Disney’s strategy of turning beloved animated films into live-action blockbusters is stirring up a familiar debate: is this creative reinvention, or just chasing profits? With the live-action adaptation of “Moana” (known internationally as “Vaiana”) arriving in theaters on July 8, opinions are split as ever.
Disney’s Live-Action Strategy: Big Spends and Big Risks
Disney—long identified by its famous mouse ears—has been investing heavily in live-action remakes despite ongoing criticism that these projects are cash-driven. “Vaiana, la légende du bout du monde,” the new adaptation of the 2016 animated hit, features Dwayne Johnson and brings Moana’s story to a new format.
The film follows Moana, a young Polynesian woman, as she teams up with the demigod Maui to cross the ocean and save her community from a devastating threat. As one of Disney’s more recent original successes, “Moana” has already inspired a sequel in 2024 and now a near shot-for-shot live-action remake, with many songs and scenes closely mirroring the original. Directed by Thomas Kail, it is positioned as a major box office contender this year.
The director, best known for the hit musical “Hamilton,” told AFP,
The way the film breathes is very different from animation; it’s an opportunity to reach emotion in a special way.
With a production budget reportedly between $200 million and $250 million, Disney is betting on eye-popping special effects to bring audiences in.
Remake Fever: A Decade-Long Trend
The live-action remake wave started in 2010 with Tim Burton's “Alice in Wonderland,” which exceeded $1 billion in global ticket sales. Since then, Disney has steadily reimagined titles from its catalog. Pop culture analyst Stéphane Durand notes,
Overall, it has been very successful, especially for films from Disney’s 1980s and 1990s renaissance.
He points out that live-action versions of “Aladdin,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and “Lilo & Stitch” have each topped the billion-dollar mark.
Durand adds,
The biggest hits stick almost shot-for-shot to the original. For people interested in storytelling, it’s pretty thin. But as long as they’re making a billion dollars, it will continue.
Nostalgia and Changing the Remake Formula
Disney has found huge success tapping into nostalgia, encouraging parents to bring their children to see updated versions of stories they loved. With “Moana,” Disney is remaking a film less than a decade old for the first time. According to author Christian Renaut, the studio has known since “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937) how to keep its characters and stories alive across generations.
Renaut highlights a cultural difference:
Europeans and Americans don’t view cinema the same way. In the United States, it’s an industry; in Europe, it’s an art.
He notes that in the US, a box office failure is seen as a failed film.
Since the COVID pandemic, Disney’s original films such as “Strange World,” “Wish,” and even “Encanto” have faced struggles—”Encanto” only gained strong traction through streaming. The studio now leans toward sequels, remakes, and spin-offs as safer bets, though there are signs of fatigue, including the lukewarm performance of “The Little Mermaid” (2023) and the more pronounced disappointment with “Snow White” (2025).
Caroline Reid, a Forbes journalist covering film, warns,
Studios need to preserve the appeal of the original work and be careful with their catalogs.
Theater, Streaming, and Disney’s Next Move
Even as cinema attendance drops and streaming surges, Disney is not letting up. Reid notes,
Many live-action movies that underperform in theaters become streaming hits. “The Little Mermaid” is a good example.
So whether you see “Moana” as a reinvigorated blockbuster or just another spin on the Disney formula, it’s evident that, for now, the strategy is still afloat.
