By Toby Symonds

THE sun beams upon the island of Motunui this week, welcoming our return to the Polynesian home of seafaring wayfinder Moana. Eight years have sailed by in the real world since our last visit but the story picks up just three on from her defeat of Te Kā.

Now well established as the island’s chief, Moana, who is voiced, as before, by Hawaiian star Auliʻi Cravalho, splits her time between guiding the land and voyaging the Oceanic seas. You may remember that Moana’s relationship with the ocean runs deep, far more so than the average sailor.

The ocean connects Moana to her ancestors, from whom she has inherited her wayfinding gift. When a new foe threatens life on Motunui, it is they who call upon Moana to intervene.

Once more, Moana must set sail into the beyond and unto dangers far from the shore. This time, she will need a crew to help her. Naturally; her animal friends, Heihei, the hapless rooster, and Pua, the doe-eyed pig, are first on board. Maui, the Dwayne Johnson voiced demigod, is back too.

Though a nice little success for Disney in 2016, taking just shy of $700m at the global box office and a couple of Oscar nominations, Moana’s path to sequeldom was never guaranteed. It was only the hunt for streaming content, following the launch of Disney+ in 2020, that stirred interest in the studio.

Even then, the follow up was set not to be a film but a limited series. So, what changed? How did Moana of Motunui change course for an eagerly anticipated return to cinemas?

Ostensibly, it was simply the high quality of the material produced that inspired the upgrade. In February this year, announcing the film, Disney boss Bob Iger declared himself to have been so impressed by the footage he’d seen that Moana 2 just had to be a feature film.

Perhaps. And yet, money talks. A series of major flops in 2023, from Lightyear to Wish, rattled Disney, pushing the need for an urgent rabbit from the hat in 2024. Moana might have been a ‘nice little success’ in 2016 but the film’s popularity has soared in the years since. With over 784m views, Moana is the most watched film on any streaming service.

When it comes to the sequel, who knows how far she’ll go.