Yesterday, Walt Disney Animation Studios released a new teaser for their upcoming new film, Moana 2, and it looks absolutely stunning. In fact, it has already become the most viewed trailer in the Disney company’s history with over 178 million views in 24 hours. The film, which was originally set to be a series for Disney+ before getting transformed into a full-length animated feature, is set several years after the original Moana, and follows her on an unexpected journey in long-lost waters after receiving a call from her ancestors. The film is due out later this year, and the teaser is already packed with a few details worth noting that we are sharing below. If you are not part of that record viewership, take a look at the new teaser below and then read on to see what we found that you may have missed.
Friends And Foes at Sea
Likely because of the series turned full-length film, Moana finds herself with an entourage of friends – a sort of trope among films-turned-series, and this looks to be no different. In the trailer we see Moana on her journey, this time accompanied by several others. This could also just be a random shot with four villagers, as she is now the chief of her people (she put the shell on the stones before leaving her island, remember?!), but the placement in the teaser, along with the fact that they’re on a boat with Moana leads us to believe they’re along for the ride.
With the same idea of a series, we get to see numerous antagonists, familiar and fresh. The teaser does just that and teases an appearance of the Kakamora, who we’ve seen previously in the first film. We also catch a glimpse of a new monster that could also be from the realm of monsters that Moana and Maui visited in the first film. Either way, we don’t know their exact role, but we presume it can be nothing good that comes out of these encounters.
Boats And Oars
In the teaser, Moana sticks her paddle in the sand and in doing so, we learned that she is still using her oar from the first film. How can we tell? It is carved with a signature featuring Maui’s hook and a heart – something that happened when she first encountered Maui in the first film, with the demigod thinking that she was just an adoring fan that happened to find him on his lost island.
However, the same (at least at some point in the film) cannot be said regarding her boat. Her boat was smaller and her sail featured the signature spiral. A boat featured in the trailer does not feature this sail, and it tells us that at some point, Moana has a new boat or wayfinds and navigates for others.
One Shell Of A Reference
In the original film, Moana and Maui journey to the realm of monsters and directly into Tamatoa’s lair to retrieve Maui’s hook. To serve as a distraction, Moana dresses herself in some various shells and gets the giant crab monster’s attention.
In the new trailer for Moana 2, we open and see a small little crab moving to a new shell-home when Moana places a substantially smaller shell for the creature – and it’s the same kind that she wore on her head in Tamatoa’s lair.
We don’t know if it’s a fun little send-up, a coincidence, or something far more symbolic, but it’s definitely worth noting.
A New Sibling (?)
In a long crowd shot, likely as Moana is leaving her village we see her Mother, Father, and new sibling? Following the rules of the English monarchy, there has to be an heir and a spare, right? It seems that rule applies to Moana’s people as well. This movie is set several years after the original, so there has been plenty of time for her to get a new sibling. Candidly, while it is feasible for Moana to have a child of her own, we seriously doubt we’d see her leave her own child behind for her adventure.
Steady As The Beating Drum
In the first film, we see Moana and her people leaving Motonui for the first time in generations at the conclusion of the film. However, in the trailer we see a prolonged moment of her returning to the drums that her grandmother showed her when she first learned of her ancestry as voyagers.
It’s the detailing on the drums that tells us it’s the exact same one from the original film, which tells us that at some point in the film, Moana will be returning to Motonui.
A Whale of a Tale
One of the more stunning moments visually (let’s be honest, the whole trailer was eye candy) was a moment where Moana comes face to face with a bioluminescent whale. In one of the more emotional scenes from Walt Disney Animation Studios in the last decade, Moana sees her grandmother’s spirit become a bioluminescent manta ray that guides her along her journey.
While we don’t know who or what this whale represents, the concept art originally teased for the series-turned-film shows this whale doing a similar thing – guiding Moana on her journey.
Feelin’ Ink’d
As a big fan of continuity in a franchise, I feel like I have to point this out as it (at least in the trailer) is not called attention to but exists. In the first movie, we learn that Maui earns his tattoos through his triumphs and tribulations.
By the end of the film, his experience with Moana earns him another tattoo, this one featuring Moana learning how to wayfind – something that he taught her. To represent his love for his new friend, this tattoo is emblazoned upon his left pectoral. You know, over his heart. Awwww. And it’s still there upon his return, and you can see it briefly in this trailer.
That Pig Comment
At the end of the trailer, Maui pays homage to his early appearance in the first film by once again calling Hei Hei a boat snack before he realizes that Pua is along for the ride this time. Then, he makes a joke implying that now he can have bacon and eggs before asking why Moana didn’t bring the pig along the first time. While it’s funny in general, it’s also amusing for fans who know a bit more about the development of the film – which originally saw both creatures going on the adventure before it was decided there was too much sidekick and Hei Hei was given the boot. However, a behind-the-scenes story shared at D23’s Destination D event in 2016 (and other panels and events as well) revealed that it was an animator who did a short reel of Hei Hei pecking at a rock in lieu of his adjacent feed with those signature wobbly eyes that saved Hei Hei, putting him on Moana’s boat instead and leaving Pua on the shore.
Rest assured, it’s clear that both will be along for the ride this time around and we’re excited for so much more to find when Moana 2 arrives in theaters on November 27th.