Disney is in hot water right now with their upcoming movie Moana, which will be released on Wednesday, November 23. Moana is an animated adventure film about a teenage girl, Moana, on a mission to find her true identity. Along the way, she meets Maui, a Polynesian mythical demigod, and together they sail across the ocean on a quest to save their people. This film is based on Polynesian mythology.  Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania which consists of over a thousand islands in the Pacific. This is Disney’s second film that takes place in the Pacific, with the first one being Lilo and Stitch. There has been significant controversy about whether or not Maui accurately reflects Polynesian culture.

Many have been offended by the way Disney created Maui to be overly large. People are upset about the stereotypes that surround the Polynesians, and they think Disney purposely created Maui along those guidelines. The stereotype is that those of Polynesian descent are overweight, lazy, and unhealthy, and, though this is certainly not true in reality, many people of Polynesian descent are furious and think that Disney portrayed Maui as overweight. In the ancient myth, the description of the demigod Maui changes in each story. Mostly, Maui is described as “beautiful” and “attractive,” and when Moana came out, Maui became the opposite. Cynthia Stan Mellow, Upper School art teacher, expressed her thoughts on the topic: “Sometimes when creating a cartoon character it’s based on a story from the past, and it’s hard to get away from some of the stereotypes. It’s a tough job. It also depends on what the character does and represents rather than the form.” One of the toughest things to do is to create a character from scratch and have everyone love it. Over the years, Disney has done an outstanding job with making children all over the world content, until now.

Disney is also taking the heat for releasing a new halloween costume of Maui. The costume has brown skin that is covered with tattoos, which has driven the media insane. People are saying that brown skin is not a costume, and that this is the first time Disney has done something like this. This offended many Pacific people, and the tattoos on the costume were very disrespectful to the culture of the Polynesians. Tattoos in their culture are unique and different for every single person.

In contrast, some do not think Maui is being portrayed as an unhealthy and overweight demigod. Many are defending Maui saying that he has a strong and built body type, not appearing lazy and laid back like the stereotype suggests. Disney possibly used a thicker body type to promote the idea that anyone can make a difference, no matter what shape or size they are. Emily Rossi ’17, a Disney movie fanatic, believes, “If Disney uses Maui being larger in size as a part of the movie it’s fine, but if they are making fun of his weight in the movie it’s disrespectful, and definitely not okay.” Disney won’t deliberately make fun of Maui’s weight. Maui is described as a fallen hero, but he joins a journey to redeem himself, so he doesn’t seem lazy from the description. Maybe Disney didn’t want to have an attractive hero like all the other adventure films. Victoria Shroeder ’18 said, “I think he’s more built and large. When Disney designs their characters they keep in mind the personality. I don’t think Disney meant to offend anyone.” Many believe that it’s not fat shaming at all, but instead, it’s empowering. It could be a message to viewers that you shouldn’t judge someone based on their appearance.

There has been one other movie that Disney has done with Polynesian culture and that would be the well known animated film Lilo and Stitch, which entered theaters July 16, 2002. Lilo and Stitch received great popularity, and there was no controversy about it like Moana faces today. The characters in Lilo and Stitch are portrayed similarly with dark skin, hula skirts, and other characteristics that stereotype the Polynesian culture. Culture has always been a significant part of Disney movies, and hopefully the culture portrayed in Moana will keep its integrity.