After directing The Princess and the Frog (2009), Clements and Musker started working on an adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Mort,[3] but problems with acquiring the necessary film rights prevented them from continuing with that project.

[4] The genesis of one of those ideas (the one that was ultimately green-lit) occurred in 2011, when Musker began reading up on Polynesian mythology, and learned of the heroic exploits of the demigod Māui.

[7] At first, they had planned to make the film entirely about Maui, but their initial research trips inspired Clements to pitch a new idea focused on the young daughter of a chief.

[9] The reasons for the halt of this voyaging tradition remain unknown, but scholars have offered climate change and resulting shifts in ocean currents and wind patterns as one possible explanation.

[19] In February 2024, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that the series had been reworked into a theatrical sequel titled Moana 2, with Derrick and Shurer remaining attached to the project.

[20] By the release of the first trailer in May, Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller were confirmed as co-directors alongside Derrick, while Christina Chen and Yvett Merino were revealed to replace Shurer as the film's producers.

[21] In April 2023, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Walt Disney Pictures was developing a live-action adaptation of Moana to be produced by Johnson, Dany Garcia, and Hiram Garcia, under their production company Seven Bucks Productions, and Beau Flynn of Flynn Pictures Co., executive produced by Auliʻi Cravalho and Scott Sheldon, and written by Jared Bush, with Johnson set to reprise his role as Maui.

[44][45][46] On January 10, 2025, Buck Woodall filed a lawsuit against the Walt Disney Company for the alleged reasons of stealing the ideas of the first Moana movie and the second, asking for a sum of $17 billion.