Disney under fire for 'full body brownface' Moana Halloween costume

Moana has already sparked controversy with its depiction of an obese Polynesian demi-god

Disney has been accused of promoting “full body brownface” for children after revealing its new Moana Halloween costume.

The studio has released an outfit that will allow little ones to dress up as the demi-god Maui, featuring brown skin, traditional Polynesian tattoos, a grass skirt and a bone necklace.

But while children may not see the harm in donning the costume for a party, activists have criticised Disney for trying to profit “off the back of another culture’s beliefs and history”.

Marama Fox, co-leader of New Zealand’s Maori Party, told Fairfax Media that launching the outfit is “no different to putting the image of one of our ancestors on a shower curtain or a beer bottle” while Pasifika news site Samoa Planet described the release as “cultural appropriation at its most offensive worst”.

The New Zealand Human Rights Commission has issued a statement calling on Disney to “listen to the views of the communities and people whose cultures their movie is based upon.“

Moana has already sparked controversy this year, with critics arguing that the trailer's portrayal of Maui as obese reinforces outdated Polynesian stereotypes and is a form of “fat-shaming”.

Disney is yet to comment on the latest outrage, which has been defended by The Spinoff journalist Madeline Chapman, herself of Samoan descent.

“After years and years of seeing Samoan Spiderman and Brown Batman at little kids’ birthday parties, how incredible it would be to see white kids looking up to and wanting to be like the Polynesian hero in the movies?” she wrote. “Disney creates the first Polynesian hero and doesn’t enable kids to dress up as him? Disney’s dead.”