In 2016 the world was introduced to Moana, a Spunky courageous and Brave Daughter of the Chief who embarks on a daring Journey to Find Maui and restore the heart of Tefiti to save her people from Starvation.
10 years later Moana is back but in Live Action form, and I gotta say asin far as Live action remakes go …. this one is on the higher end of the spectrum. It truly has the same great feeling of the original animated classic and yes Moana is a classic now. The flim does a great job bringing the Polynesian culture to the big screen along with all the iconic moments from the animated film. They have also expanded the opening sequence in order to convey more of the Polynesian culture than in the Animated film.
They do use a lot of CGI in the film but I believe that in this case it works to the films advantage as we do bring along Heihei for the ride, Maui is constantly using his hook to change into animals,and the Ocean is a character in of itself.
The biggest difference is that at the end of the film there is a brand new song from Lin Manuel Miranda called “Along the way” which is a song that is sung by Auli’i Cravalho and Catherine Laga’aia as a conversation Moana is having with herself with some Maui in the Mix. It is a Beutiful song and worth staying through the credits to hear.
Lin-Manuel Miranda says, “It was such a joy to drop back into the world of ‘Moana’ again and
write ‘Along The Way.’ Auliʻi and Catherine’s voices blend so beautifully, and writing for Dwayne
as Maui is just pure fun. I’m grateful that we were able to create something special for this
brand-new version of our wayfinder’s story.”
The other thing that stood out about the Production was the attention to detail they put into the sets to really make it look that they lived on a beautiful Island of Motunui.
No hammers, nails, or modern-day building equipment were used for the construction of the
fale and canoes. They were instead braced with lashing made from coconut fibers, crafted
under the tutelage of Sopolemalama Filipe Tohi, a Tongan master lasher based in New Zealand.
Tohi and the team ultimately used thousands of yards of lashing.
There are three important props that bring this story to life, The heart of Tefiti, Moana’s Boat and Maui’s Hook. Property master Matthew Cavaliero (“One Battle After Another,” “Killers of the Flower Moon”)
was tasked with leading the team that would translate the ancient period props that drive the
storytelling for both Maui and Moana into a live-action setting.
The team manufactured multiple fishhooks using various materials and sizes to serve different
purposes – on any given day, Cavaliero and his team had over 20 hooks at the ready. There was
a sturdy version meant to allow Johnson to lean on it with his full body weight, a cracked hook
made of plastic and fabricated to be lit from within, and a lighter version that allowed for
physical contact without causing injury.
The same principle was applied to Moana’s wooden canoe blade, which, for filming purposes,
needed to satisfy many needs. “It was important for Katie to interact with the blade and be able
to maneuver it easily,” Cavaliero explains. “We actually had to chop a big chunk off of that first
blade to get the right size for her. It was a bit heavy for her, so we had another blade made with
a lighter wood. It’s still strong, but not quite as heavy. We then started making multiples of
different blades from our mold, much like we did for the hook. We also fabricated a fiberglass
blade which meets the demands of filming – it’s light and strong, so Katie could move around
easily with it when we were filming in the water tank.”
For the Heart of Tefiti finding the right prop was everything
“When Tommy and I started talking about the heart of Te Fiti, we felt like
we wanted it to feel a little bit more like a stone. There are moments when the magic would
come out, but we really went out of our way to try to find stones that could fit the mold.”
The perfect match wound up being a gemstone, fluorite, which has a beautiful dark green color
that aligned with Kail’s vision. Once the dimensions and design were determined, the team
made multiples, including rubber versions for action sequences. Dozens of different tones of
green were used depending on the lighting design of a scene. While they don’t all appear in the
film, Cavaliero estimates his team made an astounding 150 heart of Te Fiti stones for the film.
All this behind the scenes information makes me appreciate the work that went into bringing Moana to the big screen once again but this time in live action so please go out and see it on July 10th 2026.
“Moana” is directed and executive produced by Emmy® and Tony Award® winner Thomas Kail, Scrrenplay by Jared Bush & Dana Ledoux Miller, Produced by Dwayne Johnson, p.g.a.; Beau Flynn, p.g.a.; Dany Garcia; Hiram
Garcia, p.g.a.; Lin-Manuel Miranda and Executive Produced By Scott Sheldon, Charles Newirth, Auliʻi Cravalho
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