As the Moana franchise returns to the big screen with Moana 2, the film’s female-led storytelling continues to thrive. Going beyond the titular character voiced by Auli‘i Cravalho, the movie welcomes New Zealand-based actor Awhimai Fraser as a new mysterious villain, Matangi.
Fraser has previously starred in Frozen Reo Māori, Encanto Reo Māori, which are versions of the Disney films in the Indigenous language of Aotearoa New Zealand. Clearly no stranger to both voicing modern Disney princesses and singing on the stage and screen, this new role was simply made for Fraser, who equally loves her character as she does the journey of Moana herself.
“Moana is strong, she’s a mana wāhine. She’s also about whanau (family) and for us as a people in Aotearoa New Zealand, that’s the life essence of who we are and why we do what we do,” Fraser tells Missing Perspectives during the Moana 2 press tour in Sydney.
“I remember hearing her music in the first movie and I was so taken aback and I just listened to it over and over again. I also see there’s vulnerability. I like seeing that she’s still very human. She’s still trying to figure out life. I think in this movie particularly, it’s pretty empowering to see her stand and brace her pūkenga, her skills, and journey the seas.
“There’s a lot to love,” she adds. “I really love that Disney have still kept the essence in her where she still needs Pua and Heihei and her Mama and her Papa and her beautiful little sister, who stole the show.”
In this second Moana film, Moana is reunited with Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) three years later for a new voyage alongside a new crew of beloved seafarers. Of course it doesn’t come without its challenges, but Moana is determined to fulfil her family’s duties. After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, she ventures out to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters. Of course, the beautiful and catchy music plays a strong role in the movie once again, and it’s uplifting to see a female team leading the compositions this time around.
Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, known professionally as the Barlow and Bear duo, are the first female songwriting duo and the youngest to compose for a Disney feature film.
“It means everything,” Barlow tells Missing Perspectives of making history in this way. “We have become so close through this whole process, and our partnership is very sacred.
“I hope that one or two little girls sees us and what we’re doing right now, and it inspires them to pursue a dream that maybe they didn’t even think was possible. I think if we do that, then we’ve done our jobs.”
The pair’s first collaboration, The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical Album, led to them winning the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album. Bear notes that it’s not lost on her how important it is that she and Barlow are breaking the mould with Moana 2. For so long they’ve struggled to find other female roles in the music biz to look up to.
“We were talking to someone earlier today. They were asking us who our influences were on this project, and we started listing off everyone, and there was not one woman in the list,” she says. “And we just realised that, which is kind of crazy!”
Barlow and Bear note they also strived to be culturally sensitive given the Moana franchise is inspired by Polynesian mythology.
“On our first day we had like a gigantic binder [provided] full of research on the Pacific Islands and the Pacific Islander music,” says Bear.
She adds that New Zealand composer Opetaia Foa’i – who also wrote songs in the first Moana, including some in his Tokelauan language – as well as American composer Mark Mancina, were instrumental in helping them develop the music.
“Also we had Opetaia and Mark, especially Opetaia and his family who were were such a cornerstone of creating the world that we know and love from Moana, the first one. So to have them help guide us on this journey as well was everything we could ask for.
“But also, they created a huge library of sounds and samples of Indigenous instruments from the first movie that we were able to kind of get and use as inspiration. And we also listened a lot.”
“The Oceania Cultural Trust was a great resource,” adds Barlow. “We got to speak to real-life Wayfinders. It was an endless amount of information and resources that they gave us, which was so invaluable.”
With the likes of Temuera Morrison (Chief Tui) and David Fane (Kele) rounding out a stellar cast, there’s no doubt that Moana 2 will be the must-see cinematic release this summer celebrating women and girls, culture and community.
Disney’s Moana 2 premieres in Australian and New Zealand cinemas on November 28.