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Disney said it would no longer sell a boy's costume for a Polynesian character that some Pacific Islanders have compared to blackface.
The getup depicts Maui — a revered figure in Polynesian oral traditions and viewed by some Pacific Islanders as an ancestor — who is a character in the upcoming animated movie Moana with a long-sleeve brown shirt and long pants featuring full-body tattoos, a fake shark-tooth necklace and green-leaf skirt.
"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," the company said in a statement. "We sincerely apologize and are pulling the costume from our website and stores."
Tevita Kaili, a professor of cultural anthropology at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, said he was happy Disney responded to the criticism and pulled the product.
He said the costume featured tattoos that would be used in Polynesia by chiefs, adults and those committed to the community. They're removed from their cultural context by appearing on a Halloween costume, he said.
For example, the outfit has triangle designs used to symbolize sharks. These would normally be used by families who consider sharks to be ancestral guardians, he said.
Kaili himself views Maui as an ancestor, like many people from his home island of Koloa in Tonga, where a temple is dedicated to him.
