Hamilton‘s Lin Manuel Miranda and Central Intelligence‘s Dwayne Johnson on the Making of Moana

Walt Disney Animation Studios has another hit on its hands with today’s release of Moana, which mines the mythology of the Pacific Islands for a story about the 16-year-old daughter of the chief of Motunui island. Moana (Auli‘i Cravalho) is brave, smart and determined to fulfill her destiny, which she feels is to save her people.

To do so, Moana must leave the safety of her island and sail out on a perilous journey across the seas like her ancestors. She locates and persuades the mighty but vain demi-god Maui (Dwayne Johnson) to accompany on her journey — it was an action of his that made the mission necessary in the first place. It takes a bit of convincing —  one of the funniest scenes of the movie as she flatters his overinflated ego and he gives back as good as he gets, singing “You’re Welcome” — until she finally convinces him to be her wayfinder.

Then the mismatched duo set off on the daring escapade, during which they have to  contend with the forces of Mother Nature as well as several monsters in order to get the job done!

During a press conference in Santa Monica, appropriately held close to the Pacific Ocean, for the film’s release, Johnson and Hamilton  creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda, who was part of music team that wrote original songs for Moana, talked about how they achieved an authentic feel of the culture, how Johnson came to sing, what it was like to see the final product, and more.

How did you get the island vibe for the music?  

LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA:  My job offer came with a plane ticket to New Zealand, where everyone was at the Pacifica Music Festival, which is choirs from all the different islands in the Pacific. We immersed ourselves in this world and then Opetaia Foaʻi, Mark Mancina [other members of the music team] and I jumped into a studio and just started banging on drums and started really trying to find the pulse of this thing in a way that honored the unique musical heritage and incredible rhythms that come out of this part of the world.

You are Polynesian. Talk about your own experience with the culture. 

DWAYNE JOHNSON:  The Aloha Spirit is something that is very special. It’s very meaningful to us and our Polynesian culture and so, for example, those of you who have had the opportunity to visit Hawaii or any of the Polynesian islands, know it’s a very special thing. It’s an intangible that, when you get off the plane and you have your feet on the ground there, energetically it takes you to a different place. That’s Aloha Spirit. And the opportunity that we had as Polynesians to bring to life a story of our Polynesian culture in this capacity with our great partners at Disney and musically with these masters, was just a really, really special opportunity for us.

How did you get Dwayne Johnson to sing?  

LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA:  When Dwayne accepted the role he said, “So what are you giving me to sing?” He was really excited. I went to YouTube, where the answers always lie. I’m a big fan of his wrestling days and there was a time where he would pull out a guitar and taunt whatever town he was in. It’d be like, “Can’t wait to get out of Chicago.”

So I got a really good sense of his vocal range from that 10-minute super cut and then the rest of it was just writing lyrics that embody the spirit of Maui, who is this amazing demi-god, trickster god, and once I had the title, “You’re Welcome,” which only Dwayne can pull off and still have you love him and root for him, we were off to the races.

DWAYNE JOHNSON:  Look, it was an opportunity to challenge myself and, as Lin was saying, he did his research. By the time I got the song, it was in my comfortable range and, also, there were parts of the song which pushed me a little bit, which I appreciate because that’s what I needed vocally. Honestly, I had such a great time. One of the best times I’ve ever had in my career was actually working on this project, and certainly working on that song, because we all love challenges. This was a challenge where the bar was set so incredibly high in a Disney film to sing.

What technique did you use to make Moana seem like The Little Mermaid, but also like Hamilton?

LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA:  When I first interviewed for this job, I walked into a room with [writer/directors] Ron [Clements] and John [Musker], makers of my favorite Disney film of all time, and I said, “You’re the reason I even get to walk into this room,” and so, and I think I probably scared them a little bit because I’d quoted some obscure section of Little Mermaid they had since forgotten about.

I love these movies and you want to maintain the best of the Disney traditions. At the same time, we’re telling this very unique story from this very unique part of the world, so I will admit the first time I sat down at my piano to work on something for this, I remember thinking, “Don’t think about ‘Let it Go,’ don’t think about ‘Let it Go,’ don’t think about ‘Let it Go.'”

But you solve that problem by just really getting inside the heads of your characters. My way into Moana, in particular was the way she feels the call of the sea. It’s the way I felt about writing music, making movies and singing songs. I was 16 years old and living on 200th Street in Manhattan and thinking, “The distance between where I am and where I want to be seems impossibly large,” so I got myself into that mindset to write her songs.

Being that you are Polynesian, what do you hope that people will take from watching Moana?

DWAYNE JOHNSON:  The pride that our Polynesian culture will have in the film.  There were a lot, and understandably so, there was hesitance from a lot of people in our culture about: “What’s going to happen if our culture’s going to be showcased for the very first time on this level, this capacity from Disney?  What’s going to happen?”

I can tell you with great confidence and this is my hope, as well, that we were in such great hands. Anyone who knows John Lassiter [chief creative officer of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation] knows that he has manna in his soul and in his body.  This was a very important project to him, which is why he sent the guys on this mission for the past five years to do all the research.  So I feel like the Polynesian people are going to be incredibly proud of the movie.

I think what’s going to touch upon all of us, regardless of where we’re at in the world, where we’re from, cultures, class, religion, is the voice.  There’s so much noise that’s happening in our world, but the little voice that you’ve always got to listen to, your gut, your intuition, that says you can do things, you can go beyond boundaries, you have to trust that gut and instinct.  So those are the things I feel like our people are going to take away and the rest of the world will take away.

What was it like the first time you saw the film?

DWAYNE JOHNSON:  I was so moved when I saw the movie, for a variety of reasons, not only because you work on it, you pour your heart and soul into it, it’s culture. The grandmother in the movie, Gramma Tala [Rachel House] is like my grandmother, like so many of our grandmothers.

When I saw it in a theater with a group of people, what I noticed is they were floating when they walked out of the theater. It was such a cool thing to be a part of and to watch them come out and energetically they’re floating. Also, too, I, in my entire career, I’ve never cried consistently through a movie. Ever!

Moana sails into theaters November 23.