Moana | |
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Created by |
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Original work | Moana (2016) |
Owner | The Walt Disney Company |
Years | 2016–present |
Films and television | |
Film(s) | |
Short film(s) |
|
Audio | |
Soundtrack(s) | Moana (2016) |
Miscellaneous | |
Theme park attraction(s) | Journey of Water |
Official website | |
disney | |
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Moana (also known as Vaiana [1] or Oceania [2] in some markets) is a Disney media franchise that originally started in 2016 with the release of the American animated feature film Moana , produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, and released by Walt Disney Pictures.
The franchise consists of two animated films, Moana (2016) and a sequel will be released on November 27, 2024, as well a live-action adaptation of the 2016 film, scheduled to be released on July 10, 2026.
Film | Release date | Director(s) | Screenwriter(s) | Story | Producer(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Animated | |||||
Moana | November 23, 2016 | John Musker & Ron Clements Co-Directors Chris Williams & Don Hall | Jared Bush | Ron Clements, John Musker, Chris Williams, Don Hall, Pamela Ribon, Aaron Kandell, & Jordan Kandell | Osnat Shurer |
Moana 2 | November 27, 2024 | David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, & Dana Ledoux Miller | Jared Bush & Dana Ledoux Miller | TBA | Christina Chen & Yvett Merino |
Live-action | |||||
Moana | July 10, 2026 | Thomas Kail | Jared Bush | TBA | Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, & Hiram Garcia |
After directing The Princess and the Frog (2009), Clements and Musker started working on an adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Mort , [3] but problems with acquiring the necessary film rights prevented them from continuing with that project. To avoid a recurrence of that issue, they pitched three original ideas. [4] The genesis of one of those ideas (the one that was ultimately green-lit) occurred in 2011, when Musker began reading up on Polynesian mythology, and learned of the heroic exploits of the demigod Māui. Intrigued with the rich culture of Polynesia, he felt it would be a suitable subject for an animated film. Shortly thereafter, Musker and Clements wrote a treatment and pitched it to John Lasseter, who recommended that both of them should go on research trips. [5] [6] Accordingly, in 2012, Clements and Musker went on research trips to Fiji, Samoa, and Tahiti to meet the people of the South Pacific Ocean and learn about their culture. [7] At first, they had planned to make the film entirely about Maui, but their initial research trips inspired Clements to pitch a new idea focused on the young daughter of a chief. [8]
Clements and Musker were fascinated to learn during their research that the people of Polynesia abruptly stopped making long-distance voyages about three thousand years ago. Polynesian navigational traditions had long predated those of European explorers, beginning around 300 CE. [9] Native people of the Pacific possessed knowledge of the world and their place in it prior to the incursion of foreigners. For example, Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) were well aware of the existence of far away islands, had names for these places, and were interested in exploring them to benefit their societies. [9] This voyaging heritage was made possible by a geographical knowledge system based on individual perspective rather than the European cardinal direction system. [9] The reasons for the halt of this voyaging tradition remain unknown, but scholars have offered climate change and resulting shifts in ocean currents and wind patterns as one possible explanation. [9] Native peoples of the Pacific resumed voyaging again a thousand years later. Clements and Musker set the film at that point in time, about two thousand years ago, on a fictional island in the central Pacific Ocean, which drew inspiration from elements of the real-life island nations of Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga. [10] Although, Motunui is actually a real islet located south of Easter Island in Chilean Polynesia. [11]
Over the five years it took to develop and produce the film, Clements and Musker recruited experts from across the South Pacific to form an Oceanic Story Trust, who consulted on the film's cultural accuracy and sensitivity as the story evolved through nine versions. [12] The Trust responded negatively, for example, to a depiction of Maui as bald, and to a proposed scene in which Moana threw a tantrum by throwing coconuts. In response, Maui was reworked with long hair and the coconut scene was scrapped. [8]
During the 2015 D23 Expo's panel for Disney's slate of upcoming animated films, Moana's last name was given as "Waialiki", but that name was not retained in the final film. [13]
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+. [14] By August 2021, it was reported that Osnat Shurer would once again serve as producer. [15] In January 2022, it was announced that David Derrick Jr. would serve as the writer and director, after filling the role of storyboard artist of the first film. [16] [17] [18] The series entered development simultaneously with the live action remake of Moana according to Jared Bush, a writer of the film and screenplay writer of the 2016 animated film. [19]
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. [20] By the release of the first trailer in May, Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller were confirmed as co-directors alongside Derrick, while Christina Chen and Yvett Merino were revealed to replace Shurer as the film's producers. [21]
In April 2023, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Walt Disney Pictures was developing a live-action adaptation of Moana to be produced by Johnson, Dany Garcia, and Hiram Garcia, under their production company Seven Bucks Productions, and Beau Flynn of Flynn Pictures Co., executive produced by Auliʻi Cravalho and Scott Sheldon, and written by Jared Bush, with Johnson set to reprise his role as Maui. [22] On June 12, 2024, Catherine Laga‘aia was announced as the titular character. [23]
The film was originally scheduled for theatrical release on June 27, 2025, in the United States, [24] but was delayed to July 10, 2026, due to the release of Moana 2 for the previous year. [25] [26]
Maui Mini Movie: Gone Fishing was released along with the first film’s blu-ray and digital release. It follows Maui trying and failing to fish until Moana shows him how it’s done.
Moana and Heihei make guest appearances in the 2018 film Ralph Breaks the Internet . [27] [28]
Moana appears as one of the main characters in the 2023 special Lego Disney Princess: The Castle Quest . [29]
The characters of the first film have cameo appearances in the 2023 short film Once Upon a Studio . [30] [31]
Characters | Animated films | Short film | Live-action film | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Moana | Moana 2 | Gone Fishing | Moana | |
2016 | 2024 | 2017 | 2026 | |
Moana | Auli'i Cravalho Louise Bush Y | Auli'i Cravalho | Catherine Lagaʻaia | |
Maui | Dwayne Johnson | |||
Gramma Tala | Rachel House | Rena Owen | ||
Chief Tui | Temuera Morrison Christopher Jackson S | Temuera Morrison | John Tui | |
Sina | Nicole Scherzinger | Frankie Adams | ||
Heihei | Alan Tudyk | |||
Tamatoa | Jemaine Clement | |||
Fisherman | Oscar Kightley | |||
Villager No. 1 | Troy Polamalu | |||
Villager No. 2 | Puanani Cravalho | |||
Simea | Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda | |||
Loto | Rose Matafeo | |||
Kele | David Fane | |||
Moni | Hualālai Chung | |||
Matangi | Awhimai Fraser | |||
Tautai Vasa | Gerald Ramsey | |||
Moana appears as a meet-and-greet character at Disney Parks. [32] [33]
Journey of Water—Inspired by Moana is a walkthrough water trail attraction, which depicts the Earth's water cycle, opened at Epcot on October 16, 2023. [34]
The franchise's titular protagonist, Moana, is part of the characters in the Disney Princess franchise. [35] The antagonists of the 2016 film Tamatoa and the Kakamora have been included as part of the Disney Villains franchise. [36] [37] [38]
Aladdin is a 1992 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution under Walt Disney Pictures. It is based on the Arabic folktale "Aladdin" from One Thousand and One Nights. The film was produced and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements from a screenplay they co-wrote with the writing team of Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. Featuring the voices of Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin, Jonathan Freeman, Frank Welker, Gilbert Gottfried and Douglas Seale, the film follows the titular Aladdin, an Arabian street urchin who finds a magic lamp containing a genie. With the genie's help, Aladdin disguises as a wealthy prince and tries to impress the Sultan of Agrabah to win the heart of his free-spirited daughter, Princess Jasmine, as the Sultan's evil vizier, Jafar, plots to steal the magic lamp.
Hercules is a 1997 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. It is loosely based on the legendary hero Heracles, a son of Zeus in Greek mythology. The film was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, both of whom also produced the film with Alice Dewey Goldstone. The screenplay was written by Clements, Musker, Donald McEnery, Bob Shaw, and Irene Mecchi. Featuring the voices of Tate Donovan, Danny DeVito, James Woods, and Susan Egan, the film follows the titular Hercules, a demigod with super-strength raised among mortals, who must learn to become a true hero in order to earn back his godhood and place in Mount Olympus, while his evil uncle Hades plots his downfall.
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The Black Cauldron is a 1985 American animated dark fantasy adventure film produced by Walt Disney Productions in association with Silver Screen Partners II and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is loosely based on the first two books in The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, a series of five novels that are in turn based on Welsh mythology.
Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene from its first synchronized sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie (1928). Founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney after the closure of Laugh-O-Gram Studio, it is the longest-running animation studio in the world. It is currently organized as a division of Walt Disney Studios and is headquartered at the Roy E. Disney Animation Building at the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California. Since its foundation, the studio has produced 62 feature films, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to Wish (2023), and hundreds of short films.
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Ronald Francis Clements is an American animator, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He often collaborates with fellow director John Musker and is best known for writing and directing the Disney animated films The Great Mouse Detective (1986), The Little Mermaid (1989), Aladdin (1992), Hercules (1997), Treasure Planet (2002), The Princess and the Frog (2009), and Moana (2016).
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Maui is a fictional character that appears in the 2016 Walt Disney Animation Studios animated film Moana. He was created by directors Ron Clements and John Musker and is voiced by American actor Dwayne Johnson. Maui is loosely based on the mythological figure Māui in Polynesian mythology. He is characterised as a demigod, trickster and shapeshifter and is distinguishable by his bulky tattooed body, thick, flowing hair and magical fish hook that allows him to shapeshift into various creatures. Maui's tattoos recount his deeds and feature an animated miniature version of himself that pokes fun at his overinflated ego. The character is due to return in the sequel film Moana 2. As of February 2024, Moana 2 was scheduled to premier in November 2024. Johnson will also portray Maui in the live-action remake of Moana, which is scheduled for release in 2026.