Post #564217 by bigbrotiki on Tue, Nov 9, 2010 12:01 AM

I think the wackier the better. It'll be easier for Disney to not even try to be authentic than to attempt some kind of balancing act between real mythology and pop culture. In this announcement alone there are so many cultural wrongs that I hope it was written by the Hollywood Reporter bloggers and not taken from a Disney press release:

"...Tiki is set in Hawaii and takes in the culture’s rich reserve of unique gods, embodied by wooden masks and engravings.."

If they really want to relate the story to HAWAIIAN culture, then the term Tiki did not really exist in that culture's mythology. Neither were there any masks used in Hawaii. And with "engravings" I guess they mean petroglyphs?

On the other hand, if they would set out declaring that the film is based on the popular beliefs and interpretations that Americans had of Polynesian culture, they don't have to worry about any nay-sayers. I think the blog might have made the mistake of relating the concept to Hawaii. In an LA Times article they speak of Polynesian mythology and Polynesia, which gives Disney much more leeway:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2010/11/enchanted-tiki-room-ride-disneyland-movie.html