Dwayne Johnson Signs In For Disney's New Animated Film 'Moana'

Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Johnson |

Disney might be going full speed ahead on its live action film adaptations, but it is not neglecting its animated movies either.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has just signed on to lend his voice as the demigod Maui in the South Pacific adventure called Moana.

The Rock shared this piece of information on his Instagram account. He took a photo while signing some paperwork and he had a thumb's up sign pointing two beloved characters from another Disney movie called Big Hero 6.

"At DISNEY STUDIOS signing contracts to play the male lead in their next big classic animated musical, #MOANA. Just had an amazing 2hr presentation and it's easy to see why they're the greatest story tellers in the world. I'm excited. And in the background my homies Fred & Wasabi from  #BigHERO6 are jumpin' for joy joy cause they heard I'm gonna sing in the movie," he captioned the photo.

The Rock has built a very likable and humorous character on screen, and has starred in popular movie franchises such as Fast and Furious and G.I. Joe. This summer, he will star in the disaster movie called San Andreas, and he will be playing the villain Black Adam in Warner Bros' Shazam movie.

As for Moana, the film's synopsis reveals that the lead character Maui will team up with South Pacific Islander Moana as the two embark on a journey through Oceania in search of "a fabled island."

It will be directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, both of whom have worked magic on classical films such as The Little Mermaid and The Princess and the Frog.

Before Moana, Disney Animation Studios has worked on animated films such as Wreck-it Ralph, Frozen and Big Hero 6, even edging out previous contender Pixar. In fact, the movies were so successful that two already have sequels in the works - Big Hero 6 and Frozen.

Genesis Rodriguez, who voiced Honey Lemon in the original Big Hero 6 films told Screen Rant about the sequel, saying: "There's rumblings of something else happening. I mean yesterday I just saw that it's the third most grossing Disney animated feature, so this is huge for them. I doubt that they wouldn't want to do another one. It was a huge success."

Meanwhile, Disney confirmed news about Frozen's sequel right after the seven-minute mini movie Frozen Fever was shown alongside the live action Cinderella.

Moana will hit theaters on November 23, 2016.