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Disney Animation‘s showcase of new clips from the upcoming “Moana 2,” screened Friday at the Annecy Animation Festival, included the return of the coconut-like Kakamora tribe; Moana’s parents, Chief Tut and Sina; and, of course, Dwayne Johnson’s Maui.
During the presentation, directors David Derrick Jr. and Jason Hand also included clips featuring new characters like Moana’s baby sister, Simea, and the crew for her next adventure: engineer Loto, farmer Kele and enthusiastic Maui superfan Moni.
“It’s about connection, to who we are, where we came from,” explained Derrick of the new story, which is set three years after the events in the 2016 Oscar-nominated original movie. This story finds Moana and her crew in search of the lost island of Motufetu, which once connected the ocean, now hidden by a jealous God of Storms.
In all, Disney showed roughly 15 minutes of work in progress from the upcoming movie. In the first clip, Moana (Auli‘i Cravalho) returns from an ocean voyage to a warm welcome from her tribe, featuring one of the new original songs, titled “We’re Back.” Next, she is given a new title in a ceremony on the island, that is interrupted by a bolt of lighting that strike the hut. She learns that she must seek other land and people, and Moana recruits her crew, including the reluctant Ketle, who has never left land. As they sail, they narrowly escape a dangerous giant clam-like adversary, but not the threatening Kakamora. Additional footage features Maui, as well as the Mini Maui tattoo who is once again hand-animated, led by Disney legend Eric Goldberg.
Derrick and Hand also talked about their research, working with Disney’s Oceanic Cultural Trust and the addition of Nainoa Thompson and Polynesian Voyaging Society to the trust.
They also gave a shout out to members of the team, including their third director, Dana Ledoux Miller — who is also a writer on the film alongside Jared Bush — as well as producers Christina Chen and Yvett Merino and chief creative officer Jennifer Lee.
Grammy-winning songwriters Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, as well as Pacific legend Opeatia Foa‘i and composer Mark Mancina, who both are returning, are the songwriting team on the film.
Legendary Disney animator Mark Henn, whose character work has included Belle in “Beauty and the Beast,” got a standing ovation as he received the Annecy Walk of Fame award. He shared his new Donald Duck short, “D.I.Y. Duck,” as the Disney Animation program began.
“Moana 2” is slated to open Nov. 27.
