I’m so excited to share all the fun from the World Premiere of Disney’s MOANA in Hollywood! At the invite of Disney, I had the pleasure of walking the blue carpet, attending the Polynesian-inspired pre-party, and seeing the World Premiere of the movie in the El Capitan theater surrounded by cast, crew, Disney execs & employees, their family & friends, and the other 24 awesome bloggers on our #MoanaEvent press trip! I’ve only attended one world premiere before (for Disney’s PLANES in 2013), so this was extra exciting for me! Hollywood Boulevard was completely abuzz with the excitement and Polynesian-inspired festivities. There was a sea of people everywhere!
I wore what felt like a sort of tribal-art inspired dress with a variety of colors. There are SO many beautiful blues in the movie. But, Moana actually wears quite a bit of orange hues. So, I was beyond thrilled to find a dress that incorporated all of that, including even a beaded turquoise neckline! And , I knew it was meant to be when I found it on the clearance rack in my size and it fit! YES! I scored my shoes (black-beaded sandals), the dress, and the orange pashmina for $60 – TOTAL! Yay!
Once we got started on the carpet, we were presented with fresh leis – just like if we were on the islands! So fun! Amy from Mom Spark and I were “photo buddies” on the carpet so we could make sure to get shots of each other (and together of course)!
Then, after walking down the blue carpet, everyone entered the party area that was lit with all kinds of blue hues (almost as though we were in the ocean). There were fun photo-opps, delicious food stations, some tasty Dole treats, games & activities, music, Polynesian dancers and more! We enjoyed taking part in all the fun things there. And of course we had to do a little celebrity spotting.
Here’s a good video overview of the whole night:
All the movie’s celebrities there – like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (just named People’s ‘Sexiest Man Alive, by the way), Lin-Manuel Miranda, and the star of the show Auli’i Cravahalo (“Moana”) and her sweet mama. We also saw Pete Wentz, the director of the new Thor movie, Kristi Yamaguchi, and I literally almost bumped into Bob Iger a couple times (CEO of Disney). And, as we were heading into the theater, I had a quick exchange with John Musker, one of the directors of the film. A couple friends happened to get photos with John Lasseter. Then during the movie, we sat right by Jeremy Macguire (“Joe” on Modern Family). SO fun!




In addition to all the pre-party fun, there was more big surprise in store! Before the movie started we were treated to a live performance from Te Vaka, the South Pacific Polynesian musical group – lead by Opetaia Foa’i. Foa’i joined forces with Lin-Manuel Miranda to do the music on the movie and it’s INCREDIBLE! The soundtrack comes out November 18th and I cannot WAIT to get it! Here’s a look at part of that performance:
WHAT A NIGHT!!!! It was absolutely incredible – the atmosphere, the experience, the movie! Stay tuned for a full movie review coming soon!