Moana's iconic canoe at Jersey Shore

Heading to the shore where fans of Moana are getting a chance to feel closer to the famous Wayfinder and Voyager. We first met Moana in 2016 in the animated Disney classic. Now that story is coming to life on the big screen in a big way. And that includes her iconic canoe. Alicia Vitarelli joins us now live from Pleasant Point right there along the Jersey Shore with one of the boats actually used in the film, Alicia. It is unbelievable. Fans have been coming in all day. Some of them in their Moana costumes. We have sand art. And yes, guys, there it is. The canoe. One of the boats that you will see in this live action film. It's really unbelievable to see the fact that it's come all the way from Hawaii here to New Jersey. And I want to introduce you to the captain, a really special guy. His name is Nicola Prejean. He is a longtime Wayfinder and the mastermind behind the voyaging in the film. He has dedicated his life to preserving and perpetuating the ancient art of canoe sailing. It runs in his blood. The founder of Hawaiian Ocean Adventures in Oahu helped design and build the canoes in this film. He also taught the stars to sail. From Moana, our new Moana, Catherine Langa'aia, to Maui, Dwayne the Rock Johnson. This is Moana's boat, Moana's canoe, our va'a that we handcrafted with the team, production team. And it's been one of three sister canoes that we built. All for production and to get some time training Katie and DJ on it. Which is so thrilling. How did they do? She did great. You know, DJ is a little questionable. Don't tell me I said that. No, sorry, brother. I was just kidding. No, it was great. Yeah. You know, Katie was a natural. We got about three or four days in Hawaii sailing some of the canoes that we build, traditional craft. She had a wonderful time. It was exceptional. We can do this. How did it feel watching it on the big screen? It was pretty amazing. You know, I'm not going to lie. It was, it's, yeah, it's kind of, it's humbling, you know, to see it up there. To see it from animation to real life and to be here standing on this va'a, what we call a va'a in Hawaiian. Here in beautiful, you know, New Jersey. New Jersey, right here. 105, baby, all day long. All right. Short, baby. Jersey short. Yeah. You're bringing the Hawaiian vibes here. Absolutely. Got to bring some aloha with us. You know that. Yeah, that's right. He brought the aloha. You just learned a word. What you're looking at right now is a va'a. It is a canoe. And you can see Captain Nikoa's work on the big screen when Disney's live action Moana hits theaters on July 10th. Look for the canoe or you can come here to Point Pleasant Beach. It's here all the way through Sunday night. And guess what? There's a hula dancing happening right now because this is a big activation, you guys. What do you think? You need to get up on stage. Telling you. Aloha. Where is your grass skirt, girl? You know she has. That's cool. The boat works. I had no idea. That's really cool. I did not realize that.