Anthony Bergamini
Moana 2 premiered in theaters in November 2024, landing on Disney+ roughly four months later. Despite the common discourse online regarding films failing at theaters because audiences expect them to land on streaming platforms with a quick turnaround, Moana 2 ended up being the third highest-grossing film of 2024 and the eleventh highest-grossing animated film of all time, breaking that highly sought-after one-billion-dollar threshold before ending its theatrical run. Moana 2 definitely defied the odds when it came to its inarguable success, raising a lot of questions about the plethora of theories that have circulated the web about why Hollywood is struggling to maintain strong audience turnout. As it turns out, Moana 2 does practically everything wrong when it comes to the prevailing theories, raising the question of what created the perfect storm for this film to succeed so well.
One divisive theory on the web is that audiences are tired of sequels. This is really divisive because many actually argue the opposite, highlighting the vast number of box office failures that are original stories. This has even spanned over to award season, with many films nominated for different awards showing little success outside of film festivals. That being said, the theory regarding sequel fatigue also has some solid ground. The vast majority of film sequels are worse than the originals and are sometimes outright bad films. This can often be tied to a lack of creativity, with many Hollywood sequels doing little to justify their existence and only capitalizing on the elements from the first film that were successful. The craziest part about Moana 2 is that it is really guilty of both sides of this argument. For many reasons (that I will delve into later), Moana 2 fails to live up to the greatness of the first film, committing almost every cardinal sin of film sequels. In many ways, Moana 2 showcases all of the tropes of failed sequels, despite it being successful, many of which come down to the behind-the-scenes drama.
Without getting too into the weeds with how it all went down, Moana 2 was originally supposed to be a straight-to-Disney+ television series, with Disney opting to turn it into a feature film partway through the process. After seeing the film, many of the story elements and characters make it really obvious that this was never originally a film. The plot of the film is almost episodic after Moana and company go on their adventure, with each trial and tribulation feeling like the plot to separate episodes. This makes the film feel super disjointed in a way that is the opposite of the Marvel Disney+ series’ issues. In those cases, the television series feels like long, drawn-out films. Oddly enough, Moana 2 likely would have been a fun, successful TV show, with Disney somehow acting like a virgin studio despite their storied history.
One significant section of the film that suffered from the conversion from TV to film was when Maui gets trapped by Matangi, a character who controls bats. Despite this character appearing as a new threat for Moana and Maui, she only appears in the first half of the film and is then quickly forgotten about. Her character feels like just a roadblock for Moana’s voyage, acting as a villain first, then a mentor, as Moana hunts down the real villain. Matangi would have made a lot of sense as a mid-season boss for a TV show, but here she feels tacked on and wasted. She only appears again in the film’s mid-credit scene, but by this point, she has been so removed from the narrative that it all just feels forced.
Speaking of the side characters, this is the other facet of the film that carried over from its roots as a TV show, making the film feel very disjointed. The film introduces Moni, Loto, and Kele as the crew for Moana’s latest expedition to save the ocean from an evil, God-like presence. These characters are clearly in the film to broaden out the main cast, as Moana doesn’t reunite with Maui until the halfway point. The saving grace here is that the film at least attempts to give the characters some sort of arc; however, it is in a very rushed fashion that is very indicative of a studio attempting to salvage all they could from the original project as it gets edited down into a film format.
When it comes to the similarities between Moana 2 and the first film, this is where the film’s story suffers the most. For some reason, some of these Disney sequels feel like the creators think the film will fail if it is not deeply rooted to the original. While this could be done in a masterful way, like how Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back builds upon the original story by taking the franchise in a daring direction, Moana 2 opts to basically retell the story from the first film by introducing a villain who exists only to showcase why the conclusion of the original film was temporarily meaningless. It turns out, despite Moana leaving on a voyage to locate other tribes and connect different parts of the world, this was never possible because of this new villain’s hold over the ocean’s focal point. Despite learning a lot of skills, including leadership, in the first film, Moana 2 sees the titular character struggle with this new voyage purely because the plot needs her to. This is all done in service of the film’s ending, setting up new possibilities for Moana and Maui, as if Disney wished they had done this in the first place.
One of the most successful parts of the first film was the music from Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda. Miranda opted not to return for this film, leading to Disney creating one of the most disjointed soundtracks of all time. The best way to describe it is like looking up stock music that is similar to a popular song. Sure, you will get a song that sounds like what you are looking for but also sounds like it was made by someone who is playing what they think the original sound sounded like after only hearing it one time. The songs in Moana 2 sound like stock, free music that looks to imitate the music from the original. The most jarring example of this is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Maui, singing “Can I Get A Chee Hoo?” Upon one listen, this song sounds very similar to the first film’s “You’re Welcome,” despite it being worse in almost every fashion.
One element of the film that does work really well is the animation. In many ways, Moana 2 looks just as beautiful as the first one, showcasing a different color palette for new settings. Moana 2 features a lot of establishing shots, showcasing the beauty of the beach landscapes, making the sunny days and starry nights look absolutely gorgeous. With much of this film already being developed for a TV show, it’s crazy to think that Disney was willing to invest so much into the animation to make it stand toe-to-toe with the original.
Moana 2 is not Disney’s only uber-successful sequel in 2024, with Inside Out 2 topping charts earlier in the year. The most bizarre part of these sequels is how dramatically different they are. Inside Out 2 definitely had something to say, with the film building on a lot of the original’s foundation to create a unique story that furthered the franchise’s discussion about the human experience. Maybe it was this film’s success that led to Disney pulling the plug on Moana 2’s TV status, deciding that it would be more successful on the big screen, but the idea that Disney even viewed these films in a comparable ballpark is just maddening. Moana 2 is an enigma, with the film’s success outweighing all prevailing theories about Hollywood’s struggles to maintain success inside movie theaters. Maybe it is the fact that animation, although constantly treated as inferior, is more popular and equitable than Hollywood wants to give it credit for; or maybe it is because the film was just so approachable. Either way, Moana 2 ended up showcasing animation’s ability to succeed, hopefully paving the way for future investment into a genre that is too often discounted.
