“It Breaks My Heart They’ve Done This!” Disney’s Live-Action ‘Moana’ Accused of “Whitewashing” for One Specific Reason

The first trailer for Disney’s live-action Moana was released earlier this week, quickly racking up millions of views in its first 24 hours. However, with that kind of attention comes a lot of complaints when you’re dealing with anything online, and this was no exception. While some fans praised Disney’s braveness for allowing comments to be added to the video, the comments that followed were not all full of praise.

In the short teaser, we get to see a fleeting glance at the back of Dwayne Johnson’s demigod Maui, but a full look at newcomer Catherine Laga’aia’s appearance as the titular headstrong character. However, Disney has already been caught in controversy over the fact that Moana’s hair seems to have been straightened compared to that of the actress’ natural frizzy hair seen in images on her Instagram account. As you would expect, this has seen some call out the House of Mouse’s styling decision as “culturally insensitive.”

“It’s giving AI, AND they straightened Moana’s hair??? Are you kidding me???” an angry fan argued via X.

“Why would they wand curl the actress’s hair who plays Moana?” a Threads user added. “Her NATURAL hair is absolutely perfect, and the message this sends to young Pasifika girls is not okay. I’m so sad they did this. And as a Samoan woman who has this kind of hair texture, it breaks my heart that they did this. Especially since Moana in the animated version has beautiful curls too.”

The casting of Australian actress Catherine Laga’aia, whose heritage lies in the Pacific Islands, including Samoa, was one that seemed to be getting its choices right, but it seems that even casting an actress who can authentically portray the character of Moana has not stopped complaints scrambling out of the comments sections.

Is a Live-Action ‘Moana’ Movie Necessary?

While this year saw Lilo & Stitch become one of the highest grossing live-action Disney remakes for several years, many other movies, such as Snow White, have failed to capture the attention of audiences in the way Disney hoped. One main issue with the film has not been helped by the trailer’s visual style being very similar to the animated movie. The original movie was only released a decade ago and the modern CGI visuals are not like an old animation that can do with an update. With the new movie looking almost as CGI-based as the 2016 movie, the question being asked is what is the point?

Some have also questioned why a new live-action version of the original movie is being released so soon after Moana 2 was released in cinemas last year. That movie was originally planned as a Disney+ TV show, but proved to be so popular with test audiences that it was reworked as a movie after work on the live-action Moana was already underway. How this new version will fare at the box office is something we will find out when Moana sails back into theaters in 2026.

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Release Date

July 10, 2026

Director

Thomas Kail