'Moana' was Re-Titled Overseas Because Of … Porn?
A lot of us right now are stuck at home with, not just our families, but every animated character our kids can't stop watching. You think your roommate is bad? At least he's not the most-irritating talking snowman since the ghost of Michael Keaton. Of course, it doesn't end with just the movie; the soundtrack has to constantly reverberate throughout the walls of the house as if you were living inside the stockroom of a goddamn Disney Store. This is how I came to notice that certain songs from the hit film Moana appear on Spotify under the name Vaiana.
It seems that this tidbit made the news back in November 2016 -- although a lot of us probably overlooked it in the tempest of insanity that engulfed November 2016. Moana isn't known by that name everywhere in the world. Throughout Europe, the character was dubbed "Vaiana," allegedly due to a pre-existing brand name. Because if there's one thing Disney loves, it's avoiding litigation at all costs. In Italy, the film was re-titled Oceania, and a lot of people think it's because of porn.
It turns out that Moana was also the name of a famous Italian porn star, who presumably never befriended a demi-god while on an epic quest to return a magical gem to a sentient island. The late Moana Pozzi was a "household name" in Italy, starring in various movies, including her own cartoon adventure Moanaland about "a porn star who exposes political corruption."
According to one unverified, third-hand account, Pozzi played a "big part" in the name change. The late actress also wrote a memoir in which she claimed to have had affairs with Robert DeNiro, Roberto Benigni, and the former Italian Prime Minister. So what we're saying is, perhaps Disney made a movie about the wrong Moana.
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Top Image: Pixar
