The original Moana hit theaters in November 2016 and was directed by Jon Musker and Ron Clements, the same filmmakers behind The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. The voice cast also featured Temuera Morrison, Rachel House, Nicole Scherzinger, Jemaine Clement, and Alan Tudyk.
Moana (pronounced [ˈmo. ana]) is a 1926 American silent documentary film, or more strictly a work of docufiction, which was directed by Robert J. Flaherty, creator of Nanook of the North (1922).
Theatrically released in November 2016, Moana stars Auli'i Cravalho as the titular teenage heroine and follows her on the adventure of a lifetime as she embarks on a journey across the ocean to save her people.
Set to premiere on Disney+ in 2024, Moana's sequel series should bring back many of the main characters from the original movie and should bring in a new antagonist and potential threats to Moana and Maui's new friendship.
Moana's age, 16, is less of an issue in her story as it doesn't include a romantic plot, but it still relies on a young girl to overcome dangerous challenges and save the world. Disney princesses have always had an age problem, with characters as young as 14 falling in love, defying parents, and getting married.
Dwayne Johnson was “humbled (and excited)” to share the release date for Disney's upcoming live-action remake of Moana on Tuesday. The film will hit theaters on June 27, 2025, nine years after the original.
Disney retitled Moana in different countries, with most European countries using Vaiana. This change was reflected in the movie too, as Moana's name was changed to Vaiana due to copyright issues.
Rachel House reprised her role in the Māori version of Moana, and took over the direction of the dubbing. In many European countries, the name of the titular character, Moana, was changed to Vaiana due to a trademark conflict. The film was released in those countries to bear the alternative name in the title.
On December 20, Netflix removed Moana to make room for a new lineup of films for Christmas and New Year's Eve. While Moana is no longer available on Netflix, you are still able to enjoy the movie over the holidays. Amazon Prime offers Moana for purchase, and iTunes offers both a rental and a purchase option.
Although Moana is from the fictional island Motunui some 3,000 years ago, the story and culture of Moana is based on the very real heritage and history of Polynesian islands such as Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga, and Tahiti. In fact, once you start looking for ties to Polynesian culture in Moana, it's hard to stop!
Tempera Morrison plays Chief Tui, Moana's father, a leader that's cherished by the people of Moroni Island. Nicole Scherzinger plays Moana's mom Sina, who has a playful personality but still wants to protect her daughter from the dangers of the world.
5) In the film's novelization, Moana's age is given as 16. This makes her the only Disney princess to be voiced by an actress younger than herself. Moana was released on Cravalho's 16th birthday.
The chiefs wife is not Moanas mother. The chief was seduced and had moana with the goddess of the sea Tangaroa. When the Goddess presented the chief with his daughter she told him the child's fate, which is why he fights so hard to keep her away from the ocean.
"Pua the pet pig was originally going on the journey with Moana, but the issue was that in a classic hero's journey, the hero leaves all comforts behind. And so we made the difficult decision to leave poor Pua at home, so that all things of Moana's family are left behind," says Shurer.
Earlier drafts of Moana actually did feature Pua setting out on the adventure but screenwriter Jared Bush (Zootopia) felt it would be more stressful if Moana's best friend and source of comfort didn't come along. This made her journey more powerful when she succeeded.
That's why Cinema Pro Studio published a trailer with the Euphoria star joining The Rock in the film, with a very accurate description: "Here's our concept trailer for 'Moana Live Action,' an exhilarating cinematic journey that brings Zendaya's Moana and Dwayne Johnson's Maui to life in a captivating new adaptation.
On February 8, 2023, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed that Frozen 3 is in the works, along with Toy Story 5 and Zootopia 2. While news of a third Frozen film was a welcome one, we have yet to hear more details about the movie or see a trailer. Here's everything we know about Frozen 3.
The character of Maui is played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson who grew up in Hawai'i. The story of the demigod Maui stretches across the Pacific and is estimated to be over 1000 years old.
In the Disney film Moana, the relationship between Moana and Maui is not romantic because Moana is a sixteen year old girl and Maui is thousands of years old. This is a step up from prior Disney movies.
They were given an official number in the franchise line-up based on the chronological order in which their films were released, starting with Snow White as the first and original Disney Princess, with Cinderella being the second, followed by Aurora and so on.
