document_title: Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

question_text: who is the speaker of the house elected by

text: Selection[edit]

text: The House of Representatives elects the Speaker of the House on the first day of every new Congress and in the event of the death, resignation or removal from the Chair of an incumbent Speaker. The Clerk of the House of Representatives requests nominations: there are normally two, one from each major party (each party having previously met to decide on its nominee). The Clerk then calls the roll of the Representatives, each Representative indicating the surname of the candidate the Representative is supporting. Representatives are not restricted to voting for one of the nominated candidates and may vote for any person, even for someone who is not a member of the House at all. They may also abstain by voting "present".[5]

text: Although no rule exists, based on tradition and practice from the earliest days of the nation, to be elected speaker a candidate must receive an absolute majority of all votes cast for individuals, i.e. excluding those who abstain. If no candidate wins such a majority, then the roll call is repeated until a speaker is elected. The last time repeated votes were required was in 1923, when the Speaker was elected on the ninth ballot.[5]

text: The new Speaker is then sworn in by the Dean of the United States House of Representatives, the chamber's longest-serving member.

text: In modern practice, the Speaker is chosen by the majority party from among its senior leaders either when a vacancy in the office arrives or when the majority party changes. Previous Speakers have been minority leaders (when the majority party changes, as they are already the House party leader, and as the minority leader are usually their party's nominee for Speaker), or majority leaders (upon departure of the current Speaker in the majority party), assuming that the party leadership hierarchy is followed. In the past, other candidates have included chairpersons of influential standing committees.

text: So far, the Democrats have always elevated their minority leader to the speakership upon reclaiming majority control of the House. However, Republicans have not always followed this leadership succession pattern. In 1919, Republicans bypassed James Robert Mann, R-IL, who had been Minority Leader for eight years, and elected a backbencher representative, Frederick H. Gillett, R-MA, to be Speaker. Mann had "angered many Republicans by objecting to their private bills on the floor," and was also a protégé of autocratic Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon (R-IL18) who had been Speaker from 1903 to 1911, and was still in the House. Many members "suspected that he [Mann] would try to re-centralize power in his hands if elected Speaker."[6] More recently, although Robert H. Michel was Minority Leader in 1994 when the Republicans regained control of the House in the 1994 midterm elections, he had already announced his retirement and had little or no involvement in the campaign, including the "Contract with America", which was unveiled six weeks before Election Day. Michel opted not to seek re-election because he had been isolated in the caucus by Minority Whip Newt Gingrich and other younger and more aggressive Congressmen.

text: It is expected that members of the House vote for their party's candidate. If they do not, they usually vote for someone else in their party or vote "present". Those who vote for the other party's candidate often face serious consequences, up to and including the loss of seniority. The last instance where a representative voted for the other party's candidate was in 2000, when Democrat Jim Traficant of Ohio voted for Republican Dennis Hastert. In response, the Democrats stripped him of his seniority and he lost all of his committee posts.

text: If the Speaker's party loses control of the House in an election, and if the Speaker and Majority Leader both remain in the leadership hierarchy, they would become the Minority Leader and Minority Whip, respectively. As the minority party has historically had one less leadership position after losing the Speaker's chair, there may be a contest for the remaining leadership positions; upon losing control of the House after the 2010 election, the Democrats created the position of Assistant Democratic Leader in order to prevent such a contest. Most Speakers whose party has lost control of the House have not returned to the party leadership (Tom Foley lost his seat, Dennis Hastert returned to the backbenches and resigned from the House in late 2007). However, Speakers Joseph William Martin, Jr. and Sam Rayburn did seek the post of Minority Leader in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Nancy Pelosi is the most recent example of an outgoing Speaker who was elected Minority Leader, after the Democrats lost control of the House in the 2010 elections.

text: History[edit]

text: The first Speaker was Frederick Muhlenberg: he was elected as a Pro-Administration candidate to the 1st Congress, an Anti-Administration candidate to the 2nd and 3rd Congresses, and a Republican candidate to the 4th Congress,[7] according to the Biographical Directory of Congress, though Oswald Seidensticker wrote that he was elected as a Federalist for the first four Congresses.[8]

text: The position of Speaker started to gain its partisan role and its power in legislative development under Henry Clay (1811–1814, 1815–1820, and 1823–1825).[9] In contrast to many of his predecessors, Clay participated in several debates, and used his influence to procure the passage of measures he supported—for instance, the declaration of the War of 1812, and various laws relating to Clay's "American System" economic plan. Furthermore, when no candidate received an Electoral College majority in the 1824 presidential election causing the President to be elected by the House, Speaker Clay threw his support to John Quincy Adams instead of Andrew Jackson, thereby ensuring Adams' victory. Following Clay's retirement in 1825, the power of the speakership once again began to decline, despite speakership elections becoming increasingly bitter. As the Civil War approached, several sectional factions nominated their own candidates, often making it difficult for any candidate to attain a majority. In 1855 and again in 1859, for example, the contest for Speaker lasted for two months before the House achieved a result. During this time, Speakers tended to have very short tenures. For example, from 1839 to 1863 there were eleven Speakers, only one of whom served for more than one term. To date, James K. Polk is the only Speaker of the House later elected President of the United States.

text: Towards the end of the 19th century, the office of Speaker began to develop into a very powerful one. At the time, one of the most important sources of the Speaker's power was his position as Chairman of the Committee on Rules, which, after the reorganization of the committee system in 1880, became one of the most powerful standing committees of the House. Furthermore, several Speakers became leading figures in their political parties; examples include Democrats Samuel J. Randall, John Griffin Carlisle, and Charles F. Crisp, and Republicans James G. Blaine, Thomas Brackett Reed, and Joseph Gurney Cannon.

text: The power of the Speaker was greatly augmented during the tenure of the Republican Thomas Brackett Reed (1889–1891, 1895–1899). "Czar Reed", as he was called by his opponents,[10] sought to end the obstruction of bills by the minority, in particular by countering the tactic known as the "disappearing quorum".[11] By refusing to vote on a motion, the minority could ensure that a quorum would not be achieved, and that the result would be invalid. Reed, however, declared that members who were in the chamber but refused to vote would still count for the purposes of determining a quorum. Through these and other rulings, Reed ensured that the Democrats could not block the Republican agenda.

text: The speakership reached its apogee during the term of Republican Joseph Gurney Cannon (1903–1911). Cannon exercised extraordinary control over the legislative process. He determined the agenda of the House, appointed the members of all committees, chose committee chairmen, headed the Rules Committee, and determined which committee heard each bill. He vigorously used his powers to ensure that Republican proposals were passed by the House. In 1910, however, Democrats and several dissatisfied Republicans joined together to strip Cannon of many of his powers, including the ability to name committee members and his chairmanship of the Rules Committee.[12] Fifteen years later, Speaker Nicholas Longworth restored much, but not all, of the lost influence of the position.

text: One of the most influential Speakers in history was Democrat Sam Rayburn.[13] Rayburn was the longest-serving Speaker in history, holding office from 1940 to 1947, 1949 to 1953, and 1955 to 1961. He helped shape many bills, working quietly in the background with House committees. He also helped ensure the passage of several domestic measures and foreign assistance programs advocated by Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman. Rayburn's successor, Democrat John William McCormack (served 1962–1971), was a somewhat less influential speaker, particularly because of dissent from younger members of the Democratic Party. During the mid-1970s, the power of the speakership once again grew under Democrat Carl Albert. The Committee on Rules ceased to be a semi-independent panel, as it had been since 1910. Instead, it once again became an arm of the party leadership. Moreover, in 1975, the Speaker was granted the authority to appoint a majority of the members of the Rules Committee. Meanwhile, the power of committee chairmen was curtailed, further increasing the relative influence of the Speaker.

text: Albert's successor, Democrat Tip O'Neill, was a prominent Speaker because of his public opposition to the policies of President Ronald Reagan. O'Neill is the longest continually serving Speaker, from 1977 through 1987. He challenged Reagan on domestic programs and on defense expenditures. Republicans made O'Neill the target of their election campaigns in 1980 and 1982 but Democrats managed to retain their majorities in both years.

text: The roles of the parties reversed in 1994 when, after spending forty years in the minority, the Republicans regained control of the House with the "Contract with America", an idea spearheaded by Minority Whip Newt Gingrich. Speaker Gingrich would regularly clash with Democratic President Bill Clinton, leading to the United States federal government shutdown of 1995 and 1996, in which Clinton was largely seen to have prevailed. Gingrich's hold on the leadership was weakened significantly by that and several other controversies, and he faced a caucus revolt in 1997. After the Republicans lost House seats in 1998 (although retaining a majority) he did not stand for a third term as Speaker. His successor, Dennis Hastert, had been chosen as a compromise candidate, since the other Republicans in the leadership were more controversial. Hastert played a much less prominent role than other contemporary Speakers, being overshadowed by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and President George W. Bush. The Republicans came out of the 2000 elections with a further reduced majority but made small gains in 2002 and 2004. The periods of 2001–2002 and 2003–2007 were the first times since 1953–1955 that there was single-party Republican leadership in Washington, interrupted from 2001–2003 as Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont left the Republican Party to become independent and caucused with Senate Democrats to give them a 51-49 majority.

text: In the 2006 midterm elections, the Democrats won a majority in the House. Nancy Pelosi became Speaker when the 110th Congress convened on January 4, 2007, making her the first female to hold the office. With the election of Barack Obama as President and Democratic gains in both houses of Congress, Pelosi became the first Speaker since Tom Foley to hold the office during single-party Democratic leadership in Washington.[14] During the 111th Congress, Pelosi was the driving force behind several of Obama's major initiatives that proved controversial, and the Republicans campaigned against the Democrats' legislation by staging a "Fire Pelosi" bus tour[15] and regained control of the House in the 2010 midterm elections. House Minority Leader John Boehner was elected as Speaker.[16]

text: Notable elections[edit]

text:
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text: Historically, there have been several controversial elections to the speakership, such as the contest of 1839. In that case, even though the 26th United States Congress convened on December 2, the House could not begin the speakership election until December 14 because of an election dispute in New Jersey known as the "Broad Seal War". Two rival delegations, one Whig and the other Democrat, had been certified as elected by different branches of the New Jersey government. The problem was compounded by the fact that the result of the dispute would determine whether the Whigs or the Democrats held the majority. Neither party agreed to permit a speakership election with the opposite party's delegation participating. Finally, it was agreed to exclude both delegations from the election and a Speaker was finally chosen on December 17.

text: Another, more prolonged fight occurred in 1855 in the 34th United States Congress. The old Whig Party had collapsed but no single party had emerged to replace it. Candidates opposing the Democrats had run under a bewildering variety of labels, including Whig, Republican, American (Know Nothing), and simply "Opposition". By the time Congress actually met in December 1855, most of the northerners were concentrated together as Republicans, while most of the southerners and a few northerners used the American or Know Nothing label. Opponents of the Democrats held a majority in House, with the party makeup of the 234 Representatives being 83 Democrats, 108 Republicans, and 43 Know Nothings (primarily southern oppositionists). The Democratic minority nominated William Alexander Richardson of Illinois as Speaker, but because of sectional distrust, the various oppositionists were unable to agree on a single candidate for Speaker. The Republicans supported Nathaniel Prentiss Banks of Massachusetts, who had been elected as a Know Nothing but was now largely identified with the Republicans. The southern Know Nothings supported first Humphrey Marshall of Kentucky, and then Henry M. Fuller of Pennsylvania. The voting went on for almost two months with no candidate able to secure a majority, until it was finally agreed to elect the Speaker by plurality vote, and Banks was elected.[17] The House found itself in a similar dilemma when the 36th Congress met in December 1859. Although the Republicans held a plurality, the Republican candidate, John Sherman, was unacceptable to southern oppositionists due to his anti-slavery views, and once again the House was unable to elect a Speaker for several months. After Democrats allied with southern oppositionists to nearly elect the North Carolina oppositionist William N. H. Smith, Sherman finally withdrew in favor of compromise candidate William Pennington of New Jersey, a former Whig of unclear partisan loyalties, who was finally elected Speaker at the end of January 1860.[18]

text: The last speakership elections in which the House had to vote more than once occurred in the 65th and 72nd United States Congress. In 1917, neither the Republican nor the Democratic candidate could attain a majority because three members of the Progressive Party and other individual members of other parties voted for their own party. The Republicans had a plurality in the House but James "Champ" Clark remained Speaker of the House because of the support of the Progressive Party members. In 1931, both the Republicans and the Democrats had 217 members with the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party having one member who served as the deciding vote. The Farmer-Labor Party eventually voted for the Democrats' candidate for Speaker, John Nance Garner, who later became Vice President under Franklin Roosevelt.

text: In 1997, several Republican congressional leaders tried to force Speaker Newt Gingrich to resign. However, Gingrich refused since that would have required a new election for Speaker, which could have led to Democrats along with dissenting Republicans voting for Democrat Dick Gephardt (then Minority Leader) as Speaker. After the 1998 midterm elections where the Republicans lost seats, Gingrich did not stand for re-election. The next two figures in the House Republican leadership hierarchy, Majority Leader Richard Armey and Majority Whip Tom DeLay, chose not to run for the office. The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Bob Livingston, declared his bid for the speakership, which was unopposed, making him Speaker-designate. It was then revealed, by Livingston himself, who had been publicly critical of President Bill Clinton's perjury during his sexual harassment trial, that he had engaged in an extramarital affair. He opted to resign from the House, despite being urged to stay on by House Democratic leader Gephardt. Subsequently, chief deputy whip Dennis Hastert was selected as Speaker. The Republicans retained their majorities in the 2000, 2002, and 2004 elections.

text: The Democrats won a majority of seats in the 2006 midterm elections. On November 16, 2006, Nancy Pelosi, who was then Minority Leader, was selected as Speaker-designate by House Democrats.[20] When the 110th Congress convened on January 4, 2007, she was elected as the 52nd Speaker by a vote of 233-202, becoming the first woman elected Speaker of the House. Pelosi remained Speaker through the 111th Congress. For the 112th Congress, Republican John Boehner was unanimously designated Speaker-designate by House Republicans and was elected the 53rd Speaker of the House. As a show of dissent, nineteen Democratic representatives voted for Democrats other than Pelosi, who had been chosen as House Minority Leader and the Democrats' candidate for Speaker.

text: Partisan role[edit]

text: The Constitution does not spell out the political role of the Speaker. As the office has developed historically, however, it has taken on a clearly partisan cast, very different from the speakership of most Westminster-style legislatures, such as the Speaker of the British House of Commons, which is meant to be scrupulously non-partisan. The Speaker in the United States, by tradition, is the head of the majority party in the House of Representatives, outranking the Majority Leader. However, despite having the right to vote, the Speaker usually does not participate in debate and rarely votes.

text: The Speaker is responsible for ensuring that the House passes legislation supported by the majority party. In pursuing this goal, the Speaker may use their power to determine when each bill reaches the floor. They also chair the majority party's steering committee in the House. While the Speaker is the functioning head of the House majority party, the same is not true of the President pro tempore of the Senate, whose office is primarily ceremonial and honorary.

text: When the Speaker and the President belong to the same party, the Speaker tends to play the role in a more ceremonial light, as seen when Dennis Hastert played a very low-key role during the presidency of fellow Republican George W. Bush. Nevertheless, there are times when the Speaker plays a much larger role if the President is a fellow member of their party, and thus, the Speaker is tasked with pushing through the agenda of the majority party, often at the expense of the minority opposition. This can be seen, most of all, in the speakership of Democratic-Republican Henry Clay, who personally ensured the presidential victory of fellow Democratic-Republican John Quincy Adams. Democrat Sam Rayburn was a key player in the passing of New Deal legislation under the presidency of fellow Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Republican Joseph Gurney Cannon (under Theodore Roosevelt) was particularly infamous for his marginalization of the minority Democrats and centralizing of authority to the speakership. In more recent times, Speaker Nancy Pelosi played a role in continuing the push for health care reform during the presidency of fellow Democrat Barack Obama.[21] The Republicans campaigned against Pelosi and the Democrats' legislation with their "Fire Pelosi" bus tour.[15]

text: On the other hand, when the Speaker and the President belong to opposite parties, the public role and influence of the Speaker tend to increase. As the highest-ranking member of the opposition party (and de facto Leader of the Opposition), the Speaker is normally the chief public opponent of the President's agenda. In this scenario, the Speaker is known for undercutting the President's agenda by blocking measures by the minority party or rejecting bills by the Senate. One famous instance came in the form of Thomas Brackett Reed (under Grover Cleveland), a Speaker notorious for his successful attempt to force the Democrats to vote on measures where the Republicans had clear majorities, which ensured that Cleveland's Democrats were in no position to challenge the Republicans in the House. Joseph Cannon was particularly unique in that he led the conservative "Old Guard" wing of the Republican Party, while his President – Theodore Roosevelt – was of the more progressive clique, and more than just marginalizing the Democrats, Cannon used his power to punish the dissidents in his party and obstruct the progressive wing of the Republican Party.

text: More modern examples include Tip O'Neill, who was a vocal opponent of President Ronald Reagan's economic and defense policies; Newt Gingrich, who fought a bitter battle with President Bill Clinton for control of domestic policy; Nancy Pelosi, who argued with President George W. Bush over the Iraq War;[16] and John Boehner, who clashed with President Barack Obama over budget issues and health care.[22]

text: Presiding officer[edit]

text: As presiding officer of the House of Representatives, the Speaker holds a variety of powers over the House and is ceremonially the highest-ranking legislative official in the US government.[23] The Speaker may delegate his powers to a member of the House to act as Speaker pro tempore and preside over the House in the Speaker's absence; when this has occurred the delegation has always been to a member of the same party.[24] During important debates, the Speaker pro tempore is ordinarily a senior member of the majority party who may be chosen for his skill in presiding. At other times, more junior members may be assigned to preside to give them experience with the rules and procedures of the House. The Speaker may also designate, with approval of the House, a Speaker pro tempore for special purposes, such as designating a Representative whose district is near Washington, D.C. to sign enrolled bills during long recesses.

text: Under the Rules of the House, the Speaker, "as soon as practicable after the election of the Speaker and whenever appropriate thereafter," must deliver to the Clerk of the House a confidential list of Members who are designated to act as Speaker in the case of a vacancy or physical inability of the Speaker to perform their duties.[25]

text: On the floor of the House, the presiding officer is always addressed as "Mister Speaker" or "Madam Speaker," even if it is a Speaker pro tempore, and not the Speaker themselves. When the House resolves itself into a Committee of the Whole, the Speaker designates a member to preside over the Committee as the Chairman, who is addressed as "Mister Chairman" or "Madam Chairwoman." To speak, members must seek the presiding officer's recognition. The presiding officer also rules on all points of order but such rulings may be appealed to the whole House. The Speaker is responsible for maintaining decorum in the House and may order the Sergeant-at-Arms to enforce House rules.

text: The Speaker's powers and duties extend beyond presiding in the chamber. In particular, the Speaker has great influence over the committee process. The Speaker selects nine of the thirteen members of the powerful Committee on Rules, subject to the approval of the entire majority party. The leadership of the minority party chooses the remaining four members. Furthermore, the Speaker appoints all members of select committees and conference committees. Moreover, when a bill is introduced, the Speaker determines which committee will consider it. As a member of the House, the Speaker is entitled to participate in debate and to vote but, by custom, only does so in exceptional circumstances. Ordinarily, the Speaker votes only when the Speaker's vote would be decisive or on matters of great importance, such as constitutional amendments or major legislation.[26]

text: Other functions[edit]

text: Because joint sessions and joint meetings of Congress are held in the House chamber, the Speaker presides over joint sessions to hear addresses by the President, and joint meetings to hear addresses from foreign leaders or other invited guests. However, the Twelfth Amendment and 3 U.S.C. § 15 require that the President of the Senate preside over joint sessions of Congress assembled to count electoral votes and to certify the results of a presidential election.

text: The Speaker is also responsible for overseeing the officers of the House: the Clerk, the Sergeant-at-Arms, the Chief Administrative Officer, and the Chaplain. The Speaker can dismiss any of these officers. The Speaker appoints the House Historian and the General Counsel and, jointly with the Majority and Minority Leaders, appoints the House Inspector General.

text: The Speaker is second in the presidential line of succession, immediately after the Vice President, under the Presidential Succession Act of 1947. The Speaker is followed in the line of succession by the President pro tempore of the Senate and by the heads of federal executive departments.

text: To date, the implementation of the Presidential Succession Act has never been necessary and no Speaker has ever acted as President. Implementation of the law almost became necessary in 1973 after the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew. At the time, many believed that President Richard Nixon would resign because of the Watergate scandal, allowing Speaker Carl Albert to succeed to the Presidency. However, before he resigned, Nixon appointed Gerald Ford as Vice President in accordance with the Twenty-fifth Amendment. Nevertheless, the United States government takes the Speaker's place in the line of succession seriously enough that, for example, following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Speakers used military jets to fly back and forth to their districts and for other travel until Speaker Boehner discontinued the practice in 2011. The Speaker of the House is one of the officers to whom declarations of presidential inability or ability to resume the Presidency must be addressed under the Twenty-fifth Amendment.

text: List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives[edit]

text: Recent election results[edit]

text: To be elected as Speaker, a candidate must receive an absolute majority of all votes cast for individuals, excluding those who abstain.[27]

text: January 2011[edit]

text: Source: Election of the Speaker Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. January 5, 2011.

text:
Candidate
Votes
 %

✓ John Boehner (R)
242
55.6%

Nancy Pelosi (D)
173
40.0%

Heath Shuler (D)
11
2.5%

John Lewis (D)
2
0.5%

Dennis Cardoza (D)
1
0.2%

Jim Costa (D)
1
0.2%

Jim Cooper (D)
1
0.2%

Steny Hoyer (D)
1
0.2%

Marcy Kaptur (D)
1
0.2%

Total
433
100.0%

"Present"
1
0.2%

Not voting
1
0.2%

text: January 2013[edit]

text: Source: Election of the Speaker Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. January 3, 2013.

text:
Candidate
Votes
 %

✓ John Boehner (R)
220
50.8%

Nancy Pelosi (D)
192
44.3%

Eric Cantor (R)
3
0.7%

Jim Cooper (D)
2
0.5%

Allen West (R)[a]
2
0.5%

Justin Amash (R)
1
0.2%

John Dingell (D)
1
0.2%

Jim Jordan (R)
1
0.2%

Raul Labrador (R)
1
0.2%

John Lewis (D)
1
0.2%

Colin Powell (R)[a]
1
0.2%

David Walker (R)[a]
1
0.2%

Total
426
100.0%

"Present"
1
0.2%

Not voting
6
1.4%

Vacant
2
0.5%

text: January 2015[edit]

text: Source: Election of the Speaker Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. January 6, 2015.

text:
Candidate
Votes
 %

✓ John Boehner (R)
216
52.9%

Nancy Pelosi (D)
164
40.2%

Dan Webster (R)
12
2.9%

Louie Gohmert (R)
3
0.7%

Ted Yoho (R)
2
0.5%

Jim Jordan (R)
2
0.5%

Jeff Duncan (R)
1
0.2%

Rand Paul (R)[a]
1
0.2%

Colin Powell (R)[a]
1
0.2%

Trey Gowdy (R)
1
0.2%

Kevin McCarthy (R)
1
0.2%

Jim Cooper (D)
1
0.2%

Peter DeFazio (D)
1
0.2%

Jeff Sessions (R)[a]
1
0.2%

John Lewis (D)
1
0.2%

Total
408
100.0%

"Present"
1
0.2%

Not voting
25
5.7%

Vacant
1
0.2%

text: October 2015[edit]

text: On September 25, 2015, Speaker Boehner formally announced to the Republican congressional caucus of his intention to resign from the House on October 30, 2015, which necessitated an election for a new speaker before that time.[28] The election was held on October 29.[29]

text:
Candidate
Votes
 %

✓ Paul Ryan (R)
236
54.3%

Nancy Pelosi (D)
184
42.3%

Dan Webster (R)
9
2.0%

Colin Powell (R)[a]
1
0.2%

Jim Cooper (D)
1
0.2%

John Lewis (D)
1
0.2%

Total
432

Not voting
3

Vacant
0

text: January 2017[edit]

text:
Candidate
Votes
 %

✓ Paul Ryan (R)
239
55.2%

Nancy Pelosi (D)
189
43.6%

Tim Ryan (D)
2
0.5%

Jim Cooper (D)
1
0.2%

John Lewis (D)
1
0.2%

Dan Webster (R)
1
0.2%

Total
433

Not voting
2

Vacant
0


document_title: Moana (2016 film)

question_text: who plays the voice of the dad in moana

question_tokens: who plays the voice of the dad in moana

root

text: Moana (2016 film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: On the Polynesian island of Motunui, the inhabitants worship the goddess Te Fiti, who brought life to the ocean, using a pounamu stone as her heart and the source of her power. Maui, the shapeshifting demigod and master of sailing, steals the heart to give humanity the power of creation. However, Te Fiti disintegrates, and Maui is attacked by Te Kā, a volcanic demon, losing both his magical giant fishhook and the heart to the depths.

tag: p

text: A millennium later, Moana, daughter of Motunui's chief Tui, is chosen by the ocean to return the heart to Te Fiti. However, Tui arrives and takes Moana away, causing her to lose the heart. Tui and Moana's mother, Sina, try to keep her away from the ocean to prepare her for ascension as the island's chief. Years later, a blight strikes the island, rotting the coconuts and dwindling the number of fish caught. Moana suggests going beyond the island's reef to find more fish, but Tui forbids it. Moana tries conquering the reef but is overpowered by the tides and shipwrecked back on Motunui.

text: Moana's grandmother Tala shows her a secret cave, where a number of ships are hidden, revealing to Moana that their people used to be voyagers. Tala explains they stopped when Maui stole Te Fiti's heart and that Te Kā's darkness is poisoning the island, but it can be cured if Moana finds Maui and makes him restore the heart of Te Fiti, which she gives to Moana. Tala falls ill shortly after and dies.

text: Moana sets sail on a camakau found in the cavern. She is caught in a typhoon and shipwrecked on an island where she finds the stranded Maui, who traps her and steals the camakau, but Moana catches up to him with help from the ocean. She demands that Maui return the heart but he refuses. Maui is accompanied by a sentient "Mini-Maui" tattoo, acting as his conscience.

text: They are attacked by Kakamora—coconut-armored pirates—who seek the heart, but Moana and Maui outwit them. Moana realizes Maui is no longer a hero, and convinces him to redeem himself by returning the heart. Maui first needs to obtain his magical fishhook, which is located in Lalotai, the Realm of Monsters, and is in the possession of Tamatoa, a giant, greedy coconut crab. Maui retrieves his fishhook while Moana distracts Tamatoa, but Maui discovers he cannot control his shapeshifting and loses self-confidence, quickly becoming overpowered by Tamatoa. Moana's quick thinking allows them to escape with the hook. Maui reveals that his first tattoo was earned when his mortal parents rejected him. After reassurance from Moana, Maui teaches her the art of sailing and regains control of his powers.

text: The two arrive at Te Fiti's island, only to be attacked by Te Kā, who badly damages Maui's fishhook. Fearful he will lose his hook, and therefore his power, Maui angrily abandons Moana, who tearfully asks the ocean to find someone else to restore the heart. The ocean obliges and takes the heart from Moana. Tala's spirit appears, inspiring Moana to find her true calling. She retrieves the heart and sails back to confront Te Kā. Maui returns, having had a change of heart, and buys Moana time to reach Te Fiti by fighting Te Kā, destroying his fishhook in the process. Moana discovers Te Fiti is missing, and realizes Te Kā is Te Fiti without her heart. Moana tells the ocean to clear a path, allowing her to restore Te Fiti's heart, transforming her back to normal. Te Fiti then heals the ocean and islands of the blight. Maui apologizes to Te Fiti, who restores his fishhook and falls into a deep sleep.

text: Moana bids farewell to Maui, returning home where she reunites with her parents. She takes up her role as chief and wayfinder, leading her people on a voyage.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Auliʻi Cravalho as Moana, the 16-year-old daughter of village chief Tui and Sina, who is chosen by the ocean to restore the heart of Te Fiti
Cravalho reprised her role in the Hawaiian-language version of the movie.[5]
Louise Bush as a younger Moana
Dwayne Johnson as Maui, a legendary shapeshifting demigod who sets off with Moana on her journey
Rachel House as Tala, Moana's grandmother. Like Moana, Tala shares a passion for the ocean
House reprised her role in the Māori-language version of the movie.[6][7]
Temuera Morrison as Tui, Moana's overprotective father, who is Tala's son, chief of Motunui Island
Morrison reprised his role in the Māori-language version of the movie.[6][7]
Christopher Jackson as Tui's singing voice
Jemaine Clement as Tamatoa, a giant treasure-hoarding coconut crab from Lalotai, the Realm of Monsters
Clement reprised his role in the Māori-language version of the movie.[6][7]
Nicole Scherzinger as Sina, Moana's mother and Tui's wife
Scherzinger also reprised her role in the Hawaiian-language version of the movie.[8]
Alan Tudyk as Heihei, Moana's pet rooster
Tudyk also voices Villager No. 3, who suggests cooking Heihei
Oscar Kightley as a fisherman
Troy Polamalu as Villager No. 1
Puanani Cravalho (Auliʻi's mother) as Villager No. 2

tag: ul

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: After directing The Princess and the Frog (2009), Clements and Musker started working on an adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Mort,[9] but problems with acquiring the necessary film rights prevented them from continuing with that project. To avoid a recurrence of that issue, they pitched three original ideas.[10] The genesis of one of those ideas (the one that was ultimately green-lighted) occurred in 2011, when Musker began reading up on Polynesian mythology, and learned of the heroic exploits of the demigod Māui. Intrigued with the rich culture of Polynesia, he felt it would be a suitable subject for an animated film. Shortly thereafter, Musker and Clements wrote a treatment and pitched it to John Lasseter, who recommended that both of them should go on research trips.[11][12] Accordingly, in 2012, Clements and Musker went on research trips to Fiji, Samoa, and Tahiti to meet the people of the South Pacific Ocean and learn about their culture.[13] At first, they had planned to make the film entirely about Maui, but their initial research trips inspired Clements to pitch a new idea focused on the young daughter of a chief.[14]

text: Clements and Musker were fascinated to learn during their research that the people of Polynesia abruptly stopped making long-distance voyages about three thousand years ago. Their navigational traditions predated those of European explorers, beginning around 300 CE.[15] Native people of the Pacific possessed knowledge of the world and their place in it prior to the incursion of foreigners. For example, Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) were well aware of the existence of far away islands, had names for these places, and were interested in exploring them to benefit their societies.[15] This voyaging heritage was made possible by a geographical knowledge system based on individual perspective rather than the European cardinal direction system.[15] The reasons for the halt of this voyaging tradition remain unknown, but scholars have offered climate change and resulting shifts in ocean currents and wind patterns as one possible explanation.[15] Native peoples of the Pacific resumed voyaging again a thousand years later. Clements and Musker set the film at the end of that era, about two thousand years ago, on a fictional island in the central Pacific Ocean, which drew inspiration from elements of the real-life island nations of Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga.[16]

text: Over the five years it took to develop and produce the film, Clements and Musker recruited experts from across the South Pacific to form an Oceanic Story Trust, who consulted on the film's cultural accuracy and sensitivity as the story evolved through nine versions.[17] The Trust responded negatively, for example, to a depiction of Maui as bald, and to a proposed scene in which Moana threw a tantrum by throwing coconuts. In response, Maui was reworked with long hair and the coconut scene was scrapped.[14]

text: Te Kā was referred to in early drafts of the film as Te Pō,[18] a reference to the Māori goddess Hine-nui-te-pō, who was originally the life-giving goddess Hine-tītama, but became the goddess of death upon discovering that her husband the god Tāne was also her father.[19] Māui set out to defeat her in order to bring immortality to humans, but failed and was himself killed.[20]

text: During the 2015 D23 Expo's panel for Disney's slate of upcoming animated films, Moana's last name was given as "Waialiki", but that name was not retained in the final film.[21]

text: Writing[edit]

text: Taika Waititi wrote the initial screenplay.[22] The first draft focused on Moana as the sole daughter in a family with "five or six brothers",[23] in which gender played into the story. However, the brothers and gender-based theme were deleted from the story, as the directors thought Moana's journey should be about finding herself.[12] A subsequent draft presented Moana's father as the one who wanted to resume navigation, but it was rewritten to have him oppose navigation so he would not overshadow Moana.[12] Instead, Pamela Ribon came up with the idea of a grandmother character for the film,[24] who would serve as a mentor linking Moana to ancient traditions.[23] Another version focused on Moana rescuing her father, who had been lost at sea.[25] The film's story changed drastically during the development phase (which happens with most Disney films), and that idea ultimately survived only as a subtle element of the father's backstory.[25] Aaron and Jordan Kandell joined the project during a critical period to help deepen the emotional story architecture of the film. They are credited with developing the core relationship between Moana and Maui, the prologue, the Cave of the Wayfinders, the Kakamora, and the collector crab Tamatoa (played by Jemaine Clement).[26] Jared Bush received sole credit as the writer of the final version of the screenplay.

text: Like most Disney and Pixar animated films, several major story problems were identified in 2015 only after the film had already transitioned from development into production, but computer-generated films tend to have much shorter production schedules and much larger animation teams (in this case, about 90 animators) than traditionally animated films.[25] Since Clements and Musker were already working 12-hour days (and Saturdays) directing such a large team of animators, Don Hall and Chris Williams (who had just finished directing Big Hero 6) came on board as co-directors to help fix the film's story issues.[25] The scene in which Maui and Moana encounter the Kakamora is an intentional homage to Mad Max: Fury Road.[25]

text: Casting[edit]

text: After the filmmakers sat through auditions of hundreds of candidates from across the Pacific,[13] 14-year-old high school freshman Auliʻi Cravalho was cast as the lead character Moana.[27][28] At that point in time, the design of Moana's face and personality was already complete, and Cravalho's obvious physical resemblance to her character was simply a coincidence.[29] During animation production, Disney animators were able to integrate some of Cravalho's mannerisms into Moana's behavior as depicted onscreen.[29]

text: The majority of the film's cast members are of Polynesian descent: Auliʻi Cravalho (Moana) and Nicole Scherzinger (Sina, Moana's mother) were born in Hawaii and are of Native Hawaiian heritage; Dwayne Johnson (Maui), Oscar Kightley (Fisherman), and Troy Polamalu (Villager No. 1) are of Samoan heritage; and New Zealand–born Rachel House (Tala, Moana's grandmother), Temuera Morrison (Tui, Moana's father), and Jemaine Clement (Tamatoa) are of Māori heritage.

text: Animation[edit]

text: Moana is Clements and Musker's first fully computer-animated film.[13][30] One of the reasons for using computer animation was that the environment, including the ocean, benefited much more from the use of CGI as opposed to traditional animation.[31] The filmmakers have also suggested that three-dimensional computer animation is well-suited to the "beautiful sculpturing" of the faces of the people of the South Pacific.[32] Eric Goldberg worked on the hand-drawn animation used to depict Maui's sentient tattoos.[33][34] During early development, the filmmakers considered the possibility of making the film with hand-drawn traditional animation, but only a few early animation tests were made in that style. In the final cut, only Maui's tattoos are hand-drawn.[35]

text: Moana was produced in makeshift quarters in a giant warehouse in North Hollywood (together with Zootopia), while Disney Animation's headquarters building in Burbank was being renovated. Musker observed that Moana was similar in that respect to The Little Mermaid, which was produced in a warehouse in Glendale. Production wrapped on October 20, 2016.[36]

text: Music and soundtrack[edit]

text: The film's soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records on November 18, 2016. The songs were written by Opetaia Foa'i, Mark Mancina, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, while the score was written by Mancina.[37][38] The lyrics are in English, Samoan, and the Tokelauan language.[39] The soundtrack peaked at number two on the Billboard 200.[40]

text: Localization[edit]

text: In many European countries, the name of the titular character, Moana, was changed to Vaiana due to a trademark conflict. The film was released in those countries to bear the alternative name in the title.[41] In Italy, the film was released with the title Oceania.[42] Media outlets speculated that the name change was to avoid confusion with Italian pornographic actress Moana Pozzi,[43][44] and Disney Italy's head of theatrical marketing, Davide Romani, acknowledged they were "thinking about the issue" at a meeting of Italian exhibitors in 2015.[44]

text:
Following the success brought by international productions of Disney's Frozen, which led to the release of a complete set album which included all the official versions of "Let It Go" released at the time,[45] Disney decided to produce a special Tahitian dubbing for the movie. On October 25, 2016, at a press conference in Papeete, it was announced that the film will be the first motion picture to be fully dubbed in the Tahitian language.[46] This marks the third time Disney has released a special dubbing dedicated to the culture which inspired the film: the first case was The Lion King (1994), for which the directors travelled to South Africa to cast voice actors for a Zulu-dubbed version;[47] and the second case was Mulan (1998), which was the first Disney film to have a Mandarin Chinese dubbing made in China, separate from and independent of the version released in Taiwan.[48]
In June 2017, a Māori-language dubbing of the movie was announced,[49] premiering in Auckland on September 11, with 30 theatres screening it for free as part of Māori Language Week.[50] Rachel House, Jemaine Clement, Temuera Morrison, and Oscar Kightley reprised their respective roles in this version, directed by Rachel House herself.[51][52]
In November 2017, a Hawaiian-language dubbing was announced to be under way, with Auli'i Cravalho reprising her role as Moana.[5] The movie premiered on June 10, 2018.[53]

text:
show"Moana" worldwide

Language

Title

Translation

Arabic

موانا (Moana)

Bengali

মোয়ানা (Moana)

Brazilian Portuguese

Moana: Um mar de aventuras

Moana: A seaful of adventures

Bulgarian

Смелата Ваяна (Smelata Vayana)

Brave Vaiana

Canadian French

Moana

Cantonese Chinese

魔海奇缘

Romance of the demon of the ocean

Castilian Spanish

Vaiana

Catalan

Vaiana

Croatian

Vaiana: Potraga za mitskim otokom

Vaiana: Quest for an island of myth

Czech

Odvážná Vaiana: Legenda o konci světa

Brave Vaiana: The legend of the end of the world

Danish

Vaiana

Dutch

Vaiana

Estonian

Vaiana

European French

Vaiana, la Légende du bout du monde

Vaiana, the legend from the end of the Earth

European Portuguese

Vaiana

Finnish

Vaiana

Flemish

Vaiana

German

Vaiana – Das Paradies hat einen Haken

Vaiana – Paradise has a hook

Greek

Βαϊάνα (Vaiana)

Hawaiian

Moana

Hebrew

מואנה (Moana)

Hindi

मोआना (Moana)

Hungarian

Vaiana

Icelandic

Vaiana

Italian

Oceania

Japanese

モアナと伝説の海 (Moana to densetsu no umi)

Moana and the sea of legend

Kazakh

Моана (Moana)

Korean

모아나 (Moana)

Latin American Spanish

Moana: Un mar de aventuras

Moana: A seaful of adventures

Latvian

Vaiana

Lithuanian

Vaiana

Mandarin Chinese (China)

海洋奇缘 (Hǎiyáng qí yuán)

The romance of the ocean

Mandarin Chinese (Taiwan)

海洋奇缘 (Hǎiyáng qí yuán)

The romance of the ocean

Māori

Moana

Norwegian

Vaiana

Polish

Vaiana: Skarb oceanu

Vaiana: Treasure of the ocean

Romanian

Vaiana

Russian

Моана (Moana)

Serbian

Вајана (Vaiana)

Slovak

Vaiana

Slovene

Vaiana

Swedish

Vaiana

Tamil

மோனா (Moana)

Tahitian

Moana

Thai

ผจญภัยตำนานหมู่เกาะทะเลใต้ (P̄hcỵ p̣hạy tảnān h̄mū̀ keāa thale tı̂)

Adventure on the islands of the legendary southern sea

Turkish

Moana

Ukrainian

Ваяна (Vayana)

Vietnamese

Hành trình của Moana

Moana’s journey

tag: table

text: Release[edit]

text: On October 20, 2014, Walt Disney Pictures announced that it would be releasing the film in late 2016,[54] and hinted that it might be the November 23, 2016 release window previously announced by the studio in March 2014 for a then-untitled film.[55] In November 2014, Disney confirmed that it would be releasing the film on November 23, 2016.[56] The film is accompanied by the short film, Inner Workings.[57] The film's world premiere was held at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on November 14, 2016.[58]

text: On January 27, 2017, a sing-along version of Moana was released in more than 2,000 theaters in the United States, featuring on-screen lyrics.[59]

text: Marketing[edit]

text: On October 15, 2016, Hawaiian Airlines unveiled their Moana-themed livery for three of their Airbus A330-200 fleet.[60]

text: There are currently meet-and-greets with Moana at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disneyland Paris, and at Aulani, a Disney Resort and Spa. At Hong Kong Disneyland, there will be a stage show called Moana's Village Festival, which is scheduled to open in 2018.

text: Home media[edit]

text: Moana was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Blu-ray (2D and 3D) and DVD in the United States on March 7, 2017, with a digital release on February 21, 2017. The releases include the short film, Inner Workings. The Blu-ray release also introduces a short film featuring Maui and Moana, titled Gone Fishing.[61] The film is also available for streaming on Netflix.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Moana grossed $248.7 million in the U.S. and Canada, and $394.5 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $643.3 million.[3] On January 22 and March 16, 2017, respectively, the film reached the $500 million and $600 million marks, becoming the fourth consecutive Walt Disney Animation Studios film to reach both milestones after Frozen (2013), Big Hero 6 (2014), and Zootopia (2016).[62][63] Although Disney has not disclosed the film's production budget, most of its animated films cost around $150 million.[64][65] Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $121.3 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film, making it the 12th-most profitable release of 2016.[1]

text: North America[edit]

text: In the United States, Moana was released during the Thanksgiving weekend. The film played in 3,875 theaters of which a majority of them (80%) screened it in 3D. It also played in 50 premium large-format screens and more than 400 D-Box screens. It was projected to take in around $50 million in three days, with $75–85 million in five days (some estimates going as high as $90 million).[66][67][68] Deadline.com said the numbers were good for the original Disney film and marked a great rebound for the company in the wake of Pixar's The Good Dinosaur the previous year, which had made $55 million over five days off a production budget of $175–200 million.[69]

text: Moana made $2.6 million from Tuesday paid previews which began at 7 pm, the highest ever for a Walt Disney Animation Studios film and for a non-Pixar Disney animated film.[70] On its opening day, it made $15.5 million, a new record for a Walt Disney Animation Studios film opening on Wednesday (breaking Frozen's record) and the biggest opening day ever for a film released on pre-Thanksgiving Day.[71] On Thanksgiving Day, it earned $9.9 million, a decrease of 36% from its previous day. On Black Friday—the highest-grossing day of the Thanksgiving stretch—it made $21.8 million, a 127% increase from the day before.[72] Through Sunday, the film posted a three-day opening weekend worth $56.6 million over its Friday-to-Sunday debut and $82.1 million from Wednesday to Sunday, the third biggest three-day Thanksgiving opening[73] (behind Frozen and Toy Story 2) and the second-biggest five-day Thanksgiving opening[74] (behind Frozen), dethroning Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them off the top spot. Among all films that did not necessarily open in this weekend but may have played, Moana ranks sixth among three-day[75] weekends and fifth among five-day weekends.[76]

text: The film's opening was considered to be another animated success for the studio after Zootopia and Pixar's Finding Dory posted huge openings, respectively, the same year in March and June.[77]

text: In its second weekend, the film dropped by about 50% for a total of $28.3 million, a smaller drop than Toy Story 2, Frozen, Tangled, and The Good Dinosaur.[78][79] The film managed to top the box office for its third weekend, despite competition from newcomers and holdovers, earning $18.5 million while falling by 34%. It became the sixth film of 2016 to top the box office three times, following Deadpool, Zootopia, The Jungle Book, Finding Dory, and Suicide Squad.[80] The film was overtaken by Disney's own Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in its fourth weekend, despite only a marginal decline.[81]

text: It fell to number six in its fifth weekend, due to competition from four new releases—Sing, Passengers, Why Him?, and Assassin's Creed—despite a small drop again; it grossed $2.9 million on Christmas Day.[82] On the holiday week of December 23–29, the film finished at number four with a gross of $26 million, which was 14% up from the previous week, despite losing over 300 theaters.[83] It finished at number four in its sixth weekend, going up 42% and 97%, respectively, during the three-day[84] and four-day weekends;[85] it grossed $3.6 million on New Year's Day.

text: It fell outside the top ten in its eighth weekend (which included Martin Luther King Jr. Day), dropping 33% and 4%, respectively, during the three-day[86] and four-day weekends.[87]

text: Outside North America[edit]

text: Internationally, the film earned $17.2 million in its first weekend from 12 markets, the bulk of which came from China. In its second weekend, the film expanded to a total of 30 markets, adding an additional $33.7 million.[88]

text: In China, the film had a November 25 opening day[89] with $1.9 million from 38,000 screenings. However, it enjoyed a big weekend bump on Saturday—even though its screens dipped—and Sunday.[90] In total, it scored an opening weekend of $17.2 million, the second best for a Disney animated title, behind only Zootopia. It was No. 2 behind Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Strong social media numbers showed among the highest the studio has seen there, similar to how Zootopia started off slow and later became a blockbuster phenomenon.[91] The film slipped 55% in its second weekend, earning $5.8 million, and $21.8 in total in China.[92] It would eventually earn a total of $32.7 million in China.[89]

text: It had similar successful number-one debuts in France, Russia, Mexico and Spain. The film also saw success in Belgium, the Netherlands and French-speaking Switzerland.[88] In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the film faced competition from Fantastic Beasts—which was playing in its third weekend—and as a result, it posted a low opening of only £2.2 million ($2.8 million).[93]

text: The biggest earning markets to date have been Japan ($45.9 million), followed by France ($35.5 million), China ($32.8 million), the UK ($25.3 million), Brazil ($22.9 million), Australia ($19 million), Germany ($17 million), Italy ($15.9 million), and South Korea ($15.5 million).[94]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Moana holds an approval rating of 96% based on 246 reviews, and an average rating of 7.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "With a title character as three-dimensional as its lush animation and a story that adds fresh depth to Disney's time-tested formula, Moana is truly a family-friendly adventure for the ages."[95] Subsequently, the film is also listed as number 11 on the website's "50 Best Computer Animated Movies" list.[96] On Metacritic, the film holds a weighted average score of 81 out of 100, based on 44 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[97] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on a scale ranging from A+ to F, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave an 89% overall positive score and a 71% "definite recommend".[70]

text: Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal proclaimed that "Moana is beautiful in more ways than I can tell, thanks to the brilliance of more animators than I could count."[98] Animator Eric Goldberg received praise from critics and audiences for his hand-drawn animation of Maui's tattoos, which they claimed "stole the show" from the actual CGI-animated motion picture.[99][100][101] Wai Chee Dimock, writing in the Los Angeles Review of Books, compared the ocean in Moana to the one in "The Water Baby", a short story by Jack London, saying that both are animated: one, by the tension between digital and analog animation, and the other, by the tension between an encroaching future and a past in retreat still capable of pushing back.[102]

text: Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, stating that "'Moana' would have been enormously entertaining regardless of when it came out, but its arrival at this particular moment in history gives it an added sense of significance—as well as inspiration."[103] Peter Debruge of Variety praised the film, calling it "a return to the heights of the Disney Renaissance".[104]

text: Criticism[edit]

text: Disney has been accused of appropriating Polynesian mythology and culture. Through the film, the corporation has been claimed to perpetuate settler colonialist practices of exploitation and erasure by utilizing the knowledge and narratives of native peoples to spur a profitable capitalist enterprise of music, celebrities and merchandise.[105] A Maui "skin suit" costume made to tie in with the film was pulled by Disney from its online store following complaints about it being culturally insensitive[106] and for appearing to promote brownface.[107]

text: The film takes specific cultural elements from a variety of native Pacific groups and incorporates them into one generalized portrayal of Polynesian culture. This conglomeration of cultures has been regarded as degrading to the diversity of the Pacific, falsely reducing all of Polynesia to a single cultural entity.[105]

text: The film has also been criticized as a tourism advertisement for the Pacific. It has been accused of fetishizing Polynesian island nations as exotic vacation spots, the people and culture of which exist only to entertain foreign audiences.[105] Disney initiating a partnership with Hawaiian Airlines[108] to promote the film has been perceived as having this particular motive, as well as Auliʻi Cravalho speaking with The New York Times in an interview sharing travel tips for visitors to Hawaii.[109] Critiques of these promotional tactics focus on how adverse effects of tourism have devastated native communities in the Pacific, resulting in environmental degradation and poverty.[110]

text: Colin Philp, an educator on Polynesian history, noted that the sailing canoe used by the film's protagonists is believed to be a Fijian camakau, and that the film's concept artists based it on one of the canoes they saw when they visited the Korova settlement in Laucala. Philp said that using that design without permission of the Korova community could be viewed as a violation of the intellectual property rights of their elders.[111]

text: Brigham Young University–Hawaii sociocultural anthropologist Tēvita 'Ō. Ka'ili stated that "despite its important girl-power message, the film had a major flaw. It lacked symmetry by its omission of a heroic goddess. Disney resorted to reducing the mighty god Maui to a one-dimensional, selfish, borderline abusive, buffoon to foreground the strength of the movie's protagonist Moana." He went on to explain that, "the omission of a goddess-heroine is significant because Polynesia is a culture with a vast pantheon of powerful heroic goddesses. Hina, a companion goddess to the god Maui, was nowhere to be found in Disney's imagineering of Moana."[112]

text: Accolades[edit]