MANILA, Philippines – There’s a new Disney movie coming to theaters and it’s exploring a world we haven’t seen from the studio yet – the Pacific Islands. 

Moana follows a young girl who ventures out into the sea to discover why her ancestors stopped navigating – a big part of Polynesian culture. 

Along for the ride are the demigod Maui and a silly chicken Heihei, who help Moana on her mission. 

What’s the big deal about Moana? Here’s 10 things you should know about the upcoming movie before seeing it in theaters. 

Lin-Manuel Miranda was working on Moana at the same time he was working on Hamilton.

Like many Disney movies, Moana has a lot of great songs worked into the story. For this one, Opetaia Foaʻi, founder of the award-winning band Te Vaka, worked with Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and Grammy-winning composer Mark Mancina.

In a phone interview, directors Ron Clements and John Musker told Rappler that they had first gotten Opetaia on board before interviewing lyricists and composers who could work with him.

When they first spoke to Lin he had only mentioned that he was working on “this sort of rap version of Alexander Hamilton” but it hadn’t been staged yet.

Instead, Ron and John were most impressed by Lin’s In the Heights, whose music shifted from Spanish to English – an element they wanted to work into the songs for Moana.

“He was on Broadway doing Hamilton and working with us and a lot of our meetings with him in New York would be over Skype while he was waiting to go onstage because that’s kind of when the times lined up,” shared Ron. “So we would meet with him about twice a week and then he’d go out and then perform.”

John added: “Some of the demos of the songs he would have the demos sung by some of his fellow Hamilton castmates, so we would have demos by Pillipa Soo and Chris Jackson, and they were very exciting because they’re such great performers.”

Lin-Manuel himself sings one of the songs in the movie.

He might not voice any of the characters, but if you listen close, you’ll hear his voice singing one of the songs. Lin and Opetaia wrote and performed “We Know the Way,” a song that features the lives of Moana’s voyager ancestors.

“After meeting with [directors] John and Ron in 2013, I actually started writing that song on the flight home,” said Opetaia in a release for the movie. “It came quite naturally. Then Lin added his beautiful lyrics and it just came to life.”

The artists at Disney took some inspiration from Dwayne Johnson when they designed Maui.

Some of Dwayne’s characteristics made it to the final characterization of the demigod, and you’ll see it in the movie.

Art director Bill Schwab said in a release: “We just wanted to convey the feeling of Dwayne – which really comes out in the animation with his eyebrows. We were also inspired by his maternal grandfather, who was also a wrestler. He just really had to look cool.”

Auli’i sings Moana‘s theme “How Far I’ll Go” in the film, but you’ll hear hip-hop artist Alessia Cara’s voice in the end credits.

Listen to Alessia’s version of the song below!

For the movie’s Southeast Asian audience, Disney had a few local stars sing the song in different languages.

From the Philippines, Janella Salvador sang her version of the song in English.

The filmmakers visited a few Pacific islands to do research for the movie – Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti, and New Zealand.

Ron and John were inspired to create Moana by books they read as kids about the Pacific Islands, but they didn’t really know enough about the islands to make the movie.

To ensure that the movie was culturally accurate, they spent time on these islands getting to know the locals, immersing themselves in their culture, and speaking to experts.

They also hit up Pasifika Festival in Auckland, New Zealand with their musical team, Lin, Mark and Opetaia, to experience the dances and music from various Pacific Island cultures.

Aside from research trips, the filmmakers also assembled a group of experts they called the Oceanic Story Trust, who worked with the Disney creative team.

Auli’i, who was born and raised in Hawai’i, admitted that before she worked on the film, those around her were a little wary of it. But now that it’s done, she said: “I can honestly say that I’m so proud of it. I’m so proud of what it’s become, I’m so proud of the time that the directors have taken to research this film, to really get connected to the culture and to understand that wayfinding was something we truly did.”

Heihei the chicken wasn’t originally a “village idiot.”

In the movie, Heihei, a clueless chicken, finds itself aboard Moana’s boat and travels the sea with her.

According to a release, the chicken, voiced by Alan Tudyk, was originally supposed to be smarter and to have a judgmental personality, but the filmmakers decided to change him completely because they had seen that kind of character before.

“But it wasn’t enough to make him dumb,” said story artist Sunmee Joh. “We had to find a way to make him a complication for Moana and ultimately her journey.”

Moana may be the daughter of a chief, but is she a Disney princess?

In an interview in Singapore with Southeast Asian press, Osnat and Auli’i call Moana a heroine – she’s not your typical princess. 

When asked directly if Moana would join the Disney princess lineup, Osnat answered: “Who knows?”

Moana is voiced by 15-year-old Hawai’ian Auli’i Cravalho. And while she looks like the character she voices, producer Osnat Shurer says it’s just a coincidence.

Auli’i is a newcomer who didn’t pursue the role at first. The movie’s Hawai’i-based casting director remembered her from a different audition and asked her to try out. Before Moana, Auli’i said she only ever sang at church and for her school choir. 

“Aside from that, it was kind of just my voice. I didn’t have anybody to really teach me about it [singing], I kind of just felt it along the way,” said Auli’i about at the Singapore conference.

Osnat said that Auli’i embodied Moana’s personality.  “Add to all of that, I take a picture of her in the recording booth during this audition and behind her is our already fully designed Moana character and they look alike! It was just a bonus,” she said. 

This is directors Ron Clements and John Musker’s first CG-animated film, but Maui’s tattoos are 2D animated.

One tattoo in particular, nicknamed Mini Maui, is special, because it serves as the demigod’s conscience. 

Will you be watching Moana when it opens on Philippine theaters on November 30? Let us know! – Rappler.com