The New Moana Trailer Finally Tells Us the Story of Its Hero

Jill Pantozzi | September 16th, 2016

Looks like Auli’i Cravalho and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson are going on quite the epic outing in Moana. Disney has released the first full trailer for their film featuring their first Polynesian princess.

We knew we were in for an adventure, we knew there was more to Moana than meets the eye, but most of what we’ve seen so far hasn’t really told us the actual story we can look forward to in Disney’s latest animated feature.

Three thousand years ago, the greatest sailors in the world voyaged across the vast Pacific, discovering the many islands of Oceania. But then, for a millennium, their voyages stopped – and no one knows why.

From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes “Moana,” a sweeping, CG-animated feature film about an adventurous teenager who sails out on a daring mission to save her people. During her journey, Moana (voice of Auli’i Cravalho) meets the once-mighty demigod Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson), who guides her in her quest to become a master wayfinder. Together, they sail across the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous monsters and impossible odds, and along the way, Moana fulfills the ancient quest of her ancestors and discovers the one thing she’s always sought: her own identity. Directed by the renowned filmmaking team of Ron Clements and John Musker (“The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin,” “The Princess & the Frog”) and produced by Osnat Shurer (“Lifted,” “One Man Band”), “Moana” sails into U.S. theaters on Nov. 23, 2016.

Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi also did some work on this film and loved that Disney was delving into Pacific Island culture. Lin-Manuel Miranda has worked on the music and has been having a blast promoting the work. I’m incredibly excited for this one. How about you?