Why New Zealand Will Be One of the Last to See Moana

It features three big name Kiwi stars, is set on our neighbouring Polynesian islands, and one of the main characters is mythical demi-God Maui.

But Moana, Disney's hyped animated feature that has Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson voicing Maui, won't screen in New Zealand until up to a month after almost everyone else sees it.

The film releases on November 23 in Canada and America, then begins rolling out around the rest of the world, including the UK on December 2.

New Zealand and Australian fans will be forced to wait until Boxing Day to see Moana on the big screen, with only Brazil, Turkey, Sweden and Japan scheduled to see it after New Zealand.

A spokesperson for Disney said the film was timed to release during the summer school holidays and was in line with previous releases like The Good Dinosaur, Big Hero Six and Frozen.

It was, the spokesperson said, "the best date for the New Zealand market".

Yesterday, it was revealed that Jemaine Clement, Temuera Morrison and Rachel House had all joined the cast of the film.

Moana herself is played by Hawaiian 15-year-old Auli'i Cravalho, who was cast after film-makers auditioned hundreds of hopefuls from across the Pacific, including New Zealand.

The cast includes people of Samoan, Hawaiian, Tokelauan and Maori descent.

- NZ Herald