On December 5, the IndieWire Honors Winter 2024 ceremony will celebrate the creators and stars responsible for crafting some of the year’s best films. Curated and selected by IndieWire’s editorial team, IndieWire Honors is a celebration of the filmmakers, artisans, and performers behind films well worth toasting. We’re showcasing their work with new interviews leading up to the Los Angeles event.
Ahead, “Moana 2” star Auli’i Cravalho tells IndieWire how her initial giddiness over working with a pair of rising songwriting stars turned into a deep and abiding partnership that made the much-anticipated sequel truly shine.
As told to Marcus Jones. The following has been edited and condensed for clarity.
I remember hearing the first song of “Moana 2,” which was, “We’re Back.” I was with my mom at the time. I was working on another project. I hadn’t returned to the island of Motunui in a while. And from the first chord, you recognize the world of Motunui, and the lyrics tell you that you’re on an all-new journey. I was so emotional. I was so taken by Abigail and Emily’s storytelling.
And, of course, with Abigail’s voice. She ended up being my scratch voice for the rest of the music as well. She’s a heck of a scratch voice — not fair. This girl is a recording artist all in her own right. I remember, for songs like “Beyond,” listening to the music and thinking, “Oh, my God, now I need to keep up with her vocal acrobatics.” She’s just exceptional. And working with Emily, our first meetings were over Zoom because she was still on Beyoncé’s tour.
Both of them are just groundbreaking in their own right, and to have young women on this film with me, it was really nice, along with one of our directors and writers, Dana Ledoux Miller, to have this women-led story really driven by women on many different platforms in different areas.
What I noticed most in myself, first playing this character in the past, when I was 14, and turning 24 this year, just before the release of “Moana 2,” is that I’m much more present. I’m much more involved in the song process. I am more aware of when lyrics change. I also feel the pangs of when we have to kill our darlings. I felt I was more along for the ride this time around, and that’s simply from being more aware and a little older. And I love that both Abigail and Emily also grew up in the same era as I did. To be Disney fans, first and foremost, meant that their musical repertoire that they could pull from was so vibrant and young. And I think that comes across in their music.
Our initial conversation was, “Oh, my gosh, you live in LA. I live in LA. Where do you live in LA?” And we were on a fast track of becoming friends first and foremost, which was so nice, especially as this film took its twists and turns, to have them on my side, always sending new music as soon as they had it. The process of songwriting for an animated film is also so fast-paced. It’s a lot of “Hurry up and wait, hurry up and wait.” And there were songs that I recorded with them that they wrote that didn’t end up in the final film. We had our heartbreaks together.
And those first initial meetings were also kind of understanding, OK, where does my voice live now? I am no longer 15, my voice isn’t all the way up. And that also means that my vocal range has changed, and that meant that I could give more emotion, and that they could give me more vocal runs, more vocal riffs. We had more of a palette to play with now that my voice has matured, and I trusted them to do that.
I come into the studio with my music learned. I’ve done the homework, I’ve worked with Kurt Crowley and Jasper Randall in the room to really look at the notes on page and learn. I don’t read music, so I ask for help before I get into the booth. And then when I got into the booth, I’m like, alright, I know exactly how this should go. I know all the beats. I know exactly the syncopation. And then Barlow and Bear are like, “Great, now make it your own.” And I go, “Ah, man. Now it’s my turn to truly Moana-ify it and put it in my voice.”
I’m such a fan of them for saying “Sounds too perfect. That’s not what Moana sounds like.” And I have, as I’ve grown older, wanted to get closer to perfection in vocal records and songs that will live forever. Whereas when I was recording them when I was 15, I was like, “This is so much fun! I’m on a Disney soundtrack!” Now I want it to make an impact. I want to sound good. I have so many more worries. But Barlow and Bear are like, “No, the first take you get to do it as perfectly as you want. The second take, let’s mess it up a little bit. Make it your own. Put emphasis on words that feel important to you, to the storyline.” And then at the very end, once I’m finally comfortable in that zone, then we do a character pass, including our directors and writers, to then do a full “Moana” pass.
“Where are the efforts? Are there grunts?” I’m looking at the storyboards and I’m just really connecting to the film itself. So we do a bunch of different passes and then it also comes down to trust. I trust them to take all of the material that I have given them in the four-hour recording session and make it into something beautiful — and they have. I applaud them for it. It’s not easy coming into a sequel with all of the fans’ expectations and giving us a record-breaking opening. They did that. So this award is absolutely on par. I can’t imagine two young women making more of an impact in the music space at the moment than Barlow and Bear.
I love that I was able to grow with this character and that Barlow, Bear, and I have worked with each other, because I’m excited to grow with them, and who knows what lies in the future for us? Because I adore those women. They’re good people. They are sound of heart as well, and they’re willing to go the distance.
Say “how far I’ll go, I’ll go beyond,”and keep pushing. This is only the beginning for them.
“Moana 2,” a Walt Disney release, is now in theaters.
Read Emily Bear and Abigail Barlow’s full IndieWire Honors profile.
