{"id":738151,"date":"2026-07-10T17:05:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T14:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/dwayne-johnsons-character-in-moana-nearly-had-a-completely-different-look-why-disney-changed-it\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T17:05:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T14:05:22","slug":"dwayne-johnsons-character-in-moana-nearly-had-a-completely-different-look-why-disney-changed-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/dwayne-johnsons-character-in-moana-nearly-had-a-completely-different-look-why-disney-changed-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Dwayne Johnson&#8217;s Character In Moana Nearly Had A COMPLETELY Different Look &#8212; Why Disney Changed It!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div itemprop=\"articleBody\" class=\"text\">\n<p><strong>Maui<\/strong> almost looked VERY different in <em>Moana<\/em>!<\/p>\n<p>From his 2016 animated debut, to his return in 2024\u2019s animated sequel, to his leap to live action this summer, EVERYONE has come to know and love <strong>Dwayne<\/strong> \u201c<strong>The Rock<\/strong>\u201d <strong>Johnson<\/strong>\u2019s portrayal of the curly-haired demigod.<\/p>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"min-height:120px;width:100%;float:none;\" class=\"lazy-ad-parent\">\n<div id=\"section-6a50fb03c6fd8-paragraph-slot\" class=\"incontent-ad lazy-ad-slot\" data-base-div-id=\"pb-slot-incontent-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>But what if we told you Maui nearly had a COMPLETELY different look???<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"giphy-embed\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/3oz8xZf6yStcrtIncI\" width=\"480\" height=\"202\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, <strong>Lin-Manuel Miranda<\/strong>, the man behind some of <strong>Disney<\/strong>\u2019s biggest musical hits including <em>Moana<\/em>\u2019s own <em>How Far I\u2019ll Go<\/em>, revealed on <em>Good Morning America<\/em> that Maui was almost going to be BALD in an effort to resemble The Rock\u2019s real-life <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>earance! Seriously!<\/p>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"min-height:120px;width:100%;float:none;\" class=\"lazy-ad-parent\">\n<div id=\"section-6a50fb03c6fdd-paragraph-slot\" class=\"incontent-ad lazy-ad-slot\" data-base-div-id=\"pb-slot-incontent-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Related: 2026 Emmy Nominations Revealed: The Snubs, The Shocks, And The Special Nod To Taylor Swift!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Miranda said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201c\u2026 It\u2019s interesting. I remember in one of the early drawings, while we were making the animated version, they drew a bald version because obviously they knew The Rock was going to play him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"min-height:120px;width:100%;float:none;\" class=\"lazy-ad-parent\">\n<div id=\"section-6a50fb03c6fdf-paragraph-slot\" class=\"incontent-ad lazy-ad-slot\" data-base-div-id=\"pb-slot-incontent-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>However, a well-placed desire to honor Hawaiian culture led them to add the AH-mazing, curly flow:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cOur cultural trust was like, \u2018You can\u2019t do that. Maui\u2019s power is in his hair, it\u2019s part of his mana [spiritual energy].\u2019 It\u2019s really of cultural importance that Maui\u2019s hair be stylin\u2019! So then Dwayne gets this lustrous mane.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In 2017, <em>USA Today<\/em> obtained early sketches of what Lin-Manuel is describing, which you can ch-ch-check out <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/life\/movies\/2017\/02\/12\/deleted-moana-reveals-bald-maui-six-brothers\/97724762\/\">HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"min-height:120px;width:100%;float:none;\" class=\"lazy-ad-parent\">\n<div id=\"section-6a50fb03c6fe1-paragraph-slot\" class=\"incontent-ad lazy-ad-slot\" data-base-div-id=\"pb-slot-incontent-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"highlight\">WOW!<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Hamilton<\/em> playwright went on to reveal he\u2019s personally a BIG fan of the long locks The Rock rocked in <em>The Mummy<\/em> franchise of the early 2000s:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cListen, I\u2019m a man of a certain age and I remember [Johnson\u2019s] film debut in <em>The Scorpion King<\/em>. So I\u2019m always thinking about his luscious locks and I wanted to get back to that era.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1245897\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1245897\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1245897 lazyload\" width=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/perezhilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/the-rock-scorpion-king.jpeg\" alt=\"Dwayne Johnson's Character In &lt;i&gt;Moana&lt;\/i&gt; Nearly Had A COMPLETELY Different Look -- Why Disney Changed It!\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/perezhilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/the-rock-scorpion-king.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/perezhilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/the-rock-scorpion-king-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/perezhilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/the-rock-scorpion-king-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/perezhilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/the-rock-scorpion-king-768x512.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1245897\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">(c) Universal Pictures\/<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"min-height:120px;width:100%;float:none;\" class=\"lazy-ad-parent\">\n<div id=\"section-6a50fb03c6fe3-paragraph-slot\" class=\"incontent-ad lazy-ad-slot\" data-base-div-id=\"pb-slot-incontent-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"highlight\">Love it!<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Lin-Manuel Miranda talks new live-action &amp;apos;Moana&amp;apos;\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PFhnyCypWac?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>What are YOUR thoughts here, Perezcious readers?? Would you have been OK with a bald Maui?<\/p>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"min-height:120px;width:100%;float:none;\" class=\"lazy-ad-parent\">\n<div id=\"section-6a50fb03c6fe5-paragraph-slot\" class=\"incontent-ad lazy-ad-slot\" data-base-div-id=\"pb-slot-incontent-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Let us know in the comments down below!<\/p>\n<p><em>[Images via <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cHXB-5woeHw\">Disney<\/a> &amp; <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LKFuXETZUsI\">Walt Disney Animation Studios<\/a>\/<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=n7f6hlKsxxo\">YouTube<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Social Media category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/perezhilton.com\/dwayne-johnson-moana-character-nearly-had-different-look-disney-changed-it-maui\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maui almost looked VERY different in Moana! From his 2016 animated debut, to his return in 2024\u2019s animated sequel, to his leap to live action this summer, EVERYONE has come to know and love Dwayne \u201cThe Rock\u201d Johnson\u2019s portrayal of the curly-haired demigod. But what if we told you Maui nearly had a COMPLETELY different&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":738152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/perezhilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/dwayne-johnson-moana-character-almsot-had-different-look-disney.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[72820,1569,58072,72821,72604,22919],"class_list":["post-738151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-amazing","tag-disney","tag-dwayne-the-rock-johnson","tag-film-flickers","tag-hairstyles","tag-lin-manuel-miranda"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=738151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/738152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=738151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=738151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=738151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}