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.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, who returns to produce and write original songs for the franchise, added they believed in the live-action because “one, it’s one thing to represent Pacific Islander culture in an animated movie; it’s another to give Pacific Islanders jobs and opportunities and really represent their culture in a flesh and blood way on screen. That was exciting to us. Two, we have a window in which the perfect guy for the job can play the part, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, for whom we wrote it. And three, I don’t think it would exist if we hadn’t found the perfect Moana,” as Catherine Laga’aia won out the role from 32,000 submissions.
One aspect of the film that has gotten a lot of attention online is Johnson’s look, as he dons a long flowing wig quite different from his usual appearance. The superstar acknowledged that the internet’s reaction “was so funny” and he “spent 48 hours laughing at it, because the internet can be very funny at times, and I appreciate it.”
He continued, “Anytime you see a first look at something, you’re looking at it through a keyhole. I knew; I was like ‘You’re not seeing the vast ocean of it all.’ It’s OK, give it time, I know we made a pretty good movie. And I get it, I’m a pretty well-known bald actor and you see me all of a sudden with long flowing locks and curls.”
Kail also explained that when the animated version of Moana was first being made, the creatives originally made the character Maui bald. However, when they met with the Oceanic Cultural Trust, comprised of Pacific Islander consultants that kept the story authentic, they said, “‘Maui’s hair is his power, there is no Maui without hair.’ So there was never a question — so that’s why Maui had hair there and that’s why Maui has hair now.”
The director joked of the now famous wig, “I think when you see it in the body of the film, you get used to it pretty quick. It’s not the strangest thing in the world!”
Moana splashes into theaters on Friday.
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