NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� When you look at some of the numbers, it鈥檚 hard to believe was ever going to be anything but a movie.
When the dropped in May, it was watched 178 million times in 24 hours. That鈥檚 more than 鈥淚nside Out 2,鈥� more than 鈥淔rozen 2,鈥� more than any animated Disney movie before.
A veritable ocean鈥檚 worth of anticipation is awaiting the sequel to 2016鈥檚 鈥淢oana,鈥� all proof that one of the more dramatic pivots in recent Walt Disney Co. history is paying off, big time. 鈥淢oana 2鈥� was originally intended to be a streaming series. Now, it鈥檚 steering toward being . What can you say except you鈥檙e welcome?
When Bob Iger returned as chief executive of Disney in late 2022, one of his top priorities was shifting away from putting the studio鈥檚 most prized assets onto streaming. He wanted to put the focus back on the big screen 鈥� and all the ancillary benefits (including merchandizing and streaming) that follow after.
The series that directors David Derrick Jr. and Jason Hand had worked on for more than a year would become 鈥淢oana 2.鈥� The movie, which also added Dana Ledoux Miller as a director and co-writer, . It's opening Nov. 27.
鈥淚t became all hands on board,鈥� Derrick says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a saying in Samoa: 鈥楢ll together or not at all.鈥欌��
Derrick and Hand, both veteran storyboard artists at Disney, had effectively done their job too well. Their work convinced Disney executives to put the studio鈥檚 full weight behind a theatrical film, even though a live-action 鈥淢oana鈥� remained in development. (That movie, directed by Thomas Kail, is set to open in July 2026.)
鈥淲e developed the world, we developed the over-arching story that we鈥檙e still telling,鈥� says Derrick. 鈥淲e would screen it in our big theater the way we watch all of us our projects here. There was a groundswelling, unanimous concert of everyone saying this needs to be on the big screen.鈥�
鈥淚t was always going to be big,鈥� adds Hand. 鈥淚t just kept on getting bigger.鈥�
鈥淢oana 2鈥� was at the nexus of a major shift for Disney and for Hollywood in calculating how to weigh theatrical and streaming. Different studios have different strategies and those are still evolving. But after rushing to throw as much content as possible on streaming services, companies like Disney began to rethink their approach.
This year, Disney has regained its box-office swagger, led by a pair of $1 billion films in and 鈥淢oana 2鈥� could make it three. But however well 鈥淢oana 2鈥� does, it鈥檚 not likely to hurt its appeal once it begins streaming. The most popular film on Disney+ last year? 鈥淢oana.鈥�
鈥淲e always felt that it deserved to be on the big screen鈥� says Hand. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the best way to tell a story.鈥�
But the shift for 鈥淢oana 2,鈥� which returns Auli鈥檌 Cravalho as the voice of Moana and Dwayne Johnson as the voice of Maui, wasn鈥檛 easy. First of all, that meant living up to the standard of the first film 鈥� one that Miller, who is of Samoan heritage, considers groundbreaking for its Pacific Islander representation.
鈥淚 knew as a writer that movie was going to change what was possible,鈥� says Miller. 鈥淚t was going to change the way when I walk into a room I was going to be able to pitch a story because people had a new understanding of what it meant to be of the Pacific.鈥�
Miller, who founded the organization PEAK (Pasifika Entertainment Advancement Komiti) as a way for Pasifika people to find community in Hollywood, is also a writer on the live-action 鈥淢oana.鈥� 鈥淢y world has become all Moana all the time,鈥� she says, laughing.
Both films, the directors say, developed alongside each other, with many connections and shared cultural consultants.
Set three years after the original film, 鈥淢oana 2鈥� finds Moana again forced to head across the Pacific on an ocean adventure. But this time, she鈥檚 traveling with a crew, in a new canoe, and carrying new responsibilities. That includes her younger sister, Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda).
鈥淭he way the first film connected her to her past, she鈥檚 now connecting everyone to the future,鈥� says Derrick. 鈥淪o we added and created all these new characters when it was in series and we got to know them in a deep way.鈥�
Hand compares the series development to a workshop for the new characters.
鈥淵es, it was a massive undertaking 鈥� probably more so than what we initially imagined,鈥� Hand says. 鈥淏ut ultimately we were telling that same story. A lot of stuff that went by the wayside just naturally helped the story be its proper fighting weight.鈥�
Now, Moana is joined by a wayfinding crew that includes the characters Loto (Rose Matafeo), an engineer; Kele (David Fane), a grumpy farmer; and Moni (Hual膩lai Chung), a historian and storyteller.
鈥淲hat people don鈥檛 realize is that the people in the Pacific found the last discoverable land on Earth,鈥� says Derrick, who also has ancestral ties to Samoa. 鈥淭hey created the largest cultural ethnosphere in the world prior to westward expansion 鈥� one third of the Earth, all through the art and spirituality and science of wayfinding. So for me, it鈥檚 very important that each one of these crew members display that Indigenous genius that it took.鈥�
Honoring such things tends to resonate much differently in a movie theater than it does on a television. The makers of 鈥淢oana 2鈥� are still rushing to get their film ready for cinemas, with all the spectacle and music they can fit into it. But they know their young Polynesian protagonist will be seen big.
鈥淲hen I watched the first film, I was pregnant with my first child," Miller says. "I thought to myself as I was watching it: The world will be forever different because of this movie. My child will never not know a world where they are not seen on the biggest stage.鈥�
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
