When it was released in 2016, Disney’s Moana was a spark of creativity and originality amidst an increasingly repetitive animation scene. It sheds light on the underrepresented mythological figures and tales of Polynesia, and its creative hero’s journey and touching characters entertain and connect with the audience. Since its sequel’s announcement in February, fans and critics couldn’t wait to see if Moana 2’s magic would measure up. In short, it was a disappointment.
The overarching theme of Moana 2 was Disney’s lack of originality. Moana 2’s plotline is simplistic and unoriginal, and it uncannily resembles the journey of Odysseus in Greek mythology. The movie immediately starts in the middle of the action, with Moana searching for signs of life on islands outside of her home. A few minutes later, she returns home, briefly meets her family and community, and embarks on her next wayfinding journey. The lack of setup breezes past the origins of the main conflict, which is that an angry storm god, Nalo, has placed a curse on the island of Motufetu that prevents islanders from locating each other across the seas. With only a quick briefing on the purpose of Moana’s journey, the audience quickly forgets why Moana is going on a journey, only that she is. The beginning is rushed and doesn’t establish the same emotional connection with the audience that kept watchers riveted in the first movie.
After Moana embarks on her journey with a small crew, she faces a few challenges along the way. It is here where the resemblance to Greek mythology comes into play. The first trial she faces is a large monster clam, and the only way to bypass is to sail through the strait created by the clam before the clam devours the boat. Sound familiar? The obstacle is similar to the strait between the monsters of Scylla and Charybdis that Odysseus once had to sail through. If his crew couldn’t get through in time, they faced being sucked into the whirlpool created by Charybdis or being eaten by Scylla. Moana’s crew ends up being sucked into the whirlpool while trying to pass through, where they meet the second reference to Greek mythology. Moana’s crew ends up stuck in a cave, where Moana reunites with Maui. It turns out that the cave is the home of a mysterious woman named Matangi, who is also a part bat. She is tethered to the cave by Nalo, and when Maui encounters her in his own journey separate from Moana’s, she receives orders to hold him hostage. After her own musical number, it’s revealed to the audience that she actually isn’t evil (although it never truly specifies), and she releases Moana and Maui off to defeat Nalo. Her character is a reference to Calypso, a Greek mythological character who is tethered to an island by the gods because of her support for their enemies. She receives visitors every so often, but they always end up leaving, much like Moana and her crew with Matangi.
Although the references to The Odyssey aren’t inherently a bad thing, the examples found in Moana 2 are so explicit that they just become a sorry excuse for a Disney storyline. The Odyssey is the archetype for the hero’s journey, and though it is often repackaged in different ways, Disney didn’t put enough of a spin on it in Moana 2. Had the creators been more original, Disney could have based the movie on real Polynesian folklore and brought representation to an often forgotten culture. However, Disney decided to use washed-out examples from The Odyssey instead of creating something new.
The climax of the movie was equally as disappointing as the rising action. Obviously, Moana and Maui work together to vanquish Nalo and unite the island peoples once more, but the true meaning of their journey is something that never had a real emphasis. As I sat in the movie theater watching, there were times when I forgot the main conflict, and I became confused during the climax because I never truly understood the mission in the first place. Unlike the first movie, the hurriedness of the film diminishes the true meaning of the mission, and the audience never gets time to understand what Moana is trying to do.
To add to the plot’s failings, the character development in Moana 2 was nonexistent. In preparation for her new mission, Moana assembles a group of ragtag, stereotypical supporting characters to accompany her. These include a grumpy old farmer, a Maui fanboy, and an overexcited boat architect. Their cute foibles are nothing more than surface level, and their presence in the plot serves no real purpose other than to stuff new characters in and make things interesting. The main characters Moana and Maui from the original don’t develop further, either. After the first movie, all of Moana’s obstacles were resolved, and she had accomplished all that she wanted to accomplish. Further developing her completed arc would be a challenge for Disney, one they did not meet. The personal challenges Moana and her crew faced were simplistic and redundant in nature, which only added to the disappointment of the movie.
There is one explanation for the poor character development and plot line, which is that Moana 2 wasn’t originally supposed to be a movie; it was meant as a series for streaming. Had the movie been a series, the addition of new characters would have made sense, and their characters could have been developed and useful throughout the course of a few episodes. The stitched-together plot line would have also made sense, allowing Moana to face a new challenge every episode.
Though it would have made sense for Moana 2 to be a series, why was it changed to a movie? The answer lies in Disney’s steady decline in revenue. Moana 2 is only a microcosm of a much bigger issue for Disney: its decline in creativity and originality. In the past few years, Disney has tarnished its imaginative animation legacy by announcing sequel after sequel to its animation hits. At Disney’s latest expo in 2024, the majority of new films and series announced fell under the category of sequels or spinoffs. Some of these new titles include Toy Story 5, Freakier Friday, and Incredibles 3. Disney also announced its plans to create a live-action version of movies such as Snow White and Lilo and Stitch. Notice a pattern? The original versions of these movies performed well at the box office, and to fix Disney’s box office revenue issues, Disney has decided to create sequels instead of using any creativity to make original movies. Sadly, Moana 2 fell victim to Disney’s sequel fatigue.
From an economic standpoint, the creation of Moana 2 is also problematic. Announced in February, animators only had a few months to change the series into a movie, which is part of the explanation for its simplicity. However, most animated movies are created in a much larger time frame. Because the movie was originally a series, Disney worked out of its office in Vancouver, Canada, instead of its American one. Disney usually uses the Vancouver studio for smaller and less important projects because the salaries and skill levels of animators are different there.
When the series was changed into a movie, it was put under a much bigger spotlight, and animators were demanded to do more work to prepare for the fast-tracked movie than they were paid or prepared for. Disney reported no increases in salaries for Vancouver animators despite them being demanded for more output. This rush to produce the movie is another reason why the animation and story are simplistic. It takes significantly more time and money to animate liquid objects, which is why the ocean doesn’t play as big of a role as it did in the original as a character. The movements of characters also seemed stiffer, a result of the rushed animation.
Despite the movie having poor animation and being rushed, it still had major box office success. It broke many records, such as the record for most money earned on Thanksgiving weekend, racking up 225 million in its first five days. Although this is good news for Disney, this is bad news for the rest of the world; Disney realized that fans will still watch unoriginal sequels to popular movies and it can get away with cheaper labor to create them.
Overall, Moana 2 was yet another reflection of Disney’s decline. The lack of creativity and thought put into the movie was obvious, giving it only a simple role: gaining revenue, which was the only area where it succeeded. Sadly, because of its success, it likely won’t wake Disney up from its sequel slump. Fans can only hope that someday Disney will decide to think outside of the box.
