Ten years after Moana made waves as a hit animated film, a live-action version of the film has now arrived — marking a much faster turnaround than Disney previously had in adapting its animated classics.
The studio has typically waited anywhere from 20-something years (with Lilo & Stitch and Mulan) to almost 90 years (Snow White and Pinocchio) for its live-action adaptations; in addition, the animated Moana 2 was released less than two years ago.
However, Dwayne Johnson — who voiced demigod character Maui in the animated films and now reprises the role in live-action — said it was “an easy conversation” in deciding to move quickly with Moana, explaining that Disney came to him in 2019 with the idea.
“To be honest with you, I never bought into this idea that ‘you have to wait 20 years, you have you wait 30 years, it’s too soon,'” Johnson told The Hollywood Reporter at the film’s L.A. premiere on Tuesday. “I honestly never did, and not because I’m biased and I made the film, but because there’s themes and values in this, in animated Moana, that could translate really well if you saw a real human being going through it, and a real young girl going through it.”
Director Thomas Kail, known for directing the original production of Hamilton, echoed he feels like a decade between movies is enough time, as “all those 7-year-olds who saw it that are 17, all those 10-year-olds who are 20 — those are seismic changes in our lives and I think all people’s affection for this film, which was shown when Moana 2 came out, I think people want to be with their friends up on screen and they want to be with this score.” He also noted that coming from the theater, “we do revivals all the time” and try to breathe new life into beloved stories.
