In 2016, we were introduced to a young Polynesian warrior named Moana. In a year when Disney dominated the box office with hits like Zootopia, The Jungle Book, Captain America: Civil War, Finding Dory, and Doctor Strange, Moana was one of the last films up before the Christmas release of Rogue One. As the seventh and potentially final Walt Disney Animation Studios film from iconic directors John Musker and Ron Clements, Moana captivated audiences with its unforgettable protagonists, stunning animation, and standout soundtrack crafted by Tony-winning musical mastermind Lin-Manuel Miranda. Even though it was a critical and financial success, Moana seemed doomed to live a cinematic life as “the Disney movie that came after Zootopia.” While Zootopia swept awards season, Moana‘s life on home media and streaming dwarfed Zootopia in ways nobody could’ve imagined. Since the launch of Disney+ in 2019, Moana has remained in the top 10 (sometimes the top 5) most-watched films across all streaming platforms, completely cementing its place alongside Musker and Clements’ other long-enduring classics like The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. And you know what that means! FRANCHISE!
I often say on my own time that people couldn’t pay me to have strong reactions about live-action Disney remakes one way or the other. Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella, Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book, and David Lowery’s Pete’s Dragon are, in my opinion, the only remakes worth something. In all honesty, those three films seem to be the only ones made by filmmakers who were actually having any sort of real fun. Other remakes are either mostly forgettable (Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan & Wendy) or incredibly boring (Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent). The rare remakes to genuinely anger me have been Robert Zemeckis’ dumbfounding remake of Pinocchio, Tim Burton’s insanely lifeless remake of Dumbo, and whatever the hell Marc Webb was doing with Snow White. Naturally, when I heard a live-action remake of Moana was in the works, I had two reactions. The Disney fangirl part of my brain was afraid another Musker & Clements-directed film would be turned into a dull remake, as was the case with Aladdin and The Little Mermaid. The cinephile in me couldn’t help but laugh at how transparently profit-driven the film’s existence was. Every studio movie, even the great ones, is made for money, but a Moana remake being announced only 7 years after the original’s premiere was insanely comical. It didn’t help that the remake was announced the same day as an animated sequel, which was just episodes of a planned Moana series put together to make it feature-length.
If Moana 2 was a boring slog with a meandering plot, annoying side characters, a painfully underutilized villain, and forgettable songs, Thomas Kail’s live-action remake is the cinematic equivalent of your friends butchering a Beatles song at karaoke. Everything about Moana 2026 is significantly worse than the original 2016 classic. It’s so inferior to the original that it fails to justify its existence more than any other remake, including Jon Favreau’s immensely pointless remake of The Lion King. If you thought screenwriters Jared Bush (who co-wrote the original) and Dana Ledoux Miller (who co-wrote the sequel with Bush) would expand on the lore, give more screen time to other characters, or even write new jokes, you won’t find them here. Moana 2026 is very faithful to the original. On paper, that’s not a bad thing, right? After all, wasn’t the problem with the remakes of Aladdin, Mulan, and Lilo & Stitch that they strayed too far from the original films? Yes, that was a problem. However, that problem can’t be solved by just doing the original in a different format.
The long and short of it is that the remake is completely devoid of life. Taking Disney’s most visually stunning animated feature and making it look like every other blockbuster movie that comes out is too insulting to put into words. It may have more color than your average Disney remake, but the magic and vibrancy of the original are completely gone. The production design is surprisingly dull. Even Beauty and the Beast earned its Oscar nomination for production design. Nothing in the movie feels tangible or real; everything feels like it was shot inside a studio lot or someone’s backyard. Musker & Clements’ films have suffered the most in terms of animated films being adapted into live-action. Like Aladdin and The Little Mermaid, everything in Moana looks fake, hollow, and depressingly downbeat. Did you like Tamatoa (Jemain Clement)‘s fun design in the animated film? Sorry, he’s a big scary CGI monster now. If you want to see Moana (Catherine Lag’aia) and Maui (Dwayne Johnson) do the exact same things they did 10 years ago and nothing else? Then congratulations, this is the movie for you!
Moana 2026 being nothing more than a shot-for-shot remake wouldn’t be such a hindrance if the movie actually looked good. Take last year’s live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon as an example of how to do it correctly. Dragons is also shot-for-shot, and it too often fails to justify its own existence. However, the movie itself is still good. Why? Because Dean DeBlois is a great director who took the lessons he learned from directing the original animated films and applied them to a new medium. Despite it being his first live-action film, DeBlois directed Dragons with an unmistakable aura of confidence, energy, and skill, kind of like Brad Bird when he made the jump in 2011. Moana does not have that. Thomas Kail made the jump from Broadway and television to big-budget blockbusters, and the transition was not smooth. Kail’s direction ranges from lifeless to extremely confusing. You would think a filmmaker with an extensive background in musical theater (Kail has a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for Hamilton) would know how a musical number is supposed to look and feel. Instead, nearly every musical performance has actors standing around while the camera boringly moves along with no sense of energy or life. The musical numbers are not passionate, and the action sequences are not thrilling. One can’t help but wonder how and why Kail was chosen to direct this movie to begin with, as his feature directorial debut no less. I can’t help but indulge in my own conspiracy theory that Kail only got the job because it was easier (and frankly, cheaper) to hire a theater and TV director with no theatrical experience than to ask Lin-Manuel Miranda to direct the film instead. Had Miranda helmed the project, it probably would’ve had a slightly better chance at being decent.
While we’re on the topic of Lin-Manuel Miranda, I’m on record stating that I believe Moana is part of the Holy Trinity of post-Renaissance Disney soundtracks, sitting comfortably next to Randy Newman’s soundtrack for The Princess and the Frog and Miranda’s own soundtrack for Encanto. Coming a year after Miranda took over the world with Hamilton, Moana‘s soundtrack is otherworldly and beautiful, as is the musical score by Mark Mancina. The songs and score sound mostly fine here, with How Far I’ll Go remaining the greatest Disney “I want song” ever made after Part of Your World. The film’s only new song, Along the Way, sees Mieanda triumphantly return to the franchise after his very obvious absence in Moana 2. In a delicious sense of irony, the film’s standout musical number is You’re Welcome, largely thanks to its extensive use of animation. The film’s visual effects (shoutout to ILM) are also mostly fine despite the film’s overall dull look. How damning is it that the best part of an unnecessary live-action remake of an animated film is the animation?
If there is any major non-musical bright spot of the film, it’s Catherine Lag’aia as Moana. Despite this being her first major film role, Lag’aia commands the screen and completely holds her own. She may not fully possess Auliʻi Cravalho’s exact vocal prowess, but Catherine channels her charm, innocence, and strength in every scene. As far as Disney Princess castings are concerned, Catherine Lag’aia is far and away the best casting since Lily James as Cinderella. I greatly look forward to whatever she does next and wish for her to leave her mark in a role that is entirely her own. As for Dwayne Johnson, he’s fine. I will never get on the bandwagon of people who claim The Rock has no acting talent whatsoever. He’s no thespian, but his performances in Southland Tales, the Fast & Furious franchise (particularly Fast Five), Jake Kasdan’s Jumani sequels, and The Smashing Machine are undeniably great. Anytime the Rock actually has to play a real character is worth it. His portrayal of Maui in the original Moana stands as his most memorable work, as he fully embraced the creative potential of voice-over performance. He’s fine in the remake because it’s hard not to love Maui as a character. Although it is a bit rough seeing The Rock being frequently out-acted by a 19-year-old girl in her first movie, as he plays a part he’s already aced twice before.
Overall, despite the best efforts of Catherine Lag’aia, the visual effects artists, and the coasting off the musical talents of Lin-Manuel Miranda, Moana 2026 is a complete dud. Possessing none of the original’s heart, soul, beauty, or point, the film never takes off nor justifies its existence beyond Disney needing an easy summer hit. If there is any solace to take away from this film’s existence, it’s the fact that Disney has pretty much burned through most of the viable options for live-action remakes. As they prepare what will likely be a lackluster remake of Tangled, the future of live-action remakes seems to be in potential limbo. All the viable Renaissance films have been done as Hercules, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame remain in development hell. Even Disney executives have to know that not a single living soul in the universe is seriously clamoring for a remake of Pocahontas. While Disney fans have actually been requesting remakes of Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Treasure Planet, neither film was successful enough back in the day to justify pouring $200 million into remakes. We can rest easy knowing that Sarah Polley’s remake of Bambi, Carlos López Estrada’s remake of Robin Hood, and Questlove’s remake of The Aristocats all fell to the wayside. Let’s all enjoy the break before Disney executives realize they can easily greenlight a live-action remake of Frozen. Or, Maui forbid, greenlight live-action remakes of Pixar films. If you have any sort of love and affection for the medium of animation, you will cease posting fancasts for a potential remake of The Incredibles on your social media. If you don’t, Te Fiti will put a curse on you.
