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A recent viral video has fans up in arms about the possibility of the beloved Disney princess Moana coming out as transgender in Moana 2.
Credit: Disney
Disney has recently come under fire frequently for its LGBTQ representation. The Walt Disney Company has certainly made a notable effort to include more diverse characters in its movies and television shows. While some have felt this isn’t enough on the part of the Mouse House, others have insisted this alleged “wokeness” is the reason Disney is struggling at the box office.
Perhaps because of all this, when a viral video from a satire account reported Disney was going to have their first transgender princess in an upcoming sequel to the beloved 2016 movie Moana, it caused an uproar.
Moana Meet and Greet at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park / Credit: Disney
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Is Disney Featuring its First Transgender Princess with Moana?
A video on Instagram that has garnered over 75,000 views since it was first released claims that Disney is releasing a Moana sequel—Moana 2—where Moana realizes she is, in fact, transgender and goes on a journey as she finds her new identity as Kai.
The video opens with a voice-over that states that “sources have confirmed to us that Moana will transition from female to male in Moana 2: The Rise of Kai.”
The video goes on to explain that in Moana 2, despite being the Chief and Wayfinder of the island, Moana still isn’t happy, and she teams up with Maui once more to find her true self. Through this journey, she discovers she is transgender, and she “chooses her new name, Kai, which means ‘sea’ in many Polynesian languages.”
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The video then concludes she faces many challenges with transphobic villagers, and she faces innumerable mental health struggles, but eventually overcomes them. The video even claims that the song “How Far I’ll Go” was a metaphor for Moana’s transition.
So, What’s the Truth?
It’s important to note that, first off, this video went viral before a Moana sequel was officially announced.
In addition, a close inspection of the video reveals it is from the well-known satire site Mouse Trap News, which has made its name by creating satirical videos about Disney theme parks and movies.
Needless to say, the video is decidedly not true by any means. However, some Disney fans didn’t realize this was true and were completely taken aback by the development.
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One commented, “are you serious?? my childhood movie??”
Another added, believing the video to be truthful reporting,
“Fake! There will be a live action remake 🙄. Disney stop being woke and making live action movies. A cinematic sequel to Moana is currently not in development, but Disney is working on an animated series that will air on Disney+ sometime in 2023 and will serve as a sequel to Moana the movie. No information about Moana 2 has been revealed as of yet.”
Credit: Disney
However, many stepped in to remind other commenters that the site was, in fact, satirical, which meant that this was intentionally fake news.
At of the time of the viral video’s peak popularity, Disney had confirmed that a live-action Moana is in the works but had not yet announced a theatrical release sequel for Moana.
Currently, the announcement for a sequel to the beloved film has since been made by CEO Bob Iger. Will Moana 2 feature a transgender princess? It’s not likely, but we’ll have to tune in to find out for sure!
Maui, Moana, HeiHei the chicken, and Pua the pig / Credit: Disney
More on Moana
2016’s Moana was a Disney princess movie that featured a Polynesian princess and focused on Polynesian traditions. Moana took the world by storm. Fans loved the characters, the music by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and even the animal companions – namely the awkward chicken, Hei Hei.
Moana starred Auli’i Cravalho as Moana, Dwayne Johnson as Maui, Rachel House as Gramma Tala, Jermaine Clement as Tamatoa, and Temuera Morrison as Chief Tui.
I think Disney needs to slow down their wokeness. Who cares what the LGBT people think, what about the feelings of Normal people! We are sick of this garbage being thrown in our kids faces. If Disney makes a transgender princess or one that marries another woman, they will definitely loose at the box office forever. And maybe in other ventures!