Grab your boat, your oar, and your emotional support pig: Moana 2 has a brand new trailer. Earlier this year came the news that Disney’s long-gestating Moana streaming series had instead turned into a theatrical sequel to the 2016 adventure – not only seeing Auli’i Cravalho return as the chief and wayfinder of her people, but bringing back The Rock’s shapeshifting semi-demi-god Maui to boot. At the D23 Expo in Anaheim, the studio unveiled the epic full trailer for the sequel – one that shifts the action three years on from the events of the first film, and sees Moana going on a mission to reunite more island people who have long been separated from her community. But there’s a terrifying purple storm out there ready to wreak havoc – and to get beyond it, she’ll need a certain demigod of the land and sea at her side. Give the trailer a watch here:
It’s another promising look at the surprise sequel, following the vibes-only teaser that dropped earlier in the year. And there’s much new to take in here – most notably that Moana is a big sister now, to little Simea. There’s a stormy villain that has Maui pining for the days of Te Kā. And we see that Moana is really taking her leadership duties seriously, intent on broadening Motunui’s horizons both on land and sea. Plus those murderous coconut pirates, the Kakamora, are back and ready to unleash more Mad Max-style havoc. The sequel comes from first-time director David Derrick Jr., and while Lin-Manuel Miranda isn’t back on song duties this time (Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foa’i are both still involved, with Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear also stepping in), a new number performed live on the D23 stage by Cravalho herself sounded very much in keeping with the music from the first film.
There isn’t long to wait – Moana 2 is just on the horizon (or, the land where the sky meets the sea) and will wash up on cinematic shores on 27 November.