First Moana TV Spot Released

Walt Disney Animation Studios has released the first TV spot for Moana, the forthcoming animated movie featuring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

The film, introducing a new Disney princess in the form of the title character, is the latest in a string of CG-animated films done at Disney without support from their longtime hit-making apparatus at Pixar. The films, which include Frozen, Big Hero 6, and Zootopia, have become massive successes and have put Disney’s home-cooked animation back on the map.

The film will follow the journey of a spirited teenager named Moana as she sails the Pacific Ocean to complete her “ancestor’s quest” in a story set about 2,000 years ago.

The film is to be directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, who were both the directors of Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and The Princess and the Frog.

Johnson, who plays the demigod Maui, said back in April when he signed on that he did it in part so that his daughter could see him in a movie aimed at young girls.

“Just had an amazing two-hour presentation and it’s easy to see why they’re the greatest story tellers in the world,” Johnson said of Disney. “Im excited.”

Three thousand years ago, the greatest sailors in the world voyaged across the vast South Pacific, discovering the many islands of Oceania. But then, for a millennium, their voyages stopped — and no one today knows why.

From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes Moana, a sweeping, CG-animated adventure about a spirited teenager who sails out on a daring mission to prove herself a master wayfinder and fulfill her ancestors’ unfinished quest. During her journey, she meets the once-mighty demi-god Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson), and together, they traverse the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous fiery creatures and impossible odds.

The film hits U.S. theaters on Thanksgiving weekend — November 24, 2016 — and among other things features original music by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of Hamilton, who just cleaned up at the Tony Awards.