Fans of the 2016 Disney animated film Moana can revisit their favorite characters with the new sequel, Moana 2, which is in theaters Wednesday. The film picks up three years after the original film, with Moana, voiced by Auliʻi Cravalho, setting out on a new journey with the demigod Maui, voiced by Dwayne Johnson.

Taking on the challenge of following up such a successful film are directors Jason Hand, David Derrick Jr. and Dana Ledoux Miller, who discussed their approach to the sequel with ABC Audio.

Derrick says one of the most important things in making this movie was “finding that universal connection that people have with Moana,” explaining, “I think when we came back to tell her story, it was just coming back with an old friend.” 

“I think Moana’s superpower is her empathy, and I think that’s an incredible characteristic, and it leads and guides all of her decisions,” Hand adds. “So we used that when we were making the sequel.” 

Hand also says it was important to maintain the relationships from the first movie: “Moana and Maui together is like magic. To see both Auliʻi and Dwayne come back into the booth and recreate that, that’s something … we definitely needed to have again.”

And Ledoux Miller says they didn’t really concern themselves with picking up specific elements from the original film.  

“It was really about how can we tell the best story for Moana,” she says. “It was really about pushing Moana to become a better leader and to help her grow up.” 

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t parts of the film that should feel familiar to fans of the original. 

“We’re fans of the first film,” she says, “so having Easter eggs and callbacks just kind of came naturally to us.” 

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