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Credit: DisneyIn 2016, Disney introduced audiences to its first Polynesian princess in the film, Moana. Moana tells the story of Moana of Motunui, who disobeys her father and ventures off of her dying island to restore the heart of Te Fiti. The heart had been stolen by the demigod Maui, and it must be restored, or Moana’s island will continue to die, and her people will starve.
The movie was an immediate hit, with fans loving the story, the animation, and the music — which was written by Hamilton creator, Lin Manuel Miranda. And, even though it has been almost ten years since the film came out, it is still wildly popular. In fact, in 2023, Moana was the most streamed movie on Disney+.
Related: Live-Action ‘Moana’ Photos Leaked, and Fans Aren’t Loving Them
Originally, Disney had been planning to create a new Moana series for Disney+. However, in February 2024, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that everyone had been so impressed by the test footage that they decided to transform the series into a feature length film.
Everyone from fans to Wall Street investors were shocked and excited about the new film. Almost immediately, it was predicted that the movie would be a huge hit, most likely Disney’s biggest hit of the year. Of course, that was before the June release of Inside Out 2 (2024), which grossed more than $1 billion at the box office.
Moana 2 officially hit theaters on November 27, and it is performing incredibly well (as expected). Unfortunately, that is a big problem for some Disney animators and could set a dangerous precedent.
Instagram user no_the_robot recently shared a video, revealing why the success of Moana 2 is not really something to be celebrated.
Most of Disney’s animated films are animated in Burbank, at The Walt Disney Company lot. However, because Moana 2 was supposed to be a Disney+ series, it was animated at Walt Disney Animation Studios in Canada.
On it’s face, that doesn’t seem too bad — until you learn that, unlike Walt Disney Animation Studios in California, the Canadian animators who work for Disney are not part of a union. That means that Disney was able to pay the Moana 2 animators significantly less than they would have paid its US-based animators.
I didn’t see anybody else talking about this, but Moana 2 was fast-tracked from its initial announcement only in February to its release this weekend. The crew has had to rework what was originally planned as a TV series into a feature film in just over a year.
The bigger issue is the precedent this could set. If Moana 2 reaches $1 billion at the box office, it might encourage Disney to continue producing films under such rushed conditions, prioritizing speed and profitability over the creative process and the well-being of their artists.
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This move sets a dangerous precedent, as Disney and other major studios might decide to have non-unionized do the work, since those workers can be pushed harder with fewer protections.
Over the years, animators have gone on several strikes as they fought for more rights and protections. Then, in 2023, after one hundred years, Walt Disney animators voted to unionize.
Walt Disney Animation Canada has been open since 1996, but the animators are still not part of a union. However, after seeing what happened with Moana 2, it is possible they might consider joining a union.
It’s been just a few days since Moana 2 premiered in theaters worldwide, but despite the film’s financial success, audiences are not loving the new storyline. As we said earlier, the film was originally meant to be a Disney+ series, but the episodes were pieced together to create a feature-length film. That caused some viewers to refer to the movie as “Frankenstein’s monster of a sequel.”
Many people had an issue with the film’s storyline, which to some said felt “disjointed” and to others “disappointing.”
However, we always encourage viewers to head to the theater and see the movie for themselves and form their own opinion!
Will you be going to see Moana 2 in theaters? Or will you wait until it comes to Disney+? Share your thoughts on Moana 2 with us in the comments!