Moana 2 Filmmakers Explain How New Music Lives Up to the High Standards of the Original Soundtrack

There are few recent Disney soundtracks that have captured the attention of fans quite like Moana. The 2016 hit (and recent streaming juggernaut) delivered instantly iconic songs like “How Far I’ll Go” and “You’re Welcome,” co-written by Hamilton‘s Lin-Manuel Miranda. To the surprise of many, Miranda didn’t actually return for the upcoming sequel, Moana 2. Original songwriters Opetaia Foa’i and Mark Mancina were instead joined by the Grammy-winning duo of Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear.

The young songwriting pair clearly had big shoes to fill with the music in Moana 2, but the creative team behind the Disney sequel seems as though they couldn’t be happier with how these new songs turned out. ComicBook recently attended a Moana 2 Q&A where the filmmakers opened up about the sequel’s musical direction.

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“Obviously jumping into this movie with the expectations for the music to be spectacular, it’s a really tall order for them,” explained Moana 2 writer and executive producer Jared Bush. “I would say that what’s really exciting is that Moana’s age in the film is close to their age. And knowing that this is a story about continued understanding of who you are and learning about yourself and continuing to evolve, they’re in that right now. So I think a lot of what we talked about was just honestly learning into how that is feeling to them and their personal lives right now.

“And I think with any music, the goal is always to make it feel as universal as possible, and they’ve really nailed it.”

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Co-director Jason Hand chimed in to specifically address the opening song of Moana 2, which works as both an introduction to a new adventure and a catch-up that reminds people of the first film.

“I think, in addition to that, the opening song was really meant to be the biggest welcome back into the world of Moana,” the director said. “So we really wanted to nail that energy and obviously the sound of the music. It’s reminiscent of the first film, but also bringing us up to speed as to where Moana is at in her life now, and where her island is as well. Again, they just absolutely nailed it when we heard that song. We loved it.”

One of the new songs featured in Moana 2 is called “Beyond,” which the songwriters have described as something of a spiritual sequel to the first movie’s signature ballad, “How Far I’ll Go.” This new song is darker than the first, though, reflecting the more dangerous journey Moana finds herself on in the sequel.

“‘Beyond’ is a little bit darker than ‘How Far I’ll Go’ because the stakes are suddenly so much higher,” Bear told EW earlier this year. “She’s about to make a big decision that will affect the rest of her life. She knows more of the world and what’s out there, so she knows what to expect – and that could be scary.”

Moana 2 will hit theaters everywhere on November 27th.