Disney In Te Reo Māori: It’s Bigger Than Words

By Cameron McCausland-Taylor

Seeing our most beloved Disney animated films adapted into te reo Māori has played a huge part in healing my inner child. As a kid, never would I have thought I’d be living in a world that contained a future of watching my favourite childhood characters kōrero my native tongue. These translated films all provide an accessible platform for people to participate in the revitalisation of our reo, a movement that has been ongoing and unwavering since the 1970s in Aotearoa. However, it’s important to acknowledge that there’s so much more that goes into these translated films than just language-based mahi; it’s about capturing and creating the strong links between the Disney films’ themes and motifs, and those of te ao Māori. The te reo version of Moana, released in 2020, appears to be a pretty obvious choice for the first Disney film to be adapted, and with good reason! As a movie rooted in Polynesian cultures, including te ao Māori, Moana hit home for us, finally seeing our culture so incredibly represented on such a huge platform. Do I wonder if we would’ve seen this on the big screen had it not been two white men co-directing the project? Yes, yes, I do. Engari, the story evolved through nine versions with a load of South Pacific expert hands on deck, ensuring our pūrakau were done justice. Translating into te reo just takes it that one level higher, making the story feel so much richer and more authentic.

Next, we have The Lion King released in 2022, which not only translates the film into te reo, but pays homage to five of our different dialects including Tainui, Tūhoe, and Te Tai Tokerau. Despite being an African-based story, the adaptation was clearly embedded in te ao Māori. In an interview with director Tweedie Waititi, conducted by Liam Maureen, Waititi discussed the examples that set the Māori film version apart; “For example, in the English [version], Scar says: ‘Well, I was first in line until that hairball was born’. Then Mufasa says: ‘That hairball is my son.’ In the Māori version, he says: ‘Ko tā tāua tama,’ ‘That’s our son,’ because you’re always raised by a village. We don’t own our children. It’s our job to make them and it’s the iwi’s job to raise them.” It goes back to that idea of weaving a link between Disney and te ao Māori, with this example being one excellent way of how The Lion King smashes it.

Frozen was released shortly after in 2022, celebrating the dialects of Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Rangitāne, and Te

Tai Rāwhiti. Frozen from a Māori perspective is honouring the diversity of Māoritanga, including those who have fair skin or Pākeha whakapapa. As well as Frozen bearing similarity to Ngāi Tahu’s colder climates in Te Waipounamu, the film also contributes to Ngāi Tahu’s iwi-based language revitalisation strategy called Kotahi Mano Kāika. Honestly, when I first saw that this was the next te reo Māori adaptation, I was low-key confused. Frozen just seemed soooo far from Te Ao Māori in every way. However, as said by Waititi in a New Zealand Herald article in October 2022, “Our reo can be used to translate whatever we want, however we want… Why should we box ourselves in?”

Lastly, we have Coco on the horizon, due to come out in time for Matariki this year. With Coco ecentered around the popular Mexican celebration Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), it bears a striking resemblance to Matariki’s value of honouring those who have passed. In a December Newshub article by Darren Bevan, producers touched on this shared value of te ao wairua (the spirit world), as well as values of whānau and intergenerational respect. Again, it’s that matter of not boxing in our Māori filmmakers and shaping the film from a te ao Māori perspective.

Reading up on the deeper meanings behind it all got me in a really imaginative vibe, inspiring me to take a more in-depth look into the Disney films I know and love, and connecting them with te ao Māori. One film I’d really love to see in te reo Māori is Tangled, a dream I’ve had for a few years since seeing a te reo kapa haka performance of “I See The Light”. From my point of view, the connections I see between Tangled and te ao Māori are the intertwined themes of hair and healing. I know damn well I was not the only one that felt devastated when Flynn cut Rapunzel’s hair, even if it was for the best. Looking back on this film now in this te ao Māori context, I’m drawn to pondering Māori tikanga around our hair, landing on a Spinoff article What hairstyles meant to our Māori ancestors by Te Miri Rangi.

In this article, Miri explores Māori worldviews around hauora and begins his journey in growing his hair long. Why, you may ask? This is because our tīpuna always referred to the head as a tapu part of our body, with Miri wondering whether his continuous head shaving was limiting his mana and potential. He poses the rhetorical question, “Does having long hair give me some type of super power?”, which is quite literally Rapunzel’s entire life. As someone who impulsively cuts my hair whenever I feel a menty b coming on, this really got me thinking; have I been dishonoring the mana within my locks? I may not sprout magical strands that can heal shit, but maybe growing it out can heal some mamae in me and connect me to my tīpuna. Another film I think could be beautifully done as a te reo Māori adaptation is Inside Out. Its original foundations are already strongly set up to teach our tamariki about their complex emotions and how they may interact with one another. As a holistic culture, these teachings are crucial for our tamariki to take on board. Therefore, a te reo Māori adaptation of this film may allow them the opportunity to learn how they can balance out their Te Whare Tapa Wha (physical, mental, family and spiritual wellbeing) by portraying these Western frameworks of joy, sadness, fear and other strong emotions through a te ao Māori view. With the abundance of emotionally moving metaphors we have within te ao Māori, just imagine how poignant this adaptation could be!

As I’ve heard from many fluent te reo Māori speakers, you can’t just learn the language; everything in te ao Māori connects to each other, meaning that with te reo Māori comes learnings of tikanga, concepts, and worldviews. The same very clearly applies to the te reo Māori adaptations we’ve covered in this article, displaying a significance that goes much deeper than the language. You could pop an English film script into te reo Māori all you want, but without te ao Māori knowledge and viewpoints informing the filmmaking process, there’s far too much room for error. These adaptations are just the beginning of an impactful legacy that bridges many gaps, done the tika way.

Glossary:

Te reo Māori - the Māori language

Kōrero - to speak

Te ao Māori - the Māori world

Engari - but/on the contrary

Pūrakau - stories

Māoritanga - Māori culture, traditions and way of life

Whakapapa - genealogy

Te Waipounamu - the South Island

Tikanga - Māori customs/procedures

Hauora - health

Tapu - sacred

Mamae - hurt

Tīpuna - ancestors

Tamariki - children

Tika - correct