Kids Can’t Stop Watching ‘Moana.’ There’s a Scientific Explanation.

Rory Henry, a 2-year-old in Fort Worth, is in the grip of an obsession.

She’s watched Disney’s animated Polynesian princess movie, “Moana,” around 40 times in the past year and a half. She has a pig toy in the shape of Pua, Moana’s sidekick. A karaoke microphone that plays a song from “Moana 2.” And “Moana” dresses, sunglasses and hair clips.

Rory’s mother, Stacey Henry, 38, and her father have to be careful about using the “M word” around the house, Henry said.

“She’ll immediately get her very serious eyebrows on and say ‘Board my boat,’” Henry said, with a laugh.

Rory is hardly alone: Since its theatrical release in 2016, “Moana,” which is about the daughter of a chief who goes on a journey to save her island from destruction, has become the most watched movie of all time on Disney+. It’s been streamed for more than 1.5 billion hours, the equivalent of playing “How Far I’ll Go” on repeat for more than 170,000 years. Both “Moana” and its 2024 sequel, “Moana 2,” are among Disney’s Top 10 highest-grossing animated films.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/movies/moana-kids-obsession.html