School trip surprise as students meet The Rock

A school trip to London turned into an unforgettable red-carpet encounter for about 50 pupils from St Gregory Primary School in Sudbury, Suffolk. The students believed they were on a standard excursion, but were instead treated to the Moana Experience, an event celebrating the upcoming live-action adaptation of the hit 2016 film.

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It was awesome [to meet them] and they were losing their minds and going bonkers and going crazy. That's the fun part of fame and the best part of fame. This kind of stuff is important.

Their surprise visit culminated in a face-to-face meeting with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who plays Maui in the film. Johnson expressed his delight at meeting the children, describing their excitement as "awesome" and "the best part of fame."

The star-studded event at Potters Field Park was a collaboration between Disney and the school's headteacher, Daniel Woodrow. It came about after the pupils created a viral social media video in January, hoping to capture Johnson's attention. Woodrow had promised the children they would see the new Moana film on a school trip if Johnson saw their clip.

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I heard you guys were super, super pumped and excited to see live action Moana, so I'm going to find a theatre, rent it out, and you guys are going to see Moana. Love you guys, keep doing great in school and, as Maui says, 'You're welcome'.

Johnson responded with a video message, promising to rent out a cinema for the students and their families to watch the film, and also offered to pay for their sweets and snacks. He told the children he was "so moved" by their video. At the event, Woodrow noted Johnson's generosity, saying it was "incredible" for the "biggest movie star on the planet" to spend so much time with the children.

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For the biggest movie star on the planet to spend so much time with the children... that was incredible, and you could see how excited they were. He said happy birthday to someone... and he took a video with them, so the children have all been in a movie with Dwayne Johnson now, which is incredible. It's been an amazing day.