Moana 2

[Jules]

So late to this thread, but I am completely mindblown by the shock announcement.

For the record, I guess this will join Mulan, Lilo & Stitch and Brother Bear as the fourth WDAS film to be made entirely at a satellite studio rather than the Burbank lot.

What will be going on at Burbank in the meantime? Is the original 2024 WDAS film scrapped? What about all the other originals in development/production? Are they all written off? So many questions which presumably none of you can answer ... (Unless you're connected. )

[Sotiris]

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.

Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate is a feature-length pilot to Megamind Rules! and was always meant to be that. It's similar to how The Return of Jafar was developed as a pilot to Aladdin: The Series or Stitch! The Movie as a pilot to Lilo & Stitch: The Series. This case is more like taking completed episodes from scrapped TV series and stitching them together into a feature like how Cinderella Stories became Cinderella II: Dreams Come True or Team Atlantis turned into Atlantis II: Milo's Return.

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

Moana looks horrible in that shot. So much for this having the same quality to that of a feature.

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

She's not going to get a love interest, even if she's over 18 in the sequel. Female leads not getting love interests anymore in WDAS films isn't solely due to their young age. It's because female protagonists being interested in a male characters in a romantic way is not considered feminist or empowering at any age.

[DisneyFan09]

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.

Aaaah, thank you I was watching the teaser on my Firefox Browser, which remarkably didn`t have any sound at the moment.

Looking closer at the leaked picture, Moana looks a little off-model. The brawny guy looks a little like Chief Tui, but I could be wrong about it. But I wonder who that other female is. And the whale on the picture reminds me a little of the whale in Finding Dory.

[PatchofBlue]

Wow. Disney literally waited right until I was on my double-shift to drop all the big announcements. I'll have to take some time to wade through this all.

For now, though ...

No part of me is buying the "we shoved this tv series into a movie slot because it was JUST THAT GOOOOOOOOOOD," charade. This is a direct response to Wish. Wasn't it less than four months ago that we were hearing Lee talking about the Moana series as a SERIES? Anyways, I'm deathly afraid of what the results will be, and I honestly can't decide if I think it's in Disney's best interest if this fails.

Also not pleased that we aren't getting Lin back. I appreciate him a lot more than most everyone else on this board, but I also kinda feel like the songwriter is almost more a part of the brand than the director or writer.

Is it bizarre that the state of Hollywood right now is legit giving me anxiety?

The only upside I can see to this is that it might give the WDAS film that was originally intended for this year the extra time to grow. Assuming they are even still following through with it in any form ...

[The Disneynerd]

Aaaah, thank you I was watching the teaser on my Firefox Browser, which remarkably didn`t have any sound at the moment.

youre welcome!

And the whale on the picture reminds me a little of the whale in Finding Dory

i was thinking the same , only that this one here has smaller eyes

Moana looks horrible in that shot. So much for this having the same quality to that of a feature.

Thats just a "conceptual" first look, they draw over the CG models with new hairstyles or outfits to see how it may look rendered, just as seen in Frozen 2. Thats why the Image and the New characters look so flat and Moana "off model" and Maui looks the most normal here, because its the exact same model. You can also tell by the closeups of the nightsky that its clearly painted. Later on there will probably be an official fully rendered promo image replacing it like with F2. With 3d Animation you do that all the time.

Frozen 2 promo.jpg (213.18 KiB) Viewed 859 times

I can see them retooling it into a movie following Wishs Box Office disappointment, to make sure the original movie intended to be released 2024 gets a good story and shelved it therefore and replaced it with the moana series last minute so they wont have a gap this year, wouldnt really be that unbelievable to think, knowing that Frozen 2 had major story changes and the teaser was the only thing animated for the movie just 9 months before release, like Moana 2 probably now. I really hope the best for the untitled movie.

[DisneyJedi]

I know they say "Give it a chance" when it comes to Broadway composers and lyricists who only have under their belt one big hit (Menken and Ashman's off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors- which became a movie years later- before they worked on The Little Mermaid) or a hit that's totally crass (Robert Lopez's Avenue Q before he and his wife Kristen worked on Winnie the Pooh and Frozen), but I feel like not getting Lin Manuel Miranda to come back to do the music for Moana 2 is a huge miss.

Plus, in the wake of this year's movie being a sequel, I feel pretty lied to after the guys at Disney said they had more original works in the pipeline, not two or three years worth of sequels.

[D23ExpoVisitor25]

Looks like The Rock will be back as Maui in Moana 2: https://x.com/therock/status/1755617660505903472?s=46.

Also, the lead studio artistic director at Walt Disney Animation Studios in Vancouver who helped build it has an Instagram post talking about how long it took to make Moana 2, the number of how many new workers are at WDAS Vancouver, and other things as well: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3ExrseuYid ... h4N3R0N2My.

[Sotiris]

Also not pleased that we aren't getting Lin back. I appreciate him a lot more than most everyone else on this board, but I also kinda feel like the songwriter is almost more a part of the brand than the director or writer.

I agree with this. Regardless if it's Alan Menken or Randy Newman or the Lopezes or LMM, if there's a continuation of a project they worked on, the original songwriters (and score composer) should always be invited back. The music is an integral part of a brand's DNA and getting new people who'll attempt to mimic the musical stylings of the original doesn't cut it.

[D23ExpoVisitor25]

Well, maybe they’ll bring back Randy Newman for the Tiana series to keep himself preoccupied while waiting to score Toy Story 5.

[Sotiris]

There's no way they'll bring him back. They'll get a Black songwriter (or songwriters) to replace him because of their DEI policies.

[DisneyJedi]

There's no way they'll bring him back. They'll get a Black songwriter (or songwriters) to replace him because of their DEI policies.

What’s a DEI policy?

[D23ExpoVisitor25]

There's no way they'll bring him back. They'll get a Black songwriter (or songwriters) to replace him because of their DEI policies.

We’ll see about that.

You really should stop being jaded. Really. Because with that attitude and mentality of yours, you deserve to have that scenario happen if you can’t behave like a grown man & just continue acting out like a child.

There's no way they'll bring him back. They'll get a Black songwriter (or songwriters) to replace him because of their DEI policies.

What’s a DEI policy?

It stands for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, three reasons he thinks Disney is suffering when really that is not entirely true, since Black Panther, Coco, and many other movies were DEI and hits, which I think is a sign that he is for neither and wants it to go back to before those days, even though in today’s world, that won’t cut it and the best thing to do would be to find people who are so-called DEI yet have talent.

[The Disneynerd]

Glad we know The Rock is returning, I bet Auli'i Cravalho will clearly be on board too, since she still came back for a few lines in OUaS.

I think its save to say that Lin Manuel Miranda probably wasnt interested in doing music for a series and turned it down, and i wouldnt blame him. Constructing it into a movie was probably a last Minute decision so it would be too late to bring him back on board anyway, even if he wanted to. All he needs is one Oscar win to become an EGOT so i can see him focusing only on movies now. He has a chance with Encanto 2.

[reee9948]

There's no way they'll bring him back. They'll get a Black songwriter (or songwriters) to replace him because of their DEI policies.

We’ll see about that.

You really should stop being jaded. Really. Because with that attitude and mentality of yours, you deserve to have that scenario happen if you can’t behave like a grown man & just continue acting out like a child.

What’s a DEI policy?

It stands for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, three reasons he thinks Disney is suffering when really that is not entirely true, since Black Panther, Coco, and many other movies were DEI and hits, which I think is a sign that he is for neither and wants it to go back to before those days, even though in today’s world, that won’t cut it and the best thing to do would be to find people who are so-called DEI yet have talent.

You need to stop insulting people just because they said something you disagree with.

[Farerb]

Glad we know The Rock is returning, I bet Auli'i Cravalho will clearly be on board too, since she still came back for a few lines in OUaS.

I think its save to say that Lin Manuel Miranda probably wasnt interested in doing music for a series and turned it down, and i wouldnt blame him. Constructing it into a movie was probably a last Minute decision so it would be too late to bring him back on board anyway, even if he wanted to. All he needs is one Oscar win to become an EGOT so i can see him focusing only on movies now. He has a chance with Encanto 2.

I think it's more likely that they wanted to bring in someone who is not as expensive as LMM for a streaming series. I believe that if it was planned as a theatrical release from the beginning they would have brought him back. I think it's the same reason why the Lopezes didn't do Olaf's Frozen Adventure.

Anyway, there's a Hamilton fan group on Facebook and they are all disappointed with this news. I'm still more upset about Musker and Clements.

[Sotiris]

I think it's more likely that they wanted to bring in someone who is not as expensive as LMM for a streaming series. I believe that if it was planned as a theatrical release from the beginning they would have brought him back. I think it's the same reason why the Lopezes didn't do Olaf's Frozen Adventure.

I don't know about LMM, but that wasn't the case with the Lopezes. They were too busy working on Gigantic, Frozen II, and Frozen: The Broadway Musical at the same time and personally recommended Kristen's sister and her writing partner to replace them.

[DisneyFan09]

You really should stop being jaded. Really. Because with that attitude and mentality of yours, you deserve to have that scenario happen if you can’t behave like a grown man & just continue acting out like a child.

How the heck is Sotiris behaving like a child or being jaded? He`s just stating his opinion in a objective way! Perhaps it seems jaded to you, but that doesn`t make him jaded! He`s just trying to be realistic for the sake of objectivity. And you clearly never learn that you shouldn`t call someone out on this board, because it`s something that you shouldn`t do, regardless (and since you stated last time when I confronted you about it that "I was thinking of someone else", I wasn`t. Because you were calling Sotiris out loud and clear and there is something that is called decency, civility and courtesy. Which should`ve been practiced on any discussion boards, no matter what).

And yes, I`m sorry for being a little harsh to you right now, but you clearly never seem to learn.

[friendoftheotherside]

first look at the new characters

I’ve heard that Moana would have a sister in the series. So that girl in the first picture could be her. If I’m not mistaken, her name was Sima or something like that.

[Sotiris]

There's no way that character is Moana's sister. She's way too old for that. The sequel would have to be set like 15 years after the original for that to be plausible.

[reee9948]

There's no way that character is Moana's sister. She's way too old for that. The sequel would have to be set like 15 years after the original for that to be plausible.

Maybe she always had a sister, but they decided to not reveal it in the movie for some reason.