The First Trailer For Moana 2 Dropped And I Am BEGGING Disney Not To Screw It Up
I've covered this a bunch in the past, but I am a diehard Moana fan. I have it as the best animated movie in Disney history after it (barely) knocked Lion King off the throne. I realize that is high praise. But when you pair The Rock with a banger soundtrack, memorable villains, and all the magic The Mouse pumps into a big theatrical release, you get a new GOAT. Pretty simple math, really. I admittedly also may feel that way partially because my daughter was obsessed with Moana as a baby, which means it lived on our TV for years and was by farrrrr the best content we were subjected too during the days I simply refer to as The Fog.
Which is why I am so nervous that Moana 2 is going to fall flat on its face. Sure that trailer makes it seem like they fixed their Pua problem from the first movie, since that little piggy was the perfect sidekick for an animated movie yet somehow was barely in it. It also had the vibes of the OG with the score and the visuals. But trailers are supposed to make movies and shows look good, whether they are 5 Balls masterpieces or steaming piles of shit. It’s literally their only purpose.
As someone that watched Toy Story 4, I can't help but be a little worried about Disney trying to squeeze every dollar out of a franchise to make their stockholders happy. Especially considering Moana 2 didn't start out as a movie, but instead as a Disney+ show.
In December 2020, during a Disney Investor Day meeting, Walt Disney Animation Studios chief creative officer Jennifer Lee announced that a musical series titled Moana, based on the 2016 film of the same name, was in development at the studio for Disney+.
In February 2024, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that the series had been reworked into a theatrical sequel titled Moana 2, with Derrick and Shurer remaining attached to the project.
While I don't hate the idea of going from a TV show that inevitably needs a ton of content to fill all the different episodes to a movie that can pluck the best of the best from the show, I also don't love Disney+ because it has dropped the ball with so many beloved Star Wars and Marvel stories.
On top of that, we aren't getting any more Lin-Manuel Miranda Moana songs that are among some of the best tunes The Mouse has ever produced.
Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foaʻi return to compose the film score, while Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear wrote the songs, replacing Lin-Manuel Miranda from the first film.
I didn't know who the hell Barlow or Bear were when I started this blog, but it looks like they won a Grammy for best theater album for their work on Bridgerton Musical, which they initially released as a concept album to the Netflix show Bridgerton after recording live sessions on TikTok. Writing that sentence made me feel 1000 years old because I barely understand any of it. But taking home the Grammy for a theater album feels like a decent way to begin filling in Lin-Manuel's giant shoes.
That being said, everything about the first Moana was perfect and I've seen wayyyyy too many movies get a sequel nobody was asking for that ended up being trash at best. Which is why I'm pleading for Disney to do everything in their unlimited power to make this movie good. They are going to make a bazillion dollars whether it is incredible or the worst piece of garbage ever. Please don't ruin the legacy of Moana, or more importantly the lives of all the parents that are going to be forced to have Moana 2 on their screens for months during some of the toughest times of their life where sleep and leisure time are damn near impossible to get.