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For a while, Disney struggled to catch up with other Industry giants in the realm of 3D animation, especially in the 2000s, but in the 2010s, the House of Mouse did eventually find its footing. And among the many successes it delivered, 2016’sMoanaundoubtedly remains the best 3-D movie the studio crafted, which also played a part in Taika Waititi landing the director’s gig forThor 3.
It’s not pretty common for a trilogy to witness its third movie becoming its biggest success, but with MCU’sThor, this did end up being the case. However, if it wasn’t for 2016’sMoana, the threequel toThormight’ve been completely different than the one we got.
Also read:“People are nicer to me in New Zealand”: Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park Actor Thanked Taika Waititi For Saving His Image After Playing Villain Against Cillian Murphy
Taika Waititi’s Work onMoanaHelped Him SecureThor: Ragnarok
While producer Brad Winderbaum was set to get Taika Waititi on board forThor: Ragnarok, this almost didn’t end up happening, as Waititi didn’t have his passport at the time. Although he arranged a flight to Los Angeles to meet and present his pitch to Feige, Waititi mistakenly sent back his passport along with some of his luggage back to his native New Zealand. And with the window to meet the Marvel Boss shutting down, the director found a visa letter from The Walt Disney Company for writingMoana, as he wrote the first draft of the movie.
Fortunately for him, the TSA agents were fond of Disney’sMoana, which is reasonable considering it was a big hit, as they corroborated his identity. And as the story goes, he did end up meeting Kevin Feige in person, and his pitch did win over the Marvel Boss. Waititi recalled,
“My sizzle reel wasn’t anything other than things I thought it might be cool to see, image-wise, action-wise, but also tone. There’s a certain type of humor to this, and we can really be a bit fresher, with a lot of color. It should just be bold and bombastic and really in your face, as a contrast to the first two films.”according toSlash Film.
Thor: Ragnarokdid end up being one of the best pre-Infinity Warmovies in the MCU, as like Gunn’sGuardians, it brought something new and colorful to the table in contrast to other MCU releases at the time.
Also read:Taika Waititi Kept Feeling Too Sad About Himself To Write a Single Page of the New Star Wars Film, Claimed He’s Just a Lazy Writer
Why Did Taika Waititi QuitMoana?
AlthoughTaika Waititidid serve as one of the initial writers for theDwayne Johnson-ledMoana, it wasn’t long before theJojo Rabbitdirector bailed out from the project. Explaining his reasoning behind his decision to leave the movie, Waititi explained he wasn’t too fond of the material.
“It wasn’t anything to do with the process, I just got b[ored],”he toldThe Guardian.“Like I do all the time, I just ended up wanting to do my own thing again and make a vampire movie instead.”
Also read:“Why not be nice if you’re that big?”: Taika Waititi Claimed Nightclub Bouncers Had a Role in Shaping One Fan-Favorite Character in Thor Films
Even though the fourth movie in theThorfranchise failed to live up to its predecessor, putting Waititi’s future in the MCU on ice, fans are grateful that he was the one to steer the wheel ofThor 3.
BothThor: RagnarokandMoanaare available to stream on Disney Plus.
Source:Slash Film
Santanu Roy
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2539
Santanu Roy is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on movies, with over 2,000 articles under his belt. He has been pursuing a degree in Animation and possesses a deep love for the medium of animation. Having spent the better part of the last two years pumping out articles for FW, Santanu excels at covering movie analysis and news surrounding Pixar, DCU, DreamWorks, and Batman’s cinematic legacy.With psychological thrillers and intimate slice-of-life dramas ranking among his favorite genres, Santanu is a big admirer of Luca Guadagnino, Shane Black, Park Chan-wook, and Brad Bird.
