Credit: DisneyThe highly-anticipated follow-up to 2016’s Moana was scrapped at the top of the year; in its place, a new sequel rose from the ashes and one that fans were more than happy with.
Back in 2016, fresh off the billion-dollar success of Zootopia (2016) and just ahead of the peak Christmas season, Walt Disney Animation Studios dropped what would become one of their most beloved movies of all time.
Starring a fresh new talent in the form of Auli’i Cravalho and the Hollywood powerhouse Dwayne Johnson, Moana brought Polynesian culture and myth to the mainstream. Following the titular Moana of Motunui, the musical film–directed by John Musker and Ron Clements from a screenplay by Jared Bush–sees Johnson’s demigod Maui help the young seafarer to restore the heart of Te Fiti.
While taking a respectable $687 million at the global box office, the film’s legacy has only grown in the years that followed, so much so, in fact, that Moana was the most streamed movie in the United States in 2023 across all streamers.
The power of Moana, with its soaring anthems like “How Far I’ll Go” and “We Know the Way” (from musicians Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foaʻi, and Mark Mancina), triggered a major franchise–which Disney named one of its top properties in its most recent shareholder presentation.
“Moana 2 had the biggest animated trailer launch in Disney history, with nearly 200 million views in 24 hours, and dedicated SKUs for Moana merchandise have doubled since the sequel announcement,” Disney wrote in its third quarter presentation.
It was in 2020, at Disney’s Investor Day, that Walt Disney Studios Animation Chief Creative Officer Jennifer Lee–who recently stepped down to focus on writing and directing Frozen III (2026)–shared that Moana: The Series was in motion at the House of Mouse.
Not much was shared amid the coronavirus shutdown of the industry and then tidbits trickled out the other side. However, the biggest Moana sequel news came in early 2024, when Disney Chief Bob Iger shared that the Moana sequel story, originally created for television, would be reworked into Moana 2–a big-screen exclusive theatrical release.
Initial reactions showed concern for this major shift in medium, but from the first teaser to the official trailer and this most recent special look update, fans have responded positively across the board. Jennifer Lee recently spoke about the decision to scrap the TV series in favor of a feature film, revealing what led to the major sequel change.
“We constantly screen [our projects], even in drawing [phase] with sketches,” Lee told Entertainment Weekly. “It was getting bigger and bigger and more epic, and we really wanted to see it on the big screen. It creatively evolved, and it felt like an organic thing.”
Now, Disney Animation (@DisneyAnimation) has shared a special look at the upcoming sequel, which is set to sail into theaters over Thanksgiving on November 27, 2024.
See what lies beyond with Disney’s #Moana2, arriving only in theaters November 27!
See what lies beyond with Disney’s #Moana2, arriving only in theaters November 27! pic.twitter.com/7yT8qteH70
— Disney Animation (@DisneyAnimation) October 8, 2024
Just like the first official trailer, the special look gained positive reactions on social media. Numerous users commented on how good the visuals look and shared excitement about the introduction of new characters like David Fane’s Kele and Rose Matafeo’s Loto, who make up part of Moana’s new wayfinding crew.
Moana 2 is also one of the most anticipated movies of 2024, with Rotten Tomatoes and Variety ranking the Disney animated sequel as one of their biggest movies of the year.
While many hope these supporting characters get their time to shine, comments from Moana 2 co-director Dana Ledoux Miller suggest that some of their content may have been cut in the transition.
“In the series, there was a lot more room to play with some of the ensemble,” Miller told Entertainment Weekly earlier this year. “[The shift was about] streamlining into all the things that we love most about Moana as our hero and our adventurer.”
“We have all of that now and it pops so much more, especially with the scale that we get to live in on the big screen. Every element of the adventure that we were already building in the series is now 10 times bigger, 10 times more exciting,” she added.
Related: ‘Moana’ Lead Actress Exits Disney for New Role With Competitor Post-Sequel
Dana Ledoux Miller is joined by David Derrick Jr. and Jason Hand in the directing seat, with Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear–known for their Grammy-winning The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical—taking over from Lin-Manuel Miranda as songwriters for the sequel.
Auliʻi Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson return to their beloved roles of Moana and Maui in the movie, as do Temuera Morrison (Chief Tui), Nicole Scherzinger (Sina), Rachel House (Gramma Tala), and Alan Tudyk (Hei Hei). New characters include Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda), Kele (David Fane), Loto (Rose Matafeo), Moni (Hualālai Chung), Matangi (Awhimai Fraser), and Tautai Vasa (Gerald Ramsey).
Moana‘s Live-Action Uphill Battle
Moana 2‘s announcement came a year after the reveal that the original Moana would be getting the live-action treatment in a collaborative effort between The Walt Disney Company and Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia’s Seven Bucks Productions.
Johnson revealed the movie on the beaches of O’ahu, but despite its flashy announcement, concerns flooded social media with the need to already adapt this not-even-a-decade-old movie into live-action.
As a brand, the Disney live-action remakes have hardly been unanimously well-received, with more recent takes garnering increasing backlash and toxic responses. The Little Mermaid (2023) movie sparked immediate discourse on race and diversity due to the casting of Black actress Halle Bailey in the leading role.
Related: New Information Comes To Light Over “Cancelled” Live-Action ‘Snow White’
Then, in 2023, comments made by Snow White actress Rachel Zegler in 2022 resurfaced, which saw criticism of Disney’s Snow White remake flare. Following the SAG-AFTRA strikes last year, Disney decided to delay Snow White‘s 2024 release until next year—although it does make one wonder whether the Mouse wanted to distance the movie from the fiery discussions regarding Disney’s first princess.
Moana 2 releases this year, while Moana live-action, directed by Thomas Kail, is now slated for 2026.
How do you feel about Moana 2? Are you excited to see it on the big screen? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!