10
Credit: Inside the MagicThe Magic Happens parade was unveiled for the second time at Disneyland at the end of February.
The parade was originally released in 2020, but only managed a couple of runs before the Parks were closed for the COVID-19 pandemic. The parade features a variety of characters, including Merlin, Moana, and Tiana and Naveen. Now, although it’s become a fast favorite with Guests, one of the performers has come under the microscope in the last couple of days thanks to a video that’s gone viral on TikTok. The video features Moana dancing on her float, but many of the criticisms had to do with her style of dance. Moana came out in 2017 and was highly acclaimed for its Polynesian representation. However, Disney has not had a good track record of casting actors and actresses of color to portray their characters in the Parks lately.
Several Guests have started pointing out that Tiana is much lighter skinned in the Parks than she is in the films, and that it seems as though Disney is casting lighter and lighter actresses to play characters of color. With this in mind, many people are criticizing Disney, saying that they only cast actors and actresses that may look like in the characters, but who aren’t necessarily of the culture of those characters. So they might’ve cast somebody who looks similar to Moana, who is also able to look similar to other princesses, but who has no actual ties to the Polynesian culture or people.
Several of the comments called out her dancing, calling it “Camp Rock,” saying she looked like she was trying to do a TikTok dance, and one asking “why she start doing the robot?!” Other comments on the video pointed out that she’s also on top of a float with an attachment in her back, so her movements are very limited, and she’s only doing what Disney has taught her to do as her performance.
@_so.you.dont.have.to original “Moana dance” vid 🙂 || vid creds to username in video #foryou #original #moana #disney @dripofhappiness
One creator, @lokz.4, made a response video, calling on Disney to do better. She pulled up a video of the Magic Happens choreographers, asking why there wasn’t a Polynesian choreographer hired to help with Moana’s section. She also states that there are several actors that can portray Moana and dance as well, so it wasn’t a lack of talent. The style of dance they used for Moana in the parade is apparently a mix of modern hula and hip-hop, which isn’t representative of Moana’s storyline or character.
It’s unfortunately drawing the line between several Guests and fans, but it really comes down to Disney casting and the amount of research they do or don’t put into their characters within the Parks. As several of the comments say, hopefully Disney will take the opinions and critiques of fans and actual Polynesian and indigenous people in order to make Moana more true to her cultural roots. It’s a great move by Disney to include more characters of different races, cultures, and backgrounds, but they need to carry that through into their Parks.
What do you think about the dance? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments.
Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily representative of Inside the Magic.