Moana

Consider this the calm before the storm. Next weekend, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will open and dominate both the box office and every headline, drowning out each and every other movie currently screening in theaters. In the meantime, Moana took advantage of this quiet window to win one more strong weekend while Office Christmas Party got off to a pretty good start.

This weekend’s box office was essentially the hangover from last week’s big holiday: the numbers are a little smaller, very little in the top 10 actually moved around, and the only new release didn’t even come close to threatening the dominion of Moana and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

The box office success of Moana feels like destiny: an old school Disney formula plus 21st century polish plus great songs plus the mere presence of Dwayne Johnson and near-universal critical notices is a surefire recipe for success. How do you bet against that? While Disney Animation led the five-day Thanksgiving holiday, other films used this window to also rise to the occasion...while a handful

Since the introduction of the Best Animated Feature Oscar at the 74th Academy Awards in 2002, we’ve seen a steady exponential increase in animated movies over the years. Pixar, and, by extent, Disney, has usually dominated the competition, with eight wins out of ten nominations, followed by DreamWorks and Disney’s animation studio. This year, we have a record 27 movies eligible for the award, and while the Academy can pick only five to nominate, for now it’s anyone’s game.

Not long ago, Walt Disney Animation Studios was all but left for dead. Disney subsidiary Pixar was the animated world’s critical darling, and its frequent box office champ. As 2D animation began to lose favor with audiences, so did a lot of Disney proper’s offerings. But the last few years have seen the Mouse House rebound in a major way, with some of the biggest animated hits in the company’s history, including Frozen, Big Hero 6, and Zootopia, which made a whopping $1 billion worldwide earlier this year.

Thanks to the trailers for Moana, you’re already well-acquainted with the eponymous hero from Disney’s epic new adventure — and her demigod companion, voiced by Dwayne Johnson. As for the rest of the cast…well, we haven’t really met them just yet, but Disney has released several new photos along with character details to help shed some light on Moana’s friends and family. Oh, and there’s a villain, too.