<P> After directing The Princess and the Frog ( 2009 ) , Clements and Musker started working on an adaptation of Terry Pratchett 's Mort , but problems with acquiring the necessary film rights prevented them from continuing with that project . To avoid a recurrence of that issue , they pitched three original ideas . The genesis of one of those ideas ( the one that was ultimately green - lighted ) occurred in 2011 , when Musker began reading up on Polynesian mythology , and learned of the heroic exploits of the demigod Māui . Intrigued with the rich culture of Polynesia , he felt it would be a suitable subject for an animated film . Shortly thereafter , Musker and Clements wrote a treatment and pitched it to John Lasseter , who recommended that both of them should go on research trips . Accordingly , in 2012 , Clements and Musker went on research trips to Fiji , Samoa , and Tahiti to meet the people of the South Pacific Ocean and learn about their culture . At first , they had planned to make the film entirely about Maui , but their initial research trips inspired Clements to pitch a new idea focused on the young daughter of a chief . They were fascinated to learn during their research that the people of Polynesia abruptly stopped making long - distance voyages about three thousand years ago , then resumed voyaging again a thousand years later , and no one really knows why . They set the film at the end of that era , about two thousand years ago , on a fictional island in the central Pacific Ocean , which drew inspiration from elements of the real - life island nations of Fiji , Samoa , and Tonga . </P>
<P> After directing The Princess and the Frog ( 2009 ) , Clements and Musker started working on an adaptation of Terry Pratchett 's Mort , but problems with acquiring the necessary film rights prevented them from continuing with that project . To avoid a recurrence of that issue , they pitched three original ideas . The genesis of one of those ideas ( the one that was ultimately green - lighted ) occurred in 2011 , when Musker began reading up on Polynesian mythology , and learned of the heroic exploits of the demigod Māui . Intrigued with the rich culture of Polynesia , he felt it would be a suitable subject for an animated film . Shortly thereafter , Musker and Clements wrote a treatment and pitched it to John Lasseter , who recommended that both of them should go on research trips . Accordingly , in 2012 , Clements and Musker went on research trips to Fiji , Samoa , and Tahiti to meet the people of the South Pacific Ocean and learn about their culture . At first , they had planned to make the film entirely about Maui , but their initial research trips inspired Clements to pitch a new idea focused on the young daughter of a chief . They were fascinated to learn during their research that the people of Polynesia abruptly stopped making long - distance voyages about three thousand years ago , then resumed voyaging again a thousand years later , and no one really knows why . They set the film at the end of that era , about two thousand years ago , on a fictional island in the central Pacific Ocean , which drew inspiration from elements of the real - life island nations of Fiji , Samoa , and Tonga . </P>
where did the story of moana come from
where did the story of moana come from
Polynesian mythology
Polynesian mythology