CNN
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The main character in “Moana 2” can walk on water and move oceans, but is she a princess?
Auli’i Cravalho, who voices Moana in both the 2016 original animated film and new the sequel, said she’s more than that.
“Films are always representative of their times,” Cravalho told EW,
“For today’s day and age, we want to see a young woman being the hero of her own story,” she said. “So, yeah, she is a princess, but she’s also a hero. I like that those two words are now interchangeable.”
But don’t expect Moana to look like a typical Disney princess.
“You probably won’t see Moana in a ballgown,” Cravalho said. “And that’s fine.”
The actress, now 24, was 14 when she was first cast as the character. Moana’s journey in the new movie, Cravalho told People, marks the first time “in Disney history that a Disney princess has been allowed to age.”
“My voice has changed from when I played her when I was 15, and now her voice is a little different,” she said. “The songs that I’m singing also get to show off a different side of myself.”
Cravalho costars with Dwayne Johnson, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, Rachel House and Alan Tudyk in the sequel.
“Moana 2” pulled in $13.8 million in preview screenings, according to Variety, making it the biggest preview opening to date for Disney Animation.
