Why Disney Has Made Live-Action Moana, But Not Frozen

It might seem strange that Disney has already remade Moana in live action and not Frozen, but this makes a lot of sense from one perspective. Disney’s live-action remakes are, it is fair to say, a mixed bag at best. For every unambiguous success like Cinderella or Beauty and the Beast, there are more divisive efforts like The Lion King, 2022’s Pinocchio, or Dumbo. Furthermore, the decision to remake some of the entertainment giant’s most popular and well-known movies instead of investing in forgotten franchises like the Race to Witch Mountain movies has led to further criticism.

Within this context, it might seem shocking that 2026’s live-action Moana remake is the next major release on Disney’s roster, before even a live-action remake of 2013’s Frozen. Moana might have made over $680 million worldwide, but Frozen earned a staggering $1.28 billion three years earlier. Moana 2 neared that level of success with its $1.059 billion box office payday in 2024, but Frozen 2’s 2019 release saw the sequel set all manner of box office records with a whopping $1.453 billion.

Moana’s Success On Disney+ Was More Unprecedented Than Frozen’s Franchise Trajectory

Seeing these numbers, it seems strange that Moana’s live-action remake is happening so much sooner than a live-action take on Frozen. However, there is a justification for this move. Moana‘s franchise boom on Disney+ was, to an extent, unexpected. While the original movie did extremely well at the box office, nobody predicted how big it would become on Disney+, and this trend was clearly a big driver of the sequel’s massive success. Its live-action remake was already underway at this stage, leading Disney to turn Moana’s planned TV show into Moana 2.

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In contrast, the Frozen series is massive, but it is also continuing as a film franchise and was always going to. A live-action remake of Frozen is inevitable, but its consistent popularity as a series means there is no need to rush. Many viewers would rather see Frozen 3 bring back Anna and Elsa before a live-action take on the original movie, and Disney has no reason to think that its most reliable money maker will struggle regardless of what the next Frozen theatrical property is.

Moana’s Live-Action Remake Is Designed To Capitalise On Its Disney+ Popularity

Thus, it should come as no surprise that Moana’s franchise trajectory was inexorably altered by its Disney+ success, whereas Frozen’s consistent popularity as a series led Disney to play things safe. Moana 2’s story was originally developed as a TV show, but the follow-up became a theatrical movie when it was revealed that the original movie had amassed over a million hours of streams, become Disney+’s most watched movie ever, and become one of the most-streamed movies ever made.

In contrast, Frozen’s consistent, reliable popularity means Disney has no equivalent rush to cash in on the franchise. The series has always drawn in plenty of viewers and shows no signs of slowing down, judging by Frozen 2 performing even better than Frozen despite a six-year gap between their release dates. Thus, Disney giving Moana a live-action remake before offering Frozen the same treatment makes a surprising amount of sense after all.