Moana

(The more would be ‘Big Hero 6’ and ‘Zootopia’.)

From the heartwarming 'Moana' to the masterful 'Moonlight', these are the best films that defined our 2016.

The box office success of Moana feels like destiny: an old school Disney formula plus 21st century polish plus great songs plus the mere presence of Dwayne Johnson and near-universal critical notices is a surefire recipe for success...

Over nearly 80 years, the 56 feature films from Walt Disney Animation Studios have become beloved and instantly recognizable their iconic fairy tales, memorable comic-relief sidekicks, terrifying villains, and some of the greatest songs in cinema history. This week heralds the release of Disney’s latest animated film, Moana, which boasts songs co-written by Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. So there’s no better time to compile a list of the 25 best songs in animated Disney history — with a couple of important pre-list caveats. First, to avoid overloading the list with songs from only a few films, each movie here could only be represented by a maximum of two songs. Second, this list has films in the official Disney animation canon only, so nothing from Pixar or even The Nightmare Before Christmas. With that in mind, here’s the list!

Since the introduction of the Best Animated Feature Oscar at the 74th Academy Awards in 2002, we’ve seen a steady exponential increase in animated movies over the years. Pixar, and, by extent, Disney, has usually dominated the competition, with eight wins out of ten nominations, followed by DreamWorks and Disney’s animation studio. This year, we have a record 27 movies eligible for the award, and while the Academy can pick only five to nominate, for now it’s anyone’s game.

Y’know those back to school ads for Staples? The ones that repurpose the Christmas standard “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” to celebrate children going back class? I always hated those ads as a kid. Going back to school was not a time to celebrate. It was a time for grief and mourning.

First he was the Rock. Now Dwayne Johnson is the Eagle.

Thanks to the trailers for Moana, you’re already well-acquainted with the eponymous hero from Disney’s epic new adventure — and her demigod companion, voiced by Dwayne Johnson. As for the rest of the cast…well, we haven’t really met them just yet, but Disney has released several new photos along with character details to help shed some light on Moana’s friends and family. Oh, and there’s a villain, too.

Meet (baby) Moana.

Perhaps understandably so, the first trailer for Disney’s Moana was a bit more preoccupied with Maui, the jovial demigod character voiced by Dwayne Johnson. What can we say? The Rock is an instant selling point, even when we’re only hearing his voice. But the international trailer puts the spotlight on the titular hero, seen here in the opening scene as a cute little toddler who discovers that she has a rather magical connection to the ocean.

As promised, Disney has debuted the first official trailer for Moana, the studio’s new musical adventure featuring the voices of Dwayne Johnson as a demi-god — as if you could cast him any other way. The Rock already played Hercules, now he plays a guy who kind of looks and sounds like Hercules’ South Pacific cousin Maui, who boasts of his great deeds, his magical fish hook, and his apparently magical dancing tattoos.

Somehow — in between working out, reading scripts, and filming Fast 8 and Jumanji — Dwayne Johnson finds time to share updates and sneak peeks from his upcoming films with his sizable fan base. Today’s Rock-sclusive is the first official poster for Disney’s Moana, the animated musical adventure featuring the voices of Johnson (obviously) and newcomer Auli’i Cravalho. And in case you were wondering when we might see the first teaser, Johnson’s got you covered there, too.