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Bringing Disney’s “Moana” Back Home

Disney
Disney
Sukee Chew
Credit Sukee Chew
Aaron and Jordan Kandell with The Rock (Note: Names may not be in correct order).

Disney’s movie “Moana” has opened in theaters following a wave of both praise and controversy.

The story follows an adventurous teenager who sails across the pacific on a mission to save her people. Along the way she meets the demigod Maui and discovers her identity.

Hawai‘i born twins Jordan and Aaron Kandell are part of the team of five writers that brought the story to life.  Aaron Kandell says their local roots helped to provide cultural insights into the design of the story.  His training on an early crew of the Hokulea helped to provide the background of the canoe in the film… and the details go right down to the twist of the ropes that are depicted in the movie.

The release was overshadowed by public outcry… when a Halloween costumedepicting the Maui character was pulled for stereotyping Polynesians.  Jordan Kandell says the twins were one of the first people to warn Disney about the costumes.  He adds that Disney marketing immediately pulled the product… and issued a public apology as well as a personal apology to the writers.

JORDAN_112416.mp3

Disney’s “Moana” is now playing in theaters across the islands.

Nick Yee’s passion for music developed at an early age, as he collected jazz and rock records pulled from dusty locations while growing up in both Southern California and Honolulu. In college he started DJing around Honolulu, playing Jazz and Bossa Nova sets at various lounges and clubs under the name dj mr.nick. He started to incorporate Downtempo, House and Breaks into his sets as his popularity grew, eventually getting DJ residences at different Chinatown locations. To this day, he is a fixture in the Honolulu underground club scene, where his live sets are famous for being able to link musical and cultural boundaries, starting mellow and building the audience into a frenzy while steering free of mainstream clichés.
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