Disney’s Live-Action ‘Moana’ Finally Gives Fans Their First Real Look at Te Fiti

Disney has spent the better part of two years teasing its live-action reimagining of ‘Moana,’ and the marketing machine has slowly been peeling back the curtain on how each beloved character translates from animation to flesh and CGI.

Dwayne Johnson returns as the shapeshifting demigod Maui, this time opposite newcomer Catherine Laga’aia in the title role, with the film arriving in theaters just a decade after the original became a global phenomenon.

Much of the buildup so far has focused on the human cast, from Laga’aia stepping into Moana’s iconic red outfit to Johnson’s much-discussed new look as Maui. Fans have pored over every trailer frame trying to spot how the film’s mythological figures would be handled once translated out of hand-drawn animation and into a live-action setting.

That question now has an answer, at least for one of the story’s most important characters. The final trailer for ‘Moana’ has revealed a first look at the island goddess Te Fiti, recreated for live action alongside other key figures like the treasure-hoarding crab Tamatoa and Maui’s signature shapeshifting sequences.

Te Fiti has always occupied a strange, almost mythic space in the ‘Moana’ universe, since the character exists more as a slumbering landmass than a traditional performer, making her live action translation one of the trickier design challenges facing the production. Judging by the footage that has surfaced, the team leaned into a naturalistic, earthbound version of the goddess, built from moss, stone, and greenery rather than the stylized animated silhouette longtime fans grew up with.

It is a fitting choice for a project that has generally tried to ground its fantastical elements in something more tactile and lived in.

Te Fiti isn’t the only classic ‘Moana’ element getting fresh treatment in the final trailer. The footage also gives audiences a proper look at Tamatoa, the glitz-obsessed crab voiced in the animated films, along with glimpses of Maui’s animal transformations and his moving tattoos, all rendered for the first time outside of animation.

The film’s supporting cast has been locked in for some time now, with John Tui playing Moana’s father Chief Tui, Frankie Adams as her mother Sina, and Rena Owen taking on the role of Gramma Tala. Familiar creatures like Hei Hei the rooster and Pua the pig also return in CGI form, alongside the fearsome volcanic deity Te Kā, who appears to keep much of her signature look intact from the original film.

Behind the camera, Thomas Kail makes his feature directorial debut after helming the acclaimed film adaptation of “Hamilton,” working from a script by original ‘Moana’ writer Jared Bush alongside ‘Moana 2’ co-director Dana Ledoux Miller. Johnson produces the film alongside Dany Garcia, Beau Flynn, Hiram Garcia, and songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also contributed a new original song to the soundtrack titled “Along the Way.”

One detail notably absent from the marketing so far is any indication of how many new songs the film will include beyond that single addition, with the bulk of the soundtrack expected to lean on Miranda, Mark Mancina, and Opetaia Foa’i’s original work from the animated films. That is fairly standard practice for Disney’s live action remakes, which typically preserve the beloved original music while sprinkling in one or two new tracks aimed at awards consideration.

The stakes for this remake are considerable given how beloved the source material remains. The 2016 original grossed well over 687 million dollars worldwide, and its 2024 animated sequel performed even better, crossing the billion dollar mark globally, meaning the live action version arrives with an enormous built in audience already invested in these characters.

‘Moana’ also represents something of a shift in Disney’s remake strategy, since the studio has typically waited decades before revisiting its animated classics in live action form. Bringing the story back less than ten years after the original hit theaters is a noticeably faster turnaround than prior efforts like last year’s “Lilo & Stitch,” which waited over two decades before getting the same treatment.

With the film set to sail into theaters on July 10, this final wave of marketing appears designed to reassure longtime fans that the mythological backbone of the story, from Te Fiti’s slumbering island form to Te Kā’s fiery wrath, has been handled with the same care as its human cast. Whether that translates into the same box office magic as its predecessors remains to be seen.

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