How Moana 2 Went from a Disney+ Series to Movie

The filmmakers behind Moana 2 have explained the impact of retooling a Disney+ TV show into a feature film sequel. On February 7, 2024, Disney shocked everyone with the announcement of Moana 2, especially when they revealed it would be opening in theaters on Thanksgiving weekend this year. Disney was able to pull this shocking reveal off as it was later reported that Moana 2 was reworked from the planned Moana Disney+ series that was first announced at Disney Investor Day in December 2020.

In a new profile in Entertainment Weekly, the filmmakers discussed the process of taking the Moana streaming series and turning it into Moana 2. Disney Animation President Jennifer Lee said regarding the move to theatrical release:

“It was getting bigger and bigger and more epic, and we really wanted to see it on the big screen. It creatively evolved, and it felt like an organic thing…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.”

One could easily see the decision to shift Moana‘s television series into a feature film as a cynical business movie, but Lee stressed that the decision was not business-motivated, and instead was all about the best way to tell the story. She said:

“Our philosophy is always that the idea has to come from the filmmakers. You can’t invent a story that isn’t meant to be. You have to go from the heart out. If we do it the other way, we can’t build an authentic story. Story, to us, is always character first.”

Taking a Television Show and Turning it Into a Movie is Nothing New For Disney

In recent years, Disney Animation has become more comfortable with sequels, as before 2010, the only one they produced for cinema release was The Rescuers Down Under. However, Walt Disney Animation has now produced many more, including Ralph Breaks the Internet, Frozen II, the upcoming Zootopia 2, and two more Frozen sequels already in development. Disney have also been known to turn abandoned animated series into straight-to-video movies, like 1998’s Belle’s Magical World, 2002’s Cinderella II: Dreams Come True, and 2003’s Atlantis: Milo Returns.

While some believed this is exactly what happened with Moana 2, it has become clear that this was not simply taking a few episodes of a series and combining them into one release. Much of the original dialogue was changed, new songs were scrapped, and everything had complete overhaul. Director David Derrick Jr. explained:

“In the series, there was a lot more room to play with some of the ensemble. [The shift was about] streamlining into all the things that we love most about Moana as our hero and our adventurer. We have all of that now and it pops so much more, especially with the scale that we get to live in on the big screen. Every element of the adventure that we were already building in the series is now 10 times bigger, 10 times more exciting.”

Moana 2 introduces a new batch of characters, including Moana’s little sister, Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda), and three crew members who join her and Maui on their journey: Moni (Hualālai Chung), Kele (David Fane), and Loto (Rose Matafeo). While these characters would have gotten their own subplots in the television series, they have now been slimmed down, but the film’s co-director, Dana Ledoux Miller, said since they spent so much time developing the characters, they are richer and sanded down to their most iconic elements. She said:

“The [new characters] don’t get their own tangents, but we were able to figure out who they are and boil them down to how they serve the story…We get to crank up all our favorite parts of them. From all of the grumpiness of one character to the eccentricities of another character, we have the most fun in the time that we have. That’s what really makes them all pop — when we see them, they really shine.”

Moana 2 has plenty of skeptics, as the idea of reworking a Disney animated series into a feature film doesn’t have the best reputation. Yet it appears that the filmmakers have put in the work. Like Inside Out 2 earlier this summer, Moana 2 has the chance to take the world by surprise and deliver a sequel that is just as great as the original film while also showing the box office potential that these newer Disney titles have to become giant franchises.

Moana 2
opens in theaters on November 27, 2024.

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