In November, Disney released a sequel to its beloved film “Moana,” released in 2016. Taking place three years after Moana returned the heart of Te Fiti to restore the health and prosperity of the islands, the sequel’s story begins with an upbeat song “We’re Back” and scenes of the island’s people enjoying their fruitful, joyous lives with Moana as their leader.
This peace doesn’t last long, however, as Moana soon receives a calling from her wayfinding ancestors to reunite people across islands to become reconnected. Thousands of years ago, a dark god of storms and lightning, Nalo, sunk the island of Motufetu which connected many villages, and Moana is challenged to find the lost island and finally break Nalo’s curse. After working through her fear of leaving home and her family behind before embarking on yet another profoundly dangerous conquest, she speaks to her grandmother’s ghost and is reassured that while she has a lot to lose, there is much more to gain, and the ocean will protect her just as it did before.
Moana ventures off in search of Motufetu with a crew of three new characters, and, of course, her animal sidekicks Pua and Heihei. They face challenges and meet a new character as well as several mythical beings, and eventually find Maui the demigod, who helps them with their journey. As they continue on their adventure, there are several plot twists which challenge their strength as a team and their willingness to reconnect the islands.
While the film has been a success and even broke the record for the highest global opening weekend for an animated movie, the production crew was under a lot of pressure in the several months leading up to the movie’s release. The storyline was only transformed into a movie in February according to Variety, as it was originally intended to be a series of several episodes streaming on Disney+.
In February of this year, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that the series was being reworked into a sequel movie to be released the week of Thanksgiving, without contacting any of the animators or voice actors to notify them of this change, according to Matt Bullions from the Salt Lake Film Review. The animating team was then challenged to work on a strict deadline all while, according to Bullions, “[facing] all kinds of public scrutiny and pressure from the Disney company.”
Noah Cawich from The Oberlin Review commented on the representation of Polynesian culture as a positive in the movie, as well as the negatives such as the undesired and poorly set up emotional beats as well as unnecessary side characters. Cawich said “uiltimately, the best way to describe the movie is rushed.”
I agree with Cawich, I was hoping to see more character development in Moana and Maui. The first film portrays the two heroes of the story, Moana and Maui, as two characters each chosen to help each other become whole enough in their strength and willingness to save the world by restoring the heart of Te Fiti. While Maui was the one who stole the heart in the first place, Moana’s willingness to pursue the cause humbles him and he realizes that he also needs saving from TeKa’s darkness rather than glorification for himself. Moana, on the other hand, isn’t sure enough of herself.
The character development of the two was profound throughout the first movie, and I was hoping for more. In the sequel, that time is instead filled with side elements that don’t add much to the plot. I found it to be disappointing and unfulfilling.
A key part of Disney animation features has always been the music. Disney lovers look forward to the catchy, inspirational songs films bring, but the 16-track album from “Moana 2” wasn’t composed by the original creative, Lin-Manuel Miranda, who was responsible for the well-known hits featured in the first movie such as “How Far I’ll Go” and “You’re Welcome.” His role was taken over by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear who wrote the songs for the sequel, but they were unable to meet the standards set by the original movie. Viewers didn’t leave the theaters with a song in their minds, and that’s a problem, considering they’ve just seen a Disney animation film.
Overall, the movie was filled with holes and failed to expand upon Moana’s story with further depth. However, it was still a fun, lighthearted movie filled with funny moments children and families would love. While lacking the infectious catchy songs and the inspiring conclusion seen in the first movie, the sequel was still enjoyable and the new characters added a bit of humor and perspective into Polynesian culture.
If you’re debating seeing this movie in theaters, I would encourage you to simply wait until it comes out for streaming on Disney+. It isn’t a must-see, nor is it the kind of film that is magical on a big screen. There are rumors of a live action remake of the movie to be developed in the coming years, maybe Disney will take this chance to redeem Moana’s story and reputation!
