Warning: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Moana 2!
The question of Moana’s status as a Disney princess has once again come up, bringing to light the contradictory answers. In the sequel, Maui calls her a princess again, and she refuses the title, saying it’s inaccurate. This joke is amusing but also potentially confusing, as the term “princess” can refer to both the royal title and the Disney Princess movie and merchandise brand.
According to the official Disney Princess rules, a character must be a female, a human, and a main character in a movie that isn’t a sequel. Moana meets these criteria, but she insists she isn’t a princess. The answer lies in the historical context of the movie. The film takes place at the end of The Long Pause, a one-thousand to two-thousand-year historical period after the settlement of West Polynesia, where Polynesians stopped migrating. At this time, Polynesian islands were governed by chiefdoms, not kingdoms.
Based on this historical context, Moana wouldn’t have been considered a princess but a village chief’s daughter. This isn’t to say she wouldn’t have honor, prestige, and respect from that role; she absolutely would. She just wouldn’t have the same experience as a princess because of the differences in governmental structures.
The confusion about Moana being a Disney princess comes from the fact that Disney, as a company, and Moana, as a character, cannot agree about whether she’s a princess. Moana’s repeated insistence that she isn’t a princess directly contradicts Moana’s inclusion in the brand. The heroine appears in the “characters” section on the official Disney Princesses website, which lists all the characters in the current lineup. They even offer Moana-themed activities, wallpaper, and videos, solidifying their stance on the matter.
Ultimately, the piece to go back to is the fact that a leading lady in a Disney animated movie need not be royalty in order to be considered a princess. Both parties can be correct in their statements even without invalidating the other. The character can not technically be a Disney princess due to her chieftain roots but still appear in the Disney princess lineup. Moreover, Moana’s status as a demigod at the end of Moana 2 won’t preclude her from continuing to be in the group.