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Credit: DisneyDisneyland Resort came under fire last month for an update to its Magic Happens Parade, which recently returned to Disneyland Park after a brief stint in 2020 before the Disney Parks shut down due to COVID-19. A video of Disney Princess Moana went viral on TikTok, showing the character performer atop a boat-shaped float, performing dance moves that some felt were culturally insensitive and offensive to Polynesian and Pacific Island culture.
With more than a million views on the original video, the feedback may have made its way to the Disney Parks. During Magic Happens on Sunday, Moana was nowhere to be found – but her boat still sailed. @toodarling shared a video on TikTok:
@toodarling The entire crowd stared up in confusion. #moana #magichappens #disneyland
“Y’all were making fun of Moana so she didn’t show up for the parade,” the Guest wrote. “The entire crowd stared up in confusion.”
Many commenters were happy about the change. “Good! They went through so much effort to represent the island people properly, the dance should be accurate,” said @belle_of_war.
“Because her dance was extremely disrespectful,” @percilbirblover agreed. “You act like it was for no reason.”
But some Disney Parks fans and Cast Members said Moana might have been removed due to inclement weather, not social media complaints. “It’s because it was heavily raining right before the parade on this day,” @doritoqueenisbest_713 explained.
Disneyland Resort has not commented on the controversy over Moana in the Magic Happens parade.
More on Moana (2016)
“Three thousand years ago, the greatest sailors in the world voyaged across the vast Pacific, discovering the many islands of Oceania,” Walt Disney Animation Studios writes. “But then, for a millennium, their voyages stopped, and no one knows why… Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Moana is about an adventurous teenager who, with help from demigod Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) sails out on a daring mission to prove herself a master wayfinder and save her people.”
What do you think of the Moana performance in Disneyland Resort’s Magic Happens Parade? Share your thoughts with Inside the Magic in the comments.
Please note that the story outlined in this article is based on a personal Disney Parks Guest experience. No two Guest experiences are alike, and this article does not necessarily align with Inside the Magic’s personal views on Disney Park operations.