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The songs in 2026's Moana are almost all familiar, but a few alterations are worth mentioning. The opening "Tulou Tagaloa" supplies additional male choral lines that work well and are welcome. The vocals in "An Innocent Warrior" are far wetter in ambience, dreamier but less defined. The much more prominent background vocals in "Where You Are" can be distracting, though some of the lines have been shifted to the female lead, which is a very nice touch. The supporting elements in "How Far I'll Go" blend better with the wetter vocals there. The Te Vaka vocal chants at the start of "We Know the Way" are distractingly dissonant, though, and the lead performance when the lyrics shift to English is not as distinctive. This is an instance in the remake in which the vocals are the most annoyingly poorer. The symphonic backing for the outrageously popular "How Far I'll Go (Reprise)" is much superior, however, the female vocal support during the culminating finale an excellent addition. Johnson's performance in "You're Welcome" is largely the same, but the ambient instrumental depth is improved. The opening ratting effects in "Shiny" have been subsumed by bubble sound effects, unfortunately, and Clement's more acted performance is far worse in this rendition, with a drier mix and inflection too wild, making it the least satisfying update of all the songs. "Logo Te Pate" is adapted into "Along the Way (Malaga Ki Ei)," taking it further from "We Know the Way" in structure but achieving the same purpose spiritually. The "I am Moana (Song of the Ancestors)" extension of "How Far I'll Go" is equal in quality. Far more subdued is the mix of "Know Who You Are," reducing the impact of the short song. The loss of the female vocal at the start of "We Know the Way (Finale)" is unforgivable, as it had been a connection back to "Tulou Tagaloa;" the other vocals are also weaker in their interactions, yielding an annoying diminishment to finish the narrative. A new Miranda end credits song, "Along the Way," has a touch of Mulan progressions to its parts, and it's a good and inoffensive duet between the two lead Moana voices. Johnson's interruption in the middle of the song is a detraction, however. In only one passage does he actually sing the song's melody with the women for a great moment, and more of that presence would have been welcomed over the rapping and speaking through his performances.

Mancina's surviving score cues from the 2016 version are generally consolidated into longer suites in 2026, many of them are completely rearranged to emphasize different themes and emotional impacts. Don't be surprised if you find the listening experience of the remake to be a substantially different one from what you know and love from the original Moana, which, in this case, causes some nice new moments but mostly leaves you wanting. The prologue sequence during "In the Beginning" is more robust in its percussion and vocals, though Mancina's returning suspense theme is a bit more muted in its posture at the cue's climax. He does offer the Motufetu island theme from Moana 2 in a cameo at the end for franchise enthusiasts. The transition to the loveliness in "The Mother Island" is a gorgeous expansion for the ensemble, this cue carrying almost a touch of Simon Franglen's Avatar sequels and arguably the best cue of all in this remake. The distinctive preview of "I am Moana (Song of the Ancestors)" in this cue is fantastic, as is the integration of "Tulou Tagaloa" into the symphonic portions. Breathy female vocals in "Beyond the Reef" add another element to the percussion of the discovery sequence. Some of the changes are more challenging, as in "Test of the Tide" coming out of a more muted version of "The Ocean Chose You" in "Embracing the Role." The choral conclusion of "The Ocean Chose You" is emulated in "Echoes of the Wayfinders" with different thematic references. "The Darkness" brings material from "The Hook" closer to "Song of the Ancestors" with elegance, and "Tala Returns to the Sea" is sadly a much more restrained version of "Tala's Deathbed." The evolution of "Battle of Wills" in "Unexpected Companion" really suppresses the comedy aspect, taking the material to a darker place. Mancina's new thematic material for Maui late in "Meet Maui" is friendly but not particularly memorable; some of it ties into a theme heard in "Climbing" from the original score. "Pride vs. Purpose" is a new filler cue that briefly offers more Maui material at its end, and that idea continues with more amusement from recorder in "Waves of Agreement," in which the legacy comedy material dances into the soundscape a few times. The differing percussive techniques in "Kakamora Conundrum" are a bit disappointing, while "By Wind and Wave" is a more muscular version of "Wayfinding," dropping its exotic tilt.

Much of the drab midsection of Mancina's score for Moana languishes without needed character, and some listeners may find later action cues to be less engaging as well. No improvement is made upon "Tamatoa's Lair" and "Great Escape" in "The Shiny Showdown." While "Maui's Story" adapts "If I Were the Ocean," it doesn't make enough of the new character theme. That material offers a decently added opening to "Te Ka Attacks" in "Following the Current," but the action in this sequence uses harsher high-range female vocals in Avatar style. "Broken Bond" combines "Maui leaves," "Heartache," and "Tala returns" into an extended suite, though the vocal lines at the end of "Maui Leaves" are inexplicably dropped here. The notable "Sails to Te Fiti" becomes "Te Ka Unleashed" and reprises the same highlights in better sound, but the female yelling over the suspense theme in this mix are distracting. The prior score cranked up the majesty in "Te Fiti Restored," the best material continuing from there through the work's end. Most of that resolution material is simply missing in 2026, condensed into "Return of the Wayfinders." That cue repeats a few fanfares of moderate interest, but the sense of magic is totally lost. "Navigating Home" is given a brief snippet and "The Return to Voyaging" is reprised at the end. Otherwise, the extended majesty of this sequence's music is astonishingly gone. The addition of "A New Era" to close the score provides no narrative connectivity at all and is useless. It doesn't prove enough of a bridge to the all-new song to justify its deviation. In the end, the score portion of the 2026 soundtrack is not as engaging as the original. Its own narrative is condensed unsatisfyingly in several places, especially at the end, and much of its middle is too mundane to maintain interest. Everything has a shinier polish in this remake, but the raw spirit of the original is diminished. Aside from a lack of CD options up front, the album situation is almost identical, the songs and score released separately but combining on a "Deluxe Edition" that best serves film score collectors seeking the attractive ethnic vocals in the song portion. Johnson also produced an "inspired by" album called "Moana: Voices Across the Ocean" for the film, but other than a rather tepid cover of "We Know the Way," it contains little of interest for this soundtrack's most ardent fans. Don't be surprised if the 2026 version of Moana elicits the exact same reaction as 2019's The Lion King. There's nothing offensive about it, aside from its existence and a constant, nagging feeling that it's not as satisfying as the original.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Mark Mancina reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.25 (in 16 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.07 (in 11,490 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.