There is nothing that we appreciate more than a movie that makes us feel… well, feelings. Moana was one of those movies that did just that. There is no judgment here if it did the same to you.
It doesn’t matter that we are grown, an animated movie is a movie. And movies like Moana we love to watch. Now, we had no idea that there was a possibility that the sequel to the hit movie was originally going to be a series. What changed? Well thankfully due to EW’s fall movie preview, we know.
“It became apparent very early on that this wanted to be on the big screen,” David Derrick Jr, shared with EW. “It felt like a groundswell within the whole studio.”
David is one of the directors of Moana 2. Another thing we learned was that there was more than one director. We want to thank EW for the education. Hey, we love to learn.
Walt Disney Animation’s Chief Creative Officer Jennifer Lee also commented on the change for Moana 2, saying, “Supporting the theaters is something that we talked about. We love Disney+, but it will go there eventually. You could really put it anywhere, but these artists create stories that they want to see on the big screen and that we want the world to see on the big screen.”
Look, we were sold with those two comments, but co-director Dana Ledoux Miller, also chimed in on the sequel and the change.
She said, “We were really trying to build off the first film. We love who Moana is in the first film. We’re not going to betray that version of the character. We are building, not replacing. We were really intentional about taking what we had and extending and expanding instead of starting over again.”
We can’t wait for Moana 2, which hits theaters on November 27th, 2024. Will you be watching?
