How Mini Maui Came to Life for Disney’s “Moana”

John Musker and Ron Clements have directed films for Disney from The Little Mermaid to The Princess and the Frog. The directing duo had always worked with traditional animation, but were excited to start the journey on their first computer-animated film with Moana. However, the directors found a way to incorporate their Disney past into Moana with the help of the legendary animator Eric Goldberg.

Maui, voiced by Dwayne Johnson, is the larger-than-life demi-god who travels with Moana across the sea. He is covered in traditional tattoos, but one of them started to have a life of its own. Somehow, Maui is upstaged by this tattoo, known as Mini Maui. According to Musker, “Somewhere in the process, Mini Maui started to emerge, almost as a Jiminy Cricket alter ego; the tattoo can’t speak, but he can communicate with Maui”. The directors liked the idea of having a character that could “literally poke” Maui when he was too full of himself.

Mini Maui expression sheet by Eric Goldberg

Mini Maui was animated by Eric Goldberg who had previously worked with Musker and Clements on Aladdin (where he served as the principal animator for the Genie), The Princess and the Frog (where he animated Louis), and Hercules (as lead animator for Phil). Goldberg describes Mini Maui as “…a full personality and Maui’s better self”. It was a challenge to combine the 2D and 3D animation, but they made it work by superimposing the sketches onto Maui’s CG animation to work on interaction, sight-line, and timing. Now, audiences are dazzled by the pint-size powerhouse that works to keep Maui in check.

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