Moana’s Live-Action Maui Design Explained After Wig Backlash

After last year’s live-action Lilo & Stitch remake broke box office records, Disney is hoping the upcoming Moana remake can make a similarly large splash in theaters. With a pair of successful animated films (plus a third undoubtedly on the way), Moana is now firmly established as one of the Mouse House’s most lucrative franchises, making it ripe for the live-action treatment. Disney is clearly confident in the project’s prospects, as the film is coming out in a packed July that also includes Minions & Monsters, The Odyssey, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The studio recently unveiled a new Moana trailer to generate buzz, but the biggest takeaway many had was how strange Dwayne Johnson’s wig looked. Now, the creative team is offering some insight on the live-action Maui design.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Moana director Thomas Kail discussed the process that went into choosing Johnson’s Maui wig. “As a wayfinder, you can just see him on the back of the canoe with the wind blowing,” he said. “We knew that it had to be something that could have real lift to it. Because you’re doing this on the water, ‘what does it look like wet?’ is a real conversation when you’re making Moana. That one weighs seven pounds more with all the water in it for all those hours a day.”

Johnson explained to the outlet how the wig (and his body suit) presented challenges during his performance. “The thing that became a challenge, that I had to work through very quickly, that I didn’t anticipate was the prosthetics and the hair and then the body. That is an additional 40 pounds on you,” he said. “There’s a freedom when you perform, whether it’s as an actor or singing. So that was an adjustment on how to actually work my emotions through the 40 pounds of prosthetics and hair and body that I had on me.”

Will Moana Backlash Hurt the Film’s Box Office Prospects?

The initial reactions to the aesthetics of the live-action Moana highlight the challenges filmmakers face when translating a story from one medium to the other. What works very well in animation isn’t always easy to interpret in live-action. Animated films, particularly ones made by Disney, tend to have a stylized nature because photorealism isn’t the goal. The artists have the freedom to design the characters how they see fit for the purposes of the narrative. In the original Moana movies, Maui’s trademark design is iconic, and his long, flowing locks are a key part of his identity. It looks wonderful in animation, but many fans have found that the live-action version looks “off,” creating an uncanny valley effect.

Some of this could be attributed to the shock of seeing Johnson (who’s typically bald) with a full head of hair. It’s one thing to hear his voice come out of a cartoon character; it’s something else entirely when Johnson himself is in-costume as Maui. Perhaps viewers will get used to it either as marketing revs up or when they’re watching the final film. Still, it’s worth wondering if the backlash to Moana will have any impact on the movie’s box office prospects. It potentially could be one of a handful of films that crosses the $1 billion threshold this summer, but right now word of mouth is a bit mixed.

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It is important to keep in mind that internet backlash is not always representative of the consensus of the larger moviegoing public. A majority of people interested in seeing Moana (i.e. families with young kids) are not going to care if Maui looks a bit strange in live-action. That isn’t going to be the deciding factor in whether or not they buy tickets. So it’s unlikely opinions of Johnson’s wig or body suit sway the film’s box office in one direction of the other. That said, there are other factors that could have an impact.

Moana‘s target demographic is going to have another appealing option in theaters in the form of Minions & Monsters. The Despicable Me franchise has long been a sizable commercial draw, with the Minions spinoffs proving to be massive blockbusters. Four years ago, Minions: The Rise of Gru earned $940.4 million worldwide. It remains to be seen how much of an appetite there is for two family-friendly films in close succession. Additionally, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is shaping up to be one of the year’s biggest cinematic events, though that film’s darker tone could mean Moana emerges as a counterprogramming pick parents with younger kids.

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