Moana absolutely started my career I was
14 when I was cast I turned 24 only a
couple of days ago so I've had this
character in my bones for the last
decade and it's true it came out in 2016
so um it it's absolutely changed my life
it it it took me far beyond the reef
truly and and I love this character for
all that she represents she's so strong
and brave and has such a beautiful
connection to community and and her
family and to the Pacific culture at
large so it feels like a true honor to
be able to continue playing her it's not
even that I I could have added it to my
bucket list or that I had hoped and
prayed to become a Disney princess it's
it's something that is completely out of
your hands so I yeah it it feels really
amazing and I I think Moana is one of
these characters that that ushers us
into thinking of of princess and hero
those two words as being interchangeable
that there is nowhere I could go that I
won't be with you so you can take a
home in the first one she could not get
away fast enough you know she needed to
find herself she had she had to leave
she was so unhappy on her Island and now
similar Place she's about to leave again
but but she's so happy you know she has
everything she wanted in in the first
movie she has this beautiful equilibrium
and a place that she feels at home on
land and sea and now she's being asked
to give it all up possibly forever like
that's scary I would also be scared yeah
and she also knows what is like she also
knows what it looks like to be where the
sky in the line where the sky needs to
see she knows what it looks like but
she's being asked to push beyond that so
that's where that came from yes
absolutely for the first time in Disney
history a Disney princess has aged so
three years have passed since we've last
seen her she's become a telai or a
master Navigator she's going further and
further Beyond The Reef and if our last
film was about connecting with the past
this film is about connecting with the
future and she is looking to connect all
of the islands across the Pacific you
know what I find really fun about
animation and recording voices is that
when those actors get in the booth we
have a lot of time to play um you know
sometimes when you're working on a
liveaction film you're you know you're
you're chasing the sun and you have a
very limited amount of time to record a
scene and the schedule is so tight but
when we have our actors come in to
record an animation we get these big
chunks of time and we get to try things
and we get to get really physical in
there we have we have this bar in our um
efforts bar efforts bar in the middle of
our studio and it's something that the
actors hold on to and so I think Ali is incredible
incredible
this um you know all the sounds Moana
makes when she's physical running and
jumping and launching herself off of
cliffs and mountains that's how Le on
that bar just really giving it her all
um and and and bringing the character to
life in ways that I think it's hard to
imagine if you're not in those spaces
but it's so fun I think first and
foremost we're having a really good time
when we're doing it and you know I can
Jared and and I can sit at our computers
and type out the script you guys can
draw the the images that put the whole
story together but it's not until you
get in the booth with an actor that
things really come to life and they I
can't tell you how many times I've had a
joke come into the booth and they find a
way to make it funny in a way that I
didn't intend they just add so many
layers and it's it's really fun to watch
I love voice acting because I am simply
put into a booth just myself and
probably one of the writers and no other
talent and I just get to act like a
little Gremlin I just get to forget
about my hands make weird and wacky
facial expressions one of my favorite
days of filming or voice acting was when
Moana gets a blow cheek a blow dart to
the butt cheek and I remember just
squishing my face and making it sound
like I was affected by a neurotoxin and
it was so much fun I think it's
it's I was really glad that that was one
of the first mediums that I started off
with because I think it taught me to be
bold and make choices that were wacky
face what's up cly Mo can I get a Cho
what lies as we're making an animated
film things start to fall into place and
we actually they're kind of like tent P
tent pull moments a lot of them to be
honest in these ones are actually
musical moments that are really turning
points for the character of Moana or
Maui and moana's relationship um so
those are moments that we always are
working towards but throughout the
process of making the film we're
constantly uh making everything better
or going back and setting up an idea
earlier or we're paying off something in
a way that's better and it's uh over
that process of you know like what eight
screenings or something yeah we put the
film up and watch it and we really learn
about the movie that we're making and it
starts to tell you what it wants to be
and that's an incredible
moment when the film really says what it
is and then you can just sort of put the
pieces in the right spot so we worked
from scripts but they also do have some
visual development done so like all the
new characters I mean they evolved a bit
throughout the process but we knew what
Matangi was going to look like we knew
what L to and K and Moy were going to
look like giant clam we saw like
conceptual art of that so yeah so there
were a few Stills that like did actually
make it into the movie like of her
swimming in front of that beautiful
ancestral whale that was one of the
Stills we had Maui Lassing the sun
another one of the Stills so like we had
some inspiration but we mainly work from
black and white sketches for a while
because animation takes so long like
it's it's a multi-layered process a lot
of it's all happening at the same time
uh part of what Jason's saying this idea
that we screen the film multiple times
um throughout the course of making it
means that we are often changing the
script changing the visuals as we're
figuring out what's working and what's
not working which also means that we're
bringing in our voice actors time and
again um to to shift and change
performances and sometimes change huge
parts of the story as we're really
trying to get things right um but
throughout the whole process we were
also working with Emily bear and Abigail
Barlo who are songwriters um the music
in this film is really key to moana's
emotional journey and so they were Along
on this ride with us we would share with
them where we where we felt the story
was going and was a true collaboration
as they were trying to figure out where
the songs needed to go to really give
Moana and Maui and the crew the the
emotional moments that they needed to
make this story really work um but as
for when we all thought it it came
together I will say was pretty late in
the game for me yeah we're very hard on
on ourselves as we're making this cuz we
are uh you know perfectionist by nature
but also because we love these
characters honestly and we want to tell
a worthy Story I mean just one just very
small tidbit just for and you know any
of your audience members like we always
record the voices first so that the
animators are working towards that so
it's this incredible collaboration of
acting between our incredible voice cast
and our animators who are actors in them
in their own right and that combination
together is what makes those special
performances up on screen I love Barlo
and bear I'm so proud to have worked
with them for the sequel because they
did an an excellent job of melding bits
of the songs that we knew from our first
film and working with opay Fai from Taca
and Mark man China who are also from our
first films so to have a kind of a
similar ear to what we knew but then
also to create all new Bops I felt like
Matangi song which is our kind of
villain character has such an
interesting Sury pop Jazz kind of song
for her and then can I get a Chiu is
Maui's kind of level up song where he
gets Moana out of his out of her slump
and then beyond is is a
real power ballad that kind of finishes
the question of in our first film how
far I'll go then transitions to I'll go
beyond we actually began with a song
that's no longer in the movie but then
after that um we started at the
beginning opening number mhm we just did
a lot of research you know um Disney
takes such care with the cultural anchor
that is Moana so we got to speak to the
Oceano cultural trust and
we we got a big Moana Bible our first
day and we got to speak to real life
wayfinders just like they set us up for
success for sure in the very beginning
and we also did a lot of listening to
Polynesian and Pacific island music
which really I think influenced the
writing process for sure yeah because
when you listen to a lot of hours of
music you can start to figure out the
patterns and what chord progressions
they naturally gravitate towards and The
Melodies that are you know of the world
um and then you can pick and choose
where you want to put them you're on
music but I think it was really
important for us to have like one foot
in one foot out we want to pay homage to
the world that we are fans of and that
everyone loves so much while also
allowing the characters voices and the
music to you know expand with the world
because just even in scale like the
ocean has now gotten a 100 times bigger
and so I feel like the music needed to
reflect that my favorite song from this
film is can I get a chi who I love it's
like a showstop it's just way over the
top it's a hype song for Moana and it
really sort of is an answer to in the
first film you're welcome which was you
know Maui all about himself and in this
film it really speaks to the where the
relationship is that he is willing to
you know for moana's you know she needs
to hear that she's got it and that's a
hype song for her and I love that moment
and it was really fun to make it's way
over the top but the visual style of it
is incredible and we just had a real it
was a blast to make every part of that I
like Beyond Ali's voice has really
matured in the eight years since the
last film and I remember being in the
Booth with her we were all there and
when she started singing We all got
chicken skin because we just realized
not only has Moana grown up in our story
but alii has really matured in so many
ways and really beautiful ways and so to
see the ways real life was imitating art
I mean you can't you can't make that
stuff up yeah it was very incredibly
powerful actually to hear a song being
sung it's amazing she's incredible
Beyond get lost because I love like the big
big
climactic wave crash high note orra
swell moment I love that I eat it up and
I love a villainous Pop I would have to
say Beyond I know I'm a little biased
sorry it's my song but I I really love
the theme of growth and I also
appreciate it being able to grow myself
and able to take on new riffs and the
storytelling of that song is is really beautiful
beautiful [Music]
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