In the late 2010s, Disney’s live-action remake experiment turned into box-office gold with titles like Beauty and the Beast (2017) and The Lion King (2019). Today, Walt Disney Pictures has produced over twenty different remakes, and in that time, what was once a guaranteed success has become something of a gamble. There are still movies that break a billion, such as the live-action Lilo & Stitch (2025). Yet, for each successful entry, there are more middling straight-to-streaming releases, initial successes that are remembered poorly, and financial disasters like Snow White (2025). It’s clear Disney needs to be more selective about which animated films should get the remake treatment, making Moana (2026) a puzzling choice.
No, the Disney live-action remakes aren’t dead and aren’t dying anytime soon; reimaginings of Tangled (2010) and Hercules (1995) remain in development. Fans should have expected a bit more restraint from Disney when remaking one of their most celebrated animated hits of the last decade, though. Alas, here comes the live-action Moana, arriving too soon and with significantly less fanfare than expected, given the outstanding success of both Moana (2016) and the recent Moana 2 (2024). Is this photorealistic take on the instant Disney classic a cash grab or a genuine attempt to add depth, scale, and specificity to the beloved coming-of-age adventure? Unfortunately, Moana doesn’t even try to pretend to have any fresh ideas or artistic merit.
A Shot-for-Shot Retelling of Moana’s First Adventure
Moana (2026) keeps things as close to the source material as possible. Co-writer of the original animated film, Jared Bush (who’s now the chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation), returns and partners with Dana Ledoux Miller to rewrite the script for live action. The story once again follows Moana (Catherine Laga’aia), daughter of Chief Tui (John Tui), on the fictional Polynesian island of Motunui.
A thousand years after the legendary demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) stole the heart of the goddess Te Fiti, the ocean calls upon Moana to learn the ancient art of wayfinding, defeat the lava monster Te Ka, and restore the balance of nature itself. Torn between her duty to her people and her greater calling, Moana teams up with Maui to help return the heart of Te Fiti. Comparable to How to Train Your Dragon (2025), Moana (2026) is nearly a shot-for-shot, 1:1 retelling of the animated tale. What this movie doesn’t have, though, is the strong sense of directorial vision to back it up.
From start to finish, Moana (2026) stands out as one of the ugliest films of the year. The cinematography is washed out and dull, even when it is simply attempting to capture the beauty of Motunui, shot on location in Hawaii. It gets much worse once Moana sails off into the open ocean, as all sense of physicality and space is lost. The vibrant and beautiful set pieces from the original animated movie become a clutter of computer-generated visual noise.
Disney’s Photorealism Continues to Backfire
Poor craftsmanship lingers over every moment of Moana (2026), making it impossible to ignore what was lost in pursuit of photorealism. There are visual gags from the original film that look bizarre in live-action, such as the way Maui repeatedly tosses Moana off her boat. The non-human characters, once full of expression and personality, have lost all their charm. Heihei the rooster, Pua the pig, and Tamatoa the giant coconut crab (reprised by Jemaine Clement) stick out like a sore thumb in this regard, comedic highlights of the original movie now rendered in horrifying detail. A shallow depth of field attempts to hide shoddy CGI; the once-whimsical pulses of water that play with Moana look lifeless and unfinished here.
It’s astounding that a Tony Award-winning Broadway talent like director Thomas Kail could make a movie with so little sense of identity. You have to imagine that he served merely as a director for hire, or “yes man,” in this case. There is no guiding artistic voice that fuels 2026’s Moana, nor is there any new material to justify its existence. This live-action Moana remake is roughly ten minutes longer than the original. However, almost all of that time is essentially breathing room — improvised conversations and some revised dialogue, but mainly just empty space. What those additions do to a screenplay that is otherwise efficient and polished is detrimental to the film’s sense of pacing and tone
Poor Craftsmanship Fails to Match the Effort of the Oceanic Cultural Trust
The final result is a film that lacks propulsive energy. Instead of entertaining viewers, Moana regurgitates a familiar story with a fraction of the spirit. Every actor looks bored, including Dwayne Johnson (The Smashing Machine), who’s widely known for his charisma. He delivers his lines in a muted fashion, making the exact same jokes from the animated movie land flat. Newcomer Catherine Laga’aia comes off as a young actress with potential, but the poor direction fails everyone involved; it often feels as if each scene were given only one take. Lin-Manuel Miranda‘s iconic songs and ballads also suffer from this feeling of apathy. Obviously, this cast can sing, but it seems like they were instructed to tone everything down.
It’s been a major talking point that this remake grounds the narrative more deeply in its Polynesian roots. Disney once again worked with the Oceanic Cultural Trust to add authentic flourishes and ground the depiction of Motunui in greater specificity. It’s true that the original Moana represented a homogenized take on Polynesian culture, and the attempt to flesh that out this time around is certainly admirable. However, the director at hand is still a white man, and this is ultimately a blockbuster designed for the masses. Boasting the efforts of the Oceanic Story Trust while half-baking the rest of the project, sadly, comes across as uniquely cynical. It’s a built-in defense for the film’s questionable necessity.
The World of Moana, Stripped of Heart and Soul
The climax of Moana (2016), in which the titular heroine confronts Te Ka and restores the heart of Te Fiti, is one of the most gorgeous scenes that Walt Disney Animation has ever rendered. Ten years ago, it showed audiences what was possible with a modern CG approach to animation. The same scene in Moana (2026), on the other hand, is one of the ugliest things I have seen in a big-budget blockbuster in recent memory.
Everything there is to enjoy about Moana is present and executed far better in the original. It makes it so glaringly obvious what the remake is at its core: not a story told with heart and soul, but a product set out to keep the franchise relevant and profitable.
★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
‘Moana’ hits theaters on July 10!
Release Date: July 10, 2026.
Directed by Thomas Kail.
Screenplay by Jared Bush & Dana Ledoux Miller.
Based on Disney’s Moana by Jared Bush, Ron Clements, & John Musker.
Produced by Dwayne Johnson, Beau Flynn, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, & Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Executive Producers: Thomas Kail, Auliʻi Cravalho, Charles Newirth, & Scott Sheldon.
Main Cast: Catherine Laga’aia, Dwayne Johnson, Rena Owen, John Tui, Frankie Adams, & Jemaine Clement.
Cinematography: Óscar Faura.
Composer: Mark Mancina.
Editor: Melanie Ann Oliver.
Production Companies: Walt Disney Pictures, Seven Bucks Productions, 5000 Broadway Productions, & Flynn Picture Co.
Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
Runtime: 115 minutes.
Rated PG.
