Disney’s new Moana live-action movie is getting mercilessly dragged, for six brutal reasons

Disney has released the first full trailer for its live-action remake of Moana, the 2016 animated film that’s still widely considered one of the studio’s strongest modern hits. Yep, it’s not even 10 years old yet.

This version stars Catherine Lagaʻaia as Moana, with Dwayne Johnson returning as Maui after originally voicing the character. It’s part of Disney’s ongoing push to remake its animated catalogue in live-action, a strategy that’s had mixed results… at best.

Watching the trailer, I didn’t come away thinking this was a fresh take on the story. If anything, it’s raised way more questions than excitement.

It feels wildly unnecessary

moana really got a sequel and a live action remake in less than a decade after it came out but tiana couldn’t even have her limited series after almost 17 years #okay pic.twitter.com/cLFikksoqz

— she gon call me xeeby boo (@starxeebs) March 23, 2026

This is the big one. Moana isn’t some dusty vault classic crying out for reinvention. People still stream it, kids are still discovering it, and Disney literally just released a sequel in 2024.

So what exactly is this remake adding? Because right now, it looks like the same story, just with less charm and more CGI strain. It gives the impression of a studio stuck on autopilot: Find a hit, remake it, repeat.

The ‘live-action, less magic’ problem strikes again

literally just sucked up all the color this is awful https://t.co/5T62X8rdH7 pic.twitter.com/PAMcFhPK7p

— 💋 Roxxi 💋 (@spicyroxxi) March 23, 2026

One of the first things that stood out to me was the colour, or the lack of it.

If there’s one recurring complaint about Disney’s remakes, it’s this: They trade vibrancy for “realism”, and in the process, drain the life out of everything.

The animated Moana is bursting with colour; glowing oceans, lush islands, expressive skies. The trailer, however, looks muted. It’s flattened, and weirdly greyed out. I get the instinct behind making things look grounded, but in this case it feels like something important has been lost.

It genuinely looks AI-generated

Hollywood is cooked 💀

Some guy used Seedance 2.0 and generated a Moana clip with characters that look like they’re in real life 🍿👀pic.twitter.com/EtEWyId8NK

— keegan (@Keegan59992745) March 23, 2026

It looks like something spat out by a generative AI that was told: “Make Moana, but realistic.”

Some of the shots feel overly processed, a bit too smooth, almost like they’ve been polished to the point where they stop looking natural.

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We need to talk about the wig

t-mobile commercial pic.twitter.com/OBjp4B1w8x

— normie 𓆏🦔 (@KellytoyDK) March 23, 2026

I was curious how Maui would translate into live-action, especially with Dwayne Johnson returning. But the design choices are… distracting. There’s no avoiding it. Maui’s wig is the trailer’s main character at this point.

can’t even weigh in on the moana remake cause every time i see the rock in that damn body wave wig i start laughing too hard to be opinionated

— barrel server @ ylfa’s bottleneck 🪓 (@mouseabolition) March 24, 2026

It looks heavy and uniform in a way that makes it feel like a prop rather than part of the character. Combined with the body suit, it ends up drawing attention to itself in almost every shot.

Moana’s hair controversy isn’t going away

Also genuinely why did they make her hair straighter. Her natural hair is exactly like Moana’s, so ???? pic.twitter.com/wpevf1sPC0

— Nau 🐍 MAY 13!!! (@nautheduke) March 23, 2026

This one’s hitting a nerve for a reason. In the animated films, Moana’s hair is big, textured, curly, and alive.

In the trailer, it looks noticeably straighter, with curls added in. What makes that more confusing is that the actress has naturally curly hair. So it feels like a strange choice to simplify something the original film put so much effort into getting right.

Shark Head Maui

Shark Head Maui in the live-action ‘MOANA’ remake. pic.twitter.com/E2uas2lvJ0

— The Hollywood Handle (@HollywoodHandle) March 23, 2026

Shark head Maui in the live-action remake is terrifying. Need I say more? Just look at it.

I guess, at least now her reaction to the shark in the animated movie is way more justified now.

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Featured image credit: Disney