Disney’s Moana is set to open in theaters across Italy, but not under the name we’ve grown accustomed to.
Instead of debuting as Moana, the title has been changed to Oceania, in what many believe is an attempt to disassociate with a famous Italian porn star under the same name.
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Moana Pozzi was a prominent porn star and TV personality who is widely known in Italy. Though she died in 1994, her name still lives on, and stands as something Disney would rather not be tied to.
Disney Italy hasn’t officially commented on the Monoa’s overseas title change, but the company’s head of theatrical marketing in the country, Davide Romani, confirmed last year they were “thinking about this issue.” Shortly thereafter, Moana became Oceania.
“There are two very simple reasons for the title change,” said an Italian marketing expert who did not want to be quoted by name. “One is that if you type ‘Moana’ and do a Google search in Italy you risk coming up with porn videos. And it’s very expensive and a waste of money to try and change that.”
It’s not uncommon for a film to change titles depending on the geographic region it’s released. For example, Moana will become Vaiana in France and Spain, largely due to copyright issues.
But the fact Disney is changing the title of one of its movies to avoid a connection to a porn stars shows the company is working hard to keep their films clean for children and adults alike.
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What do you think of Moana’s new name?
[ H/T Variety ]
