Moana
Director: Ron Clements and John Musker
Screenwriter: Jared Bush
Cast: Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Alan Tudyk, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, Rachel House, Jemaine Clement
Distributor: Walt Disney Studios
Rated PG | 113 minutes
Release Date: November 23, 2016

These are trying times. With an unknown future ahead of us, there is no doubt in my mind that we will need more movies like Moana. Not in terms of just needing more animated features, even though I really do love those, but in terms of delivering a powerful message of searching for identity, female empowerment, never forgetting where you come from, and remembering that not only do princesses come in just more than one color and they too can do a man’s job as well.

Moana reminds us just how far Disney Animation has come, and with a great voice cast and some catchy tunes, it will be a film that is recognized for more than just its animation, but also for celebrating and honoring a culture. Just don’t forget to bring idiotic chicken along with you, because they are good for more than just a few laughs. My full review below.

Back in September, we shared what we learned from watching an early preview of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Moana. John Musker and Ron Clements return to collaborate for their seventh film together, and their first CGI film which follows the title character as she goes on a journey of self-discovery and saving her people. A five-year long process in development, the movie will be released in theaters in just a few short weeks, and now we can give you our final piece from that presentation that we were invited to (along with our fellow journalists) back in August.

In this exclusive one-on-one interview, we talk to Moana writers Jared Bush and Dave Pimentel about collaborating with the Oceanic Story Trust to develop the story, finding out what a movie wants to say, avoiding being too preachy, the 12 screening process, and much more. Check out the full interview below.

Based on our coverage of Moana, we know that Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) is a rather arrogant demi-god who needs a lesson in humility. Enter Moana (voiced by Auli’i Cravalho), a natural born navigator who is on a quest to save her native home island of Motonui.

It will be very interesting to see how a young teenager will put up with someone who is as obnoxious and confident as Maui, and we start to see just a little bit of the chemistry between the two in two new clips from the film. One which will showcase Johnson’s talents as a singer, and the other when the two meet each other for the first time. Check it out below.

Disney has released a new trailer for their latest oceanic voyaging adventure Moana.

The movie stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Maui, “the demigod of the wind and sea, and hero of men,” and introducing Auli’i Cravalho, who will voice the title character who sets out on a daring voyage to save her people. Check out the new trailer below.

Moana marks the seventh time that John Musker and Ron Clements have collaborated together for a Disney animated film, but this is the first that uses the popular CGI techniques. We were fortunate enough to join fellow journalists for an early preview of the film where we saw clips, the technology used to bring these characters to life, and the research trips they took to develop the script. We have all of what we learned from the trip in our exclusive 65 Things To Know About Disney’s Moana piece, which was posted earlier this morning.

However, after watching some rough footage of the film, the two directors stuck around to answer a few of the journalist’s questions about the title character, the message, and the creative signature. Check out what they had to say below.