Moana 2

[UmbrellaFish]

Also, what is going to happen to the extra material? Was the series finished before they decided to turn it into a movie? Or did they change course mid-production and perhaps did not complete some episodes? Will the series be released to Disney+ after the movie’s theatrical run or is it destined to be lost media? Or fodder for Moana 3?

Even a short series of 5 30 minutes episodes would make an 150-minute movie which is way too long for a DAC.

[bulgaross]

first look at the new characters

[bulgaross]

[PatrickvD]

This being produced at the Vancouver studio means it has a significantly smaller budget than the average WDAS film. Disney is going to make bank on it. I bet Iger was seeing dollar signs when he found out about that.

So this is the first Disney movie to be outsourced to another country?

Parts of Tarzan and A Goofy Movie were animated in France. The Little Mermaid had animation done in Japan (just bubbles I believe).

And of course all of the DTV films were animated abroad. This isn’t anything new.

I don’t think any of this says anything about quality yet though. Toy Story 2 was switched from DTV to theatrical quite late in the game. Same for Tarzan. A lot can be done in 10 months. I assume a lot of story work had been done on this. And the idea was always for the series to have theatrical level quality.

It could be good.

[Sotiris]

Parts of Tarzan and A Goofy Movie were animated in France.

It wasn't just Tarzan. The WDAS films the French studio worked on are The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Tarzan, Fantasia 2000, The Emperor's New Groove, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and Treasure Planet.

The Little Mermaid had animation done in Japan (just bubbles I believe).

The VFX animation for the bubbles was outsourced to Pacific Rim Productions in China, not Japan.

Toy Story 2 was switched from DTV to theatrical quite late in the game. Same for Tarzan.

While Tarzan was initially conceived at Disney Television Animation (as was Mulan), it was never actually produced there. In late 1994, Jeffrey Katzenberg asked Kevin Lima to develop Tarzan into a feature while he was completing A Goofy Movie. He sent him to Vancouver, Canada to convince him to set up an animation studio there to make the film. However, that never materialized because Katzenberg left Disney that same year. Then Michael Eisner offered Kevin Lima to produce the film at WDAS.

[Farerb]

I don't care that LMM isn't back, it just means that we'll have another copycat like we did with Wish, but the original was made by animation legends, John Musker and Ron Clements. This is made by a nobody. What happened to "we let the directors decide if they come up with a good story???"
Bob Iger turned Disney Animation into Disney Toons - this movie is basically Cinderella 2, Atlantis 2 and Belle's magical prison, and four years of sequels!! (Is the Frozen franchise any different than Tinkerbell at this point??).
This is the most disheartening thing to me honestly. It's so depressing to see what Disney Animation is turning out to be

[reee9948]

I mean are they gonna lay off the animators in amercia cause they are only releasing one movie this year and the animators back home has to work on something.

[reee9948]

I don't care that LMM isn't back, it just means that we'll have another copycat like we did with Wish, but the original was made by animation legends, John Musker and Ron Clements. This is made by a nobody. What happened to "we let the directors decide if they come up with a good story???"
Bob Iger turned Disney Animation into Disney Toons - this movie is basically Cinderella 2, Atlantis 2 and Belle's magical prison, and four years of sequels!! (Is the Frozen franchise any different than Tinkerbell at this point??).
This is the most disheartening thing to me honestly. It's so depressing to see what Disney Animation is turning out to be

I hope Dreamworks steps up their game with Kung Fu Panda 4 and Wild Robots. Their movies are hit and misses, but they are very experimental in their movies unlike Disney.

[UmbrellaFish]

I don't care that LMM isn't back, it just means that we'll have another copycat like we did with Wish, but the original was made by animation legends, John Musker and Ron Clements. This is made by a nobody. What happened to "we let the directors decide if they come up with a good story???"
Bob Iger turned Disney Animation into Disney Toons - this movie is basically Cinderella 2, Atlantis 2 and Belle's magical prison, and four years of sequels!! (Is the Frozen franchise any different than Tinkerbell at this point??).
This is the most disheartening thing to me honestly. It's so depressing to see what Disney Animation is turning out to be

Yes, it is one thing for veteran directors to not return for a television series or even a DTV or direct to streaming sequel, but it’s really disappointing that a theatrical sequel to Moana is not going to be helmed by John Musker and Ron Clements.

And while he’s not very popular on this board, LMM is a big name with the public and his songs for Moana and Encanto are very popular. Most audiences who see this film will not understand why LMM did not return, and if the music isn’t up to his standard they will not be happy.

This is an easy cash grab but moving direct to streaming content to theaters isn’t going to do any favors for rebuilding trust with audiences if the quality isn’t up to standards.

[DisneyFan09]

Oh. My. God!

I`m speechless! Literally speechless about this!

At first I thought this announcement was just a joke. But when I saw that the preview actually was from WDAS, I was shocked and speechless.

But it`s very odd and remarkable how the video had absolutely no sound at all.

Well, as for my own personal opinion, I don`t mind how Moana is given a sequel. On the contrary. I`m all in for sequels, despite how I`m in the minority (and how it goes against the previous policy of the studio). Sure, it could be an improvement over it`s predecessor (a vague hope, but hey, I`m always allowed to hope). But it`s still astonishing how this announcement so suddenly comes just like that! Sure, it was semi-mandatory that it could`ve been given a sequel.

And what will they actually do to Moana this time? As Frozen II was made to please all the criticisms lobbed at the original, will Moana 2 do the same thing? Will they give her a love interest? (I know they most likely won`t, but hey, it could be a criticism lobbed at the original).

And yes, that the project is being outsourced diminishes my hopes for the quality of the animation.

Sorry for my scattered way of typing this post and my snarky remarks. I was just in the mood for it.

[Farerb]

Yes, it is one thing for veteran directors to not return for a television series or even a DTV or direct to streaming sequel, but it’s really disappointing that a theatrical sequel to Moana is not going to be helmed by John Musker and Ron Clements.

And while he’s not very popular on this board, LMM is a big name with the public and his songs for Moana and Encanto are very popular. Most audiences who see this film will not understand why LMM did not return, and if the music isn’t up to his standard they will not be happy.

This is an easy cash grab but moving direct to streaming content to theaters isn’t going to do any favors for rebuilding trust with audiences if the quality isn’t up to standards.

To me it's just disrespectful to them but I guess they are used to this after The Little Mermaid and Aladdin were abused by the company. I also think that I read somewhere that Clements might have been a consultant for the show (now turned into a movie).

I don't hate LMM like some here do, but even I came to the conclusion that he's a little bit overrated and not really a good fit for Disney, especially after The Little Mermaid. I like the songs in Moana just fine, but I miss when Disney went big with their musicals like they did in the 90s.

It's an easy cash grab, it'll get its billion (yes I know the original didn't cross the billion mark but the film has gained more popularity since then), but I don't see it receiving good reviews and I think it'll be bad for Disney in the long run, especially continuing with more sequels - this is just a reminder for all the fans of hand drawn animation to why studios prefer CGI, making sequels to CGI films is easier because they have all of the models ready, they don't need to paint the backgrounds or draw the characters again.

[UmbrellaFish]

It's an easy cash grab, it'll get its billion (yes I know the original didn't cross the billion mark but the film has gained more popularity since then), but I don't see it receiving good reviews and I think it'll be bad for Disney in the long run, especially continuing with more sequels

I agree, this is short sighted thinking.

So far, Bob Iger’s return to Disney has been quite a disappointing sequel.

[Sotiris]

I also think that I read somewhere that Clements might have been a consultant for the show (now turned into a movie).

I wouldn't call this being a consultant.

He went back to the studio once to attend the launch for a Disney+ series based on “Moana”.

Source: https://mtstandard.com/entertainment/mo ... 83da2.html

[Farerb]

I wouldn't call this being a consultant.

He went back to the studio once to attend the launch for a Disney+ series based on “Moana”.

Source: https://mtstandard.com/entertainment/mo ... 83da2.html

That's a shame.

So the only project the songwriters worked on was a fake Bridgerton Musical for TikTok ?!? That doesn't sound inspiring, and here I thought you can't get any lower than getting a pop music songwriter.

[Sotiris]

So the only project the songwriters worked on was a fake Bridgerton Musical for TikTok ?!? That doesn't sound inspiring, and here I thought you can't get any lower than getting a pop music songwriter.

They are trying to beat Wish for worst music in a WDAS film.

[The Disneynerd]

But it`s very odd and remarkable how the video had absolutely no sound at all.

It had Sound. Happens to most of the YT Videos i see too, so dont worry, gotta close and reopen YT and then the Sound is there again.

Well, as for my own personal opinion, I don`t mind how Moana is given a sequel. On the contrary. I`m all in for sequels, despite how I`m in the minority (and how it goes against the previous policy of the studio). Sure, it could be an improvement over it`s predecessor (a vague hope, but hey, I`m always allowed to hope). But it`s still astonishing how this announcement so suddenly comes just like that! Sure, it was semi-mandatory that it could`ve been given a sequel. But since Tangled essentially

Im also not against sequels in general! Sequels can be sometimes even better than the original (SHREK 2 of course) as long as they can bring compelling character arcs to the table. Shaffrillas list would say a good sequel should:
1. Expand the universe
2. Continue the story
3. Expand the themes/ Introduce new themes
4. Leave an impact on the franshise

I really recommend his video "Why Shrek 2 is a PERFECT sequel" by HEART, really analytical in how sequels should be build and the video is also quite funny. https://youtu.be/9Nk7y6c1Tow?si=lyrM-_x3msiSAvu2.

I really hope Zootopia 2 and Moana 2 can check those boxes.
And his video "Why Shrek 3 is a cinematic DISASTER" https://youtu.be/9HksRmJGWcY?si=0C39Wj5CSA8dbAMe explains how sequels can fail, falling in line with Frozen 2 for example

So the only project the songwriters worked on was a fake Bridgerton Musical for TikTok ?!? That doesn't sound inspiring, and here I thought you can't get any lower than getting a pop music songwriter.

REALLY???
That feels so calculated from them, though i have Tiktok myself, its stupid Trends are literally known to be really shortlived. Noone on TT is emotionally attached to those trends or remember them after 2 months. Also most people on TT use real broadway songs to act scenes out, instead of Popsongs anyway. Disney trying to appeal to a younger audience by thinking jumping on their trends will speak to them is so degrading. Also everyone on TT praised the Mean Girls Broadway Musical and its songs compared to the soulless 2024 cashgrab. Back then Disney were setting the trends and Standards, now they desperately try to follow them.

Well atleast we can FINALLY see Moana do the Water Bucket challenge and do the renagade dance this will make her SO relatable

[MoonMarc21]

Now that we know that for three years straight, we're gong to have sequels, I now feel so sorry for all those upcoming directors that were supposed to have their movies on those dates. (Suzi Yoonessi, Mark Smith, Josie Trinidad)

Seriously, I wished that the sequels that were announced last year (Frozen 3 and Zootopia 2) would've been released after all those movies from 2024-2026 released in order to give them time to flesh them out. But nope, it's seems that their rushing them all in order to get their money back. A simple solution would've been to have them make a pattern of an original film following up a sequel and so on and so forth, but I guess Disney is too scared to do that. They're really learning the wrong lessons...

[D23ExpoVisitor25]

Turning a likely 5-6 episode 18-20-minute per episodes series into a sequel is a smart way to get people in theaters.

Is this official?

Yes.

Iger said on CNBC this sequel is what the Disney+ series was gonna be.

C'mon, handdrawn in 2024? They barely had the resources to a short film and the film that tried to match that aesthetic was a disappointment. That was just you setting yourself up for disappointment

Well, Grace Randolph said she heard Tiana was gonna be a 2025 release to give the people working on the hand-drawn animation for Tiana more time.

So, I guess D23 will tell us more on when we’ll get that series and what it’s gonna look like.

And I don’t expect it to be a movie now, since Moana 2, before it became a movie, was said to have animation that looked movie-quality and too good for streaming.

Turning a likely 5-6 episode 18-20-minute per episodes series into a sequel is a smart way to get people in theaters.

If that’s what happening here, which I guess it is because of the quick turnaround, it’s a really bad idea. It’s really reminiscent of the cheapquel era. Oof.

Unlike those cheap-quels, at least this will be bigger in budget and with stronger animation than those movies.

The only thing I'll say is...I'm scared

The fact that this was supposed to be the Moana sequel series on Disney+ and is suddenly now going to be a feature length movie just for Disney to "course correct" is so concerning since the story might have such a downgrade. It's Megamind 2 all over again.

Unlike that Peacock Megamind sequel and follow-up series, at least Moana 2 will have the original cast coming back and will have better animation than those two stories.

[reee9948]

I wouldn't call this being a consultant.

Source: https://mtstandard.com/entertainment/mo ... 83da2.html

That's a shame.

So the only project the songwriters worked on was a fake Bridgerton Musical for TikTok ?!? That doesn't sound inspiring, and here I thought you can't get any lower than getting a pop music songwriter.

I mean I am skeptical of the song writers too, but I'd rather hire them then a pop song writer for a Disney movie.

[Farerb]

It seems that they changed her hairstyle a little bit. Perhaps it's supposed to make her look older:


I wonder if she's going to be age-appropriate for romance and this guy might be her love interest: