Walt Disney Animation Studios' movies will forever hold a special place in my heart because of how pivotal they were to my childhood. I loved growing up during the House of Mouse’s Renaissance Era and, when 2016’s Moana was released, I felt like I was able to relive those glory days for the first time in a while. Then, when Moana 2 was confirmed to be one of the upcoming Disney movies, I was very excited, but you should know I also expressed concerns after the first trailer debuted. Now, after seeing 30 minutes of the movie, I’ve changed my mind in a few big ways.
CinemaBlend was invited to Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California for an early press day in mid-September to view the first half an hour of Moana 2. Attendees also had the opportunity with speaking to the filmmakers, animators and so forth. Now that I can finally talk about what I saw (yes, I’ll avoid major spoilers), I want to talk about how I'm feeling about the highly-anticipated follow-up:
OK, I’m Sold On The New Songwriters After Being Bummed Before
When the original Moana debuted, I became seriously obsessed with the soundtrack. So, when I learned the sequel didn't involve OG songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda, I wasn't as excited for the musical component of the movie. However, now I’m warming up to the idea of Miranda passing the baton to Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear. I wasn't super familiar with the writers behind The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical but, during the press day, I heard some of their music in the context of the movie and saw them perform some tracks live.
For one, Moana 2 finds a lot of ways to use the soundtrack from the original movie. There were a lot of sonic callbacks to the acclaimed film that hit me in my feels and showed reverence for what Lin-Manuel Miranda worked on with composers Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foaʻi. The 2024 movie release is composed by the aforementioned pair again, but Barlow and Bear bring a youthful and fresh energy to the world of Motunui that feels very much in line with the spirit of the first film.
The filmmakers spoke about the new songwriters being a good fit, because they can empathize more with Moana’s journey -- and that was palpable through the songwriting. Bear and Barlow also sang a tune -- that we didn't actually see a scene for -- that seems to be linked to the movie’s mysterious villain, and I seriously wanted to put it on repeat after hearing it.
Moana’s More Mature Character Arc Excites Me
When I first wrote about Moana 2, I shared my reservations about the need for a sequel, given the first feature was such a perfect film about Polynesian folklore and its young heroine learning to believe in herself. However, since I learned more about the movie’s storyline via the filmmakers and watched the footage, I've totally changed my mind regarding the need for a follow-up. While the first movie followed Moana when she was 16, this film will take place three years later and follow her as 19 year old.
During a Q&A at Walt Disney Animation following a viewing of the first part of the film, the writer/directors talked about how they were inspired to talk about the hero facing a responsibility they couldn’t have discussed in the first film. In the sequel, Moana has a little sister named Simea, who will add to the stakes of the film, because she doesn’t want to let her little sibling down. Additionally, she’ll also have a crew to lead on her voyage, and she's going to have her hands full with them.
While Moana’s first voyage was all about seeing “how far” she could go, she’s since become a legend and major figure on her island, and with that comes a lot of pressure. The creative team spoke about the movie being about "ongoing personal growth," and that's a theme I can absolutely get behind.
On the other hand, with Maui, Moana 2 sees the demigod getting into his own troubles and being hellbent on not needing Moana to save him. Dwayne Johnson has spoken about the sequel challenging ideas of masculinity, as he he shared how “asking for help is actually a superpower.” I saw that being set up in an interesting way. All in all, I like that I walked away from the screening with a deeper interest in their journeys as characters, though I still wonder if the execution going into the second and third acts will satisfy me.
The Fact Moana 2 Was Initially Conceived As TV Show Doesn’t Bother Me Anymore
If you’ve been following the production of Moana 2, you might know that it was originally being developed as a series for Disney+ before the studio surprised fans by turning it into a feature film with a theatrical release. While that’s an inside baseball detail about the sequel, it made me nervous as a fan, because it made me think that this may movie may have become more of a makeshift sequel than I would have wanted. Now that I’ve seen a chunk of the movie and been in the room with some of the key people behind the production, I’m much more confident in the goals and the movie's quality. The film's production origins aren't worth worrying about.
It sounds like the project was being approached with a lot of care from the jump and that the pivot only improved the story the creatives wanted to tell. While talking to Daniel Arriaga -- one of the movie’s key animators -- at the press day, he told me this:
We got to spend more time with each character versus being kind of rushed before because there wasn't enough time.
Now that I know Moana 2 actually became a better project thanks to the switch, I’m so ready to get more excited for it. Sure, I still have some reservations about Disney sequels in general, and I still have to see the rest of this movie. But, in the end, I think Moana deserves to be explored further as a character! You can look forward to the movie’s theatrical release too, as it opens in theaters on November 27, 2024, and stream the first film now with a Disney+ subscription.
