The Lord of the Rings vs. Moana

Disney's 2016 Polynesian fantasy Moana was entertaining, but it was basically Disney's version of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Let me tell you why.

Long ago, a godlike being (Sauron/Te Fiti) created a powerful token (One Ring/Heart of Te Fiti) and used it to shape the world to their liking (Sauron forged the One Ring in order to cover all of Middle-earth in darkness/Te Fiti used the Heart to create life). However, a misguided hero (Isildur/Maui) stole the token (during a great battle in the land of Mordor, Isildur cut the ring from Sauron's finger/Maui stole the Heart in order to give humanity the power of creation), causing the god to lose his/her power (since Sauron poured a substantial amount of his own power into the Ring, he lost physical form/Te Fiti disintegrated and turned into a lava witch called Te Kā), only to be struck down by evil forces and lose the token to the water (Isildur is shot full of arrows by Orcs and loses the One Ring to the River Anduin/Maui is attacked by Te Kā, causing him to lose both his magical fishhook and the Heart to the depths of the ocean). The token eventually found its way into the hands of an eccentric mortal (Bilbo Baggins/Tala), who took it to an isolated community (the Shire/Montunui) and withheld the past for many years (Bilbo found the Ring in the Misty Mountains and possessed it for 60 years/Tala informs her granddaughter, Moana, that their people used to be voyagers, but stopped when Maui stole the Heart and Te Kā's darkness poisoned the island). Many years later, the crazy old person passes the token onto a young relative (Frodo Baggins/Moana), causing his/her health to decline (Bilbo had reached a very advanced age for a Hobbit/Tala falls ill and dies). This sends the hero on a quest to return the token to its place of origin (Frodo leaves the Shire to destroy the One Ring in Mount Doom/Moana goes out to sea to return the Heart of Te Fiti), accompanied by a loyal companion (Samwise Gamgee/Heihei) who had unexpectedly joined in on the quest (Istari wizard Gandalf the Grey catches Sam eavesdropping on his conversation with Frodo, and drafts him into the quest/Heihei stows away on Moana's boat). After unsuccessfully trying to convince (Frodo tries to ask Gandalf to take the Ring, but the wizard refuses for fear that it may corrupt him/Moana demands that Maui return the Heart, but the demigod refuses) a godlike enemy of the villain (Gandalf/Maui) to return the token, the group faces plundering creatures (Orcs/Kakamora), a reclusive cave-dwelling creature obsessed with shiny objects (Gollum/Tamatoa), and a fiery monster (Durin's Bane/Te Kā), who severely weakens the good god (Gandalf battles the Balrog on a bridge in Moria, but is dragged down into the depths with it/Te Kā severely damages Maui's fishhook, causing him to abandon Moana). At the climax, the hero finally reaches the villain's fiery territory (Mordor/Te Fiti's island), but is unwilling to go any further (Frodo and Sam are visibly exhausted by their strenuous journey, and realize that they likely will not make it back home/after Maui leaves, Moana tearfully asks the ocean to find someone else to restore the Heart). However, the good god returns to help the hero complete his/her quest (after killing the Balrog, Gandalf is resurrected as Gandalf the White and returns to Middle-earth to defeat Sauron/Maui, having been convinced by the tattoo that acts as his conscience to change his mind, returns to help Moana) by keeping the villain focused on him (Gandalf and human leader Aragorn lead an assault on Mordor to draw Sauron's gaze away from Frodo and Sam/Maui distracts Te Kā in order to buy time for Moana to reach Te Fiti) for long enough to allow the hero to successfully return the token (Frodo, after finally succumbing to the Ring, is attacked by Gollum, who bites off his finger and falls into the Crack of Doom, taking the Ring and Sauron with him/Moana tells the ocean to clear a path for her while singing, and returns the Heart of Te Fiti, turning her back to normal). In the end, light is restored to the world (all evidence of Sauron is wiped from Middle-earth/Te Fiti heals the surrounding islands of Te Kā's corruption), the hero returns home before sailing away (Frodo returns to the Shire and, physically and psychologically scarred by his quest, later sails into the Undying Lands, accompanied by Gandalf, Bilbo, and the Elves/Moana leads her people on a voyage, accompanied by Maui and Tala, the latter of whom has been reincarnated as a manta ray), and the heir (Aragorn/Moana) to a realm (Gondor/Montunui) takes his/her rightful place as ruler (Aragorn is crowned King of Gondor/Moana takes up the title of chief).

It's the same story!