When Moana 2 hits theaters, it will feature songs without Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Lin-Manuel Miranda-less Moana 2
Disney's Bob Iger recently revealed to CNBC that the planned Moana Disney+ series will become a sequel feature film. That's music to the ears of fans of the first film. However, it was also revealed (via Variety) that Miranda, who wrote the songs for the original film, isn't expected back.
Instead, Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear (and Opetaia Foa'i and Mark Mancina from the first film) will handle the music in the sequel.
That's a huge blow to the film. The animated Disney film is widely associated with its music. Miranda played a huge part in that success.
Moana was a 2016 Disney animated film directed by John Musker and Ron Clements. It was a huge hit, grossing over $680 million at the box office. Auli'i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson starred in the animated film. A live-action remake, which will feature Johnson, is also in the works in addition to the sequel film.
Perhaps the move by Disney to put Moana 2 in theaters is an effort to rebound after a disappointing 2023 at the box office. Most of Disney's tentpoles, like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Haunted Mansion, and Wish, flopped. Elemental was an exception, but it took long legs to gross nearly $500 million.
Lin-Manuel Miranda gained notoriety for his Broadway musicals In the Heights and Hamilton. He's written the music for animated films including Moana, Vivo, and Encanto. Additionally, Miranda wrote a song for Disney's live-action Little Mermaid film. Miranda has also starred in films like Mary Poppins Returns and appeared in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and Tick, Tick Boom.
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