Moana 2's Soundtrack Rode the Wrong Wave by Enyjé Sandoz

 

Moana 2 hit theaters on Thanksgiving weekend. After the initial excitement of the sequel to one of Disney’s most successful and resonating-across-all-ages movies wore off, its release, and even its Disney+ debut, there has not been much conversation surrounding the chief of Motunui's latest expedition.

The underwhelming response, mainly to the soundtrack, prompted one of the songwriters to respond: “Give it a month, all the kids will be singing it, and you'll be tired of it.” This is a cry from Moana and Encanto, whose soundtracks were penned and spearheaded by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Miranda’s absence was sorely missed and recognized widely by fellow Disney fanatics. According to Lin-Manuel Miranda, his expertise was not solicited for the making of this soundtrack, which is peculiar considering the massive success of previous soundtracks. 

Since seeing Moana 2 in theaters during the open night, I admittedly have not listened to the soundtrack again. As an auntie, I was only asked to play it once the day after we left the theaters, which pales in comparison to the Encanto soundtrack that cemented itself in my Apple 2021 Replay—admittedly, a handful of those streams were from me.

Now, this post is not to rag on the Moana 2 soundtrack. In fact, it’s to contrast the negative responses and offer another perspective on its trajectory. Today is April 8th, though this epiphany came to me almost a month ago on March 14th. While I am unsure how I even got on the topic of Moana 2 as I was readying myself for bed, whatever set it off, I could not shut my brain off until I wrote down my thoughts in my journal. 

They read as:

Moana 2 — Blog post 

How the soundtrack differs from first one. 

It’s more mature indicating her loss of naïveté and innocence. 

She’s a bit jaded and cynical but also confident and self-assured as reflected in the lyrical content of the songs [illegible — yes, I cannot read my own handwriting — as I said, I was about to go to bed, and I was writing extremely fast so I could go to sleep] soundtrack.

And because of her newfound confidence, she now has new monsters/demons, but that are distracting — like devilish, tempting/temptation energy, but the test is for her to not give in, unlike in the first, her confidence was a barrier. 

This was at least 10 PM… but, the gist is there.

Moana 2 features a 19-year-old Moana who is now the chief of Motunui and has an adorable little sister. While wave-finding is her destiny and connection to her ancestors, she has more responsibilities than in the first movie, resulting in a difference in her priorities. This created inner turmoil, as detailed in the track Beyond. 

The delivery of these core concepts of the plot was executed in a more solemn, developed manner compared to the original soundtrack or even Encanto, which describes familial and societal expectations, being ostracized, and inadequacy — all mature themes. However, it was broken down in a way that was digestible for elementary schoolers, and the overall tempo of the soundtrack was lively, ultimately resonating more with a youthful audience.

As an avid Disney soundtrack listener and raver, Moana 2 is not a go-to, and the replay value is incomparable to other soundtracks, I cannot say the soundtrack was horrid, but instead, it needed to be adjusted and tailored to a younger audience. Additionally, Moana set the bar exceedingly high, and to not have continuity in songwriters, there was no surprise the dynamic shift was evident to viewers and listeners.