Moana--appreciation vs. appropriation by Carol Cujec

4

2026-04-20 22:34:03 UTC

allowing those who are from the culture to be heavily involved in the film making process or even completely involved

Question 4

2026-04-20 22:35:31 UTC

Kirra, Mason, Tiffany

Studios could avoid cultural appropriation by including people from the cultures they are making movies about in the production process. They can be involved in the creative process to ensure that the culture is being accurately represented.

Question #2

2026-04-20 22:35:37 UTC

Briana

Cole

Jordan

They included Pacific Islanders but didn’t fully listen. Examples: The Maui costume upset people because it disrespected cultural tattoos.

#1

2026-04-20 22:35:46 UTC

Moana’s family dynamic— ignoring the dynamic of traditional Polynesian family structures

Heihei— “didn’t work” for the screen play

Maui— ignoring the complexity of his character

#3

2026-04-20 22:36:32 UTC

Yes, we said that they literally hired people from the culture to help with the movie, they weren’t on long term contracts and they weren’t there for experience with movies or animation, they were there because of their knowledge of their culture, disney essentially paid them to get access to the idea of their culture.

Question 3

2026-04-20 22:36:52 UTC

We disagree that Moana is an example of cultural theft. We have to remember that there could have been limitations to the movie. Additionally, we have to take note of the audience Disney was targeting; this movie wasn’t meant to be an educational two hour plus film, it was meant to be a fun lighthearted movie that helped include a new type of cultural representation. The representation wasn’t necessarily perfect or 100% accurate, however, we think they still did a good job.

Question 4

2026-04-20 22:36:56 UTC

Allow Pasefika People draw out the story or be a significant part of the decision making regarding it.

What examples show that Disney prioritized profit over cultural accuracy? Muneeb, Luke, Chanel

2026-04-20 22:37:16 UTC

Disney cut down a lot of the cultural traditions and made them short enough to profit on a film that briefly scrapes the indigenous culture. For example, originally the characters were written to be much more culturally complex but during production of the film much of it was cut down. Another example is the small chicken character was dumbed down, even thought it was originally meant to be an important character with more depth.

Question number 2

2026-04-20 22:46:27 UTC

How Maui was portrayed he was depicted as comedic and insecure. Which was not portrayed correctly aligning with real traditional values