The Disney Movie That Should Have Been Made With AI
The Disney Movie That Should Have Been Made With AI
Publish Date: 2026-07-10 15:11:00
Source Domain: www.forbes.com
Disney is famous for innovation, but the new ‘Moana’ remake has generated criticism for a lack of originality. (Photo by RONDA CHURCHILL/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Few genres of film have been as much of a gamble for Disney as the live-action remakes of its classic cartoons. Last year alone, Lilo & Stitch grossed $1 billion and became almost as beloved as the animated original while Snow White lost an estimated $170 million and cast a dark spell on the studio due to a slew of negative coverage. The latest addition to Disney’s stable is coming for Snow White’s crown as the criticism of it is so harsh that it raises the question of whether it would have been better to make the movie with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The movie in question is Moana, starring newcomer Catherine Laga’aia as the eponymous Polynesian teenager who joins demigod Maui, played by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, on a seafaring adventure to restore prosperity to her people. Johnson voiced the character in the 2016 computer animated original but that’s far from the only similarity between the two films.
Although the movie debuts today it has already been panned by critics for its lack of originality. “Much of the film is shot-for-shot, line of dialogue-by-line of dialogue a veritable clone,” wrote Deadline. For the same reason, Digital Spy’s review described it as “the most pointless Disney live-action remake yet” and The Wrap even highlighted this in its headline saying “It’s the Same Film, Disney Just Wants You to Pay for It Again”.
This cynicism was a common thread in the reviews with entertainment journalists noting that the remake was released soon after the original in order to squeeze yet more money out of the movie which had already spawned a successful sequel in 2024. “Any live-action remake from Disney’s canon does beggar the question of ‘why,’” wrote Deadline adding that “‘because it brings in money,’ is an answer as obvious as it…
