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Moana (2026)

image for Moana (2026)

Short takes

Not suitable under 7; parental guidance to 10 (scary scenes, violence)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Moana (2026)
  • a review of Moana (2026) completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 14 July 2026.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 7 Not suitable due to scary scenes and violence.
Children aged 7–10 Parental guidance recommended due to scary scenes and violence.
Children aged 11 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Moana (2026)
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild threat
Length: 115 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Moana (Catherine Laga'aia) is the daughter of the chief of Motunui. While Moana feels called to explore the ocean, her father, Chief Tui (John Tui), forbids it as it is her duty as future chieftess to stay on the island and learn how to lead her people. However, when a darkness begins to kill her island, Moana discovers that her people used to explore the sea as ‘Wayfinders’ before the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) stole the heart of Te Fiti, causing a blight on the surrounding islands. Realising that she is being called by the ocean to return the heart, Moana sets sail to find Maui and restore the heart of Te Fiti before it is too late for her people.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Environmental disasters; Cultural Connection; Mythology; Grief; Loss of a Grandparent; Child Abandonment.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • In several scenes throughout the film, Maui and Moana are attacked and injured by a large, scary lava monster. They are both always fine, though Maui’s hook is damaged which impacts his ability to shape-shift.
  • Moana’s father is shown shouting at her.
  • Maui often belittles and berates Moana due to her being inexperienced and naïve.
  • In a comedic sequence, the ocean stabs Maui in the bottom with a blow dart that paralyses him.
  • Scary-looking coconut creatures attack Moana, shooting at her and Maui with both spears and paralysing darts. They narrowly escape this conflict without injury.
  • A scary-looking crab character chases and nearly kills Moana and Maui.
  • Maui tries to trap Moana on the island he was stuck on for centuries, stealing her boat.
  • A monster character says that he ate his grandma.
  • Maui mentions that he had ripped off another creature’s leg.
  • Maui shoves Moana into the ocean on several occasions, which is portrayed as a comedic event.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

  • Scary-looking drawings are unfurled, and several young children scream and run away in fear.
  • In several scenes, a large scary lava monster is shown roaring and attacking Moana and Maui. This creature is very scary-looking and loud.
  • Scary-looking sea monsters are shown snapping their teeth and snarling.
  • A large, scary-looking crab creature emerges from a mound of coins and snaps Moana up in his claws.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

  • Two characters took a canoe out to sea during a storm, and it upturns. A character is described to have died in this accident.
  • Maui mentions that his human parents abandoned him, throwing him into the ocean.
  • Moana takes a canoe out onto the reef against her father’s wishes and it upturns, causing her to get caught up in rope and nearly drown. This is a tense sequence with scary music.
  • Several sea birds snap their beaks and try to eat a baby sea turtle, but young Moana saves it.
  • Moana’s grandma is shown on a table looking very ill, with her family surrounding her looking worried.
  • Moana cries over her grandma as she is passing away. Her grandma dies off screen, and we later see her spirit guiding Moana.
  • In a scary dream sequence, Moana’s village is destroyed and her parents are shown cowering in fear and screaming.
  • Moana’s pig is washed overboard and squeals in distress.
  • Moana is caught up in a large storm and her boat is wrecked in a scary sequence.
  • Maui jokes about eating Moana’s pet Rooster, Heihei.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

  • None noted.

Sexual references

  • None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • Maui is shirtless throughout and flexes his pecs on occasion.
  • Many men are shirtless in a nonsexual manner, consistent with the cultural expectations portrayed in the film.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • “You sound like a drunk”.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Maui urinates in the ocean while Moana has her hand in it.
  • “Dumb”.

In a nutshell

In this live-action remake of Disney's 2016 animated film of the same name, Moana (2026) is a culturally rich, self-discovery film with entertaining musical numbers. While it differs slightly in content to the original animated film, it is still entertaining and well suited to families. Due to scary scenes and violence, it is not suitable for children under the age of 7 and parental guidance is recommended to 10.

The main messages from this movie are that you must be true to yourself and discover who you are.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Family
  • Teamwork
  • Overcoming adversity
  • Resilience
  • Independence.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • Moana’s father is shown to desperately not want Moana to leave the island, and it is revealed that he is controlling due to his own traumatic event where he lost his cousin. What do you think Moana’s father could have done instead? Parents may further want to take the opportunity to discuss how our past experiences shape how we behave later on.
  • While Moana loses her grandmother, she is comforted by her memory and feels guided by her. Parents may want to take this opportunity to discuss with their children how to cope with loss in a healthy way, such as Moana did.
  • Maui was abandoned by his human parents, and once he was a Demigod, he did everything in his power to make the humans love him. This led to him stealing the heart of Te Fiti and causing the events of the film. Why do you think it was not okay for Maui to take this item? Parents may want to discuss with their children that even when you have good intentions, that does not make bad behaviour okay.
  • Throughout the film, there are themes of environmental damage. Parents may want to discuss with their children the importance of taking care of nature, as if we don’t it can lead to bad outcomes.