Xenotoon releases Disney-approved Moana 2 anime shorts

The animated movie Moana 2 was released on November 29, 2024, and two Moana 2 anime shorts created by Xenotoon and approved by Disney were recently released on December 7, 2024. The shorts were directed by Gensho Yasuda, who has previously worked on small-scale projects.

The animated shorts mainly featured two songs from Moana 2, dubbed in Japanese, accompanied by visuals rendered in CGI. Both shorts are currently available on YouTube.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Moana 1 and minor spoilers for Moana 2.

Disney Moana 2 anime shorts were released alongside its Japanese debut

The Moana 2 anime shorts were animated by Xenotoon and directed by Gensho Yasuda, who has previously directed a short film named Make Love, an anime series named Isekai System, a music video named Violet!?, and another music video called Can't Be Right.

The Moana 2 anime shorts mainly feature the songs We're Back and Beyond, covered in Japanese by Tomona Yabuki. Similarly, the studio has also planned to cover two additional songs, Get Lost and Can I Get a Chee Hoo?

The Moana 2 anime shorts have been animated in a heavily stylized manner with a completely different art style, merging both 2D animation and CGI. The style closely resembles the animation of Trigun Stampede and Land of the Lustrous by Studio Orange.

The actual reason behind the Moana 2 anime shorts has not been disclosed. Still, given Moana 2's Japanese release on December 6, 2024, it is evident that the shorts were created to promote the movie to Japanese audiences while also involving an upcoming director.

Moana 2 is a direct continuation of the first movie and has a plot centered around Moana trying to reunite the various islands by breaking a curse placed by an old God. The movie's animation has remained consistent, and it currently holds a rating of 7.1 out of 10 on IMDb.

Gensho Yasuda has previously produced small-scale projects, but his first theatrical anime movie, titled Make a Girl, will be released on January 31, 2025. Yasuda will be heavily involved in the project, serving as the director and screenplay writer while supervising the storyboarding.

Make a Girl will be a sci-fi romance anime movie centered on the struggles of robots' programmed feelings and their own developing emotions.

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Anupam is an anime and manga writer at Sportskeeda. Currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Logistics & Transportation, Anupam has simultaneously gained professional experience of almost 2 years as a content writer, having worked previously for Otakukart and Sportslumo.

Being part of the anime fandom for over a decade, Anupam believes his greatest strength lies in theorycrafting around animanga series and predicting their plots. His personal experiences have guaranteed him detailed knowledge about the reputation, reception, and plot points of several anime, which he combines with extensive research to report on a topic. They have also taught him the significance of respecting and accurately reporting on community sentiments attached to a particular series, which has now become a non-negotiable part of his writing process.

Anupam’s favorite artist is video game designer Hideo Kojima, whose ability to nonchalantly embed deep messages in his games he deeply admires. When not debating fresh anime theories, Anupam can be found reading or playing combat games.

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Edited by Toshali Kritika