As this year’s Annecy Animation Festival continues to tease some of Hollywood’s most anticipated animated projects, Disney pleased its Friday crowd by screening footage from the studio’s highly-anticipated sequel, Moana 2. In addition to showing off the film’s gorgeous setting, refined character models, and mystical elements, Disney revealed an assembly of characters returning to the island of Motunui. Prepare to get reacquainted with the Kakamora tribe, the pint-sized warriors with coconut armor from the first film. Moana’s parents, Chief Tut and Sina, also join the cast alongside Dwayne Johnson’s Maui. New characters joining the cast include Moana’s baby sister, Simea, an engineer named Loto, a farmer named Kele, and a Maui fanatic named Moni.
“It’s about connection, to who we are, where we came from,” director David Derrick Jr. said during the presentation about the plot of Moana 2. In the film, Moana and her merry band of misfits search for the island of Motufetu, which a God of Storms has hidden.
Disney’s presentation for Moana 2 shared 15 minutes of unfinished footage, including a scene where Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) returns from a mission to find her family waiting with open arms. The scene features the new song “We’re Back,” an appropriate sentiment for a sequel if there ever was one. A lightning bolt strikes a nearby hut during a ceremony where Moana assumes a new title. After the God of Storms reveals their discontent, Moana accepts a mission to unite other lands and tribes to combat the new foe. After gathering her crew, Moana sets sail, encountering a massive clam-like creature. Those who enjoyed Maui’s sentient tattoos from the first film will be delighted to know they make a playful return in the sequel.
Here’s the official synopsis for Moana 2:
“Opening only in theaters Nov. 27, 2024, Moana 2 reunites Moana and Maui three years later for an expansive new voyage alongside a crew of unlikely seafarers. After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced. Directed by David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller, and produced by Christina Chen and Yvett Merino, Moana 2 features music by Grammy winners Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, Grammy nominee Opetaia Foaʻi, and three-time Grammy winner Mark Mancina.”
In other Disney news, Pixar’s Inside Out 2 opens in theaters this weekend, and word has it that it’s Pixar’s best film in years.