The original holds up so well on its own, so naturally, Disney decided to make a TV show, and after it was scrapped, turn it into an unnecessary sequel. Oh, and now there's a live action remake in the works.
Schaffrillas Productions made a great video on the subject of a live action Moana, I highly recommend it as it really makes sense why we’re getting so many Moana products.
Not gonna lie, of all their movies to make sequels from, I found Moana to be unexpected. Personally I thought the ending was satisfying enough to not need a sequel so I’m not surprised the sequel ended up mid
i feel like the second movie is maybe a setup for a 3rd? idk but if u watched the after credit scene i figured this was just there to bridge the story out even more
Same. NGL I thought the first movie ended perfectly with all her village becoming voyagers. And honestly I kinda don’t understand the point of Moana having a little sister if they weren’t gonna do anything with her. Honestly this makes me glad Tangled got a tv show instead, because the people in charge of it actually cared about the characters and the original movie, and didn’t retcon or change certain details.
The overexaggerated body movements of the characters reminded me of "Mulan II" and how every character moved like a noodle man at times. It was just goofy. Even Moana had extra squash and stretch in her face and it was a tad cheesy.
FOR REAL. I like the first movie but I hate that weird dancing kid he’s so uncanny. Then in the sequel THEY ALL LOOK LIKE THAT WEIRD DANCING KID, not only that but they brought back the weird dancing kid and he looks even more uncanny than he did in the first movie. Then Moana starts dancing with him and they both just look so unsettling to me. I feel like this is just a me thing but I’m genuinely disgusted and disturbed by that animated child.
Thank you for articulating this! always been a pet peeve of mine in western animation. makes all characters even grownups look immature, obnoxious, and makes all have homogenous personalities. imagine if Toy Story was like this, Buzz Lightyear moving like this lol.
What makes Moana 2 more frustrating to me than the old Direct to VHS/DVD sequels in the 2000's is that, unlike those movies, this is still presented to the audience as a part of Disney's official "Animated Movie Canon" Line-up.
i actually had a bit in the script about this (but got rid of it!) basically talking about how disney frames these blatant cashgrabs VERY differently than they did direct to video sequels back to the day. they didn’t pretend they were “high art” so audiences went in expecting that. these new sequels are treated like theyre the same as the originals canonically and creatively which is just false advertising
@@vetarlittorf1807these recent sequels are presented to be OFFICIALLY canon, and OFFICIALLY an expensive disney movie. The direct to DVD sequels back then, were just there, appearing in a lower quality and such. whats frustrating is that Disney (the animators i mean) put effort into something so drab that might aswell do as fine as something made 20 years ago
@@vetarlittorf1807 Well, you're wrong. Direct-to-video sequels with half-baked animation were never canon (except maybe The Lion King 2, Disney still acknowledges Kiara and brings her back every now and then).
The reason why the modern fourth wall breaks work is because it works with Williams comedy style and you can assume the genie is so powerful, the he can see the future or travel through time.
Unfortunately I don't think Disney will ever change now...they moved away from direct to DVD sequels and entered the revival era because their films in the 2000s were mostly flopping. They make sooo much money now just putting out mediocrity. They have no reason to pour more money into making good, original projects, because they'll make 10x more money with Moana 4, Frozen 6 and Toy Story 7.
The only way this will stop is if people stop watching them. But the problem is that it's harder than ever for movies to have global appeal now that countries other than the US are developing their own film industries, so there's now way more competition facing Hollywood. That's not even getting into the fact that there are more convenient options for entertainment than going to the movies like streaming and video games that people can play on cheap big-screen TV's that have almost the exact same quality as an IMAX screen. People want to save their money for something that they think will be a sure bet, so going to the theater to see something they're not familiar with is unlikely for much of the population. So the result of that is we're just gonna keep getting bland, middle-of-the-road schlock based on IP that is as inoffensive and focus grouped as possible until people are willing to try giving new movies a chance
I don't think it scales like that, to be honest. There was a time when Disney could release just about anything under the Marvel brand, and people would flock to watch it. That is no longer the case. Disney will suffer reputational damage if they don't balance out their offerings with quality content. A generation of kids might grow up with much looser ties to the Disney brand. They'll feel it once they have fewer Disney adults. They're diluting their own brand.
More likely, because this was a TV Show, they didn’t wanna pay him to return. It’s pretty much confirmed at this point that Cravalho and Johnson weren’t going to voice Moana and Maui in the show because they were “too expensive” (that’s how cheap this production was) and they had to be brought in after this became a movie to dub over the lines. Auli’i Cravalho is not a huge household name (which is sad she should be!) so if they were too cheap to pay HER to return, no way could they afford Lin Manuel Miranda
On the topic of "people working on these projects genuinely trying their best." Well, they aren't. Pixar laid off their most senior artists and slashed their teams. The people who replaced these senior positions are as greedy and soulless as the executives, and everyone else is improperly trained/experienced because everyone who *could* train them was fired. They've reduced the process to a profit-based algorithm-driven animation sweatshop. I'm saying this as someone whose LinkedIn job recs went from a multitude of animation positions from storyboarding to character rigging, to part-time jobs at Target or Walmart basically over night.
My God, my God, this is so sad. I'm glad I am not directly supporting this kinds of practices by not watching as many disney movies at the cinema (especially not cash-grab sequels, ahem), but the movie is gonna be a success regardless, due to many kids wanting to go (can't blame them). It really pisses me of that making good, intelligent, funny and/or interesting movies is not a priority, since either way, they're probably going to be financially sucssesfull. What kind of childhood movies will gen beta experience...
Do compare bec. after the Miles Morales movies and the Arcane Netflix show, Disney should be stepping up their game, not wallow in their own mediocrity!
You know what would be a cool concept? If Disney made a 2D sequel(s) for their original 3D movies. I'm not sure how practical it would be, but if it's a success, they might bring back their 2D animation studio permanently
For this former Disneyphile…Moana was the LAST Disney media product I ever spent my money on to see in theaters back in 2016. None of the songs particularly grabbed me ( let’s be honest LMM is no Alan Menken/Howard Ashman/Stephen Schwartz ). Have not spent a dime on anything from the company since then. I would love to see a video from you on your top 10 most rewatched Disney Films! Also your 10 Favorite Disney villains! Keep up the great content!
Personally, I thought LMM's style worked really well for Encanto. I wonder if that's an unpopular opinion? But you're right, I prefer more classic Disney movies, and so I'm not a fan of his work for Disney princess movies. I still wish they would go back to making 2D animation, but the technical knowledge was lost, from what I've heard.
I think this is a little purist. Lin is just as talented as Allan/Howard and Stephen, it's just a style difference. Bouth his songs for Moana and Encanto are very good, and fitting, and he certainly comes from a place of passion and artistic sincerity.
lin manuel miranda song haters unite 🤝 i was only able to watch encanto once too- it was with my family and every time a song started they would look over at me and laugh because i would be so visibly annoyed, lol. i feel like i’m in a mirror world with how much everyone else loves it, but i absolutely cannot stand the way he writes!!
Honestly, Disney should have re-released Cinderella 3: A Twist In Time to theaters instead of Moana 2. That movie was the DEFINITION of a Disney sequel, amazing storyline, gave Cinderella more agency, made her a girlboss who fought for her love and with so much wit in her soul. Heck, the Prince was given more space to breathe, a down to earth personality than the first movie and was done so well! Anastasia had the perfect arc, so that movie should be recognized! Imagine how it would do at the box office! Old but gold!
I will ask this question till my dying day: are the people complaining on social media about the lack of original IPs and risk-taking by studios *at all* reflective of the general movie-going population??? Is "we want better than this, Walter!" just a social media thing? Because these sequels & remakes are obvious cash grabs, but is all the data they're working off of telling them that people want/like all this nostalgia bait & general decline in quality? Surely *something* is telling them to keep churning them out as much as they are.
This is such a good point. It feels like there’s just a large portion of the general population that is more than ok with slop and those who aren’t are forced to online spaces to share our grievances 😭
I mean this sequel is already on track to be HUGELY successful. Frozen 2 made over a billion dollars. Nearly every Disney remake has been incredibly successful at the box office as well. Unfortunately, I would say it is just a social media thing, the average movie viewer doesn’t really mind a bland plot or unoriginal idea, especially when it comes to kids movies like Moana. The few times Disney has tried to be creative and churn out a new story recently has not done very well (Encanto being the exception) remember that movie that came out this year that allegedly was going to introduce a new Disney princess and had a really unique animation style? Yeah I can’t even remember the name as it unfortunately flopped.
There are a lot of people who go to the movies as a social activity, not because they're interested in the movie. It doesn't matter what movie is playing because they're not going to see a movie, they're going to spend time with someone. That's why slop movies do so well.
Moana has been used as a babysitting movie for years now. For a lot of little kids it became their comfort movie so of course they're excited to see the new one and parents are going to take them. Now be interesting to see if this also becomes a babysitting movie or if it's something they see once or twice and go back to the original. I noticed that Disney starred making a lot of these movies for the littlest of kids which really limits who's gonna watch it.
My friends are casual moviegoers. They do complain about the lack of original movies all the time, but when a good, original movie comes out, they don't watch it. Primarily because they have kids and not a lot of time to keep themselves informed about upcoming movies. They watch movies based on ads they see and friend recommendations.
I wanted Matangi to be an evil villain. The songs in the movie reminds me of Disney Junior shows. They remind me of Sofia the First. I liked the song 'Beyond'. I liked the movie. I had a problem with the pacing though.
Listen I'm not big into Lin Manuel Miranda and have never been, I did enjoy the music in the first Moana movie and I do like Encanto, but there's no denial I was gettin tired of his presence in Disney projects... However, after the musical messes and clunky awful lyrics in Wish and now Moana 2, I actually wish to apologize to him, like... "I wish we got someone other than Lin" *monkey paw curls a finger*
@aravindrenmahenthiran6827 Reading Comprehension is your friend. I'm saying I appreciate Lin Manuel better after the Lin knock offs they're clearly trying to pull to awful results on those movies
is it just me or is pacing in general just affecting all kinds of media lately? There's no time to let things stew we HAVE to get the next beat or audiences will be bored? ugh thanks for saving me 2 hours of a nothing burger.
yeah it's like mr beast editing has wormed its way into everything else too. everything has to be action action action otherwise the audiences might have to think about the movie for more than 2 seconds
No wonder the pacing was super confusing. At some parts it felt that they just put some clips together and called it a day. The movie hella had pacing issues. Now knowing it was supposed to be a tv series, it’s making all sense.
thank you for your honest and eloquent review. as a polynesian girl who grew up loving disney princesses and always wished to see one who looked like me...i was so disappointed with the first film. growing up hearing sweeping, heart-wrenching ballads like part of your world and reflection and then getting lin manuel miranda's musical style, the difference was jarring and grating on my ears. every princess i loved growing up had her own interesting personality and a cute prince and moana got...ugly maui and the adorkable heroine trope. when i see disney is making a "new" film, i just sigh and keep scrolling atp.
Hmm. So you're asking for a "damsel in distress" movie during Disney's "independent, girl boss era". Yeah, in the 21st century, we won't see those types of Disney movies again. 😑
@@nikajo002 It doesn't need to be a damsel in distress. Just look at Princess and the Frog. Tiana was literally an independent entrepreneur and business woman. Even movies from the Disney Renaissance in the 90s had a "girl power" angle (e.g: Mulan, Belle, etc.) In my opinion, the actual problem is what OP mentions about the "adorkable" princess trope, where virtually every female character has had the same personality since Tangled.
@@nikajo002i think i understand what you're trying to say, and agree that disney is too hyper focused on creating relatable "girl bosses" at the cost of good storytelling and fully fleshed out characters. personally i wish they'd take a leaf out of hayao miyazaki's book. he's great at writing interesting female characters that are strong but flawed, so they sometimes need help and sometimes that help is from their romantic interest. it doesn't make them a damsel, it just makes them human.
You just being unfair at this point the first movie was amazing and calling maui ugly is gross and disgsuting just because he does not conform to what you think is attractive is not anyone's problem
Moana and Samaya seem like mom and daughter which is what made it weird for me. I did get some nostalgic moments and tears but overall the movie was just okay. The only song I liked was Moana’s Beyond
they should've made big hero six 2 but i would literally die if they ruined that film for me (even though they could easily just adapt the tv show's first season)
Good lord, some of these comments are annoying af and this isn't even my video. Anyway, I just want to say that I, and I know other people as well, always appreciate your videos and the thought you put into them. Even if I disagree with you over things sometimes (though not in this case because I really had no hope for this movie), I still appreciate your perspective. Even though Moana isn't my favorite 2010s Disney movie, I can appreciate its importance to Polynesian culture and the care and love put into it. Which is why this sequel and the upcoming live action is nothing but disappointing for me. I really feel like they could have done something interesting with this story - the family voyage idea would have so cool and would have made us relate even more to the sister! - but instead they straight up just rehashed early 2000s direct to DVD sequels and it's aggravating. I'm just hoping they pull a Cinderella 3 and put a lot more effort and intention into the inevitable sequel, but I'm not holding my breath.
I wonder what this movie would've been like if Disney actually gave the production team an additional a year or a year and a half to developed the story and animation more instead of rushing the entire thing to theaters as they announced that it was going to be a movie 10 months before it's release which was a pretty bad sign
It was just kind of... there. Saw it with some friends as we're Māori so love any representation but at the end we were all like... oh! That was certainly a movie! And that's the sum of it - it's just kind of there. Unnecessary.
13:39 I’m sorry, what? Weird romantic undertones? Genuinely, what the hell are you talking about? I haven’t seen anyone mention their relationship in any way other than friendship. This is a frankly bizarre point that stood out to me in the video. I really want to know who watches either Moana film and takes away any form of romance.
@@rosesal2473Its not that, if you’ve been around the internet shipping and people wanting to see two characters in a relationship is a common thing, just see Elsa and Anna. ModernGurlz was referring to the film itself, not the moana fandom and i did get some weird undertones from it, not necessarily romantic, but if you show this to someone who has no idea who these characters are, they would think they’re an item
Although shipper's brainrot is a thing, sometimes interactions can have a passion level (in the sense of enthusiasm and charged energy) or a level of closeness that raises an eyebrow even to people not immediately incline to slap two characters together romantically at the slightest sign of them getting along. Because there can be a very real point where people see certain levels of interpersonal dedication as perhaps accidentally coded. Regarding what people see in media and interpret romantically, those who watched Klaus and then went, ahh they added a compulsory heterosexual breeding pair instead of following what we felt like we'd seen on screen actually ended up including total non-shippers like my boyfriend. If even he could say that if the main character was female then there would have been a romantic subplot, more people would have drawn the same conclusion. It's way, way, way less of a thing in Moana vs Klaus, but I can see why the brainrot had sunk in easily in this particular fandom, even if it's entirely against my will in this case 😬 Underage girl and thousands of year old God is always an ick. But without a drop of context, some would go 'huh they do look like there's something there' before doing their research and learning her age and hopefully finding the entire thing repugnant.
10:48 i’m so glad someone else feels this way. ppl act like hes so great but i actually find his involvement in anything is usually what ruins everything 😭
Ok, I’m so glad someone is saying this because none of my family agrees with me on my dislike of the movie. I distinctly remember sitting in the movie theater being very content with how the movie was progressing and was waiting for the awesome fight between Moana, Maui, and the god they’d been mentioning throughout the whole movie. They had just reached the island when the other islanders show up and I was prepared for them to all team up and defeat this god… And then it ended… I audibly said “what?” I turned to my family and was like “is that the end?” I felt like so much yet so little had happened in the 90 minutes of the movie. I was disappointed. Justice for bat-lady. She carried
I truly believe *Encanto* was the Last Great Disney film from the modern era. Now it's going downhill and it's a biiiig problem when no one is that interested in seeing a **DISNEY** movie in theaters
I would've liked a Moana show on Disney+ purely because I really liked the first movie. I haven't seen this sequel yet-- I'm not sure if I even want too now. It just sucks because the world of Moana is really fun and colorful and has great potential for world building, but it went to waste. It makes me sad to see Disney lose its ability to tell stories.
Yes! All we could talk about after the movie was how much we wanted maui to stay human, it would have made for such an interesting arc next time, as he watches moana have the powers hes used to having and learns what it means to have a human family. And 100% all i coild think the whole time was "these three side characters are so annoying and unnecessary." The old guy was there to provide food and farm knowledge and they never used that at all!
coming from a polynesian perspective, i'm 50/50 on this movie. we get our representation and i love how even though most of the script sounds tokelauan, i can still hear a bit of sāmoan, māori, cook island and tahitian. I saw moana siva and i watched her do a niuean warcry. Maui did his fa'aumu and moni did the sasa. Seeing that in animation form really warmed my heart. However, I do agree that it was rushed and a little unnecessary. The music could have been a lot more better in terms of pasifika beats. I'm not sure why they added Lin Manuel Miranda to the mix of composers when you have amazing composers all over the islands. Opetaia is amazing and Te Vaka has always been a wonderful addition to the journey of Moana but if the entire movie is about bringing our people together, why didn't they reflect that in the making of the soundtrack as well? We have Josh Tatofi, Adeaze, Aaradhna, Nesian Mystik, Tone 6, and so much more that they could have intergrated into the soundtrack and so many opportunities to make it sound less cheesy and more REAL. This screams lazy to me. Also, i think Motufetu could be a reference to Havaiki (Also known as Avaiki, Savai'i or Havai'i in other pasifika languages) which is essentially the land where us as Pasifika people originate from. The pulling of the island reminds me of the story of when Maui pulled The North Island of Aotearoa, which is called Te Ika A Maui. So many references yet the storyline still kinda sucked. I also agree that it would have been much better if it was a family trip instead of adding in ghe new characters but I do love the Iconic sound of David Fane's voice (Mac in Bro Town and plays Paul in Sione's Wedding) in this movie as it fits in perfectly with the polynesian dynamic.
I also think Nalo's character was a lousy personification for global warming and climate change issues. It all comes back to our pacific islands, which are struggling the most because of these issues, even though they contribute the least to it. Initially, Nalo was the evil god that sunk motufetu and that reflects in real life because Global warming is currently sinking our Tuvalu Islands and Micronesian Islands are also struggling to keep up with countless cyclones and hurricanes as well. I feel like they could have made Nalo a lot more better as a character. obviously, nalo is still a bad person but his character was lacking depth, which made the whole thing lousy for me. I'm interested to see what would have happened if they spent little bit more time researching and tweaking the storyline. But as a cook islander at heart, I still cherish the movie and appreciate the integration of pacific culture into our arts.
I kinda liked it. Sure it’s not great and it could use some rewrites. For example I hate when movies do that thing when they’re like ”hey let’s play around with the idea of permanent consequences but not really” which happened twice in a short span (Moana’s death and Maui’s tattoos being stripped). The crew was like funny at times but they felt unnecessary most of the time and they could’ve done more with Matangi. But the animation was gorgeous, the main story was kinda cute and ”Beyond” & ”Get lost” are BOPS and I didn’t love the rest of the songs but I didn’t dislike any of them either (unlike ”shiny” and ”you’re welcome” in the first one). And I absolutely ADORE Simea. She’s just the absolute cutest 🥰. So yeah, it was nowhere near as good as the first one but it was all together kinda cute.
Just watched it today! I didn't even know it was supposed to be a series but now that i do a LOT of things in the movie make sense. The film was beautifully animated but i fear that's where the pros more or less stop:/ pretty hard to believe today that the same studio made some of my fav movies like treasure planet, atlantis and 101 dalmatians. Very disappointing:(
This turned into a bit of a rant so apologies from now. Things just kept happening and being told to the audience. Like you said, they had too many new characters and to keep up with everything and everyone was tiring. The animation was annoyingly repetitive along with the desperate callbacks to EVERY SINGLE THING from the first movie. Almost nothing felt deserved and when it was, there was no weight to it or an inappropriate reaction e.g Maui's shark head gag. I have been staying away from trailers of films for years so all I had known about Moana 2 was the poster and the same thumbnail of Nalo's henchwoman. I predicted her 'arch' before the movie and, surprise surprise, I was right. When Nalo never showed himself for the whole movie, I sensed that there was going to be a Moana 3 and then the end credits scene just rubbed it in my face😂. When I saw him, I thought,"Cartoon Thanos?" I didn't dislike all the songs but it sounded a lot like Wish so I was surprised Julia Michaels wasn't there again. I didn't know about about the series aspect. Disney could have done minisodes like they did for Mater/Mator from Cars, Tinkerbell, every recent cartoon, etc. I can definitely see one with the Moannabes. All in all, I agree with what you've said.
Oh my dayss same. I remember a Māori tourist guide talked about the importance of our culture, and one American tourist was like “oH LikE tHe MoVie MoAna???” and we were all staring at her like “😐”
I was so upset that this Indigenous based story didn't get the amount of love put into its writing as the first. The first Moana made me so proud of the fact I was Indigenous, however this one felt like a slap to the face.
Nice to know the main characters Moana and Maui are still okay. As much as I didn’t want this sequel to exist, it expanded some lore. Also so I wasn’t the only one getting some weird undertones from Moana and Maui right? It also doesn’t help that Moana is 19 in the sequel Lol i also highly doubt they’re going to give either or both of them any love interest, the original Maui had partners, so maybe it’s possible we might see some of his exes in future adaptations, but I doubt we’ll see them giving Maui new love interest. They are very much like a platonic version of Flynn and Rapunzel or a human version of Nick and Judy, which I also hope they do not pair them up in the sequel, I know they talked about the possibility, but i rather they stay friends. Also I didn’t think the tweeting joke was that bad, sure it aged poorly, but nothing lasts forever and I can see it as an old timey “send message with your birds” type thing, it works.
If I had a nickel for every movie I've seen that had a very fitting open-ended conclusion and then an unnecessary sequel and/or remake? (How did Moana get both at the same time? Wtf) I'd be able to buy like, half a happy meal I think.
I don't know what is going on with Disney, but I know they got the money and rescores to think of creative ways to make TV shows. I would've loved a Moana TV show, and I believe that others would've loved it too. I feel like we have not had a show that stemmed from a film in a really long time, for example Tangled. It feels like Disney is missing a lot of opportunities just to earn some money.
I like the first Moana. Not sure if I love the story line, but for me there are so many positives (it’s beautiful, I like most of the songs, i like dwayne johnson) that overall i like it and have seen it couple of times. Not sure though if I dare to watch the sequel. 🧐
Moana should have a tv serie instead of a sequel. Remember 2 years ago, when disney annouced the return of 2d. Disney needs new good original stories and 2d again.
imagine my dismay when im bolting back into the theater bc i realized i was about to miss them FINALLY reveal the villain… just for me to get back in there and lay my eye on ….. essentially my father😭😭😭😮 i literally had to call my dad to tell him how much he just looked like him on a normal day i was in laughing so hard
Saw it early in the morning on a weekend and fell asleep, I wasn’t into it. Maybe I’ll watch it again but honestly I was pretty annoyed with the characters, it was like secondhand embarrassment for some reason, I guess they felt so cliche it was painful. They felt surface level and stereotypical
I haven’t watched this movie yet, but this honestly makes me glad Tangled never got a sequel but rather a tv show. And the animation was actually inspired by the paintings in the movie. I don’t care that a show doesn’t make as much money as a movie, the show was such a perfect continuation of the original movie while adding new characters and arcs to explore the world of Tangled. A sequel just has the potential to either be disappointing or completely missing the point of the first movie’s ending or what made people enjoy the first movie. Ironically I’m one of the few people who prefers Frozen 2 over its predecessor, but that doesn’t change it made the world building more confusing and felt kinda aimless at times. It was all about “why Elsa had magic” BUT it never answered why Anna didn’t or how the spirits actually worked (like the water spirit legitimately trying to kill Elsa for no reason) and I found the whole Agnar’s father as the real villain kinda forced. Yeah, the bad guy is already dead, never mind. And even the ending felt a bit off with Elsa choosing to leave Arendelle as a guardian spirit while Anna became queen.
To be honest, i actually really liked moana 2, but i felt like it wasn’t as intense as the first movie like i couldn’t figure out what the climax was 😭 songs were okay but i do think they’re overhated 🤷♀️
it took a second watch for the first movie to grow on me because so much of the plot was just moana and maui arguing in the middle of the ocean together so i wasn't quite sure what they could do to entertain me this time around
After watching Moana 1, I can confidently say that Maui is SO MUCH MORE than just "Dwayne Johnson's" character. The movie does a great job of showing just how important his magical hook is to him. I mean, there's a scene where his hook is almost broken and he literally says, "WITHOUT MY HOOK, I AM NOTHING!" But then in the final battle, he ends up sacrificing his hook to stop the lava monster and save Moana. Despite his cocky attitude, Maui turns out to be a character who just wants to regain his demigod status, but ultimately he's willing to give up everything for his newfound friend.
I REALLY wish they moved this to 2025 or 2026, giving more time to elevate it to better quality (and maybe allow Lin time to clea his schedule and Disney enough time to ask John and Ron back).
I am also in the minority of not being a big fan of the first Moana. I was sooo looking forward to the first one years ago. So I had very little expectations for the sequel. Thank you for your review!
I mean, yeah sure the legacy sequels do make a lot of money, at first, but they have absolutely no longevity compared to their predecessors which will hurt each one of these series in the long run. Also, Disney is eventually going to run out of properties to make legacy sequels/nostalgia remakes for after which they’ll have no choice but to start making original stuff or risk going the way of the dodo. They’re already resorted to mining their last great run a.k.a. the 2000s/early 2010s what are they supposed to rely on for big money after that nostalgia well dries up?
something else to note about the bts process, is that because of the insane rush to get this film out, and turn it into a movie from a tv show, they didn't use their normal animation studio, instead getting the Vancouver studio to animate. The reason they did this was because they are a non-union team (they can't voice opinions on work hours). Which means they were probably over-worked and underpaid which did not pay off, seeing as how it shows in the final product, but I totally understand why. Seeing as how successful this film is, and their other projects which featured over-worked creatives, it's certainly worrying for the future of their workers.
After the first Moana came out it was my favorite movie for quite a long time, fastforward to the second Moana coming out i didnt even feel like watching it after hearing the whole problem with it going from show to movie.
Moana by itself was the perfect movie, amazing multicultural Polynesian representation, the great and meaningful songs and plot, well developed characters. But ofc Disney is never satisfied with leaving a good thing alone.
Im sure that I'm in the minority here...but honestly? I'm _glad_ that they didn't have Simea stow away. For me this was one of the things Disney actually got _right_ in this "movie". The annoying little sibling secretly tagging along who NEVER listens, ALWAYS finds themselves in a situation and who you are now responsible for protecting is one of the most _overdone_ and _clichéd_ tropes shown in media. ... and not just television and film, but in literature as well. I'm a HUGE bookworm and I legit _roll my eyes_ and _groan_ everytime something like that happens. At least for me, them keeping Simea limited to small doses made her more tolerable, kept her lovable and adorable and insured that we didn't get sick of her as a character.
The fact that this movie seems to be making bank is honestly so disappointing, and honestly frightening. Because not only is it meh, but also the production of this movie just screws over the animators. Like we all know this was supposed to be a Disney+ series, and so it was animated in a different studio. But ofc after the recent flops Disney needed the money, so they transferred production in order to fit the look for theater release. And ofc the original animators weren't paid as much, so the cost was pretty cheap. All's this to say, since the movie is doing well it's definitely going to give Disney ideas, ideas that'll screw over animators.
Been waiting on this video and I feel so seen by you also not liking the first one, though I don't jive with it personally because it just felt so generic. It felt like we've been doing this whole Disney Princess movie thing for so long we've got all the tropes we gotta hit and none of them landed with me. I felt a lot more excited to see Moana as a TV series and the demigod thing sounds like a banger idea honestly. Too bad now we'll have to endure Moana 3 in 2030 😩😒
I loved the animation, the little sister, the cultural focus, and that it’s implied that Moana is a Goddess not a Princess. But yes not great music and not great villains and not a very original story
I disagree. I enjoyed this movie. Sure, it wasn’t great, but it was enjoyable enough. I think most of your points are good. This really shouldn’t have been a movie and should’ve been a show instead, and would have been okay as one. Moana 2 didn’t have great music, the only song I really enjoyed was Get Lost. But I think you’re too harsh on it. It’s an okay time, but idk maybe it was because I was with my friend and she was being goofy. 🙃
A lot of the criticisms on this channel are definitely a little harsh but warranted. I respect them even if I don’t fully agree, like Lin-Manuel Miranda I think has written pretty great songs for Disney, minus that one scuttle song for The Little Mermaid
i mean you can enjoy the movie but giving disney, one of the richest megacorporations in the world, the benefit of the doubt because you had fun is just incomprehensible to me. they spent $150 million on this movie but they couldn't be bothered to rework their original moana show idea to suit a feature film runtime. disney used to make movies that were great, not just okay
![[ ออกกอง ] วัยหนุ่ม 2544 โลกหลังลูกกรง..ทัวร์กองถ่ายหนังใน "คุกของจริง" | JUSTดูIT.](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vB--aOkZCpw/mqdefault.jpg)
Close enough, welcome back direct to dvd sequels
Yep, it's Belle's Magical World all over again.
don't put this on the same level as lion king 2
@@Cinnamonraisin_Bagel The Lion King 2 Is literally a Shakespearean masterpiece compared to Moana 2
@Cinnamonraisin_Bagel this and Cinderella 3
It didn’t have to be though
The original holds up so well on its own, so naturally, Disney decided to make a TV show, and after it was scrapped, turn it into an unnecessary sequel. Oh, and now there's a live action remake in the works.
That's waaaay too much
Schaffrillas Productions made a great video on the subject of a live action Moana, I highly recommend it as it really makes sense why we’re getting so many Moana products.
Nooooooooooooo!!
Actually it wasn't scrapped; Bob Igor just thought it was too good to be a show and upgraded it to a film. If only the quality was upgraded, too.
I want off this ride Mr. Bones
Not gonna lie, of all their movies to make sequels from, I found Moana to be unexpected. Personally I thought the ending was satisfying enough to not need a sequel so I’m not surprised the sequel ended up mid
i feel like the second movie is maybe a setup for a 3rd? idk but if u watched the after credit scene i figured this was just there to bridge the story out even more
Me too!
Same. NGL I thought the first movie ended perfectly with all her village becoming voyagers. And honestly I kinda don’t understand the point of Moana having a little sister if they weren’t gonna do anything with her. Honestly this makes me glad Tangled got a tv show instead, because the people in charge of it actually cared about the characters and the original movie, and didn’t retcon or change certain details.
Watch terrible sequels, spin-offs, reboots: ❌
Watch videos essays analyzing why they are terrible: ✅
real i love to see fellow haters sharing my opinion publicly
Yessss 😂
You definitely made the smartest move
I’m not spending a buck on actually watching this movie, so video essay is the perfect way to go
The overexaggerated body movements of the characters reminded me of "Mulan II" and how every character moved like a noodle man at times. It was just goofy. Even Moana had extra squash and stretch in her face and it was a tad cheesy.
THANK YOU!!! This annoyed me the entire movie and it made them look so floppy and kinda dumb
FOR REAL. I like the first movie but I hate that weird dancing kid he’s so uncanny. Then in the sequel THEY ALL LOOK LIKE THAT WEIRD DANCING KID, not only that but they brought back the weird dancing kid and he looks even more uncanny than he did in the first movie. Then Moana starts dancing with him and they both just look so unsettling to me. I feel like this is just a me thing but I’m genuinely disgusted and disturbed by that animated child.
Omg TRUE
Like early seasons of Spongebob vs current Spongebob.
Thank you for articulating this! always been a pet peeve of mine in western animation. makes all characters even grownups look immature, obnoxious, and makes all have homogenous personalities. imagine if Toy Story was like this, Buzz Lightyear moving like this lol.
What makes Moana 2 more frustrating to me than the old Direct to VHS/DVD sequels in the 2000's is that, unlike those movies, this is still presented to the audience as a part of Disney's official "Animated Movie Canon" Line-up.
Why is that more frustrating?
i actually had a bit in the script about this (but got rid of it!) basically talking about how disney frames these blatant cashgrabs VERY differently than they did direct to video sequels back to the day. they didn’t pretend they were “high art” so audiences went in expecting that. these new sequels are treated like theyre the same as the originals canonically and creatively which is just false advertising
@@vetarlittorf1807these recent sequels are presented to be OFFICIALLY canon, and OFFICIALLY an expensive disney movie. The direct to DVD sequels back then, were just there, appearing in a lower quality and such.
whats frustrating is that Disney (the animators i mean) put effort into something so drab that might aswell do as fine as something made 20 years ago
@ho1a-Gad Pretty sure all the sequels are canon.
@@vetarlittorf1807 Well, you're wrong. Direct-to-video sequels with half-baked animation were never canon (except maybe The Lion King 2, Disney still acknowledges Kiara and brings her back every now and then).
The reason why the modern fourth wall breaks work is because it works with Williams comedy style and you can assume the genie is so powerful, the he can see the future or travel through time.
Exactly! I always assumed it was because Genie exists almost outside of time, if that makes any sense.
also bc it was robin
The family "road" trip would be so iconic, wish the story was about it
little miss sunshine
10:18 Thats actually a brilliant idea, and very relevant considering Polynesian culture is very family oriented
Unfortunately I don't think Disney will ever change now...they moved away from direct to DVD sequels and entered the revival era because their films in the 2000s were mostly flopping. They make sooo much money now just putting out mediocrity. They have no reason to pour more money into making good, original projects, because they'll make 10x more money with Moana 4, Frozen 6 and Toy Story 7.
@@kimisea frozen 6 💀💀💀
This is so true, and sad :/
The only way this will stop is if people stop watching them. But the problem is that it's harder than ever for movies to have global appeal now that countries other than the US are developing their own film industries, so there's now way more competition facing Hollywood. That's not even getting into the fact that there are more convenient options for entertainment than going to the movies like streaming and video games that people can play on cheap big-screen TV's that have almost the exact same quality as an IMAX screen. People want to save their money for something that they think will be a sure bet, so going to the theater to see something they're not familiar with is unlikely for much of the population.
So the result of that is we're just gonna keep getting bland, middle-of-the-road schlock based on IP that is as inoffensive and focus grouped as possible until people are willing to try giving new movies a chance
I don't think it scales like that, to be honest. There was a time when Disney could release just about anything under the Marvel brand, and people would flock to watch it. That is no longer the case. Disney will suffer reputational damage if they don't balance out their offerings with quality content. A generation of kids might grow up with much looser ties to the Disney brand. They'll feel it once they have fewer Disney adults. They're diluting their own brand.
@ agree 100 it’s just unfortunate that the process is gonna take so long 😭
lin manuel miranda jumped ship, good for him
Did he? I heard, he was working on the new Mufasa movie.
@@moustik31that’s true. They honestly should’ve waited for him 😅
And bad for us
More likely, because this was a TV Show, they didn’t wanna pay him to return. It’s pretty much confirmed at this point that Cravalho and Johnson weren’t going to voice Moana and Maui in the show because they were “too expensive” (that’s how cheap this production was) and they had to be brought in after this became a movie to dub over the lines. Auli’i Cravalho is not a huge household name (which is sad she should be!) so if they were too cheap to pay HER to return, no way could they afford Lin Manuel Miranda
@@erikdaniels0ndoubt it considering the cameo in PJO
The ending of the film finally started moving in an interesting direction. I have no idea why THAT wasn't the entire movie......
On the topic of "people working on these projects genuinely trying their best." Well, they aren't. Pixar laid off their most senior artists and slashed their teams. The people who replaced these senior positions are as greedy and soulless as the executives, and everyone else is improperly trained/experienced because everyone who *could* train them was fired. They've reduced the process to a profit-based algorithm-driven animation sweatshop.
I'm saying this as someone whose LinkedIn job recs went from a multitude of animation positions from storyboarding to character rigging, to part-time jobs at Target or Walmart basically over night.
My God, my God, this is so sad. I'm glad I am not directly supporting this kinds of practices by not watching as many disney movies at the cinema (especially not cash-grab sequels, ahem), but the movie is gonna be a success regardless, due to many kids wanting to go (can't blame them). It really pisses me of that making good, intelligent, funny and/or interesting movies is not a priority, since either way, they're probably going to be financially sucssesfull. What kind of childhood movies will gen beta experience...
Yep, pretty much.
I was genuinely so angry when they announced this sequel because it was so unnecessary and I refuse to see it out of protest
Same! It would’ve been better as a SHOW
LITERALLY SAME
not to compare but seeing moana 2 after seeing wicked felt like a slap in the face
Do compare bec. after the Miles Morales movies and the Arcane Netflix show, Disney should be stepping up their game, not wallow in their own mediocrity!
Right??
You know what would be a cool concept? If Disney made a 2D sequel(s) for their original 3D movies. I'm not sure how practical it would be, but if it's a success, they might bring back their 2D animation studio permanently
i like this idea. trick disney into using 2d animation again
i mean... "Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure" is _right_ there
A TV sequel is a great idea!
For this former Disneyphile…Moana was the LAST Disney media product I ever spent my money on to see in theaters back in 2016. None of the songs particularly grabbed me ( let’s be honest LMM is no Alan Menken/Howard Ashman/Stephen Schwartz ). Have not spent a dime on anything from the company since then. I would love to see a video from you on your top 10 most rewatched Disney Films! Also your 10 Favorite Disney villains! Keep up the great content!
Personally, I thought LMM's style worked really well for Encanto. I wonder if that's an unpopular opinion? But you're right, I prefer more classic Disney movies, and so I'm not a fan of his work for Disney princess movies. I still wish they would go back to making 2D animation, but the technical knowledge was lost, from what I've heard.
I think this is a little purist. Lin is just as talented as Allan/Howard and Stephen, it's just a style difference. Bouth his songs for Moana and Encanto are very good, and fitting, and he certainly comes from a place of passion and artistic sincerity.
The fact that Moana 2 has already made more money than Dreamworks The Wild Robot (much better movie btw) is just criminal.
Disney is allergic to creativity
Why be creative when they can keep making bank off recycling the same ips over and over?
miss the old Disney
lin manuel miranda song haters unite 🤝 i was only able to watch encanto once too- it was with my family and every time a song started they would look over at me and laugh because i would be so visibly annoyed, lol. i feel like i’m in a mirror world with how much everyone else loves it, but i absolutely cannot stand the way he writes!!
Honestly, Disney should have re-released Cinderella 3: A Twist In Time to theaters instead of Moana 2. That movie was the DEFINITION of a Disney sequel, amazing storyline, gave Cinderella more agency, made her a girlboss who fought for her love and with so much wit in her soul. Heck, the Prince was given more space to breathe, a down to earth personality than the first movie and was done so well! Anastasia had the perfect arc, so that movie should be recognized! Imagine how it would do at the box office! Old but gold!
I will ask this question till my dying day: are the people complaining on social media about the lack of original IPs and risk-taking by studios *at all* reflective of the general movie-going population??? Is "we want better than this, Walter!" just a social media thing? Because these sequels & remakes are obvious cash grabs, but is all the data they're working off of telling them that people want/like all this nostalgia bait & general decline in quality? Surely *something* is telling them to keep churning them out as much as they are.
This is such a good point. It feels like there’s just a large portion of the general population that is more than ok with slop and those who aren’t are forced to online spaces to share our grievances 😭
I mean this sequel is already on track to be HUGELY successful. Frozen 2 made over a billion dollars. Nearly every Disney remake has been incredibly successful at the box office as well. Unfortunately, I would say it is just a social media thing, the average movie viewer doesn’t really mind a bland plot or unoriginal idea, especially when it comes to kids movies like Moana. The few times Disney has tried to be creative and churn out a new story recently has not done very well (Encanto being the exception) remember that movie that came out this year that allegedly was going to introduce a new Disney princess and had a really unique animation style? Yeah I can’t even remember the name as it unfortunately flopped.
There are a lot of people who go to the movies as a social activity, not because they're interested in the movie. It doesn't matter what movie is playing because they're not going to see a movie, they're going to spend time with someone. That's why slop movies do so well.
Moana has been used as a babysitting movie for years now. For a lot of little kids it became their comfort movie so of course they're excited to see the new one and parents are going to take them. Now be interesting to see if this also becomes a babysitting movie or if it's something they see once or twice and go back to the original. I noticed that Disney starred making a lot of these movies for the littlest of kids which really limits who's gonna watch it.
My friends are casual moviegoers. They do complain about the lack of original movies all the time, but when a good, original movie comes out, they don't watch it. Primarily because they have kids and not a lot of time to keep themselves informed about upcoming movies. They watch movies based on ads they see and friend recommendations.
What did people expect? They tried to piece together episodes from a show into a movie.
Marvel Humor is taking over 💀
I wanted Matangi to be an evil villain. The songs in the movie reminds me of Disney Junior shows. They remind me of Sofia the First. I liked the song 'Beyond'. I liked the movie. I had a problem with the pacing though.
Listen I'm not big into Lin Manuel Miranda and have never been, I did enjoy the music in the first Moana movie and I do like Encanto, but there's no denial I was gettin tired of his presence in Disney projects... However, after the musical messes and clunky awful lyrics in Wish and now Moana 2, I actually wish to apologize to him, like... "I wish we got someone other than Lin" *monkey paw curls a finger*
He did not work on wish and moana 2 what are you on?
@aravindrenmahenthiran6827 Reading Comprehension is your friend. I'm saying I appreciate Lin Manuel better after the Lin knock offs they're clearly trying to pull to awful results on those movies
@@emb3863 oh sorry my bad
is it just me or is pacing in general just affecting all kinds of media lately? There's no time to let things stew we HAVE to get the next beat or audiences will be bored? ugh thanks for saving me 2 hours of a nothing burger.
yeah it's like mr beast editing has wormed its way into everything else too. everything has to be action action action otherwise the audiences might have to think about the movie for more than 2 seconds
It feels like the lifespan of a tiktok microtrend
Girl no way I called it
Damn 😅
No wonder the pacing was super confusing. At some parts it felt that they just put some clips together and called it a day. The movie hella had pacing issues. Now knowing it was supposed to be a tv series, it’s making all sense.
thank you for your honest and eloquent review. as a polynesian girl who grew up loving disney princesses and always wished to see one who looked like me...i was so disappointed with the first film. growing up hearing sweeping, heart-wrenching ballads like part of your world and reflection and then getting lin manuel miranda's musical style, the difference was jarring and grating on my ears. every princess i loved growing up had her own interesting personality and a cute prince and moana got...ugly maui and the adorkable heroine trope. when i see disney is making a "new" film, i just sigh and keep scrolling atp.
Hmm. So you're asking for a "damsel in distress" movie during Disney's "independent, girl boss era". Yeah, in the 21st century, we won't see those types of Disney movies again. 😑
@@nikajo002 It doesn't need to be a damsel in distress. Just look at Princess and the Frog. Tiana was literally an independent entrepreneur and business woman. Even movies from the Disney Renaissance in the 90s had a "girl power" angle (e.g: Mulan, Belle, etc.)
In my opinion, the actual problem is what OP mentions about the "adorkable" princess trope, where virtually every female character has had the same personality since Tangled.
@@nikajo002i think i understand what you're trying to say, and agree that disney is too hyper focused on creating relatable "girl bosses" at the cost of good storytelling and fully fleshed out characters. personally i wish they'd take a leaf out of hayao miyazaki's book. he's great at writing interesting female characters that are strong but flawed, so they sometimes need help and sometimes that help is from their romantic interest. it doesn't make them a damsel, it just makes them human.
@@annabelle746yes, perfectly said!
You just being unfair at this point the first movie was amazing and calling maui ugly is gross and disgsuting just because he does not conform to what you think is attractive is not anyone's problem
Moana and Samaya seem like mom and daughter which is what made it weird for me. I did get some nostalgic moments and tears but overall the movie was just okay. The only song I liked was Moana’s Beyond
they should've made big hero six 2 but i would literally die if they ruined that film for me (even though they could easily just adapt the tv show's first season)
Good lord, some of these comments are annoying af and this isn't even my video. Anyway, I just want to say that I, and I know other people as well, always appreciate your videos and the thought you put into them. Even if I disagree with you over things sometimes (though not in this case because I really had no hope for this movie), I still appreciate your perspective.
Even though Moana isn't my favorite 2010s Disney movie, I can appreciate its importance to Polynesian culture and the care and love put into it. Which is why this sequel and the upcoming live action is nothing but disappointing for me. I really feel like they could have done something interesting with this story - the family voyage idea would have so cool and would have made us relate even more to the sister! - but instead they straight up just rehashed early 2000s direct to DVD sequels and it's aggravating. I'm just hoping they pull a Cinderella 3 and put a lot more effort and intention into the inevitable sequel, but I'm not holding my breath.
i didn’t care to see it but it never felt like a real sequel, just an excuse for one. still doesn’t feel like a real movie to me.
That one guy being a spirit to greet her and Maui maybe even giving up his Demi status for her would have been pretty cool
I wonder what this movie would've been like if Disney actually gave the production team an additional a year or a year and a half to developed the story and animation more instead of rushing the entire thing to theaters as they announced that it was going to be a movie 10 months before it's release which was a pretty bad sign
It was just kind of... there. Saw it with some friends as we're Māori so love any representation but at the end we were all like... oh! That was certainly a movie! And that's the sum of it - it's just kind of there. Unnecessary.
13:39 I’m sorry, what? Weird romantic undertones? Genuinely, what the hell are you talking about? I haven’t seen anyone mention their relationship in any way other than friendship. This is a frankly bizarre point that stood out to me in the video. I really want to know who watches either Moana film and takes away any form of romance.
A LOT of people on social media want Maui and Moana to get together. That's what she is referring to.
@@rosesal2473Its not that, if you’ve been around the internet shipping and people wanting to see two characters in a relationship is a common thing, just see Elsa and Anna. ModernGurlz was referring to the film itself, not the moana fandom and i did get some weird undertones from it, not necessarily romantic, but if you show this to someone who has no idea who these characters are, they would think they’re an item
@@Freezientno way have people been shipping Elsa and Anna 😭😭 that’s so crazyy it’s giving Alabama
@@starsneptunexx All i’m saying was that’s just fandom stuff in general. There’s none of those in the movie itself
Although shipper's brainrot is a thing, sometimes interactions can have a passion level (in the sense of enthusiasm and charged energy) or a level of closeness that raises an eyebrow even to people not immediately incline to slap two characters together romantically at the slightest sign of them getting along. Because there can be a very real point where people see certain levels of interpersonal dedication as perhaps accidentally coded.
Regarding what people see in media and interpret romantically, those who watched Klaus and then went, ahh they added a compulsory heterosexual breeding pair instead of following what we felt like we'd seen on screen actually ended up including total non-shippers like my boyfriend. If even he could say that if the main character was female then there would have been a romantic subplot, more people would have drawn the same conclusion.
It's way, way, way less of a thing in Moana vs Klaus, but I can see why the brainrot had sunk in easily in this particular fandom, even if it's entirely against my will in this case 😬
Underage girl and thousands of year old God is always an ick.
But without a drop of context, some would go 'huh they do look like there's something there' before doing their research and learning her age and hopefully finding the entire thing repugnant.
10:48 i’m so glad someone else feels this way. ppl act like hes so great but i actually find his involvement in anything is usually what ruins everything 😭
Ok, I’m so glad someone is saying this because none of my family agrees with me on my dislike of the movie.
I distinctly remember sitting in the movie theater being very content with how the movie was progressing and was waiting for the awesome fight between Moana, Maui, and the god they’d been mentioning throughout the whole movie. They had just reached the island when the other islanders show up and I was prepared for them to all team up and defeat this god…
And then it ended…
I audibly said “what?”
I turned to my family and was like “is that the end?”
I felt like so much yet so little had happened in the 90 minutes of the movie. I was disappointed. Justice for bat-lady. She carried
I truly believe *Encanto* was the Last Great Disney film from the modern era. Now it's going downhill and it's a biiiig problem when no one is that interested in seeing a **DISNEY** movie in theaters
I would've liked a Moana show on Disney+ purely because I really liked the first movie. I haven't seen this sequel yet-- I'm not sure if I even want too now. It just sucks because the world of Moana is really fun and colorful and has great potential for world building, but it went to waste. It makes me sad to see Disney lose its ability to tell stories.
Yes! All we could talk about after the movie was how much we wanted maui to stay human, it would have made for such an interesting arc next time, as he watches moana have the powers hes used to having and learns what it means to have a human family. And 100% all i coild think the whole time was "these three side characters are so annoying and unnecessary." The old guy was there to provide food and farm knowledge and they never used that at all!
coming from a polynesian perspective, i'm 50/50 on this movie. we get our representation and i love how even though most of the script sounds tokelauan, i can still hear a bit of sāmoan, māori, cook island and tahitian. I saw moana siva and i watched her do a niuean warcry. Maui did his fa'aumu and moni did the sasa. Seeing that in animation form really warmed my heart. However, I do agree that it was rushed and a little unnecessary. The music could have been a lot more better in terms of pasifika beats. I'm not sure why they added Lin Manuel Miranda to the mix of composers when you have amazing composers all over the islands. Opetaia is amazing and Te Vaka has always been a wonderful addition to the journey of Moana but if the entire movie is about bringing our people together, why didn't they reflect that in the making of the soundtrack as well? We have Josh Tatofi, Adeaze, Aaradhna, Nesian Mystik, Tone 6, and so much more that they could have intergrated into the soundtrack and so many opportunities to make it sound less cheesy and more REAL. This screams lazy to me. Also, i think Motufetu could be a reference to Havaiki (Also known as Avaiki, Savai'i or Havai'i in other pasifika languages) which is essentially the land where us as Pasifika people originate from. The pulling of the island reminds me of the story of when Maui pulled The North Island of Aotearoa, which is called Te Ika A Maui. So many references yet the storyline still kinda sucked. I also agree that it would have been much better if it was a family trip instead of adding in ghe new characters but I do love the Iconic sound of David Fane's voice (Mac in Bro Town and plays Paul in Sione's Wedding) in this movie as it fits in perfectly with the polynesian dynamic.
I also think Nalo's character was a lousy personification for global warming and climate change issues. It all comes back to our pacific islands, which are struggling the most because of these issues, even though they contribute the least to it. Initially, Nalo was the evil god that sunk motufetu and that reflects in real life because Global warming is currently sinking our Tuvalu Islands and Micronesian Islands are also struggling to keep up with countless cyclones and hurricanes as well. I feel like they could have made Nalo a lot more better as a character. obviously, nalo is still a bad person but his character was lacking depth, which made the whole thing lousy for me. I'm interested to see what would have happened if they spent little bit more time researching and tweaking the storyline. But as a cook islander at heart, I still cherish the movie and appreciate the integration of pacific culture into our arts.
not sure if anyone will agree but after watching wicked, the music numbers in moana 2 feel EXTRA lackluster
I kinda liked it. Sure it’s not great and it could use some rewrites. For example I hate when movies do that thing when they’re like ”hey let’s play around with the idea of permanent consequences but not really” which happened twice in a short span (Moana’s death and Maui’s tattoos being stripped). The crew was like funny at times but they felt unnecessary most of the time and they could’ve done more with Matangi.
But the animation was gorgeous, the main story was kinda cute and ”Beyond” & ”Get lost” are BOPS and I didn’t love the rest of the songs but I didn’t dislike any of them either (unlike ”shiny” and ”you’re welcome” in the first one).
And I absolutely ADORE Simea. She’s just the absolute cutest 🥰. So yeah, it was nowhere near as good as the first one but it was all together kinda cute.
YESSS !! was waiting for your review !!
Moana is one of my favorite movies just because of the visuals and my love for Polynesia, but honestly nothing can make me watch this sequel
Just watched it today! I didn't even know it was supposed to be a series but now that i do a LOT of things in the movie make sense. The film was beautifully animated but i fear that's where the pros more or less stop:/ pretty hard to believe today that the same studio made some of my fav movies like treasure planet, atlantis and 101 dalmatians. Very disappointing:(
This turned into a bit of a rant so apologies from now.
Things just kept happening and being told to the audience. Like you said, they had too many new characters and to keep up with everything and everyone was tiring. The animation was annoyingly repetitive along with the desperate callbacks to EVERY SINGLE THING from the first movie. Almost nothing felt deserved and when it was, there was no weight to it or an inappropriate reaction e.g Maui's shark head gag.
I have been staying away from trailers of films for years so all I had known about Moana 2 was the poster and the same thumbnail of Nalo's henchwoman. I predicted her 'arch' before the movie and, surprise surprise, I was right. When Nalo never showed himself for the whole movie, I sensed that there was going to be a Moana 3 and then the end credits scene just rubbed it in my face😂. When I saw him, I thought,"Cartoon Thanos?"
I didn't dislike all the songs but it sounded a lot like Wish so I was surprised Julia Michaels wasn't there again. I didn't know about about the series aspect. Disney could have done minisodes like they did for Mater/Mator from Cars, Tinkerbell, every recent cartoon, etc. I can definitely see one with the Moannabes.
All in all, I agree with what you've said.
I'm concerned people will think that this is how all Polynesian people are like...
Oh my dayss same. I remember a Māori tourist guide talked about the importance of our culture, and one American tourist was like “oH LikE tHe MoVie MoAna???” and we were all staring at her like “😐”
@@starsneptunexx lmao I can believe that. Like yeah we're pretty chill at the core, but throughout the Islands its different!
I was so upset that this Indigenous based story didn't get the amount of love put into its writing as the first. The first Moana made me so proud of the fact I was Indigenous, however this one felt like a slap to the face.
Moana 2 made money? the hell? I dont think I know a single person that watched it.
Nice to know the main characters Moana and Maui are still okay. As much as I didn’t want this sequel to exist, it expanded some lore. Also so I wasn’t the only one getting some weird undertones from Moana and Maui right? It also doesn’t help that Moana is 19 in the sequel Lol i also highly doubt they’re going to give either or both of them any love interest, the original Maui had partners, so maybe it’s possible we might see some of his exes in future adaptations, but I doubt we’ll see them giving Maui new love interest. They are very much like a platonic version of Flynn and Rapunzel or a human version of Nick and Judy, which I also hope they do not pair them up in the sequel, I know they talked about the possibility, but i rather they stay friends.
Also I didn’t think the tweeting joke was that bad, sure it aged poorly, but nothing lasts forever and I can see it as an old timey “send message with your birds” type thing, it works.
I’ve been trying to watch others reviews on Moana but really wasn’t paying attention but I’ll watch yours lol
It feels like all the jokes were just repeated from the the first movie
If I had a nickel for every movie I've seen that had a very fitting open-ended conclusion and then an unnecessary sequel and/or remake? (How did Moana get both at the same time? Wtf)
I'd be able to buy like, half a happy meal I think.
I don't know what is going on with Disney, but I know they got the money and rescores to think of creative ways to make TV shows. I would've loved a Moana TV show, and I believe that others would've loved it too. I feel like we have not had a show that stemmed from a film in a really long time, for example Tangled. It feels like Disney is missing a lot of opportunities just to earn some money.
wanted to say, your videos bring me lots of laughs and joy! thx ❤
I like the first Moana. Not sure if I love the story line, but for me there are so many positives (it’s beautiful, I like most of the songs, i like dwayne johnson) that overall i like it and have seen it couple of times. Not sure though if I dare to watch the sequel. 🧐
i’ll be honest… i didn’t even know this came out 😂
the woman who wrote a lot of the music is from my hometown, and that is NOT a good thing
Moana should have a tv serie instead of a sequel. Remember 2 years ago, when disney annouced the return of 2d.
Disney needs new good original stories and 2d again.
imagine my dismay when im bolting back into the theater bc i realized i was about to miss them FINALLY reveal the villain… just for me to get back in there and lay my eye on ….. essentially my father😭😭😭😮 i literally had to call my dad to tell him how much he just looked like him on a normal day i was in laughing so hard
When you grew up with moana, then feel let down after watching the sequel😢
Saw it early in the morning on a weekend and fell asleep, I wasn’t into it. Maybe I’ll watch it again but honestly I was pretty annoyed with the characters, it was like secondhand embarrassment for some reason, I guess they felt so cliche it was painful. They felt surface level and stereotypical
Thats too bad you didn't like the music
Good music can save any Disney movie
I haven’t watched this movie yet, but this honestly makes me glad Tangled never got a sequel but rather a tv show. And the animation was actually inspired by the paintings in the movie. I don’t care that a show doesn’t make as much money as a movie, the show was such a perfect continuation of the original movie while adding new characters and arcs to explore the world of Tangled. A sequel just has the potential to either be disappointing or completely missing the point of the first movie’s ending or what made people enjoy the first movie. Ironically I’m one of the few people who prefers Frozen 2 over its predecessor, but that doesn’t change it made the world building more confusing and felt kinda aimless at times. It was all about “why Elsa had magic” BUT it never answered why Anna didn’t or how the spirits actually worked (like the water spirit legitimately trying to kill Elsa for no reason) and I found the whole Agnar’s father as the real villain kinda forced. Yeah, the bad guy is already dead, never mind. And even the ending felt a bit off with Elsa choosing to leave Arendelle as a guardian spirit while Anna became queen.
I would not say it was bad but I will not say it is good,
Also Disney
Make a new idea for the love of God!
To be honest, i actually really liked moana 2, but i felt like it wasn’t as intense as the first movie like i couldn’t figure out what the climax was 😭 songs were okay but i do think they’re overhated 🤷♀️
u bringing up death was great considering how pivotal moanas grandmothers death was to the first movie
This is basically a just a hugh budget Disney DTV sequel.
it took a second watch for the first movie to grow on me because so much of the plot was just moana and maui arguing in the middle of the ocean together so i wasn't quite sure what they could do to entertain me this time around
After watching Moana 1, I can confidently say that Maui is SO MUCH MORE than just "Dwayne Johnson's" character. The movie does a great job of showing just how important his magical hook is to him. I mean, there's a scene where his hook is almost broken and he literally says, "WITHOUT MY HOOK, I AM NOTHING!" But then in the final battle, he ends up sacrificing his hook to stop the lava monster and save Moana. Despite his cocky attitude, Maui turns out to be a character who just wants to regain his demigod status, but ultimately he's willing to give up everything for his newfound friend.
I REALLY wish they moved this to 2025 or 2026, giving more time to elevate it to better quality (and maybe allow Lin time to clea his schedule and Disney enough time to ask John and Ron back).
Never been this early ever. Only one other person viewed it!
since arcane is over do u plan on doing a review of that show now?
Thanks for this. Wasn't going to watch it anyway.
Wouldn’t it be better if Disney made TV shows instead of sequel after sequel?
I am also in the minority of not being a big fan of the first Moana. I was sooo looking forward to the first one years ago. So I had very little expectations for the sequel. Thank you for your review!
Off topic but your voice is soooooooooo relaxing 💖💖💖
I mean, yeah sure the legacy sequels do make a lot of money, at first, but they have absolutely no longevity compared to their predecessors which will hurt each one of these series in the long run. Also, Disney is eventually going to run out of properties to make legacy sequels/nostalgia remakes for after which they’ll have no choice but to start making original stuff or risk going the way of the dodo.
They’re already resorted to mining their last great run a.k.a. the 2000s/early 2010s what are they supposed to rely on for big money after that nostalgia well dries up?
something else to note about the bts process, is that because of the insane rush to get this film out, and turn it into a movie from a tv show, they didn't use their normal animation studio, instead getting the Vancouver studio to animate. The reason they did this was because they are a non-union team (they can't voice opinions on work hours). Which means they were probably over-worked and underpaid which did not pay off, seeing as how it shows in the final product, but I totally understand why. Seeing as how successful this film is, and their other projects which featured over-worked creatives, it's certainly worrying for the future of their workers.
After the first Moana came out it was my favorite movie for quite a long time, fastforward to the second Moana coming out i didnt even feel like watching it after hearing the whole problem with it going from show to movie.
studios can’t just strike gold and have a good standalone anymore and it makes me rip my hair out
Moana by itself was the perfect movie, amazing multicultural Polynesian representation, the great and meaningful songs and plot, well developed characters. But ofc Disney is never satisfied with leaving a good thing alone.
Im sure that I'm in the minority here...but honestly? I'm _glad_ that they didn't have Simea stow away. For me this was one of the things Disney actually got _right_ in this "movie". The annoying little sibling secretly tagging along who NEVER listens, ALWAYS finds themselves in a situation and who you are now responsible for protecting is one of the most _overdone_ and _clichéd_ tropes shown in media. ... and not just television and film, but in literature as well. I'm a HUGE bookworm and I legit _roll my eyes_ and _groan_ everytime something like that happens. At least for me, them keeping Simea limited to small doses made her more tolerable, kept her lovable and adorable and insured that we didn't get sick of her as a character.
That short you made in February, boy were you right. Disney is officially doomed.
The fact that this movie seems to be making bank is honestly so disappointing, and honestly frightening. Because not only is it meh, but also the production of this movie just screws over the animators. Like we all know this was supposed to be a Disney+ series, and so it was animated in a different studio. But ofc after the recent flops Disney needed the money, so they transferred production in order to fit the look for theater release. And ofc the original animators weren't paid as much, so the cost was pretty cheap. All's this to say, since the movie is doing well it's definitely going to give Disney ideas, ideas that'll screw over animators.
Do you think this will be better than future Disney sequels like zootopia 2 or frozen 3
honestly the frozen 2 story was absolutely mid. They’re probably gonna mess up frozen 3
Been waiting on this video and I feel so seen by you also not liking the first one, though I don't jive with it personally because it just felt so generic. It felt like we've been doing this whole Disney Princess movie thing for so long we've got all the tropes we gotta hit and none of them landed with me. I felt a lot more excited to see Moana as a TV series and the demigod thing sounds like a banger idea honestly. Too bad now we'll have to endure Moana 3 in 2030 😩😒
Moana's family joining her on the voyage would have been fantastic to see.
I loved the animation, the little sister, the cultural focus, and that it’s implied that Moana is a Goddess not a Princess. But yes not great music and not great villains and not a very original story
I actually wanted to know more about that cocomora crew
Do a ranking of animated versions of alice of wonderland
I disagree
I disagree. I enjoyed this movie. Sure, it wasn’t great, but it was enjoyable enough. I think most of your points are good. This really shouldn’t have been a movie and should’ve been a show instead, and would have been okay as one. Moana 2 didn’t have great music, the only song I really enjoyed was Get Lost. But I think you’re too harsh on it. It’s an okay time, but idk maybe it was because I was with my friend and she was being goofy. 🙃
A lot of the criticisms on this channel are definitely a little harsh but warranted. I respect them even if I don’t fully agree, like Lin-Manuel Miranda I think has written pretty great songs for Disney, minus that one scuttle song for The Little Mermaid
@@warriorKatsK that one is straight up demonic 🐺🐺
i mean you can enjoy the movie but giving disney, one of the richest megacorporations in the world, the benefit of the doubt because you had fun is just incomprehensible to me. they spent $150 million on this movie but they couldn't be bothered to rework their original moana show idea to suit a feature film runtime. disney used to make movies that were great, not just okay
@ yes, and they should go back to that. My point was that they were too harsh, not that I think the movie is a great movie.
You can always tell when something was made just to sell tickets, and when something was made out of passion and funded so it could sell tickets.
I hope Disney doesn’t look at Moana 2 massive success & that convinces them to focus on just making rushed sequels over making new originals!
again if it works keep doing it. do you not know sequels are done because it makes money and money is the only thing which matter to disney