Moana 2—Disney's surprise sequel to the popular 2016 film—did have to go pretty far to reach its big-screen destination, where it will surface this coming November. The Polynesia-set followup began its life as a planned series for Disney+, which the company announced in 2020 before deciding to retool the material into a feature film reuniting original leads Auliʻi Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson this past February.
That's good news for fans of the central wayfarer herself, as the main thrust of the team's edits "was a matter of finding a way to truly make it Moana's story," co-director Dana Ledoux Miller recently told Entertainment Weekly. It's probably bad news for fans of Hei Hei the dumb rooster, however, as we can only assume most of the scrapped storylines revolved around him. "In the series, there was a lot more room to play with some of the ensemble," Miller said, obviously talking about the bird. "[The shift was about] streamlining into all the things that we love most about Moana as our hero and our adventurer." Still, the director promises that the heart of the original plan—whatever it was—is still there. "Every element of the adventure that we were already building in the series is now 10 times bigger, 10 times more exciting," she said.
While Disney generally deserves the grief they get for their role in the slow death of the theatrical experience, this decision does sound like a slight correction. "We constantly screen [our projects], even in drawing [phase] with sketches," Disney Animation's chief creative officer Jennifer Lee said. "It became apparent very early on that this wanted to be on the big screen," co-director David Derrick Jr. added. "It felt like a groundswell within the whole studio." Miller also cited the fact that Disney has access to "the best artists in the world… why are we not letting them shine on the biggest screen in the biggest way?"
While it does feel like a bit of lip service, Lee also cited "supporting the theaters" as a part of the decision to move the sequel to the big screen. "We love Disney+, but it will go there eventually. You could really put it anywhere, but these artists create stories that they want to see on the big screen and that we want the world to see on the big screen," she said.
"We haven't done a ton of sequels at Disney animation," Lee continued, excepting, of course, Frozens two through infinity. (To be fair, Pixar is the worse offender sequel-wise right now.) She then offered some advice that would be really, really great, if Bob Iger and co. actually want to take it. "Our philosophy is always that the idea has to come from the filmmakers. You can't invent a story that isn't meant to be. You have to go from the heart out. If we do it the other way, we can't build an authentic story. Story, to us, is always character first." Maybe Moana will lead to some new horizons after all.
Moana 2 premieres in theaters November 27.
