By Kiwiana Ngabung – EMTV Online, Port Moresby
Earlier this week, Disney revealed who will be voicing one of its newest princesses, Moana.
Fourteen-year-old Auli’i Cravalho, is the lucky native Hawaiian, out of hundreds of others who auditioned for the part throughout the Pacific islands.
Auli’i thought she would never get the part. She tells PEOPLE, “I was getting through my freshman year, and there were already so many great submissions over YouTube.”
She was one of a few other girls who got a call-back, and that was when the directors and producer gave her the good news.
Director, John Musker said, “Auli’i demonstrated a certain fearlessness in her auditions and call-backs.
Casting director, Rachel Sutton, recalled Auli’i after seeing her perform at a charity competition and she was the last girl Sutton saw on her last day of casting. And now it’s a dream come true for Auli’i.
“She has a playful, mischievous wit. She can project vulnerability, she doesn’t seem intimidated at all by the challenges ahead, and her Polynesian background has helped shape her connection to family, hard work, and music.
“These are all qualities she shares with Moana,” director Musker said.
The Disney 3D-animated movie, goes back 2,000 years ago to the Pacific where Moana Waialiki sails out on a daring mission to fulfil her ancestors’ unfinished quest.
While on her journey she meets Maui, the once-powerful demigod (who Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson voices). Together they go on an adventure, encountering enormous fiery creatures and impossible odds.
Moana is Disney’s first Polynesian princess and is set to be released on November 23, 2016.
