Moana 2 , anticipated to be the highest grossing movie of the year, sailing past Disney’s “Inside Out 2”, is set to release on November 27, 2024. The movie is directed by Dana Ledoux Miller, Jason Hand, and David Derrick Jr.

The first movie, debuting Auliʻi Cravalho and Dawayne “The Rock” Johnson came out on November 23, 2016. The movie quickly grew attention and drew viewers in with its notable soundtrack by Lin Maunel Miranda, Mark Mancina, and Opetaia Foa’i. Miranda received a Grammy for Best Written Visual Media when creating the well-known song “How Far I’ll Go.” 

However, Miranda won’t be returning to compose songs for Moana 2. Disney hasn’t released why this is, but nevertheless replaced him with songwriters Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear. Barlow and Bear worked together to create an album called “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical”.

Critics have said the movie will be “better off” without Miranda, in hopes that Bear and Barlow can bring a newer and better perspective to the soundtrack.

Moana’s cultural background is displayed as Polynesian; she is the first Pacific Islander to be portrayed as a Disney princess. Her family and her ethnicities are based on different Polynesian cultures like Tonga, Hawaiian, Samoan, and more. 

Some viewers thought it was a little odd they did a fusion of cultures instead of locking down on one.

 A fan replied to a Buzzfeed quiz that was asking people about how they felt about Moana. They responded by saying, “I know they were trying to do us a favor by not placing her on a specific island like Tonga or Samoa, but they could’ve done so much more culturally if they did focus on one.” Others could argue this by saying Disney wanted to be more “diverse” with the movie, or you could say they went the safest route because they took pieces out of different Pacific backgrounds. 

According to the source Paw Prints in the Sink, the meaning behind the movie is “the worst thing to happen to you doesn’t have to define you.” 

I asked Moana superfan Maddie Venture what she thought about the meaning and she agreed, highlighting the growth caused from mistakes, “As Moana failed to start sailing, she kept going; also, her dad had a bad experience with the sails beyond the reef and didn’t want her to go out because of it.”

As the days for Moana 2 are approaching, the excitement is still growing strong from fans, like Maddie and myself included!