Few modern Disney films have resonated with audiences quite like Moana. Nearly a decade after the animated original became a global phenomenon, the beloved adventure returns to cinemas in an expansive live-action adaptation that honours its roots while charting a course of its own.
Directed by Emmy and Tony Award winner Thomas Kail (Hamilton), Disney’s Moana stars Australian newcomer Catherine Lagaʻaia in her feature film debut as the fearless young voyager, opposite Dwayne Johnson, who reprises his role as the larger-than-life demigod Maui.
Like the original, the story follows Moana as she answers the Ocean’s call and ventures beyond the reef surrounding her island home of Motunui in an effort to restore prosperity to her people. Alongside Johnson, the cast includes Rena Owen as Gramma Tala, John Tui as Chief Tui, Frankie Adams as Sina, while Jemaine Clement returns as the voice of the flamboyant Tamatoa. The film also introduces a brand-new original song, “Along The Way,” performed by Lagaʻaia, Johnson and original Moana star Auliʻi Cravalho.
For Kail, however, the appeal of returning to this story went far beyond recreating a beloved animated classic.
“I’ve always been drawn to stories that ask, ‘Who am I now, and who do I want to be?'” he explained during a recent global press conference which our own Peter Gray was invited to attend. “Those are the same questions Moana is asking.”
That emotional core became the guiding principle behind every creative decision. Rather than attempting to improve or reinvent what audiences already loved, Kail saw the live-action format as an opportunity to experience familiar moments through genuine human performances.
“Everybody loves the original film, and for good reason,” he said. “We wanted to trust its spirit and its characters. Simply having actors physically embody these roles immediately creates something new.”
Coming from a theatre background, Kail believes music remains one of storytelling’s most powerful tools. Having reunited with longtime collaborator Lin-Manuel Miranda – whose songs once again anchor the film – he described the score as an emotional roadmap for both performers and audiences alike.
“Lin’s lyrics deepen character and advance the story,” he said. “Music becomes this transportation device. It connects you to who you were when you first heard it, and now Catherine’s interpretations become part of that legacy.”
That emotional connection was especially evident while filming “I Am Moana”, a sequence Kail describes as one of the production’s defining moments.
“The crew applauded throughout the performance,” he recalled. “Those are the days that remind you why you make musicals.”
For Lagaʻaia, whose breakout performance emerged after an enormous worldwide casting search of more than 32,000 hopefuls, the experience often felt surreal.
Producer Beau Flynn has previously recalled knowing almost immediately they had found their Moana after watching her audition tape, a sentiment Kail enthusiastically echoed.
“You hope she’s out there,” he said. “Then Catherine sent in her tape singing ‘How Far I’ll Go’ and within the first few seconds you felt it. She has that quality you can’t really describe. Once she walked into the final audition in New York, it was simple – we had our Moana.”
Lagaʻaia admits she often felt like she was learning every aspect of filmmaking in real time.
“It was trial by fire,” she laughed. “Every new thing – auditioning, filming, doing press – I was experiencing for the first time.”
Rather than feeling overwhelmed, she embraced the uncertainty.
“It kept everything fresh because every experience was new.”
Working opposite Johnson could easily have intimidated a first-time feature lead, but instead became an invaluable learning experience.
“I watched how Dwayne interacted with everyone,” she explained. “How he carried himself, how professional he was. I never really felt like I was carrying the movie on my own. It felt like Tommy, Dwayne and I were carrying it together.”
Much of that support stemmed from the collaborative environment fostered on set, one that reflected the very themes of community central to the film itself.
Lagaʻaia says one of her favourite memories came not from the sweeping ocean sequences, but from the quieter moments inside Motunui itself.
“Anything we filmed in the village,” she said. “Being surrounded by so many Pacific Islander performers, seeing everything brought to life physically – it really helped establish what Moana was leaving behind when she ventured into the ocean.”
That authenticity was a cornerstone of the production.
Disney assembled a cast of more than 200 Pacific Island performers and collaborated extensively with creatives from across the Pacific throughout development. Practical locations throughout Hawaii were combined with enormous constructed village sets and expansive water tanks, giving performers as much physical reality as possible before visual effects enhanced the finished world.
Although audiences may assume much of the adventure was created digitally, Kail revealed that the production spent considerable time filming on actual water.
“We took the canoe a mile offshore in Hawaii,” he said. “When Catherine sings ‘How Far I’ll Go’, she’s really out there.”
Even scenes filmed inside giant water tanks delivered their own physical challenges.
“The boat was always on water,” Kail explained. “You could feel it moving. For the storm sequence Catherine was in a ten-foot-deep tank with Navy SEALs underneath the water. Whenever we could make something tactile and real for Catherine, we did.”
For Lagaʻaia, those practical environments made the emotional performance easier – even if acting while constantly drenched presented its own unique difficulties.
“The hardest part wasn’t being wet,” she admitted. “It was imagining what Moana could actually see. Most of the time you aren’t looking out at a real ocean horizon – you have to imagine that sense of wonder.”
That wonder is something Kail spent years carefully balancing with realism.
Working closely with Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor Bill Westenhofer (Life of Pi), the filmmakers sought to preserve the magic of living islands, shape-shifting demigods and giant singing crabs while grounding everything within believable environments.
“We wanted audiences to feel that the village was real, the jungle was real, the shoreline was real,” Kail said. “Then all these mythological elements could exist alongside them naturally.”
Perhaps nowhere is that balance more evident than in Lagaʻaia’s own interpretation of Moana.
Having grown up watching the animated film from the age of nine, she understood firsthand why the character resonated with so many young audiences. But inhabiting the role herself revealed new dimensions.
“You don’t really understand how brave Moana is until you’re standing on that boat yourself,” she reflected. “She backs herself even when nobody else does.”
She believes that quiet confidence is exactly why Moana continues to stand apart among Disney’s modern heroines.
“She’s such an accurate representation of being a teenage girl – trying to figure out who you are, what you want to do with your life, sometimes even defying your parents to become the person you’re meant to be.”
Kail agrees that the film’s enduring appeal lies in that universal search for identity.
Reflecting on his own connection to the material after several years immersed in its world, he pointed to one lyric in particular.
“‘I am the girl who loves my island and the girl who loves the sea.'”
“I love the idea that we don’t have to choose one part of ourselves over another,” he said. “We can be both.”
It’s an idea that feels particularly fitting for a film that itself exists between worlds – honouring one of Disney’s most cherished modern classics while confidently discovering its own identity.
Moana is now screening in Australian theatres.
