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Moana 2 celebrates Pan Pacific, Pan Polynesian culture

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Film expected to earn $145 million over Thanksgiving

weekend

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New music by Grammy-winning duo Barlow and Bear

By Danielle Broadway

KAPOLEI, Hawaii, Nov 26 (Reuters) - For Auli'i Cravalho,

returning for the Walt Disney ( DIS ) sequel film 'Moana 2" was

a Hawaiian homecoming for both herself as an actor and for her

character.

"Moana's journey will take her very far, but also that

growth means coming back home and experiencing that with your

community," the Hawaiian native told Reuters.

"Speaking of community, the connection of all of the people

across the Pacific, this feels like a celebration of Pan

Pacific, Pan Polynesian culture," she added.

For the cast and creators of "Moana 2," the project was not

just professional, it was personal.

"It feels so incredible that my growth as a human seems to

be juxtaposed with hers (Moana's)," Cravalho said.

"Moana 2," directed by David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and

Dana Ledoux Miller, opens on Wednesday.

Nielsen's movie-research arm, National Research Group,

predicts "Moana 2" will bring in $145 million over the five-day

Thanksgiving weekend.

The film follows wayfinder Moana, who receives a sudden call

from her wayfinding ancestors to travel the seas and break the

curse of god Nalo, which prevents the people of various islands

from reconnecting.

She forms her own crew, which reunites her with demigod

Maui, played by Dwayne Johnson.

The music for the first "Moana" was written by "Encanto"

songwriter Lin Manuel Miranda, while the sequel introduces the

songwriting duo Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear.

The duo, which rose to prominence on TikTok, won the Grammy

Award for Best Musical Theater Album in 2022 for "The Unofficial

Bridgerton Musical," attracting a lawsuit from Netflix. It also

created an opportunity to take over the songs for the sequel.

While they wanted to "pay homage to the beautiful world" of

the first "Moana" with the music, they also aimed to add their

own "flair to it."

Part of the flair for the entire film was figuring out how

to add even more Pacific Islander culture within all aspects of

the sequel, which was key for the director trio.

"I think it's so special that we get to celebrate the

Pacific in these films, and that we get to have a heroine who is

just so compelling and empathetic and awesome and weird and

goofy," said Ledoux Miller.

"I think we can see a little bit of ourselves in her," the

Samoan director added, noting that many Pacific Islander

communities have the same values of family and togetherness that

Moana does.

For the directors, it was about going on a "new adventure

with old friends" and striking a balance between familiarity and

something brand new.

The film is highly anticipated after Disney's ( DIS ) other 2024

animated sequel "Inside Out 2" crossed the $1 billion mark at

the worldwide box office in less than three weeks of release,

reaching that level in the fastest time of any animated film in

history.

The first "Moana" found box office success as well, topping

2016 box office numbers by earning $81.1 million over the

five-day Thanksgiving holiday period and $55.5 million for the

weekend.