Disney Drops New ‘Moana 2’ Trailer
The trailer highlights two new songs, ‘We’re Back’ and ‘Beyond’ from an exciting new songwriting duo.
Disney has shared a new trailer for the much-anticipated Moana 2. The trailer spotlights the songs “We’re Back” and “Beyond,” both of which will appear on the film’s soundtrack. Moana 2 is out November 27.
Set three years after the events of the 2016 film, the sequel reunites the adventurous Moana with the shapeshifting demigod Maui as they head out on a new voyage. After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced.
The film’s music is helmed by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, who are making history as Disney’s first-ever all-female musical writing team and the youngest composing team to work on a major animated motion picture. Back in 2022, the songwriting duo won a Grammy for The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical. They are taking over from Lin-Manuel Miranda who helmed the original film’s soundtrack, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and included the song “How Far I’ll Go,” which was nominated for Best Original Song at the Golden Globes and Academy Awards. Alongside returning musicians, Grammy nominee Opetaia Foa’i and three-time Grammy winner Mark Mancina, Barlow and Bear wrote a sound for a more mature version of Moana.
The duo spoke with Entertainment Weekly about their work on the film. One song they highlighted was “Beyond,” which can be heard in the trailer, and “lives in a similar place to ‘How Far I’ll Go,’” according to Bear, though “the context is entirely different.” “‘Beyond’ is a little bit darker than ‘How Far I’ll Go’ because the stakes are suddenly so much higher,” Bear said. “The biggest message of this movie is that we are all changing every day, growing and evolving as human beings as things around us change. Learning to love ourselves through all the different stages of our life and the people that we continue to become is a really beautiful thing. That was a big part of what prompted us to write this song too.”