Disney is looking to create another instant classic with their upcoming South Pacific island-hopping adventure of a young girl and a legendary demi-god in Moana. Disney is bringing out the heavy hitters for this one, too, with demi-god Maui being played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, songs from Hamilton‘s Lin-Manuel Miranda and directed by Ron Clements, the man responsible for Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and more.
They are not messing around with this one. What’s even more interesting is that in a year where there has been talk of Hollywood “white-washing” movies, Disney is producing a movie based on the South Pacific starring actual Pacific Islanders in The Rock (at least heritage-wise) and Auli’i Cravalho as the titular character.
This new trailer, which aired during the 2016 Rio Olympics, is aptly called “light the torch,” giving another tease at Moana’s big adventure, including a look at the Lava Witch, the film’s main antagonist.
Moana is due out on Thanksgiving of this year, promising a big adventure and hoping to follow-up on Disney’s smash success that was Zootopia to round out 2016 with a series of wins. Zootopia is a tough act to follow considering just how big and beloved it is, but all of the right pieces seem to be in place for this Thanksgiving with Moana.
