In ancient Oceania in the South Pacific, the young Moana is a born navigator who sets sail in search of a fabled island. During her journey, she teams up with her hero and legendary demi-god Maui.
Get ready for me to sound like a grumpy old man here, as I talk about this teaser for Disney’s next movie Moana. First, though, I’d like to acknowledge that Disney doing a movie set in the South Pacific, and the script from Taika Waititi sounds promising. But damn, talk about formulaic! While the teaser starts strong, the second they cut to the title character, I notice that she had the nouveau Disney Animation Studios brand protagonist look. Big eyes, slightly turned up nose…and she has a comedic animal sidekick! I guess I feel like Disney could really have done something more creative than their usual stock elements, especially since Zootopia broke the mold in a lot of ways. The stuff with Maui looks fantastic, however, and like nothing we’ve ever really seen from Disney before. That bit where he turns into a bird? So cool.
Moana comes out november 23, 2016.