Disney is set to be releasing Moana 2, in theaters on November 27th, 2024.
Moana 2 is the sequel of Moana which came out when and was a fan favorite etc and received a 95% Rotten Tomatoes. The sequel was announced at the beginning of this year in February. Moana 2 will feature the two well-loved protagonists, Moana and Maui voiced by Auli’i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson. In the first movie, Moana discovers her calling as a way-finder after going on a brave mission to undo a curse placed on the Islands. The curse was caused after the demi-god Maui stole the heart of Tafiti from the island of Te Fiti, this caused a curse that eventually reached Moana’s island. Moana, being the daughter of the Chief, felt it was her responsibility to find Maui and restore the heart of Tafiti, for the sake of her island.
In Moana 2 Moana will be going on an adventure in Oceania with Maui and a new group of explorers. She was called from her way-finder ancestors.
BHS student Mia Bong’ 27 says she’s “so excited and cannot wait, Moana was my childhood! ” Mia is also excited to “see all the characters and see the differences, and it’s coming out, and [she’s] excited to see it with friends.”
On the contrary, another BHS student, Logan Lewis ‘27 says he’s not excited about the movie because he doesn’t believe Moana is “that big of a princess”. Logan does still plan on seeing the movie and is excited to see Moana’s little sister play a part in the movie. Moana’s sister Simea was featured in the first movie, but based on trailers seems to hold a larger role in the second movie. Variety in a review expresses their opinion on Moana 2. The article boldly states that “the songs lack that Lin-Manuel Miranda Music”. Lin-Manuel Miranda was a songwriter for the first movie and received an Oscar nomination for the very popular song “ How Far I’ll Go”. Variety does speak positively about the visuals in this movie, “The movie has vibrant monsters and a flow of movement that keeps your eyeballs dancing”. Moana 2’s animation team alone has 100+ people working on this project. Overall, about 700 people are reported to have worked on this film. The Moana franchise has received a lot of attention as Disney also has a live-action version coming out on July 10, 2026. The live-action has started filming this summer with Dwayne Johnson, the voice actor for Maui also playing the live-action version. Moana 2 is bringing a lot of people’s attention to it as they’re curious to see what happens plot-wise.
