Main Disney • Re: Moana 2

The first footage that was shown was a musical sequence called “We’re Back,” which has Moana (once again voiced by Auliʻi Cravalho) returning from her latest seafaring voyage. Obviously, the song, by Abigal Barlow and Emily Bear, has another meaning since Moana – the character and the franchise – is also returning. But there’s a lot of story that is relayed through the song, as we see various villagers who (spoiler alert!) later become part of Moana’s team, reveling in her accomplishments. They recount her exploits with Maui (Dwayne Johnson), talk about how she’s opened the island and has generally gone beyond her position as the daughter of the village chief. She is so much more.

The next bit of footage introduced Simea, Moana’s little sister. The sequel, Derrick and Hand announced, takes place three years after the first movie but Simea seems to be older than that and the other characters have aged more prominently (Moana’s dad has streaks of grey, Moana herself has been subtly redesigned). Moana and Simea are the closest siblings imaginable, they refer to each other as “Big Sis” and “Little Sis” and Moana’s mission – to make a connection with another island — takes on an even greater importance as she is trying to forge a better future for her little sister.

At a ceremony where her father, the village chief, is going to pronounce Moana “Tautai” – the master of man and sea – lighting strikes the hut. It sends Moana a vision from the distant past and has her commune with the last Tautai, who warns her of a terrible threat. There is a mysterious island called Motufetu that connects all of the Polynesian islands together but it is guarded by a jealous God of Storms. In order for her to defeat the god and open this important island up again, she’s going to have to go on another go-for-broke mission, this time recruiting members of her tribe – including a young woman who designs and maintains the ship named Loto, an elder statesman of the community responsible for the vegetables named Kele and a young storyteller (and Maui fanboy) named Moni. Oh and Hei-Hei the very dumb chicken and her pig pal Pua (now sporting an adorable tiny tusk) also make the trek.

Along the way, they encounter the Kakamora, the little coconut creatures and a giant clam with dangling, Lovecraftian tentacles. One of the Kakamora ships is consumed by the beast and Moana and her crew try to get away before being poison-darted by the Kakamora. While we didn’t see the footage of this, apparently one of the Kakamora, named Kotu, also joins the quest to find Motufetu and defeat the God of Storms. As you do.

Before the presentation ended, Derrick and Hand showed a brief clip that involved everybody’s favorite demigod. In the sequence Maui (once again voiced by Dwayne Johnson) is seen in some kind of cave, next to a large pearl (our guess this is the inside of the hulking clam that was threatening Moana in an early sequence). Maui is being taunted by a largely unseen presence, who talks about how him making Moana a wayfinder has proved a larger threat to their plan. (This unseen presence, voiced by an as-yet-unidentified Australian actress, works for the God of Storms.) There’s something going on in this scene, because Maui is saying that he only used Moana to get his magic hook back. There’s no emotion or sentimentality there. Maybe he’s trying to protect her? It’s a really interesting scene and speaks to the complicated interpersonal dynamics that they are going for in “Moana 2.”

Derrick added, “We begin our story with Moana, three years after the first film. She’s exploring the seas, searching for new islands, mapping the ocean, hoping to find other people. As the people of Motunui have not seen anyone for generations, Moana knows that the ocean connects us. But to whom? Where are they? She’s looking for proof that others are out there. She’s curious why she hasn’t found anyone.”

Among the still-in-progress footage shared was the film’s opening song, which is an original number from Moana 2 songwriters Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear. During the song, Moana heads home to her village after making a stunning discovery. Another segment from the film shows Moana taking part in a ceremony that is dramatically interrupted by a bolt of lightning. “That can’t be good,” Derrick, who also wrote the film’s script, quipped about the tense moment.

The artwork and footage provided exclusive looks at new characters, including Moana’s younger sister and the members of Moana’s crew, which has expanded beyond rooster Heihei and pig Pua. This includes Moni, described in the presentation as the “island’s most passionate storyteller” and obsessed with Maui, who is absent at the start of the sequel. Scenes involving Heihei and Moni were among those to be greeted with laughter from the crowd.

During the presentation, directors David Derrick Jr. and Jason Hand also included clips featuring new characters like Moana’s baby sister, Simea, and the crew for her next adventure: engineer Loto, farmer Kele and enthusiastic Maui superfan Moni. “It’s about connection, to who we are, where we came from,” explained Derrick of the new story, which is set three years after the events in the 2016 Oscar-nominated original movie. This story finds Moana and her crew in search of the lost island of Motufetu, which once connected the ocean, now hidden by a jealous God of Storms.

In all, Disney showed roughly 15 minutes of work in progress from the upcoming movie. In the first clip, Moana (Auli‘i Cravalho) returns from an ocean voyage to a warm welcome from her tribe, featuring one of the new original songs, titled “We’re Back.” Next, she is given a new title in a ceremony on the island, that is interrupted by a bolt of lighting that strike the hut. She learns that she must seek other land and people, and Moana recruits her crew, including the reluctant Kele, who has never left land. As they sail, they narrowly escape a dangerous giant clam-like adversary, but not the threatening Kakamora. Additional footage features Maui, as well as the Mini Maui tattoo who is once again hand-animated, led by Disney legend Eric Goldberg.

Statistics: Posted by Sotiris — Fri Jun 14, 2024 12:17 pm