Home›Sources›Higson, Prindle Institute for Ethics, "Disney's Moana and Cultural Appropriation," 2016SourcesHigson, Prindle Institute for Ethics, "Disney's Moana and Cultural Appropriation," 2016Citation FormatsGeneral ReferenceGeneral Reference Citation TextDivinity Atlas. "Higson, Prindle Institute for Ethics, "Disney's Moana and Cultural Appropriation," 2016." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://divinity.interactivelion.com/sources/higson-prindle-institute-moana-cultural-appropriation-2016.Copy General ReferenceAPA StyleAPA Style Citation TextDivinity Atlas. (n.d.). Higson, Prindle Institute for Ethics, "Disney's Moana and Cultural Appropriation," 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://divinity.interactivelion.com/sources/higson-prindle-institute-moana-cultural-appropriation-2016Copy APA StyleBibTeXBibTeX Citation Text@misc{divinityatlas-higson-prindle-institute-for-ethics-disn, author = {Divinity Atlas}, title = {Higson, Prindle Institute for Ethics, "Disney's Moana and Cultural Appropriation," 2016}, year = {2026}, url = {https://divinity.interactivelion.com/sources/higson-prindle-institute-moana-cultural-appropriation-2016}, note = {Accessed August 30, 2026} }Copy BibTeXAn ethics center essay weighing Moana's production choices against its marketing choices, published by DePauw University's Prindle Institute for Ethics. Its strength is that it holds both a positive and a negative finding about the same film in one place, naming specific named critics for the Maui Halloween costume specifically, rather than treating the film's reception as uniformly good or bad. Its limit is that it is one ethicist's analytical essay rather than a survey of Pacific opinion or a peer reviewed study.FactsClaims Backed By This Source (12 claims)Comments (0)Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)FactsAssessmentReliability TierWell-attested2Reliability tier 2: a named contributor publishing through the Prindle Institute for Ethics at DePauw University, an academically affiliated venue for applied ethics commentary rather than a peer-reviewed journal article itself.NotesWell-attestedPublished October 1, 2016. Read directly. Credits Disney for casting Polynesian descent voice actors including Aulii Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson, engaging Maori filmmaker Taika Waititi on an early story draft, and giving Moana herself realistic proportions and agency with no romantic rescue plot. Separately quotes Chelsie Haunani Fairchild, a Native Hawaiian critic, calling the Maui Halloween costume, brown skin fabric with tattoo print and a curly wig, "polyface" and comparing it to blackface, and Tevita O. Kaili, an Oceanic anthropologist, defining the underlying problem as a dominant group adopting the symbols of a less powerful, marginalized culture.CitationAuthorWell-attestedRachel HigsonPublisherWell-attestedThe Prindle Institute for Ethics, DePauw UniversityPublication YearWell-attested2016URLWell-attestedhttps://www.prindleinstitute.org/2016/10/disney-moana-cultural-appropriation/Source TypeWell-attestedEssayClaims Backed By This Source (12 claims)This source backs 12 claims across the atlas. As facts: 10 well-attested. Plus 2 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.Disposition By TopicSources, 8 claims: 8 well-attested.Articles, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.Screen Works, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.Well-attested10ArticlesThe Costume Disney Pulled, and the Voices That Made ThemScreen WorksMoana (2016 Film)SourcesHigson, Prindle Institute for Ethics, "Disney's Moana and Cultural Appropriation," 2016General References2ArticlesThe Costume Disney Pulled, and the Voices That Made ThemScreen 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