As ‘Moana 2’ Hits Disney+, Co-Director Dana Ledoux Miller Discusses Turning a Planned Streaming Series Into an Animated Smash — and Why the Live-Action Film Will Feel ‘Fresh’

'Moana 2' co-director Dana Ledoux Miller talks about turning a planned streaming show into a feature film as the animated adventure debuts on Disney+.

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Growing up, Dana Ledoux Miller’s mother would take her and her brother to matinees of films like “The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin” and “Beauty and the Beast.” After, she’d wear out her tapeplayer, listening to and singing along with the soundtracks for the animated classics, imagining she was Belle, Jasmine, Ariel or other Disney princesses.

“It made me want to tell stories,” Miller says.

But she never thought she’d get a chance to play a central role in determining the fate of one of those Disney heroines, which she did as the co-writer and co-director of “Moana 2,” one of the biggest hits of 2024. The sequel, which was co-directed by Jason Hand and David Derrick Jr., is debuting on Disney+ this week after earning more than $1 billion at the global box office. Miller didn’t initially plan on being part of that journey, at least not with cinemas as the first port of call. She was initially hired as a consulting writer when “Moana 2” was still conceived as a multi-episode streaming series instead of an 100-minute feature film. The success of the first film among Disney+ subscribers made the company rethink its plans for the franchise, resulting in a last-minute scramble to retrofit the story.

“There was quite a lot of streamlining that needed to happen,” Miller says. “We needed to right-size the story. In the series, we spent quite a lot of time with the crew of her ship. But Moana’s name is in the title, so the film had to reflect that. We made sure the film used the crew members to show her becoming a better leader.”

Miller, who is Samoan, felt an intense connection to the heroine of “Moana,” the strong-willed daughter of a Polynesian chief, when she saw the 2016 original film.

“I wept,” she remembers. “I had never walked into a Regal Cinema and heard the voices of my people before. And to have one of them be a Disney princess changes everything. It says, ‘It’s OK to be Polynesian and be strong and adventurous and funny.’ You see yourself reflected on screen and that’s powerful.”

Miller grew up in Long Beach, Calif., but Hollywood felt impossibly far away. She applied to film schools, but didn’t get into one of the better known programs. Instead, she attended the University of Hawaii, where the entertainment industry unexpectedly arrived on her front door. She was able to get an internship on the set of “Lost,” the mind-bending ABC thriller series that was shooting in the state.

“There were all these other Pacific Islanders working around me,” she remembers. “And it gave me an appreciation for all the different skills you need to tell a story and what a crew does to pull it off. Being on a set like that was an incredible crash course.”

She would go on to work on the Netflix shows “Narcos” and “Thai Cave Rescue” before getting the call from Disney to explore the world of Motunui. Now that she’s made it in the entertainment business, Miller is trying to build a ladder for other underrepresented talent to join her there. She’s co-founded an organization called Pasifika Entertainment Advancement Komiti (PEAK), which offers networking and professional development assistance to members of the community.

“If we are going to see ourselves on the images on screen, we need to have a role in telling these stories,” Miller says. “And storytelling is a big part of our community, so I want to protect that and to keep exploring what it means to be a Pacific Islander.”

She’s also not done with charting the course for the plucky adventurer at the heart of the “Moana” franchise. Miller has teamed up with Jared Bush to write the screenplay for the live-action version of “Moana.” Thomas Kail, one of the creative forces behind “Hamilton,” directs with Dwayne Johnson portraying Maui, the mythological character he voiced in the animated films. Newcomer Catherine Lagaʻaia will play Moana. “She’s incredible,” Miller raves. “She had no problem going head-to-head with Dwayne. She wasn’t intimidated at all.”

Miller says the live-action movie will honor the legacy of the animated original, but she thinks that seeing actors brave the elements will make the new version even more impactful.

“There’s a 16-year-old girl who is on the open water embarking on a dangerous journey,” Miller says. “The visceral nature of that really comes through with live action. It gives the movie a real human vulnerability that will make it feel fresh.”

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