I muri tata ake i te angitū o te kiriata Disney i te tau 2016 a Moana, ka hono atu a Taika Waititi me tōna tuahine whāngai a Tweedie Waititi ki a Disney ki te whakamāori i te kiriata nei. “He moemoea nui tēnei ki au, te kite i ngā kiriata auraki e whakamāoritia ana… He mea nui tēnei ki ngā hunga taketake, te rongo i ēnei kiriata i tō rātou ake reo, e akiaki ana kia māori te reo taketake, ā, kia whai mana ai rātou” — Tā Taika ki te perehi.
I tau katoa atu te ope ki ngā tiriti o Hollywood i tēnei marama ki te hopu, ki te wetewete i ngā taipitopito mō Moana Reo Māori i ngā taupuni mahi o Disney. Kō tētahi i te ope nei ko te toa o te whakataetae “Finding the Māori Moana” — Jaedyn Randell. Ngā kaiwhakaari Rachel House (“Gramma Tala”), Temuera Morrison (“Chief Tui”), Jermaine Clement (“Tamatoa”) me Oscar Kightley (“Kaihī ika”) katoa ka tukuruatia ō rātou reo ki te kiriata Māori.
Kua tīkina atu ngā whakaaro mō tēnei kiriata i ngā ahurea, ngā pūrākau Māori me ērā ō ngā moutere ō Poronēhia whānaui, ka mutu he kiriata rongonui huri noa i te ao i whakawhiwhia ki te neke atu i te $56 miriona USD i tōna wiki tuatahi. E pā ana a Moana ki ngā hekenga me ngā hōpara ō ngā tūpuna o te Moana nui ā Kiwa, e pā ana ki te kōrero mō Oceania, i te angitū o Moana ki te whakawhiti i te moana hei oranga mō tōna iwi.
Hei te Mahuru (Māori) ka puta mai te kiriata nei i wiki o te reo Māori. Kō ngā whare pikitia ka whakaatu i te kiriata nei ki Pōneke kō — Courtenay Readings, Porirua Readings me te Embassy Event Cinema.