WDW Daily News

The new rendition of the classic song is produced by GRAMMY-winning veteran Ron Fair, whose music career spans 37 years as a major-label record company leader and accomplished producer, arranger, recording engineer and musical director. Fair was brought in to produce by Disney’s president of Music & Soundtracks, Mitchell Leib, who also brought Grande and Legend to the project. The history of collaboration between Leib and Fair in film music goes back to the highly-successful “Pretty Woman” soundtrack. “Ron was the first and only choice to make this particular record,” says Leib. “No one is a better vocal producer and he also has a great understanding of the filmmaking dynamic.”

Fair’s recordings have won six GRAMMY Awards and have been nominated 18 times. Fair discovered and shepherded Christina Aguilera, selling over 50 million albums and winning numerous GRAMMY Awards. He A&R’d Aguilera’s first five albums and championed the Black Eyed Peas to 27 million albums, 4 number-ones and multiple GRAMMY wins, as well as co-producing and arranging the strings on their global breakthrough # 1 hit “Where is The Love?”

Says Fair, “Stepping into the shoes of an Oscar and GRAMMY Award-winning classic is not small potatoes. But with today’s two greatest plutonium singers – John Legend and Ariana Grande – we are bringing the song back with a new school-old school fresh treatment that shows the soulfulness and power of what a great melody and lyric can inspire.”

The music video will be directed by Dave Meyers, the innovative visionary whose long-time collaborations with major artists like P!nk, Janet Jackson, Ice Cube and Britney Spears have resulted in dozens of award nominations and many wins, including a GRAMMY in 2005 for Best Music Video and 11 MTV Video Music Awards, including one for Katy Perry’s smash hit “Firework.” He recently directed the music video for P!nk’s hit single “Just Like Fire” from the Walt Disney Records soundtrack for “Alice Through The Looking Glass.”

Menken also provides the film score, with new recordings of the original songs written by Menken and Ashman. Also featured are three new songs written by Menken and veteran lyricist and three time Oscar winner Tim Rice. The original motion picture soundtrack will be released by Walt Disney Records on March 10, 2017. The pre-order is available now at http://disneymusic.co/BeautySndtrkP.

Miranda said, “Moana has a family that she loves, an island that she loves, but there’s a voice inside that’s calling. The idea of quieting life enough so that you can hear that inner voice was something really worth writing about for me because I think it’s so important.”

According to Mancina, the music is designed to propel the story. “Music is like a gigantic magnifying glass when it comes to the emotion of a story,” said Mancina. “It can enhance it; it can manipulate the story—you have to be very careful. I like to leave a theater with those tunes in my head. And if I still have them in there the next day, I’m really happy.”

Opetaia Foa’i added, “For more than 20 years, I’ve been touring the world telling stories of our ancestors, who were the best navigators the world has ever seen.  When I first learned that ‘Moana’ was about voyaging, I thought ‘when you dream upon a star.’ Everything really aligned with my purpose of sharing this awesome culture.”

The Songs of “Moana”:

• Written and performed by Foa’i and Miranda, “We Know the Way” showcases the rich and vibrant voyaging life of Moana’s ancestors.
• “How Far I’ll Go” is Moana’s song performed by Auli’i Cravalho. “It’s intimidating to write an ‘I want’ song for a Disney animated movie,” said Miranda. “You think of Ariel with ‘Part of Your World’ or ‘Reflection’ from ‘Mulan.’ This is Moana’s chance to say for herself how she feels and where she belongs.”
• “Where You Are” is written by Miranda, Foa’i and Mancina and performed by Christopher Jackson, Rachel House, Nicole Scherzinger, Auli’i Cravalho and Louise Bush. The song introduces the audience to Moana’s village and the key players.
• Written by Miranda and performed by Dwayne Johnson, “You’re Welcome” showcases the colorful personality of Maui. “I just thought that it would be really fun to hear The Rock sing ‘You’re welcome for my existence. You’re welcome that you get to meet me,'” said Miranda. “Dwayne has such incredible charm and he totally delivers the character’s confidence and cockiness.”
• Jemaine Clement was tapped for “Shiny,” a song written by Miranda and Mancina that spotlights Tamatoa, the 50-foot crab with trust issues. Miranda said “Tamatoa is mean and ostentatious, so we really wanted to create the anti-lesson of the movie. If Moana’s journey is listening to her inner voice, Tamatoa is there to say, ‘It doesn’t matter. Who cares? It’s really about how you look.’ He’s from the deepest, darkest part of the sea and feels his armor is important. You got to be shiny.”
• “I Am Moana (Song of the Ancestors)” was written by Miranda, Mancina and Foa’i and performed by Rachel House and Cravalho. The song marks an important moment in the film when Moana is doubting her decision to take on this huge challenge.
• With music by Foa’i, Miranda and Mancina, and lyrics by Foa’i and Miranda, “Know Who You Are” is performed by Cravalho, Vai Mahina, Olivia Foa‘i, Foa’i and Matthew Ineleo. The song is heard late in the film as Moana’s journey nears its culmination.
• The end credit version of “How Far I’ll Go” is performed by Canadian singer/songwriter and Def Jam recording artist Alessia Cara(“Here,” “Wild Things,” “Scars to Your Beautiful”).
• Hollywood Records artist Jordan Fisher teams up with Miranda for the end-credit version of “You’re Welcome.”

For centuries, the greatest sailors in the world masterfully navigated the vast Pacific, discovering the many islands of Oceania. But then, 3,000 years ago, their voyages stopped for a millennium – and no one knows exactly why. From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes “Moana,” a sweeping, CG-animated feature film about an adventurous teenager who is inspired to leave the safety and security of her island on a daring journey to save her people. Inexplicably drawn to the ocean, Moana (voice of Auliʻi Cravalho) convinces the mighty demigod Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson) to join her mission, and he reluctantly helps her become a wayfinder like her ancestors who sailed before her. Together, they voyage across the open ocean on an action-packed adventure, encountering enormous monsters and impossible odds, and along the way, Moana fulfills her quest and discovers the one thing she’s always sought: her own identity.

The Moana original motion picture soundtrack features 14 tracks and is available wherever music is sold and streamed on Nov. 18, 2016.   The Moana two-disc deluxe edition and the digital deluxe edition soundtrack, which are also available Nov. 18, feature additional tracks including demos, outtakes and instrumental karaoke tracks.  The soundtrack can be purchased at http://disneymusic.co/MVOSndtrk and at streaming partners http://disneymusic.co/MVOSndtrkWS.  For more information on Walt Disney Records’ releases, like us on Facebook.com/disneymusic or follow us at Twitter.com/disneymusic and Instagram.com/disneymusic.

“How Far I’ll Go” is Moana’s song written by Miranda and is performed in the film by newcomer Auli’i Cravalho.  The end-credit version of the song is performed by Canadian singer/songwriter and Def Jam recording artist Alessia Cara.  Her gold-certified album Know-It-All includes the multi-platinum singles “Here” and “Wild Things,” plus the critically-acclaimed single “Scars to Your Beautiful.”  Cara is a Juno Award winner for Breakthrough Artist of the Year and is a 2016 American Music Award nominee for New Artist of the Year.  She recently completed a tour with Coldplay.

Written by Miranda and performed by Dwayne Johnson in the film, “You’re Welcome” showcases the colorful personality of Maui.  Hollywood Records artist Jordan Fisher teams up with Miranda for the end-credit version of “You’re Welcome.”    After a breakout performance in the Emmy® Award-winning production of Grease: Live, Jordan Fisher released his debut single, “All About Us,” which soared to the top of the Billboard Pop charts.  Fisher, who recently opened for Alicia Keys at this year’s Apple Music Festival, has joined the Broadway cast of “Hamilton,” and is set to release his full-length album in 2017.

For centuries, the greatest sailors in the world masterfully navigated the vast Pacific, discovering the many islands of Oceania. But then, 3,000 years ago, their voyages stopped for a millennium – and no one knows exactly why. From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes “Moana,” a sweeping, CG-animated feature film about an adventurous teenager who is inspired to leave the safety and security of her island on a daring journey to save her people. Inexplicably drawn to the ocean, Moana (voice of Auliʻi Cravalho) convinces the mighty demigod Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson) to join her mission, and he reluctantly helps her become a wayfinder like her ancestors who sailed before her. Together, they voyage across the open ocean on an action-packed adventure, encountering enormous monsters and impossible odds, and along the way, Moana fulfills her quest and discovers the one thing she’s always sought: her own identity.

The Moana soundtrack can be pre-ordered today HERE and a digital pre-order will be available Friday, Oct. 28^th.  The Moana original motion picture soundtrack features 14 tracks and will be available wherever music is sold and streamed on Nov. 18, 2016.  The Moanatwo-disc deluxe edition and the digital deluxe edition soundtrack, which are also available Nov. 18, feature additional tracks including demos, outtakes and instrumental karaoke tracks.  For more information on Walt Disney Records’ releases, like us onFacebook.com/disneymusic or follow us at Twitter.com/disneymusic and Instagram.com/disneymusic/.