Less than a decade after Disney’s “Moana” took audiences by Pacific storm, it’s coming back, with a new teaser trailer giving fans their first look at the film’s upcoming live-action adaptation. Set to drop in theaters on July 10, 2026, “Moana” is another entry in what’s become an incredibly crowded category since the animated original came out in 2016 — the live-action remake, which has since spread beyond Disney to encompass other studios as well, like DreamWorks’ 2025 version of “How to Train Your Dragon.”
For many, the question is now resounding: Why do we keep doing this? Yet, at the same time, the answer remains obvious: These movies make a lot of money. In an age when the theatrical family film has become an endangered species, taking an animated hit and remaking it as a live-action/CGI spectacle is an easy move. Just this year, Disney’s live-action “Lilo & Stitch” remake dominated the box office. Back in 2024, the CGI “Mufasa” movie made almost $750 million worldwide. As long as these adaptations keep delivering — while the film industry continues to struggle to fit modern production trends into the longstanding theatrical model — they are sure to continue, and the gold rush on animated classics has never been more apparent than “Moana” getting a live-action makeover before it even turns 10 years old.
Is that a bad thing? In the case of “Moana,” I’d have a hard time saying no. At the very least, this remake will be a major platform for young star Catherine Laga’aia and other actors of Pacific Islander descent, a demographic that rarely gets much attention or financial support from Hollywood. Even so, it’s really difficult not to get frustrated with the level of IP regurgitation we’ve reached.
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Maui and Moana are back in action
A bird flying over an island in the live-action Moana – Disney
The new “Moana” trailer is a teaser in every sense of the world. We get a montage of scenic shots, underscored by Laga’aia’s Moana singing her version of the animated film’s hit song “How Far I’ll Go.” Anyone who’s seen the original movie will recognize shots of boats braving the ocean, Moana’s home island of Motunui, and her pet rooster Heihei.
At the very end, we get a proper look at Laga’aia as Moana, who looks ready to carry the film on her young and talented shoulders. The teaser also has a surprising amount of restraint when it comes to her co-star, Dwayne Johnson, who reprises his role as the demigod Maui. Rather than a shot of his face, we only see a brief scene of Maui leaping off a cliff from behind and turning into a bird.
All told, it’s about what you’d express. The film looks bright and colorful, but with the same heavy layer of CGI that has typically defined these “live-action” remakes. The looks we get at Heihei and Maui seem almost identical in character design to the original animated versions, mimicking the approach the “How to Train Your Dragon” remake took to Toothless.
Moana is the latest animated movie to get the live-action remake treatment
A magical wave rising over Moana in the live-action Moana – Disney
“How to Train Your Dragon” came out in 2010, with its live-action remake arriving 15 years later. Most of the films Disney has chosen to remake in live-action have had larger gaps between the different versions, which has partially helped to justify them. Indeed, Jon Favreau’s “The Jungle Book” came out nearly 50 years after Disney’s animated original, “The Lion King” was 25 years old when it got remade in 2019, and “Lilo & Stitch” turned 23 this year.
In these instances, there’s a case to be made beyond the obvious financial incentives. You’re reintroducing a classic to a new generation. Sure, they could just go watch the original “Lion King,” which has timeless animation and is widely seen as the superior film. But hey, maybe kids checked it out after watching the remake. There’s still a way to make the two fit together.
Much has been written about the way these live-action remakes passively demean the inherent value of animation. More still has been written about how they crowd an already shrinking film market with the same IPs over and over again, pushing out new artists and fresh ideas. What makes “Moana” feel so jarring is that so little time has passed. A six-year-old kid in 2020 could’ve still watched a relatively new “Moana.” Animated hits stick around like that; children watch them at birthday parties and substitute teachers screen them at school. That same kid would be 11 now, and they’re already getting a live-action remake. The generation that grew up with “Moana” isn’t even old enough to be nostalgic for it. They just got an animated sequel last year.
But hey, if Disney has to remake something, at least it picked a really good movie.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.
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