Assembly Objective:
- What makes a hero? This assembly explores what the Bible teaches about heroism and links the narrative of the film Moana to the Easter story.
Film:
- Moana (Walt Disney Studios, 2016) certificate U, click here to buy the DVD online.
Bible:
- John 3: 16-17 (International Children’s Bible)
Supporting Values Education:
- Individual Liberty. Though warned by her father not to sail beyond the reef, Moana asserts her individual liberty and sets off on her quest. Unconcerned about personal glory but with the continued survival of her community, Moana uses her individual liberty for the good of all.
OPENING ACTIVITY
Who’s the Hero? (Quiz)
- Children have to correctly identify the Disney hero featured on each slide (2-13) in the What Makes a Hero PowerPoint? and describe what each has done to deserve the title of hero.
FILM CLIP 1
- Play the first clip from Moana (Walt Disney Studios, 2016) certificate U.
- Start time: 00:04:02 (Moana lifts up the hanging on the side of the hut.)
- End time: 00:07:35 (Moana’s father says, ‘Let’s go back to the village’.)
- Clip length: 3 minutes 33 seconds.
- If you cannot play this clip from the DVD, say instead, ‘One day, as a toddler, Moana has a very strange experience on the beach. A large shell washes up at her feet. When she picks it up, another shell appears further out. The sea parts to let Moana go and get that one too. Then another shell appears further out still. Soon Moana is standing on the sea bed surrounded on three sides by a ‘wall of sea’. It is like she is in an aquarium. She watches the different sea creatures swimming about before a small green disc appears in front of her. She takes it out of the water and holds it. From the beach, Moana hears her father calling her. The walls of sea come crashing down but Moana is safely swept ashore on a giant clam shell. Her father picks her up, relieved that she has not been drowned. Moana drops the small green disc that she found in the sea. She struggles in her father’s arms to retrieve it but he just keeps walking back to the village.’
FILM CLIP 2
- Play the second clip from Moana (Walt Disney Studios, 2016) certificate U.
- Start time: 01:17:58 (Moana asks the sea, ‘Why did you bring me here?’)
- End time: 01:22:25 (Moana resurfaces from beneath the water, holding up the green disc.)
- Clip length: 4 minutes and 27 seconds.
- If you cannot play this clip from the DVD, instead say, ‘Moana is completely alone on her boat in the middle of the ocean. She begins to seriously doubt her ability to complete the mission set for her by the sea. She gives back the green disc (the heart of the goddess Te Fiti). It sinks to the sea bed. Just then a sparkling giant stingray swims under her boat and transforms into the ghost of her grandmother. They hug and Moana’s grandmother apologises for giving Moana such a difficult mission. She gives Moana permission to return home. However, Moana can not bring herself to do this and, remembering the strength of her ancestors, she dives off the end of the boat and retrieves the green disc from the sea bed. When she resurfaces, her grandmother has disappeared.
TALK
Scripted Talk
Download the What Makes a Hero? PowerPoint for use with this talk.
- [PowerPoint slide 1]
- Welcome, everyone. Our assembly this morning is based around the film Moana that was released in 2016. This film is named after its main character who joins a long line of Disney heroes. How many can you name? Let’s find out by playing our Disney Heroes quiz. In each case, you have to name the character and say why he or she is a hero.
- [PowerPoint slides 2 – 13]
- Disney Heroes Quiz.
- [PowerPoint slide 14]
- Ask the children to identify what these heroes all have in common. Many are the children of chiefs or kings. Most, but not all, knew from being young that they would do something special. All of them had times when they wanted to (or did) give up. All of them were very brave. All of them saved other people from danger.
- [PowerPoint slide 15]
- Moana is a classic Disney hero. Her father is a chief and when she grows up, she is destined to take charge of the island where she lives. But, when she is a toddler, something happens that means she will have to travel very far from home.
- Play the first clip from Moana (Walt Disney Studios, 2016) certificate U.
- Start time: 00:04:02 (Moana lifts up the hanging on the side of the hut.)
- End time: 00:07:35 (Moana’s father says, ‘Let’s go back to the village’.)
- Clip length: 3 minutes 33 seconds.
- If you cannot play this clip from the DVD, say instead, ‘One day, as a toddler, Moana has a very strange experience on the beach. A large shell washes up at her feet. When she picks it up, another shell appears further out. The sea parts to let Moana go and get that one too. Then another shell appears further out still. Soon Moana is standing on the sea bed surrounded on three sides by a ‘wall of sea’. It is like she is in an aquarium. She watches the different sea creatures swimming about before a small green disc appears in front of her. She takes it out of the water and holds it. From the beach, Moana hears her father calling her. The walls of sea come crashing down but Moana is safely swept ashore on a giant clam shell. Her father picks her up, relieved that she has not been drowned. Moana drops the small green disc that she has found in the sea. She struggles in her father’s arms to retrieve it but he just keeps walking back to the village.’
- [PowerPoint slide 16]
- As she grows up, Moana tries to forget about the sea but her grandmother keeps telling her that she has been chosen for a special mission. In time, all the plants on the island begin to die. Moana’s grandmother becomes very sick too. On her death bed, she gives Moana back the green disc that Moana, as a toddler, had found in the sea. Unless this disc is put back in the place from which it was stolen, everything on the island will die.
- [Powerpoint slide 17]
- Moana sets off in a boat across the sea to complete her mission. Ask the children to consider at this point what Moana has in common with many other Disney heroes.
- [Powerpoint slide 18]
- Moana bravely overcomes many challenges on her mission. But, towards the end, she finds herself alone and wants to give up.
- Play the second clip from Moana (Walt Disney Studios, 2016) certificate U.
- Start time: 01:17:58 (Moana asks the sea, ‘Why did you bring me here?’)
- End time: 01:22:25 (Moana resurfaces from beneath the water, holding up the green disc.)
- Clip length: 4 minutes and 27 seconds.
- If you cannot play this clip from the DVD, instead say, ‘Moana is completely alone on her boat in the middle of the ocean. She begins to seriously doubt her ability to complete the mission set for her by the sea. She gives back the green disc (the heart of the goddess Te Fiti). It sinks to the sea bed. Just then a sparkling giant stingray swims under her boat and transforms into the ghost of her grandmother. They hug and Moana’s grandmother apologises for giving Moana such a difficult mission. She gives Moana permission to return home. However, Moana can not bring herself to do this and, remembering the strength of her ancestors, she dives off the end of the boat and retrieves the green disc from the sea bed. When she resurfaces, her grandmother has disappeared.
- [PowerPoint slide 19]
- Having overcome her doubts, Moana faces her final challenge. She puts the green disc back in the place from which it was stolen and her island and all her people are saved! Moana is a hero!
- [PowerPoint slide 20]
- At Easter, Christians retell the story of another hero. This is what the writer of St. John’s Gospel says about him. (Share verses from John 3:16-17 with the children.) For Christians, Jesus is the Son of God who came down to Earth from Heaven to save the whole world and everyone in it.
- [PowerPoint slide 21]
- As a child, he talked about the special mission God had given Him.
- [PowerPoint slide 22]
- When he was about thirty, he left his home and his job and travelled around Palestine telling people about God and healing the sick.
- [PowerPoint slide 23]
- Near the very end of his mission, he had serious doubts and wanted to give up, but he remained strong.
- [PowerPoint slide 24]
- And finally, by dying on a cross and coming back to life again, he completed his mission, showing that death is not the end.
- [PowerPoint slide 25]
- For Christians, Jesus is the Saviour of the World, the greatest hero who ever lived!
Headings and Bullets
- [PowerPoint slide 1]
- Welcome.
- Introduce quiz.
- [PowerPoint slides 2 – 13]
- Who’s the hero? Quiz.
- [PowerPoint slide 14]
- What do Disney heroes have in common?
- [PowerPoint slide 15]
- Introduce Moana.
- Film Clip 1.
- What does Moana have in common with other Disney heroes?
- [PowerPoint slide 16]
- Moana and her grandmother.
- [PowerPoint slide 17]
- Moana sets off on her mission.
- [PowerPoint slide 18]
- Film Clip 2.
- Moana wants to give up.
- [PowerPoint slide 19]
- Moana is a hero!
- [PowerPoint slide 20]
- John 3: 16-17.
- [PowerPoint slide 21]
- Jesus as a boy.
- [PowerPoint slide 22]
- Jesus the preacher and healer.
- [PowerPoint slide 23]
- Jesus wants to give up.
- [PowerPoint slide 24]
- Jesus completes his mission.
- [PowerPoint slide 25]
- Jesus the Saviour of the World.
Photo copyright for What Makes a Hero? PowerPoint: Slide 1 Disney / Slide 2 and 3 Disney Enterprises Inc / Slide 4 and 5 Walt Disney Studios / Slide 6 and 7 Walt Disney Studios / Slide 8 and 9 Disney Enterprises Inc / Slide 10 and 11 Walt Disney Productions / Slide 12 and 13 Disney / Slide 15 Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Slide 16 Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Slide 17 Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Slide 18 Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Slide 19 Disney Animation Studios / Slide 20 image 3 LUMO Project / Slide 21 image 3 LUMO Project / Slide 22 image 12 LUMO Project / Slide 23 image 3 LUMO Project / Slide 24 iStockphoto.com / Slide 25 image 3 LUMO Project
RESPOND
Reflection
- To be a hero, you don’t have to be given a special mission or travel far away from home. What small thing could you do to be a hero to your family or in your school?
- In a lot of stories, there comes a time when the hero wants to give up. How do you manage to keep going through times when you want to give up? How might you help others through these times?
- What might you do to help save the lives of other people throughout the world?
- In the film, Moana’s grandmother is the person who knows her best. Who knows you best?
- In the film, Moana is accompanied most of the time on her mission by Maui. He believes himself to be a great hero, but he is not. Why not? At the end of the film, he succeeds in becoming a hero. How does he manage this?
- Who do you believe Jesus to be? An ordinary man who taught some very good things? A hero? The Saviour of the World?
Prayer
- Dear God, we thank you for Jesus who came to Earth to conquer death and to show people a new way to live. Help us at home and at school to put the needs of other people before our own, so that we too might be heroes. At times when we despair and want to give up, help us to remain strong and determined. And as we grow up and make our own way in life, may we never forget the example of those who are worthy to be called heroes. Amen.
YOU WILL NEED:
- Moana (Walt Disney Studios, certificate U), click here to buy the DVD online.
- What Makes a Hero? PowerPoint.
Ethos Education 