Moana (2026)

From the string of live-action remakes by Disney, Moana feels the most unnecessary of them all. The movie it's based on is less than ten years old (was released in November 2016) and it continues to be an active franchise, with Moana 2 being released at the end of 2024 and a third animated movie in production.

But with Moana/Vaiana being one of the most successful Disney franchises in recent years, considered the most streamed movie in the US between 2020-2024, it simply made too much sense to produce a live-action remake: if box-office projections don't miss the mark, it will be an automatic money-printing machine for Disney, accompanied with its own series of merchandise. Not without a cost (it's budget is estimated to be over $200 million) but certainly at a minimum creative effort.

The most cynical voice in my head is tempted to thrash this Moana remake and Disney for their shameless lack of originality, and for producing a movie that adds absolutely nothing solely for profit, which ends being no better than the original movie. But at the same time, how angry can film critics be with a movie that will probably make a lot of children happy this summer?

To give Disney some credit, I think Moana is one of the films that benefits the most from being translated from animation to live-action because of its lush Polynesian landscapes and breath-taking vistas of the open sea. Not that this looks necessarily better than animation, but at least there is an obvious gain from watching the same story now set in the real places it was inspired by (even if some feel like photoreal CG environments) and with human actors. Other live-action remakes, like those with plenty of talking animals or fantasy creatures, including The Lion King, Snow White, and The Little Mermaid, have a very weird feeling, often crossing the uncanny valley that make them look unappealing, uglier than the colourful animated originals.

Moana, instead, does look very good: the colour palette may be a bit muted compared to the animation, but it doesn't feel fake at all. Most of the scenes, from those set on the Polynesian island to those in the middle of the ocean, look very authentic, with the exception of the Tamatoa scene, which has an awful green-screen-feel to it: a clear example that, if this had been a live-action film from the ground up, some design choices would have been different.

In that regard, I compare it to last year's How to Train Your Dragon: a remake from a very recent animated film, one that 100% still holds up today, but with visuals and action scenes that make up for an epic live-action alternative, and with a healthy mix of human characters and CGI creatures so that neither look out of place. The problems come when you compare Moana (2016) with Moana (2026) and realise that... they are, indeed, the exact same movie.

Moana (2016) was perfect: there was no need to change anything, or rewrite, or expand anything. So, the filmmakers of the remake made the right choice of not changing anything... which also exposes just how inessential this version is.

My theory is that Disney fast-tracked the remake so that they could have Dwayne Johnson, who is now 54, realistically portray Maui in the live-action version - and potential sequels - before he gets too old. But by precisely having the same actor from the animated movie, now wearing a muscle suit and a wig, further proves the point that there is no soul behind this movie and that there was never an intention to improve, change, or expand the original material, or even surprise in the slightest.

Live-action remakes of classic Disney Princess films like Snow White, The Little Mermaid, or Beauty and the Beast at least try, for better or worse, to add depth to characters who didn't have much time to grow in the limited runtimes of the older animated films and correct the more outdated or conservative aspects. Last year's Lilo & Stitch - again, for better or worse - also changed the ending to strengthen the character of Nani, the older sister, and overall serve as slightly different interpretations of the same story.

With Moana there was very little that could be done, only adding some new jokes (even if most remain the same) and a few more lines of dialogue between Moana and Maui that doesn't really change much because, I insist, the characters' motivations and growth in the original were already perfect. It probably is best they didn't "ruin" Moana, but as a result, many viewers will probably be left disappointed, thinking there was little reason to go watch this new version when they can watch the original whenever they like on Disney+.

So, there is nothing really wrong with this version of Moana/Vaiana. In fact, it's one of Disney's best looking live-action remakes, and because of how faithful it is, everything works great: the story, the songs, the setting... If you love a movie, you'll love it no matter how many times you watch it, and if you love Moana, you will probably enjoy this version too. It's only that Disney will love your money a lot more.