Can a classic really become “classic” after just ten years? The question inevitably accompanies the arrival of the live action of Oceania. The 2016 animated film does not in fact belong to a distant past to be rediscovered, but continues to live in the present: it is still among the most viewed Disney titles in streaming, its songs are sung in schools and in musicals, while Moana is now one of the most loved protagonists of the new generation of Disney princesses. For this reason the risk of a purely nostalgic operation was perhaps higher than in any other studio remake.
Yet, after meeting Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Thomas Kail and protagonist Catherine Lagaʻaia on Zoom during the international press conferences organized by the Golden Globes, the feeling is that the film is trying to take a different path. None of the three seem interested in describing the live action as a simple reproduction of the original. On the contrary, they all insist on the same concept: transforming an already loved story into a new, more physical, more human and above all more authentic experience in the representation of Pacific cultures.
The word “authenticity” continually returns in their answers. It is musical, cultural, emotional authenticity. It’s the reason why Disney built an entire village instead of relying only on digital effects, involved cultural consultants throughout the production and chose an Australian actress of Samoan origins after an international casting of over 32 thousand applications. And it is also the reason why Lin-Manuel Miranda, author of the original songs, agreed to return to a musical universe that already seemed complete.
Lin-Manuel Miranda: «I didn’t want to add songs just to add them»
If there is an element that contributed to the transformation Oceania in a cultural phenomenon, that is undoubtedly its soundtrack. Songs like How Far I’ll Go, You’re Welcome, We Know the Way And I Am Moana they have gone beyond the boundaries of the film, becoming part of the collective imagination of millions of families. Returning to writing music for this story therefore meant dealing with an already consolidated heritage.
To our question about what was the biggest creative challenge in revisiting such a beloved musical universe and what the public could expect from the new soundtrack, Miranda smiles before answering. His first consideration is not about the new song, but about the work done on the entire score.
«Mark Mancina approached this project as if it were a completely new film», he explains. «The soundtrack that accompanies these images is fuller, deeper. I simply believe we are all a little better at our jobs than we were ten years ago.”
It’s an answer that explains the production’s approach well. Nobody wanted to limit themselves to re-proposing the original orchestrations. The music has been rethought to adapt to the physicality of the actors, the new settings and a story that, although following the same story, lives through real bodies and no longer through animation.
However, Miranda is keen to underline that the sonic heart of Oceania continues to have a specific name: Opetaia Foaʻi.
«Every time I hear his voice, let it be in the moment of the ancestors of We Know the Way both when we see the village, it is he who immediately takes us back to that place. It is what is grounding Oceania in his part of the world.”
It’s not a detail. For Miranda, music always arises from culture even before melody. He tells it by explaining that his working method is based on two tools: research and empathy. First study the traditions, then try to put yourself in the characters’ shoes. This is also how Maui’s boasts were born You’re Welcome: not random inventions, but direct references to the myths of the Pacific islands handed down in different forms from archipelago to archipelago.
Because there is only one new song
Anyone expecting an entire unreleased soundtrack will probably be surprised. In fact, Miranda says he set a very specific condition from the beginning.
“I didn’t want to add songs just to add them.”
The composer remembers jokingly telling Thomas Kail that his only advice as a producer was something else: make a film under two hours, because “children have bladders”. However, behind the joke lies a precise philosophy: every new element had to be truly necessary.
The turning point came during a phone call with the director. Kail pointed out that the live action had a unique feature: it brought together two Vaianas. On the one hand Auliʻi Cravalho, historic voice of animated films and now producer; on the other Catherine Lagaʻaia, called to give it a face.
«Tommy said to me: “What if there was a conversation between the only two women in the world who really know what it means to be Moana?”. I replied: “Hang up the phone. I’ll call you back in a week.”
Seven days later she was born Along the Way.
Catherine Lagaʻaia: «I really understood how much courage Moana needs»
If music represents the link with the past, Catherine Lagaʻaia is the face of the future of Oceania. When we connect with her on Zoom she appears smiling, spontaneous and still incredibly genuine, despite now being on a global promotional tour.
His story seems like something out of a Disney fairy tale.
He was nine years old when he saw Oceania for the first time. Like millions of girls of her generation, she grew up with Moana. She certainly didn’t imagine that a few years later she would be the one to play it.
The casting was open to all. More than 32 thousand applications. She and some of her sisters decided to give it a try, simply recording a version of How Far I’ll Go. From that moment on came new auditions, scenes, songs, Zoom meetings with Thomas Kail and the casting team, until the final audition in New York.
Thomas Kail still remembers that first video perfectly.
“When you look for Moana, you want to believe she’s out there somewhere. In Catherine I sensed that quality in the first ten seconds. Then every subsequent audition only confirmed it. When we found ourselves in the same room in New York we understood that we could finally make the film.”
For the young actress, however, the real discovery came during filming.
«When you watch the animated film you don’t really realize how much courage it takes to get on a boat alone, cross the ocean and go look for a demigod. Living at least part of that experience made me understand that Moana must be willing to believe in herself even when no one else does.»
Dwayne Johnson and that “village” that made her grow
Being the star of a Disney blockbuster in her first film could have crushed her. Instead, Lagaʻaia says she has never felt truly alone.
“I had a village behind me,” he says, deliberately using the same image that runs through the film.
That village consisted of Thomas Kail, Dwayne Johnson and the whole crew.
He speaks of the actor who plays Maui with sincere admiration. More than just a colleague, he was a role model to continually observe.
«I watched how he behaved with everyone on set, how he spoke to people, how he approached the work. I felt like the weight of the movie wasn’t just on my shoulders: it was shared between me, Tommy and Dwayne.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda also underlines how much work went into that naturalness.
«He had to learn to navigate, fight, support complex musical numbers. Playing Vaiana perhaps came naturally to her. Everything else was incredibly difficult and he tackled it with extraordinary dignity and grace.”
Our question to Thomas Kail: «We didn’t want to improve the 2016 film»
The other big question inevitably concerns the very meaning of the project.
Why remake a film that is still so present?
To our question about how he found the balance between respecting the original and the need to offer something new, Thomas Kail answers without hesitation.
«It was one of the central questions we asked ourselves from the beginning of pre-production.»
The director explains that the simple transition from animation to real actors completely changes the nature of the narrative.
«When you have two real people looking into each other’s eyes and sharing a scene something chemically different happens. That connection automatically makes this version distinct from the original.”
Kail insists on one point. «The 2016 film didn’t need to be corrected or improved. We had to trust its spirit, characters and story. Our task was to find new interpretations, new scenes and new ways to experience those emotions.»
It is a vision that comes directly from his theatrical experience.
«Great stories are continually reinterpreted. That’s what keeps them alive.”
A real ocean
One of the most surprising aspects told by the director concerns the filming.
Contrary to what one might imagine, many sequences were actually shot at sea.
The canoe used in the film was taken off the coast of Hawaii, about a mile offshore, to shoot the large panoramic shots. The other scenes were shot in huge tanks of water, deep enough to actually recreate the movement of the ocean.
“Whenever possible we wanted Catherine to actually feel the water.”
Even during the storm sequence, former Navy SEALs were present underwater to ensure the actors’ safety while tackling waves and stunts.
Because this live action has a reason to exist
The most interesting answer, however, comes from Lin-Manuel Miranda himself when asked why do it again Oceania so soon.
“This is exactly why this film exists,” he replies.
For him the difference between animation and live action is not about technology. It’s about people.
«There is a huge difference between representing a culture through an animated film and seeing hundreds of people belonging to that culture narrate it on the screen with pride. We worked with the Cultural Trust to make sure every fabric, every texture and every detail was authentic, so that Pacific communities could look at the film and say, ‘Yes, that’s right.'”
And this is probably the key with which to read the new one Oceania. More than replacing the 2016 film, the live action tries to accompany it, offering something that animation could not do: showing that story through the faces, bodies and traditions of those who truly belong to the world that inspired it. It is a risky challenge, because dealing with such a recent classic inevitably means measuring yourself with very high expectations. But listening to its protagonists, one gets the feeling that the goal was not to remake Oceania: rather, find a new way to set sail towards the same horizon.
