Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, two GRAMMY Award winning songwriters both in their early-to-mid twenties, were handed the opportunity of a lifetime when they were approached by Walt Disney Studios to write music for Moana 2. Barlow, who was a high school student when the original Moana film released in theaters in 2016, was honored to write songs for the sequel: “To think that children all over the world are going to hear these songs and want to sing them is like something out of a dream.”
The girls’ musical group, officially known at Barlow & Bear, are not only the first all-female writing team to write all of the music on a Disney feature film, but also the youngest composers to do so, a marked distinction among a long legacy of Disney composers who have contributed timeless classics over the last near-century of Disney animation, from Alan Menken’s work on The Little Mermaid to Tim Rice’s music in The Lion King.
“It’s funny, because when we first got hired on this, I really was not that much older than Moana is in the story,” Bear says. “To be able to write for a peer and really identify our struggles and ourselves in her made it really easy for us to step into the shoes of Moana.”
Taking place three years after the events of the first film, Moana is now nineteen years old, embarking on her second adventure in Moana 2, as she is called upon by her ancestors to explore the uncharted waters of Oceania to unite the people of the Pacific.
“She’s a little older, a little wiser,” said songwriter Barlow. “We wanted to show that evolution not only in the music, but in the lyrics.” Barlow & Bear were determined to reflect the characters’ growth from the first movie in their songs for the sequel, and cites songs “Beyond,” “Can I Get a Chee Hoo,” and “We’re Back” as examples of their dedication to pairing the fun and iconic sound of Moana with the proper reflection of narrative development.
Each song that Barlow & Bear wrote were brought to live through Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foa’i – the original composers and songwriters of the first film – to fine-tune the sound and ensure the music had the appropriate Pacific flair and honored the traditional sounds in an accurate and respectful way, producing the exceptional track list of Moana 2, which encompasses not only the traditional sound of the Pacific, but the upbeat, pop-culture sound one expects from a modern Disney film.
This delicate balance knocked it out of the park in the original film, and the sequel is no exception! The music written by Barlow & Bear fits seamlessly into the Moana world and beautifully expands what we know of life on the island of Motunui.
The original Moana can be streamed on Disney+, but be sure to catch the masterful songwriting of Barlow & Bear in this incredible new adventure on the high seas with Moana, Maui, and the crew she brings along to unite her people in this brand-new adventure in theaters now!
