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 tattoos on Chief Tui's abdomen are the same tattoos worn by pro wrestler Peter Fanene Maivia, Dwayne Johnson's maternal grandfather.
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.
Dwayne Johnson: [muscle flex] At one point in the movie, Maui bounces his tattoo self from one side of his chest to the other and back again as he flexes his pectoral muscles.