Disney pulled its "Moana" costumes for children debuted in connection with its coming film after receiving complaints calling the promotion of the items a form of "brownface."
The items, including a Halloween costume and a kids' pajama set, were removed less than a week after their debut, The Huffington Post noted.
Both costumes represented the fictional character Maui — a respected figure in Polynesian oral traditions — in the film that’s played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
“The team behind ‘Moana’ has taken great care to respect the cultures of the Pacific Islands that inspired the film, and we regret that the Maui costume has offended some,” a Disney representative told The Huffington Post on Wednesday. “We sincerely apologize and are pulling the costume from our website and stores.”
Chelsie Haunani Fairchild, a native Hawaiian college student, told The Associated Press that the costume doesn't honor a culture, but makes fun of it, adding in a video posted to her Facebook page that the “Polyface is Disney’s new version of blackface. Let’s call it like it is, people.”
The Disney costume also received flack internationally as Marama Fox, a co-leader of New Zealand’s Maori Party and a member of New Zealand’s parliament, referred to the costume as a bad attempt for a company to profit off of another culture’s property, the AP reported.
“It depicts Maui as a bit of a beefy guy, and not in a good way. That’s not the picture I have of the Maui who fished up the North Island, and had a number of feats attributed to him,” Fox said.
According to The Huffington Post, both of the costumes are brown skin bodysuits containing Polynesian tattoos and a faux-leaf skirt.
“Moana” is set to release in November, and the animated feature follows the life of a teenager who sails through the South Pacific to an island called Fabled where she meets Maui, who helps her explore life underneath the ocean.
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