An Emmy award-winning costume designer has described the opportunity to work on Disney's Moana live-action film as a "dream come true".
Liz McGregor, who hails from Kolomotu'a in Tonga but is based in Auckland, said she received an email "that came out of the blue" from Disney and initially thought they wanted her to provide some consultation, but was told the US entertainment giant wanted her to lead the costume design for the movie.
Download MP310mMcGregor is no stranger to working on major movie productions, her credits include Mulan (2018), Blood Diamond (2005) andThe Lord of the Rings trilogy. However, she said she has always kept a low-profile.
Speaking to Pacific Waves, McGregor said the movie's director Thomas Kail specifically chose her after reading a profile piece about her online.
The film which is now showing in cinemas stars Dwayne Johnson reprising his role as the demi-god 'Maui', and newcomer Catherine Laga'aia as the lead 'Moana'. New Zealand actors featured in the film include Rena Owen, John Tui and Frankie Adams.
McGregor said being tasked with the cast's wardrobe as well as bringing Moana's village of Motunui to life, she wanted to make sure she got it right.
Pre-production work for Moana started in mid-2024 but McGregor undertook extensive research prior, examining Pacific archives at museums in New Zealand and in the region, and speaking with Pacific art practitioners.
From there, McGregor assembled a team of 50 people in Auckland but to keep their work under wraps, the team had plastered the windows of their warehouse with paper.
McGregor said it was important to her that everything would be made in Auckland because of its huge Pacific population.
"[Disney] wanted me to go to LA and make these costumes, and I said 'I want to build everything here in Auckland, Tamaki Makaurau, and the reason is that Auckland is known - and it's you know truth - it's the Polynesian capital of the world," she said.
"We have a large community here who could, guide as well but we could draw upon, and so we knew that all the koloa (traditional handmade art pieces) would be here."
With over 2000 hand-painted, hand-worked, braided, woven pieces of garments, McGregor said she tried to make each person's wardrobe unique as possible explaining that when the actors finally tried on their pieces in Atlanta, it was an emotional occasion.
"It literally took a village to make these costumes, and that we poured our hearts and our souls into it and ... try to imbue as much mana into everything that we were making, so that when people walked in and they put those costumes on, and adornments on that they could feel their culture present and their ancestors there and when we were actually in Atlanta and we had all our dancers coming through ... so many people broke down in tears because it was so overwhelming for them feeling all of this."
The film's costume was also a learning opportunity for the non-Pacific crew members.
"One thing that was key to me in New Zealand, but also in Atlanta and Hawaii, where we shot, is that we had to call things by their proper name," she said.
"It wasn't just a belt or people had to know what siapo was, what masi was, what is ngatu. The differences of the looks between them... it's a tuiga, it's a fusi siapo, so that was great. Teaching a whole bunch of people in Atlanta who hadn't encountered anything like this before, our languages and cultures and customs."
Having recently returned from the movie's world premiere in Los Angeles, McGregor described the film as her 'Polynesian Disney princess moment'.
"It doesn't get any bigger than Disney, really. It's like you're being held to high esteem and that your culture is being represented and respected and it's a really joyful moment."
However, with film facing mixed-to-negative reviews, McGregor slammed the critics who are "missing the point."
"I can't help but get upset when I actually hear people say, 'what's the point?' It's like because they're dismissing all of us, it's like we are the point, our culture is the point, what we have up on screen is the point, and how we connect to it is the point, and how that is being broadcast to everyone around the world is the point," she said.
