The portrayal of Polynesian culture in Moana has been praised for its authenticity and attention to detail. The filmmakers worked closely with cultural advisors and experts to ensure that the film accurately represented Polynesian traditions and values.
Although Moana is from the fictional island Motunui some 3,000 years ago, the story and culture of Moana is based on the very real heritage and history of Polynesian islands such as Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga, and Tahiti. In fact, once you start looking for ties to Polynesian culture in Moana, it's hard to stop!
In Moana, Disney creators employed some creative license, but they did highlight some actual Polynesian origin myths. In “The Maui Myths,” Maori natives of Tolago (today called Tolaga) Bay, North Island, New Zealand recount Maui's mytho-history which aided in the creation of Moana.
For “Moana,” the filmmakers traveled to the Pacific and met with anthropologists, historians, fisherman and linguists, part of what they came to call the Oceanic Story Trust. The fictional movie takes place 3,000 years ago in the islands of Polynesia, an area that includes Hawaii, Tonga and Tahiti.
Some enjoy the movie but believe Maui should have been portrayed as a warrior. "As a proud Polynesian woman, it's not often that you see a film like Moana come out. It headlines our Pasifika culture, and it's lead by our Polynesian artists in the industry.
The two most significant parts of Moana's journey, her learning wayfinding and her relationship with Maui, were drawn from Polynesian history and inspired by their mythology. Thanks to the Oceanic Trust however, there are many other details that enrich Moana's story.
Maui (/maʊwiː/) is a fictional character from the animated film Moana. Created by directors Ron Clements and John Musker and voiced by Dwayne Johnson, Maui is loosely based on Māui from Hawaiian mythology.
Hawaiian, any of the aboriginal people of Hawaii, descendants of Polynesians who migrated to Hawaii in two waves: the first from the Marquesas Islands, probably about ad 400; the second from Tahiti in the 9th or 10th century.
Disney's Moana has depicted part of Polynesian history in its own way, with some aspects being somewhat factual while others were exaggerated. Disney's Moana is set on the fictional island of Motunui.
Te Fiti does not exist in Polynesian mythology, but there is a goddess of fire, lightning, wind, and volcanoes called Pele. The spiral on Te Fiti's heart, Moana's necklace, and on the sail of her boat is called a koru. Te Fiti slightly resembles the Spring Sprite from the Firebird Suite segment in Fantasia 2000.
According to legend, Māui was a premature baby. When he was born, he was so small that his mother thought he was dead. Devastated, she cut off her own hair, her topknot (tikitiki), and wrapped him in it. She set him down in the sea, in this craft of hair, and let him drift out into the ocean.
The theory is that there is a barrier between the spiritual, mystical world and the real world, with Maui's island located in the former. In order for Moana to get there (and return the relic stolen from the goddess Te Fiti) she has to die, too.
One of the largest issues critics have with “Moana,” they said, is that it perpetuates the stereotypical image of the Pacific as an exotic tropical getaway. They argue that it continues American colonialism of the region. “In Hawaii, the impact of the American occupation is something nobody wants to see," Kelly said.
Meaning:Trickster god. Maui is a boy's name of Hawaiian and Maori origin. This name belongs to a trickster god in Polynesian mythology, and was also given to one of the Hawaiian islands. The 2016 Disney film Moana brought the name Maui into popular culture with Dwayne Johnson's playful portrayal of the god.
The chiefs even, as we very well know, were not always and every- where men; Polynesian history provides examples of women who became important chiefs (Gunson 1987).
In the most recent Census, 690,000 people reported that they were Native Hawaiian or of a mixed race that includes Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. There may now be as few as 5,000 pure-blood Native Hawaiians remaining in the world.
Hawaiian and Samoan are both Austronesian languages, but they are not mutually intelligible. They diverged a long time ago, and now share few phonetic and lexical similarities. Hawaiian is more like Maori than to Samoan, and even those languages are very different.
Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; Hawaiian: kānaka, kānaka ʻōiwi, kānaka maoli, and Hawaiʻi maoli) are the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands.
Something I noticed and that my friend pointed out is that Moana's father almost sounded Australian. The reason for this is because Moana is based on all of Polynesia, which includes Maori culture in New Zealand.
In the Disney film Moana, the relationship between Moana and Maui is not romantic because Moana is a sixteen year old girl and Maui is thousands of years old. This is a step up from prior Disney movies.
Polynesia (UK: /ˌpɒlɪˈniːziə/ POL-in-EE-zee-ə, US: /-ˈniːʒə/ -EE-zhə) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean.
Native peoples of the Pacific resumed voyaging again a thousand years later. Clements and Musker set the film at that point in time, about two thousand years ago, on a fictional island in the central Pacific Ocean, which drew inspiration from elements of the real-life island nations of Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga.
Whilst the character is entirely fictional, it's interesting to note that the name Tamatoa actually means “trophy” in the Maori language. This is very apt because Tamatoa is all about collecting treasure and souvenirs from the people he has defeated.
