Ten years after the animated original reshaped what a Disney musical could sound like, Moana is back, this time live-action, in theaters since July 10, timed to the franchise’s tenth anniversary. And the man who wrote the songs the first time around is back too, sitting down with ABC News’ Linsey Davis for “All Access” to explain what’s actually new about the music this time, and how he already knows he’s got a hit on his hands.
The Song That Started It All
Lin-Manuel Miranda co-wrote the original Moana soundtrack alongside Opetaia Foa’i and Mark Mancina, delivering “How Far I’ll Go,” a song that earned him his first Oscar nomination and became one of the most-streamed Disney songs of the decade. For the live-action version, Miranda didn’t just hand over the old tracklist. In the ABC interview, he walks through the new material written specifically for this adaptation, describing the process of revisiting a decade-old sound with a live cast and a different creative team behind the camera.
A Decade Later, A New Cast
The live-action Moana is directed by Thomas Kail, Miranda’s longtime collaborator, who also directed the filmed version of Hamilton, from a script by Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller, who worked on the original animated film. Catherine Laga’aia takes on the title role, with Dwayne Johnson returning as Maui. Rena Owen plays Gramma Tala, John Tui is Chief Tui, Frankie Adams plays Sina, and Jemaine Clement reprises Tamatoa. Johnson also produces alongside Hiram Garcia, Dany Garcia, Beau Flynn, and Miranda himself, a rare case of the songwriter having a producing credit on top of writing duties.
Why Miranda Keeps Coming Back to This Story
Miranda has now written music for three different eras of Disney’s animation-to-live-action pipeline in some form, but Moana specifically has stayed personal territory for him. It’s the project that first put him in serious Oscar conversation, and a decade later it’s the one he chose to revisit rather than move past. That throughline is worth knowing if you want the fuller picture of how he got here: read our full career profile on Lin-Manuel Miranda, covering everything from In the Heights to Hamilton to his ongoing chase for EGOT status.
The full interview is available via ABC News, and the film’s full cast and crew details are up on IMDb.