Disney has primarily built its media empire on animation, from 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves being the first feature-length animated movie to the studio's "Renaissance" that lasted from 1989 to 1999. That trend has continued in recent years with their CGI offerings, including Moana, which was released last November. The movie combined modern cinematic flair with the classic Disney musical sensibilities, and now after enjoying enough time as a commercial and critical hit, a sing-along version is scheduled to arrive at the end of the month.
Walt Disney Animation Studios announced today that Moana's sing-along version will hit more than 2,000 theaters across the U.S. on January 27, with the lyrics to each song being shown on-screen. However, for those of you who live in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, the El Capitan Theatre will exclusively show this version beforehand on January 20. Moana follows in the footsteps of fellow Disney hit Frozen, which released its sing-along version in theaters at the end of January 2014. So if you enjoyed Moana late last year and want to belt out its tunes in a public setting without being stared at, now's your chance. If you want to see the movie for the first time, just be aware that this is one screening where audience silence isn't encouraged.
As Walt Disney Animation Studio's 56th movie and second of 2016 following Zootopia, Moana followed the eponymous protagonist, voiced by Auli'i Cravalho, a young girl who is selected by the ocean itself to track down the ancient demigod Maui, voiced by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who is the only hope Moana's people have to be saved from an ancient curse. The cast also included Tempura Morrison as Chief Tui Waialiki, Alan Tudyk as Heihei, Rachel House as Gramma Tala Waialiki and Jemaine Clement as Tamatoa.
Since its release, Moana has been met with near-critical acclaim, and has collected over $450 million worldwide. Its numerous accolades include two nominations at this past weekend's Golden Globes ceremony for Best Animated Feature Film and Best Song, the latter being "How Far I'll Go." Disney also officially uploaded the songs "You're Welcome," "We Know The Way, "How Far I'll Go" and "Shiny" online to enjoy from the comfort of home, but this sing-along version of the movie is the best opportunity for folks to sing its songs with a large group of fellow fans, young and old. Moana's music written by Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda, longtime Disney composer Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foa'i from the Oceanic music group Te Vaka.
Along with this sing-along version, it was also revealed that the original version of Moana will be released on Digital HD February 21, with the Blu-ray/DVD release following on March 7.
