Moana's canoe sailing to the Jersey shore

As the excitement builds for Disney's live-action 'Moana,' fans of the franchise will get a chance to feel closer to the famous wayfinder and voyager right here on our shores.

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.

The very boat used in the film is sailing here to the Jersey shore this Friday.

The captain who helped craft it for this film will pull right up to Jenkinson's Boardwalk in Point Pleasant Beach for a really fun fan experience.

Captain Nakoa Prejean worked with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who plays Maui, and Catherine Laga'aia, who plays Moana, teaching them the ropes of sailing and wayfinding.

Every textile, every voice, every face of this film belongs to Polynesia. That includes Laga'aia, a 19-year-old Samoan Australian who is making her feature film debut.

She's been a fan of the courageous daughter of the village chief since she was 9 years old.

From the music to the dance, to the dress, all of this is a full-circle moment for Laga'aia.

She recalls the moment she stepped into the costume.

"I did a try-on in Aotearoa New Zealand, which was really fun," says Laga'aia. "I got to stand with our costume designer, Liz McGregor, and getting to put it on for the very first time was very surreal. You're seeing and feeling these things for the first time, and they're all made out of the authentic material that they would have been made out of, which is so fun. It's such a beautiful thing to get to wear and don these outfits as a representation of where we all come from."

That, she says, is the beauty of this film: the commitment to authenticity and the culture of the Pacific Islands.

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