Moana 2 Trailer Teases Disney's Seafaring Sequel

The Moana 2 trailer reunites Auli'i Cravalho as Moana and Dwayne Johnson as Maui.

By Cameron Bonomolo

Moana and Maui are back — and voyaging beyond Motunui.

Disney debuted the shiny new trailer for Moana 2, teasing a first look at the ocean-faring follow-up to Walt Disney Animation Studio's 2016 animated movie. Setting sail in theaters over Thanksgiving, the sequel features the voices of Auli'i Cravalho, reprising her role as the titular wayfinder, and Dwayne Johnson as Maui, the shape-shifting demigod of the wind and sea. You can watch the just-released Moana 2 trailer below. (You're welcome!)

The long-awaited sequel takes place three years after the first movie, which ended with Moana as Motunui's chief after she journeyed beyond the reefs of Motunui to restore the heart of the mother island Te Fiti. In Moana 2, the heroine receives an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors and — with an all-new crew of unlikely seafarers — voyages to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she's ever faced.

First announced in 2020 as an animated TV series for Disney+ before being reworked into a feature-length film, Disney has described Moana 2 as an "expansive" and "epic" animated musical. Dave Derrick Jr., an animation veteran who worked as a storyboard artist on Disney Animation's Moana, Raya and the Last Dragon, and Encanto, makes his directorial debut on the follow-up to the original movie that "deepened [Derrick's] connection with his family's Samoan roots."

"Working on Moana was a gift, personally and professionally. The film Moana caught and shared the spirit of Polynesia with the world," Derrick said when he was announced as director in 2022. "I am honored to continue her story and to celebrate the rich and beautiful cultures of the Pacific Islands." 

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While Lin-Manuel Miranda, the composer, lyricist and singer on 2016's Moana, isn't returning — the Hamilton creator provided the music for Disney's live-action The Little Mermaid and the upcoming Mufasa: The Lion King — his Moana collaborators, three-time Grammy winner Mark Mancina and Grammy nominee Opetaia Foa'i, are creating new music with The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical Grammy winners Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear.

Moana 2 is in theaters November 27.

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