#1Moana Casting

Apparently Disney is doing a casting search for an actress to play the title character/new princess in the upcoming movie "Moana" and it is most likely a musical because they are looking for a strong singer...

What do you all make of this? And who would you like to see play Moana? I'm personally going with Rachelle Ann Go!
Moana casting call

#2Moana Casting

Ya know what I have to agree with you

#4Moana Casting

I really do hope they change the name. It just doesn't "read" well.

#6Moana Casting

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will officially be Maui!

Dwayne Johnson @TheRock · 4h 4 hours ago
Excited to star as "Maui" in Disney's next big animated musical, MOANA. Incredible story!
**clears throat #TimeToSing http://bit.ly/1pTnS8r

#8Moana Casting

Mark Mancina is at least doing the underscore.

#10Moana Casting

I thought he sounded pretty good in Journey 2.

#12Moana Casting

#14Moana Casting

So, Judy Kuhn was the singing voice of Pocahontas and she's not Native American...

#16Moana Casting

Jesus, why do people get so bent out of shape when one role is likely not to go to a white person? Can't people of color, who are sorely underrepresented in the media, actually play themselves? The white actors you mentioned are very talented, but there's enough **** out there for white actors. It isn't "PC" to cast a Polynesian actress in this role, it's the right thing to do. And yes, it does matter, whether we see the actor or not.

#18Moana Casting

Who cares what race the actress is! IT'S AN ANIMATED MOVIE! We only hear the voice. As long as she sounds young and like a teenager what difference would it make?!

Updated On: 12/3/14 at 10:19 PM

#20Moana Casting

Sorry disneybroadway- I just assumed because the term PC is almost always used by people who are complaining.

You argue that we don't see the actor, but we'll know who she is, right? She'll attend premieres and pose for photographs, likely next to images of the character. It isn't as if it's just a random voice coming out of nowhere. And because of that, it does matter because it's a matter of representation. Given the severe underrepresentation of actors of color in Hollywood, it would frankly be insulting to have a white actor play this role. I really don't know why anything more needs to be said in regards to the matter.

#22Moana Casting

I said "politically correct" because a lot of people would complain if the actress for Moana is white. Users on Tumblr are already shaming white actresses who are hoping to audition for Moana.

#24Moana Casting

Well, I have mixed feelings about the minority slant when it comes to voice actors. I get the whole argument about offering more opportunity where there was little or none before... But.

First of all, I think ethnicity matters much more only when there's a desire/need for accents. For 2nd-generation and younger offspring of ethnic immigrants, however, our accents are usually completely Americanized in a generic sense. In that case, it doesn't matter. However, there are regional and subculture accents, that can be severely abused--

It's really the racial stereotypy on screen that's the most important when it comes to presenting racial values to younger generations. Think of the early Disney films like Lady and the Tramp that painted the Asian-accented slant-eyed cats as sly antagonists, or using "black"-sounding voice actors in a similar manner (antagonists, comic relief only, etc.) on matched "minority-looking" characters. That's far worse, in my opinion, than using a Caucasian VA for a minority-looking animated character.

In this case, if Disney were after some kind of authentic setting, finding Polynesian VAs carrying that local accent would be pretty cool. But it's also risky, because there's a reason the vanilla "Midwest accent" is used in virtually all mass media (it's a pretty standard, understandable accent).

Just keep in mind that the real target audience for these things don't care about the VAs behind the film but rather what is represented on screen, both visually and aurally.