Catherine Laga’aia as Moana
Disney
The first trailer for Disney’s latest live-action remake, Moana, left the internet asking one question—why?
The trailer for Disney’s live-action Moana presents the film as almost identical to the original animated film, which was released in 2016.
That’s less than a decade for a live-action nostalgia reboot, and the animated sequel was released only last year.
The Moana trailer shows Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson returning as the shapeshifting demigod Maui, with Moana recast as Catherine Laga’aia, replacing Auliʻi Cravalho, who voiced Moana in both of the original animated films.
The Internet Is Baffled By The Live-Action ‘Moana’ Remake
Moana marks the shortest time between the release of the original animation and live-action remake, and the internet noted that this one seemed particularly unnecessary.
Disney has released live-action remakes before, of course—many times—they’re something of a cash cow.
Both The Jungle Book and The Lion King remakes pushed the boundaries of photorealistic GCI—the Moana trailer shows plenty of CGI too, more stylized than Lion King, but less cartoonish than the original film.
The colorful setting and fantastical elements of Moana means that the live-action remake leans heavily on CGI, making it appear as though the characters are acting against a greenscreen for many of the shots.
Fans questioned the point of remaking a CGI-animated film with a heavily CGI film, the live actors marking the only real distinction between the two.
Of course, the film isn’t made for internet critics, but for families, kids and parents who already know they like Moana and would happily watch it again in a slightly new form.
Despite the complaints of the internet, the film is almost guaranteed to rule the box office—Moana 2 made more than a billion, and so did live-action Lilo & Stitch (even if the altered ending proved controversial).
Still, the slate of live-action remakes shows how Disney’s reputation is changing, as the studio once known for intricately crafted, original animated films is becoming a content factory—the news that AI-generated shorts are coming to Disney+ adds to this sense of disenchantment.
Live-action remakes are another symptom of nostalgia culture, but Disney’s haste to remake their animated library feels almost like a form of resource extraction.
Dreamworks recently followed in Disney’s footsteps, releasing a live-action remake of How To Train Your Dragon, which ended up making more than the original, and received positive reviews from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.
Surely, live-action Frozen is only a matter of time, and live-action Tangled is already in development, but there will come a time when there’s nothing left to remake.
Could Pixar’s library be next? It seems heretical, but it is possible.
Any animated film featuring human protagonists could potentially be converted into live-action, even if it seems pointless to Disney fans.
Both Moana and Frozen have sequels (and Frozen 3 is incoming), so perhaps Disney can keep the live-action money train moving—plus, Encanto is right there.
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2025/11/18/the-internet-is-asking-whats-the-point-of-live-action-moana/
