FILM 2016: MOANA

FILM 2016: MOANA

TRIVIA: Dwayne Johnson believes that voice acting is the most difficult career in acting, and is personally annoyed when celebrities are cast in animated films despite voicing their characters badly. When Johnson was cast for the film, he repeatedly asked the other voice actors present if he was really giving a good performance.

The spiral on Moana's necklace and on the sail of her boat is called a koru. It represents the unfurling fern frond, symbolizing new life, new beginnings, personal growth, hope, a new start, perfection, rebirth, awakening, purity, the spirit of rejuvenation and peace. As a double spiral, it also symbolizes kinship and belonging.

The genie's lamp from Aladdin (1992) can be seen on Tamatoa's shell.

Lin-Manuel Miranda has said the character of Tamatoa the Giant Crab was a tribute to David Bowie.

The tattoos on Chief Tui's abdomen are the same tattoos worn by pro wrestler Peter Fanene Maivia, Dwayne Johnson's maternal grandfather.

When he first gets his hook and is trying to shapeshift, Maui changes into various animals. For a split second, he turns into Sven the Reindeer from Frozen (2013).

The first baby in the Production Babies credit is Sebastian, Lin-Manuel Miranda's son, who was born during the making of this film. He's named for the crab in The Little Mermaid(1989).

Although it's a computer animated film, Maui's tattoos are hand-drawn. This is the first full-length Disney animated feature film since Winnie the Pooh (2011) to feature pure hand-drawn animation.

Lin-Manuel Miranda has said that The Little Mermaid (1989) had inspired him to become a songwriter for films like this. Interestingly enough, both The Little Mermaid (1989) and Moana (2016) were directed by the celebrated duo directing team of John Musker and Ron Clements.

Flounder, Ariel's side kick in The Little Mermaid (1989), makes an appearance in the background sketch graphic during the song "You're Welcome".

The first draft of the screenplay was written by Taika Waititi, who would go on to direct Thor: Ragnarok (2017). Rachel House appeared in both films.

ACTOR TRADEMARK: Dwayne Johnson: [eyebrow] When Moana first meets Maui, he cocks his eyebrow in a strange way. This is the people's eyebrow, Johnson's signature move from his wrestling career.

FILM 1924: THE OTHER GUYS

FILM 1924: THE OTHER GUYS

TRIVIA: The idea of teaming up of Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg had been gestating since The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007), where Will had been viciously insulting other actors as part of a bit, but became extremely polite to Mark.

DIRECTOR CAMEO: Adam McKay: Dirty Mike.

FILM 1916: JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

FILM 1916: JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

TRIVIA: If Dwayne Johnson could play any other role in the film, he'd play Jack Black's character, Bethany. Johnson said, "I know how much fun [Jack] had every day playing a 16-year-old self-obsessed girl."

The statues in the jungle set are modeled after the board game pieces in the original film.

Tom Holland was originally cast as Seaplane McDonough, but had to drop out of the film, due to scheduling conflicts with Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). So Nick Jonas was cast in his place.

The film's African jungle setting was shot in Hawaii.

Dwayne pitched the name 'Smolder' to Jake Kasdan via text. "What if his name was Smolder, but he had this unique ability to just Smolder. And he's like, I love it."

When Jack Black was a child, he acted in a 1982 television commercial for the classic Atari 2600 and Intellivison video game called Pitfall, in which he wore a safari hat. In this film, he wears a similar style safari hat.

Frequently throughout the movie, the first few notes of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" can be heard mixed into the musical cues.

Dwayne Johnson coincidentally starred in The Rundown (2003), which was originally called "Welcome to the Jungle", a title that it retained in other countries.

FILM 1902: SKYSCRAPER

FILM 1902: SKYSCRAPER

TRIVIA: When Will Sawyer and Zhao first meet, Sawyer greets him with some Mandarin, and Zhao replies in the same language but there are no subtitles on the screen. He is asking in jest, "Your Mandarin is quite good; how is your English?".

During development, architect Adrian Smith was brought in to consult during the writing process. Smith led the work of Dubai's Burj Khalifa, which at the time of this movie's release is the tallest building in the world, and Saudi Arabia's Jeddah Tower, the building proposed to surpass the record held by the former.