Whale Rider

Whale Rider has all the intangibles that makes a good Disney film magical, but it has the focus and dedication to story and theme that makes it something more than a live action ode to an animated genre. The story of Pai, a young girl born into an ancestry Whangara chiefs, is about a culture clash within an acient people. She has the blood line to become a chief but not the gender. As a girl she is out of the running. The story is her struggle to prove herself to an old fashioned grandfather who refuses to budge in his beliefs against her. His strictness even puts a stranglehold on their relationship of grandfather and granddaughter. The details at the end of the film, quite magical and wonderful, lifts the story into charted territories of Disney lore. But the realism and patience of this well crafted story in handling large themes with a small story makes it something more. Disney movies always reside in telling stories that test only our most basic sentimentalities. Whale Rider digs at the most inner beliefs of a people and tries to do it honestly. This added on texture makes Whale Rider a memorable experience.