Why Disney's Moana Is Titled Vaiana & Oceania Outside Of The United States

Everyone loves Disney's "Moana." Auli'i Cravalho's adventurous seafarer and Dwayne Johnson's trickster demigod Maui not only steered the 2016 movie to great box office success, but "Moana" itself — which is available for viewing on Disney+ — is also the most streamed movie ever in the U.S., regardless of the platform. That kind of success tends to spawn sequels, and with "Moana 2" improving some of the first movie's best parts and a live-action "Moana" movie set to arrive on July 10, 2026, the charming animated film is rapidly expanding into a full-on movie franchise.

One little piece of weirdness does overshadow "Moana," though. If you've discussed the movie online with people from different parts of the world, you may have noticed that it's not called "Moana" everywhere. In many European countries, the movie and its titular character are both known as "Vaiana." Disney has taken things even further in Italy, where the character is known as Vaiana but the film is called "Oceania."

The reason behind this is simple — it's cold, hard business. In the countries where "Moana" isn't used, the name simply wasn't viable because it was already registered as a trademark for other purposes. As for Italy, the case is even stranger. One of the most famous pornographic performers in the country's history happens to be called Moana Pozzi, which likely contributed to the frankly understandable name change.

The localized titles for "Moana" have proven to have little adverse impact on its success. On the contrary, the film was completely untroubled by its confusing international title status, grossing over $248 million in the U.S. market and a grand total of $643 million at the international box office. The similarly localized sequel seems destined to deliver further success, with its preview screenings for Tuesday, November 26 alone raking in a record $13.8 million (via Deadline) — the second-biggest haul ever for an animated movie after "Incredibles 2."

Of course, it probably doesn't hurt that Disney has taken the title localization as seriously as it did everything else about the gorgeous, exciting movie. Where the name "Moana" very appropriately means "Ocean" in a number of major Polynesian languages, "Vaiana" is derived from the word "vai," which simply means water. As such, both names do a great job at conveying the character's cultural background, seafaring nature, and close relationship with the ocean. As for Italy and the choice to go geographical with "Oceania," well ... maybe Disney is entitled to that extra step to remove any chance of potential mix-ups between the decidedly kid-friendly movie and Ms. Pozzi's somewhat more adult-oriented career.

"Moana 2" is now playing in theaters.