Moana 2

Warning : Some plunderer for Moana 2.Moana 2found its way to boastful - screen boxful - office success after a wandering journey that began with its initial design as a TV serial . The movie film place a few years after the events ofMoana , and sees its titular protagonist senior , more fledged , and on a quest to find and unite people from across the sea . Auli’I Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson return to their several function as Moana and the demigod Maui in the subsequence and are joined by a cast full of new and returning participant .

Another key riposte contributor fromMoanais composer Mark Mancina , who once again created a score productive in grain and excited depth . Mancina is a composer with a survey full of Graeco-Roman movie likeTwister , Speed , andTarzan , who also co - indite the call ofMufasa : The Lion Kingwith Lin - Manuel Miranda . ForMoana 2 , Mancina aimed to one - up his body of work on the first movie to oppose the more adult take on Moana herself .

While for the most part off - silver screen , Moana 2 feature the overarching antagonist Nalo , a god of storms and lightning seeking great power over the People of the Ocean .

Moana 2 (2024) official poster

ScreenRantspoke with Mark Mancina about his work on the score and birdcall ofMoana 2 . Mancina talk about his collaboration with composer Opetaia Foa’i and songwriters Emily Bear and Abigail Barlow . The composer even in brief talk about puzzle out with Lin - Manuel Miranda on the songs ofMufasa : The Lion Kingand shared his hopes for theMoanalive - natural action remaking .

Mark Mancina Talks Moana 2’s Transition From A TV Show To A Feature Film

“They Rewrote The Entire Thing”

ScreenRant : I know this started as a TV show and found its way to shoot . I ’m curious how involved you were when it was a television show , and if you had to convert a plenty as this project change .

Mark Mancina : As a matter of fact , yes , we did . In fact , some of the music that we drop a line for the TV serial , which was think for dissimilar kinds of thing , morph into the movie . It was n’t like they just take the tv set series narrative and made it into a picture show . They rewrote the integral thing .

Of the song that we did early on , the only one that survived was “ We ’re Back ” , the first song . We did two or three other birdsong , one called “ Goat ” and one called “ Two Pieces of Me ” , and they were really in force , but they did n’t accommodate the plot line anymore . Even though we really almost finished them , they were n’t in . They ’ll probably free them on something at some point .

Moana 2 Composer Mark Mancina Talks One-Upping The Music Of The First Movie

Was it a totally different story ? Was it still her proceed to Motufetū and seek to get in touch mass ?

Mark Mancina : It had that in it , but not for those reason . Because it was a 10 - part serial , or whatever it was , they had so much time to expend on fictitious character and fun or whatever . They did n’t really have to get to the main part of the fib , which I do n’t really think they had anyway . We did n’t even have episode . We only saw one or two and they cut , I think , number three together , but it was very rough .

When they decide to make it into a motion-picture show , a twelvemonth ago , I consider in two or three weeks we would have a handwriting and then we would start working . We did n’t get the picture show until May . We only had five calendar month to do it . It was really a mingy agenda .

Maui using his powers with a purple twister cloud in the background in Moana 2

Image via Disney

Mancina Discusses Evolving The Music Of Moana 2

The Composer Wanted To “Make It More Sophisticated”

In term of pick up from the first movie , Moana herself is older , she ’s follow into her own , and years have top . How much did that factor into how you wanted this mark to sound as opposed to the first movie ’s score ?

Mark Mancina : A lot . My main emphasis on the music was to make it more grown - up and more polished because she ’s more fledged . you’re able to tell . [ With ] the musical score , now that we had done one Moana and really roll in the hay what that was — what the element are , what the compounding of instrument is — I was like , “ Let ’s take it further , and lease ’s make it more grow up . Let ’s make it more sophisticated . Let ’s make it sound a lot skillful . ”

What was the matter that , to you , made it sound more grown - up ? Was it in footing of instrumentation ?

Moana looking at a broken pot in Moana 2

Image via Disney

Mark Mancina : Yeah . I think the orchestration is better . It ’s not quite as light or busy . It ’s much strong and more broad . The theme are different , and I think they ’re more grown - up . Because we had “ How Far I ’ll Go ” on the first movie , and that was kind of her theme , I used it within the score . In this movie , I did use some of the themes from the songs , but Motufetū has its own theme . In fact , on the soundtrack , we do a suite of the paper to Motufetū . It ’s not really from a specific view — it ’s a group of stuff that I put together to record it as a freestanding piece of medicine .

What was your coaction with Opetaia Foa’i like ? This sexual conquest felt like it incorporated more of the Pacific Islander chemical element more frequently .

Mark Mancina : I think it does . I think the thing is , on the first flick , we really did n’t lie with what we were doing as far as , “ What is Moana , and what is the music suppose to be ? ” We had Lin - Manuel Miranda , who ’s a ballad maker and a theater person , and then we had Opetaia , who ’s a Pacific Islander , and then me , and my backdrop is more European music than anything else . It was really a weird commixture , and it worked .

Moana and her little sister, Simea, in Moana 2.

From that movie , I was able-bodied to go , “ Okay , here ’s what ’s in the toolbox . Let ’s meliorate those tools . get ’s check more about those creature . Let ’s expend Opetaia when I know we need that ingredient that he add together . ” It was kind of like a football game team , and I ’m the signal caller , and I kind of know my cat well . I love who to throw to , I know who to transcend to , and I recognise who to hand off to , so it was a small bit more sophisticated of a direction to work on it .

In terms of instrumentation , were there thing that you purposefully run on more hard with this movie than the first ?

Mark Mancina : Marlon Espino , who is a composer who works in my studio apartment , had a Pacific Island drum outfit made , and we have that downstairs all mic’d up . If we wanted to do something , Marlon could lam down the stairs — he see patterns and everything — and he could play it . In the last work , it was Marlon , Matatia , who is Opetaia ’s boy , and some drummers in LA , and we combined everybody for the giving clue — the big action stuff . We created this really cool percussion section section that was n’t just Pacific Island . It was a mixture .

Actress Awhimai Fraser as Matangi in Moana 2.

We do a lot of the guitar oeuvre , the ukulele , and a lot of the high - stringed instrumental role at my studio apartment , and then we do the orchestra down at Warner Brothers in Los Angeles . Then , Opetaia did all the vocal consort stuff down in his studio in Australia , so it ’s really a fun layering type of matter . I have to put a lot of placeholder in my demo , and then as we start to do more and more , we replace the placeholder with the real thing , and it just gets good and better .

Mancina Compares His Collaborations With Lin-Manuel Miranda & Moana 2’s Songwriters

On Moana 2, “I Really Felt Like We Did Something Really God”

What was it like working with your songwriter , Emily Bear and Abigail Barlow , on this flick as opposed to Lin - Manuel Miranda ? How unlike was that collaboration ?

Mark Mancina : Emily is a really good keyboard player . Lin ’s demonstration are very , very , very simple , which makes it great . His Sung dynasty are elementary , his demo are simpler , and they ’re more receptive for me , whereas Emily does a circumstances of stuff and nonsense in her demo . In that regard , it was a piddling routine tricky . [ Emily and Abigail ] use a lot more chord changes , and they do a lot of transition . They ’re more complex when they indite , which made the Pacific Island part of it a little hard because the Pacific Island euphony is really elementary . In that regard , it was a piffling slick , but the fille are really gifted , and they ’re not full of themselves at all . They ’re young and they ’re eager , and they had respect for my workplace , so we nonplus along great . It was super fun .

I have a blast with Lin . I just did Mufasa with him . He and I have a great working relationship , so that ’s already kind of build . [ Moana 2 ] was new for me and unexampled for the missy , and I think we worked out everything smashing . We gravel along great , and I really felt close to them . I really experience like we did something really near .

Maui stands with a bladed weapon in front of a purple orb in Moana 2

How much workplace endure into making the songs and the grudge strait cohesive ? That sounds like it must have been a challenge .

Mark Mancina : Yes , but that ’s always been my thing , since 1992 . My first work , on The Lion King , was that idea . I did some score piece of work on that first Lion King movie , and it was to keep everything sound like it was coming from the same focussing . I really underline that on Tarzan . On Tarzan , Phil Collins played drum on my score and played drums on the songs . I play bass and guitars on his vocal , and I played on the score , so it kind of all sounded like one direction . When we did Moana , I want to do the same thing with Lin ’s songs and with Opetaia . I wanted it to all sound like one concept . I do n’t like musicals where , when the song get going , it sound like it ’s a whole different band or a different somebody . I like it to all feel like it ’s issue forth from one place .

That was a small bit more challenging on this one , but because we have all those elements , we just keep all those elements . [ We ] verify that the joint drumfish and all the things that we use are on everything . They have to be on the song . Opetaia ’s vocals need to be on the Song . All those elements take to be crossbreed the borders so that everything sound similar .

Moana with her ancestor Tautai Vasa as a whale in Moana 2.

The only song that stands out … in the first moving picture when Lin and I did “ Shiny ” , that was very , very kinky and kind of , “ Whoa , where ’d that get along from ? ” That ’s kind of what we did with “ Get Lost ” in this picture show , where it ’s kind of like , “ Wait a minute , this is like an R&B vocal . ” But it ’s kind of fun .

Mancina Shares His Experience Working With Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

“He’s Amazing”

Were you involved at all with the actors as they tracked vocals ?

Mark Mancina : Sometimes and sometimes not . commonly the theatre director is very involved , or the manufacturer , who , in this case , was Jared Bush . He was very involved in the access that the singers were taking . On these exalt movies , the directors have a vision , and they ’re ahead of you because they know kind of where it ’s going . I was n’t sometimes certain what they were go for because I did n’t live what the story was , because the story developed as we went . It ’s very slick .

I was curious how The Rock is in the outspoken cubicle .

Mufasa cuddling with his parents in Mufasa The Lion King

Mark Mancina : He ’s amazing . He ’s enceinte . He ’s very private about it . He does n’t consider himself a singer , but the matter about him is he ’s such a great actor . He just takes the acting and go into the singing , and that ’s what he does .

The enthusiasm come through , so I was listening to his belt , like , “ I wonder what that was like to record ? ”

Mark Mancina : Well , he had to practice it a lot . And that ’s how he is in person , too . He ’s just a cheerleader sort of guy . He ’s just up . That same way that you feel when you see his acting — that ’s just him .

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson next to his character Maui in Moana

“There Was A Lot Of Scrutiny” On Moana 2, Says Mancina

The Composer Felt There Was A Lot Of Pressure On The Sequel

Was there a specific sequence from this that matte like the biggest acquirement , in the sense that it took the most back and onward with the directors or felt like a challenge ?

Mark Mancina : All of it . There was a lot of scrutiny on this movie . I think there was so much press . Disney had done such a turkey with Wish . It was such a low point for them . There was so much [ of an ] , “ It ’s got to be great , ” opinion coming from Disney that it made it unmanageable .

But that being said , for me , I believe a couple of station [ digest out ] . One was Maui pulling up the island . That music is intense , and it goes all over the place . We actually had a set more vocal in it that they took out , and I think the vocals we had were really strong . They were worry that it might be a little too scary , but I ’m like , “ Are you kidding ? Kids see poppycock way more scary than this nowadays . ” But I ’m really proud of that . That turned out really god .

Headshot Of Auli’i Cravalho In The 33rd Annual EMA Awards Gala

Marlon did a lot of work on the underwater sequence towards the destruction , and I think that was really substantial too — very textural and very interesting and atmospherical . Then , I just bang all the guitar . I love all the weird high - string guitars we did . We did most of them in my studio , they ’ve got a really unequalled audio to them , and I wish them a spate .

“I Think They’re Really Good”: Mancina Teases The Songs Of Mufasa: The Lion King

The Composer Reunited With Lin-Manuel Miranda On The Prequel

You ’re working with Lin - Manuel again onMufasa : The Lion King . As someone who ’s been a part ofThe Lion King ’s journey for so long ( note : Mancina also worked on the medicine of the Broadway musical ) , how do you feel like the euphony in this is going to hold up to people who sleep with the stage show and the original movie ?

Mark Mancina : First of all , I have n’t look the [ last snub of the ] picture show . When I did the Sung , it was , gosh , a year ago or so . I have nothing to do with the score , but I do have it away the songs . I did those with Lin , and I think the song are great . I really call back the songs are strong . Is there a “ Circle of Life ” ? No , but there are really honorable , really catchy songs , so I ’ve got high hopes for them . I think people are going to really care them .

I think a lot of the critic that thought Lin was missing on Moana this meter … I remember it would have been really eldritch for Lin to do Moana 2 and then Mufasa . That would ’ve been really oversaturated . So , I think his songs are run short to be really welcome in Mufasa . I believe people are going to really like them . I like them a lot . I suppose they ’re really good .

Headshot Of Dwayne Johnson In The Red Notice Premiere

Mancina Is Working On The Moana Live-Action Remake

“I Think It Could Be Really Great”

The firstMoanais getting the live - action intervention . Do you have hopes for that in terms of music or how the overall project is going to go ?

Mark Mancina : I ’m sign to do it , so I am doing it . The only thing that we ’ve done so far is delivered basic track for the strain so that they can film . Generally , I opine it ’s going to be like to the animize film , but [ with ] the music , again , I ’m hoping that I ’ll make it more advanced . I ’d wish to update it to make it more my own .

Of course , Opetaia now really has his vocal thing and the choral thing really dial in , and the theater director that ’s doing this is the guy that did Hamilton with Lin , and so it could be a really great team . Dwayne is the producer , so I think it could be really great . I have high hopes for it . I ’m looking ahead to doing it .

Movies

[ Can you ] tell me if there are new song ?

Mark Mancina : I do n’t know . broadly speaking , it ’s the same songs , but are there kick the bucket to be new song ? I would recall , but I do n’t live . We have n’t write anything , but who knows ?

About Moana 2

Walt Disney Animation Studios ’ epic animated musical “ Moana 2 ” reunites Moana ( voice of Auli‘i Cravalho ) and Maui ( voice of Dwayne Johnson ) three year later for an expansive raw voyage alongside a crew of unconvincing seafarers . After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors , Moana must travel to the far sea of Oceania and into serious , long - mislay waters for an dangerous undertaking unlike anything she ’s ever face .

Check out our otherMoana 2interviews here :

Moana 2is in theaters now , and theMoana 2soundtrack is pour on digital platforms .

Moana 2

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Cast

Moana 2 is the sequel to the 2016 alive film Moana . Directed by David G. Derrick Jr. , Jason Hand , and Dana Ledoux Miller , the motion picture carry on the journey of Moana as she embarks on new adventures , explore the immense Pacific Ocean while encountering new characters and challenge along the mode .