On the heels of a record breaking opening weekend box office, Moana 2’s filmmakers gathered together for a conversation about the making of the movie and the potential future for the characters at an American Cinematheque screening Tuesday night.
The film’s directors – David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller – and songwriter Emily Bear (her fellow songwriter, Abigail Barlow, unfortunately had to miss the event due to an ankle injury) were on hand Tuesday night at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica, CA for the screening and Q&A, which was moderated by Entertainment Weekly’s Maureen Lee Lenker.
As Lenker noted, it’s well known at this point that Moana 2 was originally in the works as a Disney+ series, but Miller said she felt “There's this misconception that we had five episodes of television and we just glued them together.” Derrick Jr. noted that most of the film was still in the storyboarding stage at the point the shift was made, allowing them to reorganize the story without much changing on the animation front. Hand recalled the opening number, “We’re Back,” had been animated by that point “and it was a good sort of proof that the quality of what we were able to do was worthy of seeing it on the big screen.”
Miller explained that the change came about because as they went through the normal process of doing in progress screenings within Disney Animation, they kept getting the feedback “Why isn't this a feature? It just makes so much more sense there.”
As for how that altered the story, while the broad strokes remained the same, including giving Moana a crew this time, Miller noted “We really made sure that we were emphasizing Moana's arc. We still had the ensemble, but her name is in the title. This is her story. We come to see this heroine go on a new adventure. And so it was about making sure that we're doing right by her.” Miller added that while they’re frequently asked what they had to get rid of, they were mostly excited by the larger resources a feature film and expanded budget gave them, saying, “We wouldn't have been able to have the resources, really, to make the storm that you see in act three, to do some of that animation where we go underwater… It really just made everything possible.”
Bear and Barlow were taking over songwriting duties from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s work on the first film and Bear explained their goal was to not simply repeat the sound and style of the first film. “Sequels are hard, especially something as beloved as Moana, so we really wanted to have one foot in and one foot out. We started the movie kind of more in the world of the Moana that we know and love. That first song [“We’re Back”] is the most similar in my head. And then there are some callbacks in “Beyond.” But after that, I think the soundtrack expands a little bit when we meet Matangi. “Get Lost” is obviously very different, but she's a new character. We wanted the voices to grow. We want the sound of the world to evolve. Maui’s song [“Can I Get a Chee Hoo?”] is a lot more epic than the first one.”
The sequel introduces Moana’s kid sister, Simea, and the filmmakers said they realized less is more with the character – that once Moana leaves on her journey, which is so hard for Simea, it was best to not cut back to her because we already understood what she was going through. On top of that, there was once a song planned for Moana and Simea to sing together and Bear recalled how it was a lesson in doing what’s right for the film, even if it means losing something you initially thought was crucial. “From day one. I was like, ‘The sisters need to sing!’ And we did try it. I do think we did try it in the wrong spot, looking back now, but I don't know, it never emotionally hit. It always felt a little too forced, like we were trying to create a moment.”
Added Hand, “From the moment that Moana gets back to her island [at the film’s beginning] and they have the “Big sis!” “Little sis!” [exchange] we were really understanding that that was working pretty well from the very get go and we didn't need as much as what we originally had thought.”
Hand revealed he’s a big fan of “Can I Get a Chee Hoo,” exclaiming “It's so good! It is the best pump up song. But it does really sort of capture what I think I love so much about Maui. He does it in such a way that's so over the top. It’s almost like self-aggrandizing himself as he's so proud of the fact that he's doing this great thing for Moana. But he really is doing it for her and he does actually care. So it does work on these multiple levels you want to get through. But it just is so ridiculous. I have to say, that was a really tough song [to figure out]. But it’s so much fun and it's just great. It's a great answer to ‘You’re Welcome’ and really is about Moana.”
When Miller said she loved the line “You think it's doomsday. To me, it's just Tuesday,” laughing that they thought it was “dumb” in just the right way. Bear replied that her favorite line was “Come on-a, Moana.” The songwriter then told the directors, “I'm shocked you left that in! We just put it in as a joke and no one told us to take it out!”
SPOILERS FOLLOW FOR THE ENDING OF MOANA 2
With Maui, the directors explained they wanted to show him evolve but not evolve too much, given he’s had 3000 years of arrogance built up. However, Miller noted “We really liked the idea of exploring what making him vulnerable would be for the first time. When you care about someone, it makes you vulnerable, because if that person is in peril or in danger, you can't help but care.”
The conclusion of the film finds Maui temporarily losing all of his powers and reverted back to humanity – even as Moana has given her life in order to free the island of Motufetu from the vengeful god Nalo. Distraught over her death, Maui sings to the gods and Moana’s ancestors, who ultimately restore her to life and return Maui’s powers. Recalled Miller, “We got really excited about Maui being stripped of his power, being undone in a lot of ways. Moana has undone him. So once he's lost his hook, he's lost his tattoos, he's lost his ability to fix a problem. And digging into that at the moment where she is most vulnerable, where she's died, and him having to do something he's never done in his 3000 years – which is to call out to the gods and the ancestors for help – was a really exciting tentpole to try to aim for.”
Discussing the film’s antagonists, Derrick Jr. stressed that the demigod Matangi “Is not a villain. She wants [Moana] to succeed. But Mutangi, as you saw in the credit scene, is walking a fine line. She's kind of trapped with Nalo.”
In that aforementioned mid-credit scene, a furious Nalo is intent on revenge against Moana and declares that he’s just getting started, as he’s joined by Mutangi and the first film’s villainous Tamatoa. When asked if we should take Nola at his word that he’ll be back to cause more trouble, Miller said that at the least, “[Nalo] believes that's true.”
The amazingly strong opening weeknd of Moana 2 certainly helps the possibility of a Moana 3 occurring and though Miller couldn’t confirm what might be coming in terms of another sequel, she did say, with a grin, “Look, it turns out people like Moana! A lot of people went to see her this weekend. We all love her. I don't know, we’ll see!”
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