Storytelling Within Moana
Spring 2021
For the Oceanic Art Course at Arizona State University
In 2016 Disney premiered a full-length princess movie featuring Polynesian culture called Moana. Did Disney accurately represent and show these diverse and yet similar cultures of Polynesia? Afterall, it has been known in the past, that Disney had never represented or honored the cultures that they featured in their films other than those of the Western world. In fact, Moana was their first breakthrough in their latest set representing an indigenous culture outside of Europe and North America. Prior to the movie’s release, and even after its release, there were a contradiction of indigenous Polynesian responses. Some stated that Disney did not represent their culture at all, and that the movie had been completely “Disneyfied.” However, after the movie’s release, many who had stated their dissatisfaction with the movie prior to its release, now sided with those from Polynesian cultures, that believed that Moana had represented their culture well, even giving it the term “Pasifikation.”
What are some of these elements seen within the Disney movie Moana that represent Polynesian, and more specifically, Hawaiian culture?
Storytelling in Hawaiian culture usually “includes chants, song, hula, and verse” (Storytelling Traditions Across the World: Hawaii) either used together or separately. Hawaiians both in ancient and modern times have considered storytelling as a central part of their culture. In Hawaii storytelling was “a way of documenting history, knowledge, facts and beliefs from generation to generation” (Storytelling Traditions Across the World: Hawaii) as these stories were transmitted orally.
This transmission of storytelling from one generation to the next was heavily present in Moana, especially from Moana’s Grandmother, Tala. This can be seen as Grandmother Tala tells the story of how Maui stole the heart of Te Fiti in the intro, and when she passes on her traditions of hula to Moana by the ocean. It is even seen in the movie where Moana passes on some of her hula traditions onto three to four younger children. Grandmother Tala also guides Moana into the secret cave where the vast number of sailing canoes are hiding and where the story of their people’s past as voyagers is told on the sail of the largest sailing canoe. Overall, Grandma Tala is a traditional elder who both shares the stories of her people, as well as guides the younger generation, which is common for all, if not most, elders in Hawaiian and Polynesian cultures.
It was common for elders to share the stories of gods, deities, and ancestors. And one of the major god/deities told in Hawaii and all over Polynesia, is the many stories of Maui, the demi-god of mischief and a trickster, who possess supernatural abilities, including being able to transform into animals. Maui has the most unique and largest number of stories of any god/deity in all of Polynesia and the world. These include Maui being thrown away after birth, but later returns and is accepted by his family, raising the sky up for humans to walk upright, slowing down the sun, fishing up islands from the sea using his magic fishhook, learning how to make fire, which he shared with his mother and humans, capturing and calling upon the wind to blow his kite, as well as a variety of other mischievous and skillful deeds/acts that are mentioned briefly in Disney’s Moana during the song “You’re Welcome” and seen “in the extensive tapestry of tattoos that cover” (Tamaira and Fonoti 306) his body.
It is interesting to note that there are very few differences within the same story of Maui seen across thousands of miles of ocean on the different islands that make up Polynesia. In fact, the foundation of Disney’s Moana is the final story of Maui where he seeks long-life/immortality for himself and humans. In the traditional Hawaiian, and even Polynesian, story of “Maui Seeks Immortality,” he dies trying to escape with the Great Hine’s (seen in Moana as Te Fiti) heart where:
"He leaped through the mouth of the enchanted one and entered her stomach, weapon in band, to take out her heart, the vital principle which he knew had its home somewhere within her being. He found immortality on the other side of death. He turned to come back again into life when suddenly a little bird (the Pata-tai) laughed in a clear, shrill tone, and Great Hine, through whose moth Maui was passing, awoke. Her sharp, obsidian teeth closed with a snap upon Maui, cutting his body in the center. Thus Maui entered the gates of death, but was unable to return, and death has ever since been victor over rebellious men.” (Westervelt 66)
To make clear, there are a variety of ways Maui dies, even in Hawaiian culture. However, Maui’s death told above, is the most prominent. What Disney did, however, is they did not kill Maui, but instead gave him a princess companion to return the heart of Te Fiti. This change in story is actually quite common in Hawaii and across Polynesia, as it is “important to acknowledge that for generations Pacific Islanders have been altering their stories out of creative inspiration or for the purpose of political expediency.” (Tamaira and Fonoti 306) This probably is one of the reasons there are some slight differences in the many stories of Maui that are not just affected by time and distance.
Some things to note about Maui in Disney’s Moana, is his appearance and supernatural powers seen in the movie. First, the fact that Maui lost his fishhook at one point is known in one of his traditional stories, where he fished up islands from the sea with his magic fishhook, though his magic fishhook is seen in other, later stories as well. Second, that his supernatural power to transform into animals comes from his magic fishhook is not seen in traditional stories, though it does enhance his own natural powers in these stories. Third, his physical appearance of a larger body, with leaf skirt has been seen as both offensive and not, as in there is indifference among different Polynesian cultures. The reason for this is due to the fact that many of these cultures and people never had a specific image for Maui. The full hair, however, was pushed on by the Tahitian representatives for the movie. And finally, Maui’s personality in the movie is somewhat different from his traditional persona of being mischievous, a trickster, cunning, and skillful. Instead, he has been labeled by Polynesians as a “buffoon” in the movie. (Tamaira and Fonoti)
Though Disney did consult and include a large variety of Hawaiian, and Polynesian culture, as they tried to break from their traditionally Western stereotyped princess movies, there is still some evidence of Western culture found throughout the movie. Even with this it is also evident that many Polynesians have said that they could see their own culture within the movie, from the way the people looked, to the way they dressed, to the different culturally significant icons and activities found within their own similar and yet diverse cultures. This is clearly seen in the highly valued aspect of storytelling found throughout Hawaiian and Polynesian cultures. As storytelling is huge in Hawaii, seen primarily with the foundation of Disney’s Moana, as one of the many stories of Maui, it is evident that Disney has successfully represented a variety of Polynesian cultures within Moana while also contending with a Western audience. This success was only the start of their breakthrough into representing indigenous cultures beyond those of Europe and North America. However, it is understood that as Disney moved forward, they would continue to face criticism from within the cultures that they have and will represent.
Bibliography
Kaeppler, Adrienne L. Hula Pahu, Hawaiian Drum Dances. Vol. 1. Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, January 1993.
Moana. Dirs. John Musker, et al. Walt Disney Animation Studios, 2016. Movie/Film.
Storytelling Traditions Across the World: Hawaii. n.d. February 2021.
Tamaira, Marata Ketekiri and Dionne Fonoti. “Beyond Paradise? Retelling Pacific Stories in Disney’s Moana.” The Contemporary Pacific 30.2 (2018): 297-327.
Westervelt, W.D. Legends of Maui: A Demi-God of Polynesia and His Mother Hina - The Mythology of Hawaii. Pantianos Classics, September 2019.
Yoshinaga, Ida. “Disney’s Moana, The Colonial Screenplay, and Indigenous Labor Extraction in Hollywood Fantasy Films.” Narrative Culture - Thinking with Stoires in Times of Conflict 6.2 (2019): 188-215.