Screening & Panel | Wayfinding the Making of Moana 2 (2024) with the Filmmakers

Join us for a special screening of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ highly anticipated sequel, Moana 2 (2024), followed by a panel discussion with the film’s directors David Derrick, Jr. and Jason Hand and the film’s producers Yvett Merino and Christina Chen.

Tickets for Wayfinding the Making of Moana 2 (2024) with the Filmmakers will be available as follows:

• All member levels: Purchase tickets online beginning Friday, January 3 at noon PT via the Member Portal.
• Public (non-members): Remaining tickets available online beginning Saturday, January 4 at noon PT.

Upgrade your membership to receive priority access to purchase tickets. Membership dues and Walt's Circle donations may be paid as monthly installments or as a one-time annual payment. For more information, please email the Membership Department at membership@wdfmuseum.org.

David Derrick, Jr. (Director) helmed Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Moana 2 (2024) following his role as a story artist on the original Academy Award®-nominated film. Derrick joined Disney Animation to work on Moana (2016), drawn to the story by his own Samoan ancestry and personal connection to the title character’s quest to understand her heritage.

Derrick previously served as a story artist at DreamWorks Animation on such films as Megamind (2010), How to Train Your Dragon (2010), and Guardians (2017), among others.

Born and raised in Farmington, Utah, Derrick decided to pursue a career in the animation industry after seeing Disney Animation’s Tarzan® (1999) while in college. He studied character animation at CalArts.

Jason Hand (Director) made his feature directing debut on Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Moana 2, (2024) following a distinguished career as a story artist and head of story on Encanto (2021), one of the most popular Disney Animation films in recent history. His work on the original Moana (2016) feature includes a major contribution to the “Shark Head” scene, where Maui uncontrollably shapeshifts. For Zootopia (2016), Hand played a key role in creating and storyboarding the hilarious DMV scene featuring an agonizingly slow sloth clerk. He also received an Annie Award in 2022 for “Best Storyboarding-Feature” for his work on “The Family Madrigal” opening song sequence for Encanto. His other major story credits for Disney Animation include Big Hero 6 (2014) and Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) (as Storyboard Supervisor), among others.

Born and raised in Simi Valley, Calif., Hand grew up loving the Warner Bros’ Looney Tunes shorts (especially the ones directed by Chuck Jones) and remembers having his “socks knocked off” when his dad took him to see a re-release of Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book (1967) when he was just eight years old. Even at that young age, he was captivated by the amazing level of character development, the juxtaposition of the music into that world, and the entertainment value of the drawings. He grew up in a family that loved and respected the arts; his mother owned an arts and crafts store and his father worked in concrete construction for the major studios and occasionally brought him to visit movie sets.

His dreams led him to California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), where he met kindred spirits and focused on the various creative aspects of animation and live-action filmmaking. As a lifelong film buff, he recognized animation as a way to bring together his love of drawing and filmmaking. Prior to CalArts, Hand worked at the acclaimed visual effects studio, Dream Quest, where he had hands-on experiences making models.

After graduating from CalArts with a BFA in 2002, Hand worked as a layout artist and background designer (with Bill Perkins) on a number of animated projects, including several for Disneytoon Studios. He was hired at Disney Animation in 2005, and his first assignment was as a layout artist on The Princess and the Frog (2009). A short time after that, Hand was selected to participate in Disney Animation’s story internship. 
 

Christina Chen (Producer) first joined Walt Disney Animation Studios in 2010 as a financial analyst and made her producing debut in February 2023 with the Disney+ series event, Iwájú. She most recently joined fellow producer Yvett Merino on Disney Animation’s newest feature, Moana 2 (2024).

Born and raised in Irvine, California, Chen received an Economics degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She launched her professional career as an assurance associate at the accounting firm of Ernst & Young in San Francisco. A lifelong love of films and Disney Animation led her to seek a job at the studio.

She began working in production finance on feature films including the Academy Award®-winning Big Hero 6 (2013) and Frozen 2 (2019). This grew into a leadership position with the studio that concentrated on production planning. Other films that she has worked on include the Oscar®-nominated Moana (2016), the Oscar®-winning short film Feast (2014), and the short film, Us Again (2021).

Yvett Merino (Producer) joined fellow producer Christina Chen on Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Moana 2 (2024), having previously produced the Academy Award®-winning Encanto (2021) and the short film, Once Upon a Studio (2023). She is the first Latina to receive the Oscar® for Best Animated Feature. Merino first came to Disney Animation more than 25 years ago and has worked in a variety of production capacities on some of the most popular animated features of all time. Launching her Disney Animation career in the Technology department, she moved into the world of Production as a supervisor on Tangled (2010) and continued in that role on The Lion King 3D (2011), Wreck It Ralph (2012) and in Disney Animation’s Development Department. She then went on to serve as Production Manager on the Oscar-winning feature, Big Hero 6 (2014) and the Oscar-nominated Moana (2016).

Merino was also a part of the team that started Voces@Disney, the Studio’s first Latinx employee resource group, where she served as co-president for two years and currently as an Executive Champion for the group.

Merino lives in Los Angeles, California, with her family. She holds an MBA from Loyola Marymount University and an undergraduate degree in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Guests of The Walt Disney Family Museum can request American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters on-demand for our Talks, Workshops, School Experiences, Tours, and Storytimes. If you would like to request an ASL interpreter, please fill out the form linked below. Please note: Interpreter availability is not guaranteed and requests must be submitted at least two weeks in advance.

The museum is proud to partner with Bay Area Communication Access (BACA) for our ASL interpreter needs. For more information on their services, please visit BACA's website.

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