Moana 2 facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Moana 2 |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Music by | Mark Mancina |
| Editing by | Michael Louis Hill Jeremy Milton |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 21, 2024 (Lanikuhonua Cultural Institute) November 27, 2024 (United States) |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $150 million |
| Money made | $1.059 billion |
Moana 2 is an animated musical adventure film from 2024. Walt Disney Animation Studios created this movie. It is the second film in the Moana series. David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller directed it. Dana Ledoux Miller and Jared Bush wrote the screenplay.
Auliʻi Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson returned to voice their characters. The story takes place three years after the first film. Moana reunites with the demigod Maui. They gather a crew to find the lost island of Motufetu. Their goal is to break a curse and bring ocean people back together.
This movie was first planned as a TV show for Disney+. But in February 2024, it became a movie for theaters. Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foaʻi composed the music and wrote songs. They also worked on the first Moana film. Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear wrote more songs for the movie.
Moana 2 first showed in Hawaii on November 21, 2024. It came out in U.S. theaters on November 27, 2024. The film earned over $1 billion worldwide. It became the third highest-grossing film of 2024. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film.
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What Happens in Moana 2
Three years after her first big adventure, Moana explores islands near her home. She hopes to find people connected to the ocean. When she returns, Moana becomes a tautai. This means she is a master wayfinder. She is the first in Motunui in a thousand years.
Moana sees a vision from her ancestor, Tautai Vasa. He tells her why people are no longer connected. A storm god named Nalo wanted power. He sank a special island called Motufetu. This island once connected all the other islands. Vasa warns that Motunui's people will disappear if Moana cannot raise Motufetu.
Moana decides to answer this call from her ancestors. She gathers a crew from Motunui. Her crew includes Loto, a craftswoman, and Moni, a historian. There is also Kele, a grumpy farmer. Her animal friends, Pua the pig and Heihei the rooster, join too. They follow a comet across the ocean to find Motufetu.
Meanwhile, Maui is also looking for Motufetu. He had a past problem with Nalo. But Nalo's helper, Matangi, captures Maui. Maui worries that Moana might not survive if she tries to help him. Moana and her crew are then captured by the Kakamora. These are coconut-like pirates Moana met before. The Kakamora explain that Nalo's actions also disconnected them from their home.
A Kakamora named Kotu helps Moana's crew. They find Maui in Matangi's lair, inside a giant clam. Moana meets Matangi and learns she is not happy working for Nalo. Matangi helps Moana escape and reunite with Maui and her friends. She then sends them to find Nalo.
Maui warns that Nalo's realm is very dangerous. He says fighting Nalo could be deadly for humans. Nalo's monsters attack the group. Their raft gets damaged, and they wash ashore on an island. Moana starts to feel hopeless. But Maui encourages her to keep going.
Moana feels strong again. The group plans for Maui to raise Motufetu. Moana needs to touch it to stop Nalo. Her crew fixes the raft. They set out to face Nalo. But they run into a huge storm.
Moana realizes Nalo is trying to stop them. She asks Maui to lift Motufetu just enough for her to touch it. Maui starts to pull Motufetu up with his giant hook. But Nalo strikes Maui with lightning. This takes away Maui's demigod powers.
In a desperate moment, Moana dives into the ocean. She touches Motufetu underwater. But Nalo's lightning hits her, and she dies. Maui jumps in after her. He chants a magical song. The spirits of Tautai Vasa and Moana's ancestors appear. Her grandmother Tala is among them. They help revive Moana as a demigoddess. She gains a special wayfinder's tattoo. Maui also gets his powers back. He finally raises Motufetu. Moana then helps reconnect all the ocean people.
The crew returns home to Motunui. Many ocean peoples join them in a celebration for Moana. In a scene after the credits, Nalo plans his revenge. He is about to punish Matangi for helping Moana. Then, the giant crab Tamatoa arrives to join Nalo.
Who Are the Voices?
- Auliʻi Cravalho as Moana: She is the curious daughter of the chief. The ocean chose her to break the curse on Motufetu. Cravalho also voiced Moana in the Hawaiian language version.
- Dwayne Johnson as Maui: He is a strong shapeshifting demigod. He joins Moana on her journey.
- Hualālai Chung as Moni: A member of Moana's crew and a big fan of Maui.
- Rose Matafeo as Loto: A smart and unique craftswoman in Moana's crew.
- David Fane as Kele: A grumpy farmer and part of Moana's crew.
- Awhimai Fraser as Matangi: Nalo's helper who controls bats. Fraser also voiced Matangi in the Māori language version.
- Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda as Simea: Moana's little sister.
- Temuera Morrison as Tui: Moana's father and chief of Motunui. Morrison also sang his own songs in this film. He voiced Tui in the Māori language version too.
- Nicole Scherzinger as Sina: Moana's mother and Chieftess of Motunui.
- Rachel House as Tala: Moana's grandmother, who returns as a manta ray spirit. House also voiced Tala in the Māori language version.
- Gerald Ramsey as Tautai Vasa: Moana's ancestor.
- Alan Tudyk as Heihei: Moana's pet rooster.
Some of Dwayne Johnson's family members also voiced characters. His daughters Jasmine and Tiana are in Moana's fan club. His mother, Ata Maivia Johnson, voices a villager. Tofiga Fepulea'i voices the storm god Nalo in the mid-credits scene. The giant coconut crab Tamatoa from the first film also appears. Jemaine Clement returned to voice Tamatoa.
How the Film Was Made
Development of the Story
In December 2020, Disney announced a TV series called Moana: The Series. It was planned for Disney+ in 2023. David Derrick Jr., a storyboard artist from the first film, was set to direct. The series was developed at the same time as a live-action Moana movie.
Dana Ledoux Miller joined the series as a writer in early 2023. She helped revise the story. The creators kept getting feedback that the story was too good for a TV show. People thought it should be a big movie.
In January 2024, Disney decided to change the series into a movie. This was possible because most animation work happens in the last year before release. Everything before that is story development.
In February 2024, Disney officially announced Moana 2. Derrick remained the director. Disney executives were very impressed with early footage. They felt it deserved to be a movie in theaters. Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller were confirmed as co-directors. Christina Chen and Yvett Merino became the film's producers.
Voice Actors Join
After the movie was announced, Auliʻi Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson confirmed they would return. Johnson said he was involved from the start. He wanted to make sure the sequel was amazing.
More cast members were announced at the Annecy Animation Film Festival. Temuera Morrison and Nicole Scherzinger returned as Moana's parents. New voices included Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda as Moana's sister. Rose Matafeo, David Fane, and Hualālai Chung joined as Moana's crew.
Cravalho mentioned that this was the first time a Disney princess was allowed to grow older. For other Disney projects, she had to make her voice sound younger. But for Moana 2, the directors let her use her natural voice. She was in her early twenties when she recorded.
Animation Work
Animation for Moana 2 happened at Walt Disney Animation Studios' Vancouver studio. This was when it was still a series. It is the first movie made at the Vancouver studio. At the Annecy festival, it was shared that animation experts Mark Henn and Eric Goldberg helped. They supervised a team for Maui's hand-drawn tattoos. Goldberg had worked on "Mini Maui" in the first film.
Music for the Film
Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foaʻi returned to create the film's music. Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear wrote the songs. They replaced Lin-Manuel Miranda from the first film. Barlow and Bear are the youngest and first all-female team to write songs for a Disney movie.
Disney Music president Tom MacDougall hired them in 2021. He liked their work on The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical. They started writing songs for Moana 2 in 2022. Miranda helped Barlow by giving her books on writing lyrics for musicals. Bear studied the original Moana music. She learned how to use Polynesian instruments in her songs.
Cravalho felt it was perfect to have two young women write Moana's songs. She said they helped tell Moana's story of finding her way. The songs explore deeper feelings of uncertainty.
Miranda explained why he did not return for the sequel. He was very busy with other projects. He wanted to work on Mufasa: The Lion King. By the time he was free, Barlow and Bear were already working on Moana 2.
On November 7, 2024, Disney shared the full song list. The first song, "Beyond," was released. Cravalho sang it, and it was like a follow-up to "How Far I'll Go." On November 11, Johnson revealed his song, "Can I Get a Chee Hoo?". It was a song about female empowerment for Moana. The movie's soundtrack came out on November 22. Both "Beyond" and "Can I Get a Chee Hoo?" received awards nominations.
Release of Moana 2
Moana 2 first showed in Hawaii on November 21, 2024. It was released in U.S. theaters on November 27, 2024.
Marketing the Film
The first trailer for the film came out on May 29, 2024. It was first shown at CinemaCon. The trailer got over 178 million views in its first 24 hours. This set a new record for a Disney animated film trailer. It beat records held by Frozen 2 and Inside Out 2. A sneak peek of the film was shown at the 2024 Annecy Animation Film Festival.
On August 9, 2024, Cravalho and Johnson promoted the film at the D23 Expo. They released a new trailer online. Cravalho performed a new song from the film, "We're Back." Polynesian dancers joined her.
Different Languages
In European countries, Moana 2 was released as Vaiana. This is because of a trademark issue.
The film was also dubbed into four Polynesian languages. These were Hawaiian, Māori, Tahitian, and Samoan. Cravalho voiced Moana in the Hawaiian version again. Other cast members returned for the Māori version.
Moana 2 was the first film dubbed into Māori to premiere in New Zealand at the same time as the English version. This was only the third time Disney released an indigenous language dubbing at the same time as regular ones. The first was the Tahitian dubbing of Moana in 2016. The second was the Sámi dubbing of Frozen 2 in 2019.
Watching at Home
Moana 2 became available for digital download on January 28, 2025. It started streaming on Disney+ on March 12, 2025. It was released on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on March 18, 2025.
The film quickly became very popular on digital platforms. It was number one on iTunes and Fandango at Home for several weeks. It also topped the UK's Official Film Chart.
On Disney+, Moana 2 had 27.3 million views in its first five days. This was the third-highest launch for a movie on the platform. It was the best launch for a Walt Disney Animation Studios film since Encanto in December 2021. It was one of the most-streamed films in the U.S. in March 2025.
Images for kids
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Dana Ledoux Miller, co-director and co-screenwriter
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Auliʻi Cravalho, the voice of Moana
