Disney’s Moana, the story of an adventurous teenage girl from Oceana who navigates beyond the confines of her island home, accompanied by the demi-god Maui, will be released on Disney home video on March 7th, with a digital HD download set available now. The home video release will include DVD, Blu-ray, and 3D Blu-ray+Blu-ray packages. Each will include a selection of special and bonus features.
Moana
To introduce some of the special features that will be included in the home video packages, Disney held a sneak preview at the Disney Feature Animation Studio. For the occasion one of the directors, Ron Clements was on hand, along with producer Osnat Shurer. Special displays in the newly renovated Roy E. Disney Animation Building detailed some of the process followed in creating Moana. In addition, performers welcomed guests with traditional music and dance.
Producer Osnat led off the presentation, explaining that the features would include new material explaining various aspects of the five-year journey that was the creation of Moana. She spoke of the contribution of the entire crew, and how proud they all were that composer Lin-Manuel Miranda was scheduled to perform their Academy Award nominated song “How Far I’ll Go” at the Oscar broadcast.
The first special feature shared was entitled” Things You Didn’t Know About…” In it, rapid-fire questions were put to the film’s stars Auli’I Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson, and directors Ron Clements and John Musker. Their lively replies, concerning favorite moments, favorite memories, and even favorite foods were woven together to create a light-hearted piece.
Before setting up the next special feature, Osnat introduced director Ron Clements. He explained that John Musker had intended to attend, but was regrettably ill due to their heavy promotion schedule. Moana had been John Musker’s original idea, he stated. After presenting the initial concept to Animation head John Lasseter, they received a go-ahead, with the charge that they do primary research in the Pacific Islands. Clements described the three weeks spent traveling between Samoa, Tahiti, Fiji and New Zealand as a transformative journey. This journey was encapsulated in the next special feature, Voice of the Islands, a 30-minute documentary.
In “Voice of the Islands,” viewers will get a sense of the way the islands and the people of Oceana were the true inspiration for Moana. Along the way, the producing team created a group of trusted advisors called the Oceanic Story Trust. By the time the film was made, every performer (with a single exception) was drawn from Polynesia or a Polynesian background. The exception was character actor Alan Tudyk, performing as the rooster Hei Hei.
Director Ron Clements and Producer Osnat Shurer
The next special feature explored the memorable music of Moana. While much of the publicity has centered around Lin-Manuel Miranda, whose Broadway hit Hamilton has made him one of the hottest composers in the country, Osnat pointed out that when they began preliminary work on Moana, Hamilton was being workshopped in New York, and was considered a relatively small project that would soon be ended. Miranda collaborated with two other composers to create the soundtrack for Moana: Mark Mancina is a Grammy-winning composer in his own right, and Opetaia Foa’I is a well-known Samoan artist. Together, they created what Clements referred to as the essential sound of Moana — the music that defined the voyage they took through the islands. For Musker and Clements, directors of The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules, and The Princess and the Frog, music has been an integral part of each film’s success in telling a story.
Before showing a final feature, Osnat and Clements took a few questions from the crowd. One subject covered was the genesis of Moana. Originally, the story was set to focus on Maui, rather than a human character. In fact, a temporary title was Mighty Maui. After taking their trip through the islands, they returned with three different story ideas, and one centered on navigation was chosen. As they honed the plot, they found they were more and more focused on a young girl. Originally, Moana had six older brothers and a love interest. But as her story emerged, it became clear that this was a hero story. Moana, Clements explained, is the hero of her own journey. Further, the filmmakers wanted to draw a sharp contrast between Moana’s human strength, as opposed to the magical aspects of Maui.
As always, there was interest in songs that may have been composed for the film, and then cut. Osnat and Clements acknowledged that songs had been cut, but that they were more than satisfied with the list that was used. The very first song composed was “We Know the Way,” and it features prominently in the film. The last song (and sequence) created for Moana was “Shiny,” which came about at the 11th hour.
The last feature shared was an entirely new short cartoon entitled “Gone Fishing.” It stars Moana, Maui, and the ocean. The slim plot leaves a lot of room for Moana to show that her skills are more than a match for Maui’s ego-driven efforts. Fans of classic Disney sight gags will find much to enjoy in “Gone Fishing.”
Moana is now available on Digital HD and the Blu-ray release will arrive in stores March 7th.