Hei Hei (Moana): 10 Fun Facts About Motunui's Rooster | Pagista (2024)

Moana is a Disney animated feature film released in 2016. The main protagonist is Moana, who must leave her village to find and return a powerful thing called “The Heart of the Te Fiti” in order to end a perpetual drought brought on by her people’s offender, the demigod Maui and one of the major characters in Disney’s Moana film is Heihei, a bumbling blue- yellow rooster. He’s a “village idiot” of Motunui village and something of an accident-prone genius, boasting the ability to convey information by way of various speech and facial expressions.

When Moana sets out on a journey that takes her beyond the island, Heihei comes along for the ride. Heihei inadvertently finds himself a stowaway on a canoe with her and goes off with her on the adventure.

1 Hei Hei Is A Clueless Chicken Involved In Moana’s Journey

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When a village idiot, the rooster who stows away on Moana’s canoe, gets to see epic adventures first-hand. The clueless chicken inadvertently becomes a front row spectator for a legendary journey. The weird-looking chicken is so flustered by his mistake that he lands a front-row seat to see the epic adventure that unfolds.

2 Hei Hei’s Character First Idea Was Origianlly Created As An Antagonistic Watchdog By Orders Of Chief Tui

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The character of Heihei is well known for being in the earliest versions of the story once, back when he was a pet rooster belonging to Chief Tui, though he was decided to portray in a completely different way. As the story developed, Heihei became different and was assigned to be Chief Tui’s loyal and stubborn pet rooster and subsidiary. In the film, Heihei was decided as aggressive, prideful, and judgmental. Heihei was used for comedic effect in the film since most of his jokes were rooted in negative attributes. The filmmakers realized that this portrayal of the character didn’t work for their yearning story.

3 It Took 4 Months To Decide Hei Hei Character & Its Importance In The Animated Movie

Several official changes have been made in the film since its inception and one of these changes is Heihei’s character. The decision to scrap Heihei as the main character of the film wasn’t without controversy. Four months before animation on the film would begin, John Lasseter gathered everyone to decide what would happen with the character. In other words, It took four months for staff to make the call, and Lasseter sent out a meeting on an animated film team to discuss her future in the film.

4Ron Clements (Co Director Of Moana) Wanted To Create Moana’s Dumbest Or Most Stupid Character As Hei Hei

When David Derrick, film’s key story artist, became ill and wouldn’t be able to work for two days, the other film’s key narrative artists found a way to make good use of the downtime by tweaking Heihei’s character. They not only managed to create some essential scenes in the short time they had, but they were able to preserve his position in the Disney movie. When production started on Up, the art department initially had difficulty trying to figure out what to do with the designs of Heihei and the various other animals in the film. Ron Clements is the co-director of Disney’s film, “Moana.” Heihei was one of the focal points of the movie, but with a extreme change in his character that caused many fans to reconsider if he was still goofy or just too dumb (Might be a stupid character in the Disney’s history according to Ron).

Moana’s journey took a different turn when Heihei, an oblivious and playful semi-mindless animal, came along. His actions further the story and create various complications that make for interesting situations, which makes them all the more humorous. Even with an animal like Moana’s Heihei, who doesn’t know where he is or what he does, there is always something interesting happening in the film. This is because it adds a sense of depth to the story, making it more informative and enjoyable for the audience. In turn, this made the story more interesting. The new role for Heihei was presented to John Lasseter and the cast and crew for approval. After delighting the audience with their performance, he exclaimed, “Yes, Heihei has been saved! He’s going to be in the movie!”

5 He is Unconscious & Mindless Rooster To His Surroundings

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Heihei is implausibly mindless because he doesn’t realize that he’s in danger. Heihei gets in trouble without meaning to and often doesn’t realize when he’s doing things that may put him in danger. In general, he is unconscious to his environment, and as a result he is usually stuck in some kind of predicament. Moana is on a journey to save her people, but she’s not the only one who’s on a mission. Her little Hei Hei (accident-prone who is easily distracted) friend can be a tangle of complications at times, Even so, you’ll see that she works to protect him and loves him unconditionally, whatever the situation.

6Despite Of His Dumb Attitude, He is Able To Understand Situations At Some Level & Take Decisions Accordingly

Even though Heihei appears to be completely oblivious to the world, he’s able to make some very valuable observations. Heihei’s actions appear to give off the impression that he doesn’t have much awareness during some of his scenes, but in rare moments, you can see subtle signs of understanding. For instance, he was able to segregate between home island and sea on a few occasions, and additionally deduced that he and Moana had crossed the Motunui’s reef (which is against village law).

As you may have noticed, Heihei has mostly demonstrated a resilient and persistent spirit. It’s the moment most dreaded by Heihei, even more than his glory days. The moment that he really understood the importance of Te Fiti’s heart and was shown not just within the climax but throughout the film. During this one scene (second battle with Te Ka), you see another significant example of when Heihei took risks to help Moana maintain it.

7 Hei Hei Is Always Loyal To Moana & A Part Of The Community Of Motunui Village

There’s something about the island of Motunui that makes Heihei feel at home. The reason Heihei (An irrepressible character from Disney’s hit movie Moana) spends so much time on Motunui is because he is loyal to Moana. They were friends when Moana was a toddler, and so he stays with her. He wanders around the village aimlessly, often getting himself into danger and receiving aid from his people in the village to help him get back on track. Heiho has been living in the village for many years, and has gained respect from the villagers because of his levity. The villagers believe he is more of a member of the community than a pet, though some residents consider his stupidity makes him eligible for evening meals.

8 Throughout The Moana’s Adventurous Trip, Hei Hei Got A Major Attention & Involvement In The Story

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Moana is a spirited teenager. She tries her best to have faith in everyone, but she believes in the good of all people deep down. By the time her teenage years roll around, Moana has developed a deep connection to Heihei and believes that Heihei has some deeper meaning when she sees him for the first time. At some point, he’s found in a cave of ships from Moana’s ancestors and secondly, meets her on her mission to find Maui and return the heart of Te Fiti.

He ventures into her boat with her while they search for Maui. Moana wakes up the next morning and finds Heihei on the deck and is surprised by his panic. She quickly grabs hold of him and saves him from potentially falling into the ocean by securing him to the side of the boat. Unfortunately, Thereafter they get stuck in the storm and reach Maui’s island, where Moana watches as he struggles with her boat and Heihei. Maui steals Moana’s boat and Hei Hei alongside it as a “boat snack”, where he presumably enjoys.

The two hurry away, leaving Moana behind. As they sail away, Maui feeds Heihei to fatten him up so that he’ll be able to escape from the Kakamora. Moana shows up and encounters Maui about it, ordering him to help her and draw up the heart of Te Fiti. However, as they are leaving, she notices a group of pirates running towards them. They charge at the pirates and try to behead them, but before they can get started on the task, Moana realizes they’ve come too late. Just as they come across two groups of coconut monsters who are fighting over the heart of Te Fiti. The Kakamora assault their watercraft when they leave, but Heihei gulps down the heart before any harm is done, creating himself the goal of their attacks. Because of this, They abduct Heihei and Moana runs faster after them in order to save him.

Eventually they make it back to Moana’s boat, but Heihei is still sick and coughing up the heart. Along the way, Maui must promise to help get the heart and manages to do so successfully as they fight towards their destination. When the team encounters Te Kā, Moana’s most loyal companion is left in the boat’s safe place, when Moana checks on him following the catastrophic battle, Moana realizes he’s been injured and dazed.

With the loss of their battle, Maui leaves Moana and Heihei to face Te Ka alone. Moana realizes her confidence was recognized to her by her grandmother and ancestors. With this confidence, Moana voyage to Te Fiti and describe how Te Kā will defeat Heihei, though knowing that he’s a chicken, she concedes that she’s only really talking to herself. As the heart of Te Kā came rolling down the stairs to the sea, Heihei’s strong arms scooped it up and he brought it back to Moana. Maui soon witnessed the boat being destroyed and upon seeing that scene Heihei also dazzled. After Te Fiti’s island is restored from its sleep, however, Maui and a nervous Heihei find one another on the shore.

As the mission comes to an end, Maui says good-bye to Heihei and Moana. The two agree that they’re ready to return home to Motunui, as Maui sets them down on shore. As they walk off the boat, Heihei walks toward the ocean, but is pushed sideways by a gust of wind. Moana’s family are adventuring across the sea, and Heihei is standing atop Pua’s head. Right up to the final minute of their voyage, he remains there, which means this is the time when Heihei was last seen.

9Not Only Moana But We have Seen This Rooster In Several Other Disney’s Titles

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The emoticon version of Heihei makes his appearance in the As Told by Emoji retelling of Moana. Even though he does not Involve Moana’s journey in this version, the design remains endearing and successful.

Disney’s film “Ralph Breaks The Internet” showcases a number of popular Disney characters in its comedic scenes. One of these characters is Heihei, who pecks at the catering table alongside Peter Pan’s Shadow, Grumpy and Tinker Bell in Oh My Disney.

Raya and the Last Dragon features a brief cameo appearance of Heihei. In the floating markets of Talon, you can see him escorted by a basket on his head.

10During The Adventurous Trip, Maui Nicknamed Hei Hei As Drumstick

Throughout their journey, Heihei only falls into the water a handful of times, but what really annoys Maui is that Huihei doesn’t offer much assistance when needed. Maui actually sustains to feed Heihei (the one who he nicknamed “Drumstick”), even after they get back on the ship and it seems like he still wants to eat him.

Hei Hei (Moana): 10 Fun Facts About Motunui's Rooster | Pagista (2024)
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