Disney Reveals a First Look at Moana and the Teen Actress Voicing the New Princess
Moana and Maui (Disney)
A chance encounter led to a fairytale ending for 14-year-old Auli'i Cravalho, who was announced on Wednesday as the voice of Disney’s newest princess.
Cravalho won the role of Moana, the brave young girl at the center of the upcoming animated film Moana, after first being spotted by a casting agent during a charity singing competition in Oahu according to People magazine. Rachel Sutton, the film’s casting director, says in a new video that Cravalho was the very last girl she saw during auditions — perhaps because she knew that the native Hawaiian, who lives in the town of Mililani, would be the one.
“Moana is such an amazing character,” Cravalho told People. “She’s brave, she is so empowered, she knows what she wants and she’s not afraid to get it, and I think that’s something that I can relate to as well. I just love watching how she goes along in this wonderful movie and grows as a person and helps her culture along the way.”
Auli’i Cravalho, the star of ‘Moana’ (Disney)
Moana —which will hit theaters on Nov. 23, 2016 — is set 2,000 years ago and focuses on the title heroine’s quest to fulfill her ancestors’ quest (no word yet on what that quest might be). In the photo above, we get our first full look at the young princess, as well as the tattoo-covered demi-god Maui, the character played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Johnson will also seriously sing in the film — a first for the Fast and Furious costar and former pro wrestler.
Johnson did, however, help Yahoo Movies sing the Frozen hit “Let It Go” when we spoke with him at D23 in August. Watch the video below.
