A long-awaited or legacy sequel, even one attached to a beloved property, is a different proposition in children’s entertainment. Waking a sleeping giant initially aimed at adults is always met with hand wringing and pleas for originality, the burden of proof laid squarely at the feet of cash hungry studio executives. Top Gun: Maverick would have been crucified if it wasn’t so successful, and Joker: Folie à Deux found itself firmly and maliciously nailed to the cross, but we’re entirely more lenient with family fare. After all, it’s the tikes in the audience whose satisfaction matters, and as long as the brood’s trip to the multiplex ends with smiling young faces, everyone’s a winner. Dreaming of a world where the big wigs treated modern animated classics with a bit more reverence and care can feel like a futile effort, but the experience of watching something wonderful get picked apart for useful scaps has rarely been as discouraging as it is in Moana 2.

And make no mistake; the first Moana really is that good. Blessed with gorgeous, sun-soaked animation, and powered by a staggering collection of Lin-Manuel Miranda earworms, the daughter of the village chief’s first outing did strong business back in 2016, but has become substantially more cherished as the years have passed. So much so that the money men at Disney decided to repurpose the framework wholesale; Moana 2 sees our titular heroine (again voiced by Auliʻi Cravalho) once again pulled by supernatural forces into a seafaring adventure, this time determined to reunite the disparate local tribes by lifting the legendary island Motufetu from its ocean floor slumber. There are some new friends this time around, from taciturn Kele (David Fane) to quirky Loto (Rose Matafeo) and fanboy Moni (Hualālai Chung), but for the most part this one is playing the hits.

Only there aren’t any hits on hand. Much has been made in the prerelease hype cycle of Miranda’s absence here, and while the tunes written by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear for Moana’s sophomore outing are nowhere near as bad as some feared, they pale in comparison to the majesty of the original’s soundtrack. Modest and fleeting, they dutifully move the plot from one story beat to the next, non-grating and unmemorable in equal measure. It’d be an easier pill to swallow if they hid the ball a little longer, but when Beyond hits near the twenty minute mark, with its mounting chorus set to our protagonist’s preparations for adventure, all hopes for another set of Mouse House bangers fall by the wayside. Including such a crystal-clear evocation of Moana’s rousing How Far I’ll Go sequence is a glaring misstep, one that makes Moana 2 feel slight in its forebarer’s shadow.

Despite being the most obvious instance of failed plagiarism, Beyond is far from an outlier, with the rest of the film following its edict of faithful, watered-down revisitation. You didn’t need a crystal ball to know that Maui (Dwayne Johnson), the troublemaking demigod, would be back, but the elevation of screen time for Moana’s animal friends, Pua and Hei Hei, as well as another run in with the not-so-villainous Kakamora, feel like safeguards against moving too far away from what’s known. Even the overriding structure feels like a photocopy of the first entry, with various locations and situations smacking the viewer with a keen sense of déjà vu. Whenever the movie dips its toes into something new, like the musical set piece featuring the new and slightly menacing bat-woman Matangi, it gets lost in an immediate rush to reach safer shores.

Moana herself is quite the security blanket, a charming concoction of steely self-possession, mindful empathy, and incurable optimism. That might be the playbook for most Disney princesses nowadays, but there’s something about this one, from the way she’s animated to Cravalho’s plucky voice work, that’s stickier than her contemporaries. Watching her set sail on another quest for the benefit of her people has the inviting quality of a comfort TV, and while comparing a big screen offering to a pajama clad, couch bound rewatch is a form of damning with faint praise, it’s the only plaudit that this one earns without caveat.

Perhaps the whole thing wouldn’t sting so much if it had just stayed in that format. Originally conceived as a Disney+ miniseries, Moana 2 is, in the most literal sense imaginable, a repurposed television show, and it behaves accordingly. In featuring both a cloyingly adorable kid sister and a furthering of in-universe mythology that no one asked for, Moana 2 seems hell bent on continuation, even employing a Marvel-style mid-credit stinger to prep the audience for coming attractions. Diluted as the whole thing may be, there’s a chance that everyone walks out of this one a winner. The children seem delighted, and the parents will soon have another product to throw on at home when chores need doing without interference. That’s Moana 2 in a nutshell, a product designed for maximum efficiency, and minimal customer complaints. Sobeit if something special had to be sacrificed at the altar of convenience and commerce. In case you’re just joining us, nothing is sacred.