Remember Disney announcing a Moana TV series back in 2020? The bad news: We’re not getting that anymore. The good news: It’s been retooled into an entire feature-length movie!
Recommended Videos
“We were impressed by what we saw and knew it deserved a theatrical release,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said yesterday. So what can we expect from this surprise sequel?
What is the plot of Moana 2?
The official synopsis released by Disney goes as follows: “After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced.” Everything else about the plot is being kept under wraps for now.
Who’s in the cast for Moana 2?
It seems pretty likely that Auli’i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson will return as Moana and Maui. Johnson has already tweeted the teaser. However, Cravalho won’t return for the live-action version of Moana set to release 2025. She said in an Instagram statement last year, “I am truly honored to pass this baton to the next young woman of Pacific Island descent to honor our incredible Pacific peoples, cultures, and communities that helped inspire her story, and I look forward to all the beautiful Pacific representation to come.”
However, she’s still very involved with the franchise. She’ll be an executive producer on the live-action film, so it seems safe to assume she’ll be lending her voice to Moana in the animated sequel, as well.
If you take a close look at the first officially released promo image (see above), you’ll notice that Heihei the chicken is there, so perhaps Alan Tudyk is coming back to voice him. There are also three new characters in the image, on the boat with Maui and Moana, but we don’t yet know who they are or who will play them.
Sorry, Lin-Manuel Miranda fans, but he won’t be doing songwriting duties for Moana 2. Instead, Grammy Award winners Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear will be writing the songs. However, Opetaia Foa’i and Mark Mancina, who did the music for the original movie, will be back.
As for directing, that job will go to Dave Derrick Jr., who worked in the art department for the original Moana.
Is there a trailer for Moana 2?
There isn’t a full trailer for the movie yet, but Disney has released a little teaser where we get a glimpse of Moana on a beautiful island. You can watch it below.
What’s the release date for Moana 2?
Disney surprised everyone with the release date yesterday. We’re getting Moana 2 much sooner than anyone expected! It’ll be out this year, November 27.
(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]