Moana 2 made a splash into theaters in November of 2024. This movie was the sequel in the Disney Moana storyline. It followed Moana as she left behind her village and family to reunite all of the long lost islands of the ocean. As she voyaged across the sea, she found herself battling not only sea monsters but also her own self-doubt. Along with that, Moana battled the guilt of leaving her little sister behind. For this movie, she had to dig deep and believe in who she really was before she could save her people from being lost forever. 

When watching this movie, you could not help but compare it to the first movie. In the first movie, you watched a young girl finally need to go beyond her boundaries to find herself. While in the second movie, Moana knew who she was now, but instead battled her self-confidence if she was really the right person to save her people. These two messages left a very different impact on the audience, which made them both beneficial to different audiences based on what phase of life they were in. I will say the original was better than the second because I felt the plotline was stronger and more impactful to the younger audience it is targeted towards.

This movie showed a side of growing up that is not normally showcased. In this plotline, the stakes were much higher for Moana to not only save her island but also unite the islands of people that had been disconnected from each other due to Nalo’s curse. Due to this, Moana struggles to believe she is good enough to break the curse and she has a breakdown feeling as a failure. The aspect of showing that even princesses struggle in the way we do in the real world was unique. This part felt like a connection to the struggles teenage girls have in our world today.

Part of this movie that felt lackluster compared to the first movie was when Moana and her team got trapped in the clam and were trying to find a way to get out. In this part of the movie, I was looking for a more vibrant and pretty look inside of the clam, but it felt more dreary and dark. This changed the mood of the movie to seem much deeper than a child could understand.

The movie overall felt much darker and deeper than the first one did. I felt for a child, this meaning of this movie would go over his or her head very easily. Moana 2 focused more on the struggle of losing your way and having to re-find your confidence, which felt geared towards a much older audience than a traditional Disney movie would be. While this movie did give a great addition to the Moana plotline, the deeper meaning behind it was really the star of the show.