What Is the Rotten Tomatoes Score for Moana

The original Moana, released in 2016, achieved a critics score of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes alongside an audience score of 89%, making it one of Disney’s most critically acclaimed animated films.

When Moana 2 arrived in theaters, the critical response shifted notably, with the sequel earning a 69% critics score, though audiences remained consistent in their enthusiasm with another 89% rating. This disparity between the two films reveals interesting patterns about how critics and general audiences evaluate animated sequels differently.

The question of “what is the Rotten Tomatoes score for Moana” actually requires naming two distinct films, each with its own reception. The original’s 95% critical rating placed it among the studio’s best-reviewed animated features, comparable to films like Coco and Frozen in terms of critical consensus.

Understanding these scores provides insight into what both professional critics and average viewers valued in each film.

Table of Contents

• How Did the Original Moana Perform With Critics?
• Understanding What These Rotten Tomatoes Scores Actually Mean
• The Stark Difference With Moana 2’s Reception
• How Moana’s Scores Compare to Other Disney Animated Films
• The Critic-Audience Gap and What It Signals
• Why the Original Moana Connected With Critics
• What These Scores Tell Us About the Franchise’s Future

How Did the Original Moana Perform With Critics?

The original Moana’s 95% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes reflected near-universal praise from film professionals and critics.

This high rating placed it firmly in the conversation with Disney’s most successful animated efforts, demonstrating that critics responded positively to the film’s cultural representation, musical composition by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and storytelling approach.

The score indicated that out of every 20 critics who reviewed the film, only one gave it a genuinely negative assessment, which is exceptionally rare for any theatrical release. What made this critical reception particularly notable was the consistency of praise across different types of critics and publications.

The film earned endorsements from major outlets and independent reviewers alike, suggesting broad agreement about its quality rather than a split decision among different critical camps. For context, this compares favorably to other acclaimed Disney animated features from recent years, though it represents the peak of critical approval within the company’s modern catalog.

The 89% audience score for the original Moana showed that general viewers largely aligned with critical opinion, though with slightly less enthusiasm.

This small gap of six percentage points between critics and audiences indicated that professional reviewers weren’t ahead of the curve or out of touch—they and regular moviegoers generally agreed the film was worth seeing and discussing.

Understanding What These Rotten Tomatoes Scores Actually Mean

rotten Tomatoes’ critics score measures whether a critic gave a film a positive or negative review, converted to a percentage.

A 95% score doesn’t mean the average review was 95 out of 100; rather, it means 95% of critics gave Moana a favorable recommendation.

The audience score uses a different methodology, averaging actual user ratings on a scale that roughly corresponds to sentiment. This distinction explains why two scores can both be high yet different—critics vote thumbs up or down, while audiences provide more granular ratings.

One limitation worth understanding is that Rotten Tomatoes scores can be influenced by who reviews films and when reviews are published.

A film that generates passionate responses from a particular segment of critics might score higher or lower than its actual quality suggests. Additionally, the platform’s aggregation method has changed slightly over the years, and different critics have different thresholds for what constitutes a positive review, so comparing across decades requires some caution.

For Moana specifically, the high scores on both metrics suggest genuine quality rather than niche appeal or critic-audience disconnect. The film wasn’t a case where professional reviewers championed something general audiences rejected, nor was it a populist favorite dismissed by critics. Both groups saw value, though critics were slightly more unanimous in their approval.

The Stark Difference With Moana 2’s Reception

Moana 2 arrived with a notably different critical reception: a 69% critics score paired with an 89% audience score. The 20-point gap between critics and audiences represents a significant divergence, one that suggests the sequel resonated differently with professional reviewers than with general viewers.

The 89% audience score matching the original’s audience rating indicates that the public enjoyed Moana 2 at comparable rates, but critics were considerably less enthusiastic. A 69% critics score still represents “fresh” status on Rotten Tomatoes—meaning more critics gave it a thumbs up than down—but it places the sequel in a different category entirely.

Where the original earned near-universal acclaim, the sequel earned qualified approval with noticeable dissent among critics. This score suggests roughly three out of every four critics recommended the film, while one in four did not, creating a much more divided critical conversation.

The gap between the 69% critical score and 89% audience score reveals that Moana 2 likely satisfied viewers seeking more of what they enjoyed about the original, even as critics found elements of the sequel less compelling.

This pattern is common with sequels generally, as audiences often view them through the lens of affection for the original, while critics evaluate them against broader standards of originality and storytelling craft.

How Moana’s Scores Compare to Other Disney Animated Films

Placing Moana’s 95% critics score in context, it stands among Disney’s highest-rated animated features. Coco achieved similar critical acclaim with comparable Rotten Tomatoes scores, while Frozen secured around 86% from critics.

The original Moana’s 95% score represents the upper tier of Disney animation critical success, indicating that the studio achieved something critics considered to be at or near the quality of its best-regarded modern films. Moana 2’s 69% score, while respectable, falls noticeably below typical successful Disney sequels.

For comparison, recent Disney sequels have varied considerably: some have maintained quality through critical eyes while others have experienced sharper drops. The 26-point difference between Moana 2 and the original mirrors what happens with many franchises as critics question whether sequels add something new or merely repeat formulas.

The comparison reveals an important pattern: original films often benefit from the element of surprise and novelty, while sequels face the challenge of meeting high expectations while presenting something that feels fresh. Moana 2 demonstrates how even a beloved original’s sequel can face critical skepticism, even when audiences remain engaged.

This dynamic plays out across the film industry, but Disney’s high bar for quality makes the contrast particularly visible.

The Critic-Audience Gap and What It Signals

The 20-point gap between critics and audiences for Moana 2 warrants examination, as it suggests these groups valued different aspects of the film. Critics may have weighed factors like originality, narrative innovation, or artistic risk-taking more heavily, while audiences prioritized entertainment value, character continuity, and musical satisfaction.

This isn’t a sign that one group was wrong—it reflects genuinely different evaluation frameworks. One limitation of looking at aggregate scores is that they obscure the nuance of individual reviews. Within that 69% critic score are reviewers who loved the film and those who found it disappointing, each with specific reasoning.

Similarly, the 89% audience score masks the fact that not every viewer rated it identically. A reader seeking detailed critical perspective benefits from reading actual reviews rather than relying on percentages alone. For audiences deciding whether to watch Moana 2, understanding this gap matters.

The high audience score suggests the film will likely entertain you if you enjoyed the original, while the lower critical score signals that critics saw limitations in storytelling or artistic execution. Neither score is objectively correct—they measure different things to different constituencies.

Why the Original Moana Connected With Critics

The original Moana’s near-perfect 95% critics score resulted from several factors that professional reviewers consistently praised. The film’s cultural representation of Polynesian characters and mythology was handled with genuine respect rather than stereotyping, earning particular recognition from critics attuned to representation issues.

Additionally, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical composition integrated into the storytelling rather than interrupting it, and the film’s animation techniques impressed technical critics.

Critics also responded to the film’s thematic depth regarding identity, family expectations, and self-discovery. Rather than being a simple adventure film, Moana offered layers that adults could appreciate while remaining accessible to children.

This combination of entertainment and substance—along with the film’s commercial success validating the critics’ perspective—created a rare consensus that something special had been achieved.

What These Scores Tell Us About the Franchise’s Future

The disparity between the original’s 95% and the sequel’s 69% suggests that audiences may have formed unrealistic expectations for Moana 2, or that the originality of the first film was difficult to replicate.

Going forward, this pattern indicates that Disney’s Moana franchise may struggle to achieve the critical heights of the original, even if audiences continue to embrace new installments. The franchise appears to have hit its critical peak with the first film.

Looking at the consistent 89% audience scores across both films, there’s evidence of genuine fan loyalty to the characters and world. However, the critical divide with Moana 2 signals that critics will evaluate future entries by the original’s standards rather than viewing them as independent works.

This dynamic shapes how critics approach sequels and franchises generally, where the first entry often becomes the standard against which all others are measured.

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