11 Must-See Movies of November

Moana Promotional Image, via Disney

Moana (November 23rd)

Synopsis: A young Polynesian woman goes off to a fabled island in order to save her family. Along for the ride is the demigod Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson).

Moana is the final Disney animated film of the year, and sounds like they’re going out strong. With other studios’ box office returns less than secure this year, Disney’s been the studio to beat. At last count Disney’s films had grossed over $4 billion this year between Zootopia, Captain America: Civil War, The Jungle Book and Pete’s Dragon according to Forbes. With all that success, the studio’s not skimping with Moana.

The Polynesian story’s directed by Disney alumnus Ron Musker and John Clements. Names don’t sound familiar? They’re the guys who made Disney hits like The Little Mermaid and Aladdin (and, my personal favorite, The Great Mouse Detective). The colorful animation and songs, written with collaborator Lin-Manuel Miranda (bet you’ve heard of that guy!) put this on par with Disney’s Tangled and Frozen. There was some brief controversy over Maui-inspired costumes, and certain groups have criticized the trailer’s lack of Moana herself in favor of Johnson’s Maui, but it’s safe to assume Disney has another massive box office wunderkind on its hands.

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