Moana leaves her home island of Motunui in the 2026 live-action film’s premise.
Motunui is a fictional Polynesian island community and the home of Moana, her family, and her people. In the story, she grows up as the daughter of the island’s chief and is expected to become its next leader. Although her people have stopped voyaging beyond the reef, Moana feels drawn toward the ocean.
Her journey begins when environmental danger threatens Motunui. She sails across the ocean to restore the heart of Te Fiti and help save her island. The live-action version reimagines the story first told in Disney’s 2016 animated film, while retaining the central connection between Moana, her community, and the sea.
Motunui is sometimes confused with Tahiti, a real island in French Polynesia, or Mata Nui, a fictional setting from another franchise. Te Fiti is also not an island community: she is a powerful life-giving deity in the story.