Dwayne Johnson to voice male lead in Disney's animated musical Moana

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

While Disney has two burgeoning franchises in BIG HERO 6 and TANGLED and FROZEN already set for a sequel, the animation branch of the House of Mouse is moving forward with their next big musical film, MOANA. We have see some concept art for the film which is set to be directed by the filmmakers behind THE LITTLE MERMAID and ALADDIN, but now we have the first big name set to join the cast.

Dwayne Johnson, who has worked in family films before, will take the male lead in MOANA which will also feature the former wrestler singing. He shared the news via his Instagram feed.

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At DISNEY STUDIOS signing contracts to play the male lead in their next big classic animated musical, #MOANA. Just had an amazing 2hr presentation and it's easy to see why they're the greatest story tellers in the world. Im excited. And in the background my homies Fred & Wasabi from #BigHERO6 are jumpin' for joy joy cause they heard I'm gonna sing in the movie. #WeTrulyKnowWhereWereGoing #WhenWeUnderstandWhereWereFrom #NeverForgetHome #MOANA

A photo posted by therock (@therock) on Apr 1, 2015 at 11:11am PDT

The CG-animated comedy-adventure takes place in the ancient South Pacific world of Oceania. Moana, a born navigator, sets sail in search of a fabled island. During her incredible journey, she teams up with her hero, the legendary demi-god Maui, to traverse the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous sea creatures, breathtaking underworlds and ancient folklore.

Disney had a lull in the quality of their animated films for quite some time in the 1990s and early 2000s, but in recent years they have shown they are almost equal to Pixar in terms of quality animated entertainment. Love them or hate them, FROZEN, TANGLED, and BIG HERO 6 rank amongst the better end of Disney’s animated output. Dwayne Johnson is a born entertainer and has shown he can sing, so I am all on board with this casting news.

MOANA is slated to hit theaters in 2016, which means Disney will announce the live action remake sometime soon.

Source: Instagram

Tags: Animation, Disney, Dwayne Johnson, Frozen, Moana, Musical

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