Auli’i Cravalho on Polynesian Pride For ‘Moana 2’ at UK Premiere

On By Littum

Auli’i Cravalho is full of “Polynesian pride” at the UK premiere of the long-awaited sequel to Disney’s Moana.

She and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson return Moana 2 to reprise their roles as the titular princess and as demigod Maui, braved a stormy London blue carpet on Sunday at the Cineworld cinema in Leicester Square. Just moments before their arrival, a group of dancers performed a Polynesian dance for the fan-flanked event, head to toe in traditional garb. Johnson did minimal press before moving on to take photos with fans.

Cravalho, who was just 14 when she was first cast as the Wayfinder heroine, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about stepping up from the original film and focusing on “the myths and mythology that I grew up with.”

“If our last film was about connecting with the past, this film is about connecting with the future,” said the native Hawaiian. “And we have a few characters in a few situations that further that. We have Simea, Moana’s younger sister, who is so effective at tearing our hearts apart to want one. To stay at her house or answer that call from the ancestors?”

She went on to discuss what she loved about filming Moana 2: “Where do I begin? I love that Moana is having such an impact, not only for my Pacific Islander community, but beyond. Seeing a young Wayfinder on screen using traditional techniques, it’s a source of Polynesian pride, it’s a piece of indigenous knowledge that comes directly from us… Even seeing folklore and myths about how Maui drew up islands the sea – these are myths and mythology that I grew up with.”

“And the fact that Disney has put this into a musical, which means we break out into spontaneous song, makes my inner theater child very happy.”

Directed by David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller, the sequel embarks on an adventure to reunite the people of the sea after receiving a call from Moana’s ancestors. Along with her new crew, voiced by Rose Matafeo, Hualalai Chung and David Fane, the princess soon realizes that the task may require sacrifices in the name of her society’s future.

“We didn’t want to repeat the first film,” Hands said THR. “We wanted to follow along Moana from that point forward, and we wouldn’t have told the story if we didn’t think it was worthy.”

Sailing toward a record-breaking $125 million-$135 million opening over the five-day Thanksgiving holiday corridor, according to tracking data shared with THRDerrick Jr. talked about what brings audiences back to the oceanic adventure: “Moana is the best of us. She never gives up. She does everything for her community. She’s not afraid to go toe-to-toe with the demigod or God. But then she’s also goofy and goofy and very approachable. Much like Auli’i – she really embodies her.”

Investigated the possibility of one Moana 3the men were reluctant. “We worked on the first movie. We worked on the second movie. We’re connected, but who knows?” said Derrick Jr.

Composers Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear were also present at the event, discussing what the melody and lyrics of this musical are really about. Bear explained: “It’s the first time we’ve seen a (Disney) heroine allowed to age. She’s inspiring and brave and great and all the things we love, but she has some very deeply human moments in this movie. . The kids who watch these movies grow up and inevitably mess up, seeing how someone looks up to learn from those moments instead of letting it get them down is really (important.)”