Moana becomes Disney+'s most watched movie, experts explain why kids rewatch it

Moana crossed 1 billion hours streamed on Disney+ in 2023, and Disney says it was the most streamed movie on any platform in the United States that year. The 2016 release opened in theaters on November 23, earned a $56.6 million opening weekend and went on to take in more than $643.3 million worldwide, a rare kind of staying power for a children’s film.

That reach has extended well beyond the screen. Disney says the movie helped drive merchandise sales, theme-park attractions including Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana at Walt Disney World Resort, and other franchise tie-ins. The appetite is still large enough that the first trailer for Moana 2 drew 178 million views in 24 hours, according to the company.

For families, the repeat viewing has a clear logic. Child-development researchers writing in The Conversation say young children return to the same show, book or game because repetition helps them detect and consolidate patterns, which supports learning language and other skills. Familiar stories can also provide comfort, security, control and mastery in a world that often feels bigger than a child can manage.

That is why a single film can become part of a home’s daily rhythm rather than a one-time event. In a streaming household, the next replay is always immediate, and a movie that already feels known can be easier for a child to choose than something new. The behavior is often normal, especially when the child is young and the same scenes, songs and characters are being used to make sense of the world.

Experts also warn that the line between normal repetition and overreliance on screens depends on context. The American Psychological Association and the Child Mind Institute both stress that screen habits should not be judged by total minutes alone. The quality of the content matters, and so do co-viewing and conversation with adults, which turn passive watching into a shared experience rather than a substitute for it.

Disney has also worked to make the film’s Pacific setting feel specific rather than generic. The company says directors John Musker and Ron Clements traveled to the Pacific Islands in 2011, where anthropologists, cultural experts, historians and wayfinders from Fiji, Mo’orea, Samoa, Tahiti and other islands helped shape the Oceanic Cultural Trust. Disney says that work influenced details from costuming to mythology, and that the filmmakers kept up a “constant back and forth” with Pacific cultural advisers on both Moana films. The trust includes Kalikolehua Hurley and Lāiana Kanoa-Wong, part of a production approach meant to be both authentic and respectful of Oceania’s cultures and histories.