The Internet Has Not Been Holding Back After Disney Dropped The First Footage Of Moana’s Live-Action Remake

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Disney recently released the first trailer for its live-action Moana remake, and the response online has been overwhelmingly negative. Instead of excitement, the trailer was met with criticism, confusion, and a lot of jokes. Starring Catherine Laga‘aia as Moana and Dwayne Johnson reprising his role as Maui, the 2026 film is already facing significant challenges, as evidenced by the strong negative reaction from fans.

The new trailer quickly gained millions of views on Disney’s YouTube channel, but the comments section soon turned into a heated debate. After reviewing thousands of responses, we found three main topics people are discussing. Here’s a summary of how viewers are reacting.

Why Are We Remaking A Movie That Isn’t Even 10 Years Old?

You can’t scroll through social media without seeing someone shocked that a movie from 2016 is already being remade. Here’s what those fans are saying about it:

  • “There’s Treasure Planet, there’s Atlantis, there’s Princess and the Frog and we got a movie that isn’t 10 years yet?” – @oyinariv2739
  • “Now we’re remaking movies that aren’t even ten years old.” – @hoodartificial5920
  • “IT’S ONLY BEEN NINE YEARS!!!!! WE DO NOT NEED A REMAKE!!!!!” – @cyclops8238
  • “This movie won’t even be 10 years old when the remake comes out!” – @Ninjagofan360
  • “New rule: a film needs to be at least old enough to drink before it can be remade.” – @imjuil4108
  • “Ah yes cause Moana 2016 is such an outdated film that definitely needed a remake.” – @SelfDescribedNerd

One person captured the general feeling among this group by saying, “Disney has officially run out of new ideas.” However, not everyone agreed with that assessment.

Why Moana Before Tangled, Princess and the Frog, or Atlantis?

If Disney is going to remake its older films, I think it makes the most sense to choose one that isn’t already hugely popular today – a movie with a good idea that didn’t quite succeed the first time around. It seems a lot of fans agree, and many are wondering why this particular movie is getting a live-action remake when there are other films people have been requesting for years. Here’s what some fans are saying:

  • “A Moana remake before Tangled and Princess and the Frog is crazy.” – @kevin_jaimes35694
  • “Moana getting a live action “remake” before Frozen is just hilarious.” – @CoreZeroPH
  • “We could have gotten an Atlantis or Treasure Planet remake, but we got this.” @ItsHamberg3r
  • “… I am surprised Disney hasn’t thought of remaking Treasure Planet or Atlantis, as those two films have so much potential in live action!”@snowsugardashietheaircatgi932
  • “A prequel about Maui would’ve made way more sense.” – @richardhill6949

Good news for fans: the live-action version of Tangled is supposedly back in production and will be released in theaters soon. Some viewers have also jokingly speculated about the true reason the movie is being made.

  • “Did they just make this because The Rock needed to show up personally?” – @voidedabsolution
  • “I bet Dwayne Johnson was the one to push this movie to be made.” – @krysgg7600

It’s not surprising to hear Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson advocating for a project, considering how strongly he pushed for Black Adam and tried to build the DC Universe around his character. However, his comments also highlight a growing frustration among fans.

Enough With The Live Action Remakes, Already

A major source of criticism revolves around the continued production of live-action remakes, particularly because many viewers feel they look artificial and heavily rely on computer-generated imagery rather than actual live footage. Many are commenting that these remakes don’t feel like real movies with actors, but rather heavily edited CGI. Here’s what people are saying:

  • “The term ‘Live Action’ is doing some real heavy lifting here.” – @jonnyboy1925
  • “So basically it’s still animated, just with live humans inserted into it.” – @Aweschumm
  • “This somehow looks more digital than the original movie did.” – @FoundFootage100
  • “So much CG even the real footage looks animated.” – @LILGHETTI
  • “This looks like those live-action concept trailers people would make in 2012.” – @autisticsonicfan
  • “If you titled it ‘AI Fan-Made Moana Movie Teaser,’ I’d totally believe it.” – @jd38

I saw this comment online from someone named @spicychikn3336, and it really struck me. They basically said the new Disney trailer looked like something a fan put together, not an official production – and honestly, it’s a pretty worrying sign for Disney’s marketing if that’s the initial reaction!

Okay, let’s be honest, I’ve been digging through the reactions to this, and it’s not pretty. It’s not just a few negative comments here and there – I’m seeing almost total skepticism. It really feels like the vast majority of people are reacting with doubt, and it’s hard to find much positive buzz at all. I don’t want to focus only on the bad, but it’s overwhelmingly what I’m seeing.

It’s still unclear if the new live-action version of Moana will be a hit with viewers, but early reactions to the trailer suggest Disney could be facing some serious challenges. The movie is scheduled to come out in theaters on July 10, 2026.

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2025-11-18 23:12