Vaiana 2 took moviegoers by storm during its opening weekend.
It has already grossed $386 million worldwide. With that, this is by far the second highest-grossing premiere film of the year.
The film revolves, just like its predecessor, around the girl Vaiana and her people on an island in Polynesia. Several of the characters are taken from stories that recur within several indigenous peoples in the region.
First film meeting criticism
When the first film came out in 2016, it faced criticism from several indigenous representatives. Disney was criticized for profiting from indigenous traditions. After a storm of criticism, the film company had to, among other things, withdraw the sale of a masquerade costume depicting the character Maui. The character is inspired by a demigod that many people still believe in.
Now that the sequel has premiered, it sounds different so far. Just like when Disney made Sami versions of the Frost films, Vaiana 2 has now had its cinema premiere not only in English but also in Máori.
At the same time, Disney has involved several representatives of indigenous peoples in the work on the film.
“Had only superficial knowledge”
One of them is the Samoan visual artist Michel Mulipola. For Te Ao Māori News he talks about how he was able to influence the content in his role. Among other things, he made screenplays for the film. But also pitched ideas and participated in the conversations so that the film would accurately portray the islanders.
– I am Samoan more than I am an artist. So when I work, it’s up to me to maintain my culture and my language, he says.
He continues:
– There are always challenges, especially working with a large conglomerate like Disney, because many of the people in that room only have a superficial knowledge of our cultures and they often think they think our cultures are one-sided.
Arranged language course
Several attempts at persuasion were required. But he still feels that the film producers listened.
As an example, he mentions how names are pronounced in the film. The people of Polynesia mainly have oral traditions. Then the pronunciation becomes extra important, he reasoned, and suggested that he hold a course for the staff on how to pronounce the words, which Disney agreed to.
But Mulipola was not alone. Alongside him worked, among others, the Maori screenwriter Bryson Chun and Lucyola Langi, who is a visual artist from Tonga.