B, putting Poseidon's film right beneath, and within spitting distance of the top dog.²

Footnotes

1. Maui says this explicitly in his intro song 'You're Welcome': "Yes, it's really me, it's Maui. Breathe it in." ↩

2. Box-office figures via Box Office Mojo — Moana (2016) grossed about $687M worldwide, and Moana 2 (2024) crossed $1 billion. See Box Office Mojo. ↩