Feast your eyes on some lovely new artwork for Moana, the Disney animated film about a Polynesian girl who goes on a dangerous journey. When we first told you about this film it was slated for a 2018 release -- but thank goodness, we're getting it in November 2016 instead.
Along with the new artwork and updated release date, Disney also released a new synopsis of Moana, which is directed by John Musker and Ron Clement (who worked on Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and The Princess and the Frog):
In the ancient South Pacific world of Oceania, Moana, a bornnavigator, sets sail in search of a fabled island. During her incrediblejourney, she teams up with her hero, the legendary demi-god Maui, totraverse the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encounteringenormous sea creatures, breathtaking underworlds and ancient folklore.
That does sound incredible. Early rumors suggested the art style would be similar to the animated short Paperman, but apparently that's no longer the case. Still looks amazing, though.
Musker talked to Huffington Post about the genesis of this film:
I grew up reading the novels of Melville and Conrad. And the South Seas,the exotic world that a lot of their stories are set in, was extremelyintriguing to me. Just looking at the art which comes out that corner ofthe globe -- the carvings, the statuary, the sculpture -- I thoughtthat it all begged for this bigger-than-life treatment that you can onlyget with animation. So to expand on that idea, Ithen began reading up on the mythology of this area. Which is when Icame across these incredible tales about Maui, who's one of the greatcultural heroes of the South Pacific.
When they took their idea to Disney's John Lasseter, though, he said this called for a lot more on-the-ground research. So Musker and Clement ended up spending a lot of time in the South Seas, researching the islands and their culture, in order to get it right. "Those trips have been revelatory and kind of life-changing in a way," Musker tells HuffPo. "Inthat it made us take our very simple outline and rework the whole thing."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0icfbkZguXI
Expect Moana on or around Nov. 23, 2016.
