Moana (Live-Action)

[Sotiris]

Here's a side-by-side comparison between the animated and the live-action footage.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dMUgne8PMX0

[The Disneynerd]

its giving Disney Channel Original movie ... and i agree with basically all of Sotiris' points, like the singing , the shot by shot pointlessness and Hei Heis design which looks uncanny and too cartoony for a real chicken which should have been the point in this so called "live action" remake i think why the Animation looks even worse or fake is because everything is TOO perfectionized and perfectly digital which makes it feel like a photoshoot or a commercial if it makes sense.

the reason why we are getting a live action remake so soon is so that way Dwayne here can actually still have the physique to play Maui, and not be able to before long. But of course, who else could actually play Maui who can sing and have the physique, charm and charisma?

youre actually onto something. We know Disney would milk the Moana franshise anyways after the huge success on streaming, and they actually accomplished it with the sequel, so a live Action Moana seemed like a stretch after Frozen is even more successful and still didnt get the remake treatment as they just focus on the animated franshise. My bet is The Rock refused to voice Maui in future installments if he doesnt get a chance to embody Maui himself with his quite great physique before he gets too old, so Disney agreed for this quick remake to secure Rock for endless future imstallments, i mean he wasnt even supposed to voice Maui in Moana 2 in the first place

[BloomHunter]

Something seems off with the style they're going for. Some shots (like the one where she places her hand in the water) looks pretty solid! The choice of lighting and odd clarity make it seem like it came from advanced video game's graphics instead of real motion. Even reminds of generated ai videos. I'm sure it will be a success no matter what. But yeah, this world does not seem real enough to be considered live action at the moment. They still have some months to polish the look of the film ... unless this is the look they aim for.

[Kyle]

Seems the big controversy with this one, aside from the whole "too soon" aspect, is going to be the straightening of the lead actress' hair, despite casting someone who already had the perfect hair for the part. What a braindead move on their part.

I'm not even sure I'll hate watch this one tbh. It looks like an animated movie with a real person thrown in here and there. Not a live action movie.

[Sotiris]

Seems the big controversy with this one, aside from the whole "too soon" aspect, is going to be the straightening of the lead actress' hair, despite casting someone who already had the perfect hair for the part. What a braindead move on their part.

They probably straightened her hair to make her look more like the animated character. Her natural hair was a little too curly. That's understandable. They'll probably have her keep her natural look in the inevitable live-action sequel to resemble the character's hair in the animated Moana 2 where it was curlier.

In any case, the press is already having a field day with this.

Moana live-action trailer sparks whitewashing claims over character’s hair
https://metro.co.uk/2025/11/18/moana-li ... -24743346/

Live Action Moana Faces Criticism for Erasing Polynesian Hair Texture
https://feminegra.com/live-action-moana ... r-texture/

Disney’s ‘Moana’ live-action remake sparks controversy over CGI and styling choices
https://pmn.co.nz/read/entertainment/di ... ng-choices

After ‘Snow White’ Flopped, Disney Finds Itself In Hot Water Again Over “Racist” ‘Moana’ Remake
https://www.boredpanda.com/disney-slamm ... ppearance/

People Point Out Something Important About Actress in Disney’s Live ‘Moana’
https://www.newsweek.com/people-point-s ... a-11064797

Moana's live-action remake sparks backlash over "extremely odd" change: "Are you kidding me?"
https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a6948 ... -backlash/

The First Live-Action 'Moana' Trailer Has Disney Fans In A Tizzy: "Shocked"
https://www.brit.co/moana-live-action-trailer-disney/


I'm not sure if the hair controversy is to blame, but the trailer is getting a negative reaction. It's already been ratio-ed on YouTube.

[PatchofBlue]

You just know the people complaining on Twitter and FB about this being "too soon" are the same folks who saw "How to Train Your Dragon" opening weekend.

I'm not even sure I'll hate watch this one tbh. It looks like an animated movie with a real person thrown in here and there. Not a live action movie.

That's probably the best description.

[Kyle]

You just know the people complaining on Twitter and FB about this being "too soon" are the same folks who saw "How to Train Your Dragon" opening weekend.

I certainly wasn't. It was too soon for that movie too. also, that movie is 6 years older, its not quite as fresh as moana.
Maybe for some that could be enough. Its not for me, but maybe younger people.

[DisneyFan09]

To be honest, the teaser was a mixed bag for me. Despite how it was truly short, I liked the visuals, the setting and how they managed to capture the atmosphere and tone from the animated predecessor. However, the actress who plays Moana essentially comes across as rather bland and lacks charisma (sorry to say). At least Hei Hei looked like his animated counterpart, despite how it`s remarkable how they kept his original design.

As for the teaser poster, I liked it and thought it was a fine poster.

[Sotiris]

‘Moana’ Trailer Sails To 182M Views In First Day, 2nd Best For A Disney Live-Action Movie Behind ‘The Lion King’
https://deadline.com/2025/11/moana-trai ... 236624044/

[Disney's Divinity]

Looks as good as a Moana remake could, faithful and all. The original is a tad dull, so I was never excited per se, but it should be an easy billion since she's not a White character who has to be racebent so the film can be a faithful take in peace (which is what the audiences want from the remakes). The only disappointing part was the music. Opening line made me excited they could improve on the original since she sounded good at first and I remembered how poor Cravalho's vocals were, then she got worse as it went on. /sigh. I suppose Alessia Cara and Jurnee from American Idol will keep the best versions of "How Far I'll Go."

You know, I just had the thought that they could have a new version of On the Record at this point.

[Lilly85]

Can't wait for la Zootopa with more 3D

[Sotiris]

New image.


Source: https://collider.com/disney-blockbuster ... and-grogu/

[PatchofBlue]

I keep trying to peg whether I think this is going to be a surefire hit or a surefire flop.

On the one hand, it's part of the Disney remake train, which has been famously lucrative, irrespective of varying quality.

On the other hand, we're not even ten years away from its animated ancestor. This doesn't have the same nostalgia factor going for it as something like Beauty and the Beast or even The Jungle Book.

On the other other hand, we have seen that Moana is viable cinematic property, and the success of last year's How to Train Your Dragon proves that the films don't have to be that old to accrue the necessary goodwill.

On the other other other hand, something like the Snow White travesty of last year shows that these movies are not bulletproof. And people are generally quicker to punish Disney than they are for other outlets for committing the same sins.

On the other other other other hand, this one has so far steered clear of the controversy that Snow White had.

[Thumper_93]

With HTTYD they made a good job. The original one was good enough so it was hard to make something better and in my opinion they made justice to the animated movie. Moana is not as good in my opinion. The story is more simple and similar to the last Disney's films and the universe that they created is not as attractive as the HTTYD. They had the chance to make it better and to tell a great story with the sequel and they coudn't so I honestly doubt that they are going to improve someting in this one. It's going to be an exactly replica of the original one to earn money easily.
The girl looks great btw. We are going to see this picture a lot in the next months because I'm sure that this is going to be the one that they are going to use for all the merchandise.

[Disney's Divinity]

SW was a remake of a Walt-era film--it was never a guaranteed success like the hits from the '90s onwards. Then it got hit by a racebend backlash just like TLM. If you look at TLM's result versus it's potential--it should've been an easy billion--the film lost 40% because of the racebend and other publicized changes. SW lost 50% of what could've been if Cinderella's performance was the best-case scenario. I guess I could be wrong then, the fire surrounding Zegler's personal statements could have caused that extra 10% loss as compared to TLM.

Moana is a totally different scenario. On top of being an easy billion because it's drawing on a recent film, there are no big changes (racebends, song and character cuts, story changes, etc.), which is the main component of the controversy that plagued both TLM and SW.