This weekend the online Disney store released a Halloween costume of its newest character Maui, a Polynesian demigod featured in the upcoming film Moana. Nearly immediately after images of the costume arrived in Disney’s online store, it drew fire from many who characterized it as little more than a Polynesian variation on blackface.
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“The team behind “Moana” has taken great care to respect the cultures of the Pacific Islands that inspired the film, and we regret that the. costume has offended some”, the company said in a statement issued to Entertainment Weekly.
Traditional tattoos are imbued with deep meaning in Polynesian culture.
One Twitter user who blasted the costume wrote: “Dear Disney, our brown skin is not a costume”.
“We sincerely apologise and are pulling the costume from our website and stores”.
Disney’s already addressed its error in judgment, though, as CNN reports that the costumes have already been pulled amid controversy. In the film, Maoi, voiced by Dwayne Johnson, is a demigod who teams up with the young girl Moana on a risky quest to save her island. Get outta here with that cr*p. The character, Maui, is inspired by a Polynesian demigod. The criticism centers on the inclusion of the tattoos-which are considered sacred-as well as the fact that cosplay shouldn’t include brown skin. “That’s not a costume”.
Moana’s character is voiced by Auli’i Cravalho, a 14-year-old native Hawaiian.
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It was wrong to sell a costume that allowed children to pretend to be another race, she said.
