As ‘Moana 2’ Hits Disney+, Co-Director Dana Ledoux Miller Discusses Turning a Planned Streaming Series Into an Animated Smash — and Why the Live-Action Film Will Feel ‘Fresh’

variety.com:

Brent Lang Executive Editor Growing up, Dana Ledoux Miller’s mother would take her and her brother to matinees of films like “The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin” and “Beauty and the Beast.” After, she’d wear out her tapeplayer, listening to and singing along with the soundtracks for the animated classics, imagining she was Belle, Jasmine, Ariel or other Disney princesses. “It made me want to tell stories,” Miller says.

But she never thought she’d get a chance to play a central role in determining the fate of one of those Disney heroines, which she did as the co-writer and co-director of “Moana 2,” one of the biggest hits of 2024.

The sequel, which was co-directed by Jason Hand and David Derrick Jr., is debuting on Disney+ this week after earning more than $1 billion at the global box office.

Miller didn’t initially plan on being part of that journey, at least not with cinemas as the first port of call. She was initially hired as a consulting writer when “Moana 2” was still conceived as a multi-episode streaming series instead of an 100-minute feature film.