Home›Sources›Associated Press, "Disney's New Movie Hit Moana Criticised for Depiction of Polynesia People," 2016SourcesAssociated Press, "Disney's New Movie Hit Moana Criticised for Depiction of Polynesia People," 2016Citation FormatsGeneral ReferenceGeneral Reference Citation TextDivinity Atlas. "Associated Press, "Disney's New Movie Hit Moana Criticised for Depiction of Polynesia People," 2016." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://www.divinityatlas.com/sources/ap-moana-criticised-for-depiction-of-polynesia-people-2016.Copy General ReferenceAPA StyleAPA Style Citation TextDivinity Atlas. (n.d.). Associated Press, "Disney's New Movie Hit Moana Criticised for Depiction of Polynesia People," 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://www.divinityatlas.com/sources/ap-moana-criticised-for-depiction-of-polynesia-people-2016Copy APA StyleBibTeXBibTeX Citation Text@misc{divinityatlas-associated-press-disney-s-new-movie-hit, author = {Divinity Atlas}, title = {Associated Press, "Disney's New Movie Hit Moana Criticised for Depiction of Polynesia People," 2016}, year = {2026}, url = {https://www.divinityatlas.com/sources/ap-moana-criticised-for-depiction-of-polynesia-people-2016}, note = {Accessed August 30, 2026} }Copy BibTeXA wire news feature naming specific Pacific critics of Maui's redesign, published as the film reached theaters. Its strength is on the record quotation from named specialists closely following the film's reception in real time. Its limit is news wire brevity: each critic gets a short quoted position rather than a developed argument, which the ethics center source below supplies for the related costume controversy.FactsClaims Backed By This Source (10 claims)Comments (0)Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)FactsAssessmentReliability TierWell-attested2Reliability tier 2: a wire service report from the Associated Press, carried by CBS News, unsigned by an individual reporter but produced under a newsroom's standard editorial process.NotesWell-attestedPublished November 30, 2016. Read directly. Quotes Teresia Teaiwa, Senior Lecturer in Pacific Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, on Maui being written as a comic "buffoon" and paired with a teenage girl rather than the female deity of most legends, and calling his costume "macabre" and "creepy," likening it to the historical collection of tattooed skin from deceased Pacific people. Also quotes Marama Fox, co-leader of New Zealand's Maori Party, calling the depiction "a little bit of cultural misappropriation." Notes Disney's own account of forming an Oceanic Story Trust of Pacific anthropologists, historians, fishermen and linguists after criticism of earlier films including Aladdin.CitationPublisherWell-attestedAssociated Press, carried by CBS NewsPublication YearWell-attested2016URLWell-attestedhttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/disney-new-movie-hit-moana-criticised-depiction-polynesia-people/Source TypeWell-attestednewsClaims Backed By This Source (10 claims)This source backs 10 claims across the atlas. As facts: 7 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate. As cited relationships: 1 holds. Plus 1 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.Disposition By TopicSources, 7 claims: 7 well-attested.Screen Works, 3 claims: 1 scholarly debate, 1 holds, 1 general references.Well-attested7SourcesAssociated Press, "Disney's New Movie Hit Moana Criticised for Depiction of Polynesia People," 2016Scholarly debate1Screen WorksMoana (2016 Film)Holds1Screen WorksMoana (2016 Film)General References1Screen WorksMoana (2016 Film)Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.View At A Past YearThe atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.Show This Year