Disney’s ‘Moana’ Sparks Backlash: Called ‘Most Unnecessary Remake Ever’
Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of Moana is facing heavy criticism online after the release of its first trailer.
The 2026 film, directed by Thomas Kail with a screenplay by Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller, stars Catherine Lagaʻaia as Moana in her film debut and features Dwayne Johnson reprising his role as Maui from the original animated movies. The project is produced by Johnson, Hiram and Dany Garcia, Beau Flynn, and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Development of the live-action adaptation was first announced by Johnson in April 2023, with Kail joining as director in May. Lagaʻaia was cast in the title role in June 2024, alongside the main supporting cast. Principal photography took place in Atlanta and Hawaii from July to November 2024, under the working title Canon. The release is scheduled for July 10, 2026, through Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
Despite the film being marketed as “live-action,” much of the first trailer is CGI, which has led to significant backlash from fans on social media. Many expressed confusion over why Disney is remaking a film that was originally released less than ten years ago.
One viewer wrote, “When they run out of the animated classics to remake, they will start remaking the remakes.” Another asked, “Didn’t Moana literally just come out or something? Aren’t they working on Moana 3 or something? There is 0 reason this needs to exist.”
Criticism also focused on the CGI-heavy visuals, with one fan saying, “Looks like the typical cheap CGI, green screen slop we’ve been getting out of these remakes. This one in particular had the chance to look really gorgeous, but Disney just can’t help themselves.” Another added, “Moana 1 was perfect in pretty much every single aspect, you got Lin Manuel Miranda to do the music, talented animators who made the water look beautiful and a great story. If they are gonna milk this franchise then I’d rather see them make sequels than cheap live action remakes.”
Fans also criticized the film for appearing artificial. Comments included: “Looks so AI and fake looks horrible,” “Original less than 10 years old. This is the same movie. Just worse. AI looking. Disaster. Why? Why? Why? Ehmmmm… wasted money,” and “Why don’t they just come up with new movies instead of making live action? It just ruins the Disney magic tbh.” Some were also confused by the mix of CGI and live-action, writing, “So it’s half live action? 😂”
The production itself faced delays, originally planned to begin in October 2023 but postponed due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.
Oscar Faura serves as the cinematographer, while Bill Westenhofer supervises the visual effects. At one point, Disney considered using an AI-generated deepfake of Johnson’s face on a body double for select scenes, with the actor’s approval, but ultimately abandoned the idea to avoid controversy around AI in filmmaking.
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