Story of Moana interweaves mythological tales from diverse cultures
Est v Actual domestic box office revenue: $212 – 259MM v $249MM
94% of the events are borrowed from 4 mythological tales
Moana an animated movie follows a girl chosen to journey through the ocean to lift a curse that threatens to destroy everything. The story explores basic human desires of Preservation, Expedition, Honour and Status. The plot structure interweaves mythological tales of Jason from Greek mythology, Hanuman from Hindu mythology and Joseph from Abrahamic mythology. Mythosis, extracts the unique plot structure of a movie to estimate & unlock its potential.
1. Mythological tales reveal the invisible plot structure of Moana
1A. 94% of the events are borrowed from 4 mythological tales
Moana's quest is driven by the desire to find an elusive person/object and mirrors the tale of Jason from Greek mythology. Argos builds a ship for Jason and the Argonauts for their journey to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Similarly, Moana is given a canoe by Tala and she recruits Maui to help her locate the island of Te Fiti.
Moana has another quest of Preservation and mirrors the tale of Noah from Abrahamic mythology. Both Noah and Moana are chosen to save the world and guided since they are clueless.
Maui’s quest is driven by the desire for honour and mirrors the tale of Hanuman from Hindu mythology. Both Hanuman & Maui demonstrate loyalty, showing a willingness to sacrifice themselves. However, Maui becomes self-centered, even to the point of sacrificing Moana which is out of-character.
Te Fiti’s quest is driven by the desire for respect and mirrors the tale of Joseph from Abrahamic mythology. Both Joseph & Te Fiti are betrayed by their own yet they choose to forgive.
Chief Tui has an underdeveloped quest that mirrors events from the tale of Demeter.
Detailed mirroring of each character’s primary quest to their respective mythological tales is in section “3A. Quests of Moana’s characters and their mythological counterparts”
1B. Moana’s unique plot structure extracted from our reservoir of infinite stories
Human beings are driven by 16 fundamental desires. Every desire, whether encountering fulfilment or unfulfillment, gives rise to two distinct quests. Thus, a spectrum of 32 unique quests mirrors every human desire.
We have discovered mythological tales from across civilizations that uniquely portray each one of these 32 human quests. While each mythological tale stands as a distinct quest, the true magic unfolds when these tales are combined. This synergy is evident in the epics of Odyssey and Ramayan, where various universal quests seamlessly intertwine.
Combining any five tales from the 32, generates a staggering 24 million unique story plots. Take it a step further, by combining six tales the possibilities explode to an astounding 600 million!
The plot of Moana is a subset of plot structure #9,230 that interweaves the tales of Hanuman, Joseph & Jason.
2. Plot structure potential of Moana: $212-259MM
2A. Moana’s plot structure evaluation
An analysis of Blockbuster, Hit & Flop plots has led to the discovery of Mythosis Code. The Code reveals the story principles shared by all Blockbusters. We use the Code to estimate a story’s potential.
All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. Moana uses 4 universal quests of Status, Expedition, Preservation and Honour.
In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Te Fiti mirrors the universal quests of Status. Moana mirrors the universal quests of Expedition & Independence. Maui mirrors the universal quest of Honour.
Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Moana borrows 48% of the events from the quest of Expedition and 10% from the quest of Preservation. Maui borrows 18% from the quest of Honour. Te Fiti borrows 28% of events from the quest of Status.
Blockbusters interweave different quests to create a tight plot structure. Interweaving occurs when events of 2 quests occur simultaneously in the story. Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.5. The quest interweaving score of Moana is 0.67 and is above par. An example of interweaving the quests of Maui & Te Fiti:
2B. Estimating Moana’s revenue potential from its plot structure
The plot structure of Moana reveals that Moana's character is inconsistent – she pursues two desires, preservation followed by expedition. However, this error is overshadowed by giving her a very powerful quest of Expedition. Moreover, the story misses an opportunity to deepen Maui’s quest.
We have created an algorithm by assigning weights to the principles of The Mythosis Code. The algorithm calculates the potency of a story’s plot structure and estimates its corresponding audience appeal. Blockbuster plot structures have a score of at least 0.64 and appeal to 20% of the audiences.
Moana has a script potential score is 0.26 and the movie will appeal to 7.57% - 9.25% of the population. Our estimate of the movie’s revenues from its audience appeal is $212 – 259MM in the domestic market. The movie’s actual revenue was $249MM.
3. The ideal plot structure of Moana
We have identified 32 universal quests that represent every human desire. These quests are the superset of thousands of stories across cultures that reflect our collective subconscious. Each quest has a structured sequence of events divided into 5 major arcs.
We map a character’s quest to the relevant mythological tale (universal quest) which reveals the gaps in their quest, if any. The ideal Plot Structure is constructed by plugging these gaps with the missing events from the tale. These events strengthen both the journey of characters as well as the weaving of quests without altering the story.
3A. Quests of Moana’s characters and their mythological counterparts
Quest 1: Moana mirrors the universal quest for Expedition
Moana’s desire for Expedition stems from the need to find an elusive person/object. The tale of Jason from Greek mythology is the universal quest for Expedition.
Quest 2: Maui mirrors the universal quest for Honour
Maui’s desire stems from the need to be loyal to one’s clan/order. The tale of Hanuman from Hindu mythology is the universal quest for Honour.
Quest 3: Te Fiti mirrors the universal quest for Status
Te Fiti’s desire for Status stems from the need for respect and social standing. The tale of Joseph from Abrahamic mythology is the universal quest for Status.
Tags:2016, Chris Williams, Don Hall, Expedition, Hanuman, Honour, Jason, John Musker, Joseph, Long range prediction, Mythology, Noah, Plot Structure, Preservation, Ron Clements, Status, storytelling, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
