Moana: Disney's hit animation to get surprise cinema sequel this year

Moana is sailing back to cinemas after Disney's surprise announcement that a film sequel will be released this year.

A sequel was mooted as a Disney+ series, but the company will now take it to cinemas instead after a string of underwhelming big screen performances.

Disney posted a short first trailer showing Moana standing on a beach and blowing into a shell.

The new animated musical will take audiences "on an expansive new voyage with Moana, Maui and a brand-new crew of unlikely seafarers", the description said.

"After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she's ever faced."

This time, songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda - who was nominated for an Oscar for the original - will not work on the music.

Disney chief executive Bob Iger says this was originally developed as a series, but they were impressed with what they saw, and they knew it deserved a theatrical release.

A live action version of the original film is also in development, starring Dwayne Johnson as demi-God Maui, the character he voiced in the animation.

Source: BBC