Meet the te reo voice of Disney's Moana

A young singer from Tokoroa has been cast as the voice behind Disney's Moana in a new version of the film entirely in te reo Maori.

Jaedyn Randell, 16, has been picked to play the starring role of teenager Moana Waialiki in the hit animated movie released late last year.

The Hamilton Girls' High School student said she was excited to be a part of the new version of the film - the first Disney movie to be translated into te reo - and to work alongside the likes of performance director Rachel House, who also played Gramma Tala in the original Moana.

Randell told Maori TV's Te Kaea she was encouraged to audition for the part after seeing news about it on social media.

"I saw it on Facebook and me and my mum talked about it. We were like: 'Oh well, you never know until you try'.

"So we just gave it in and yeah, here I am,'' she said, smiling.

The teenager is not new to the stage, taking part in kapa haka and having won a singing competition run by Kiwi children's show What Now in 2013 - when she was 11.

She blew audiences away in the audition rounds, when she sang covers of David Guetta's Titanium, featuring Sia, and Alicia Keys' This Girl Is On Fire.

As well as te reo, Moana has also been translated into Tahitian and French.

The te reo version of the film is due to be released in September.