Year in review: Māori take big strides in music and movies

2022 is the year in which some of our fondest childhood memories were born again through te reo Māori. Disney's Lion King Reo Māori captivated the many who once enjoyed this 1995 classic with its release on June 23.

The film following in the footsteps of Moana Reo Māori which had released two years prior in 2020 to much fanfare. All three films were reversioned into te reo Māori by Matewa Media.

On the night of the premiere of The Lion King Reo Māori, casts performances of the song Circle of Life reached all corners of Aotearoa through the medium of social media. Producer Tweedie Waititi told Te Karere just how iconic the Circle of Life is and the history of that particular song in te ao Māori.

"Tēnei kiriata, koia nei te mea tino rongonui rawa atu.

"Kua whakamāori kētia e te Waka Huia, me ngā kapa haka maha.

“Nō reira, ehara i te mea he rerekē tēnei kaupapa.”

(This film is the most famed out of all Disney movies, many kapa haka groups have already used these tunes during their performances, so it's not like there's anything new to it).

What makes the te reo Māori version of the Lion King especially unique is that it’s the only version where Elton John’s song Can You Feel The Love has been translated and performed in another language. Musical director Rob Ruha telling Te Karere it is one thing to translate words on a page, it’s quite another to keep the same rhythm and feeling from English in te reo.

"Ko ētahi o ngā tino uauatanga, ko te eke i te wairua o te mea tūturu i roto i te reo Pākeha.

"I roto i te taki o ngā waiata, me tika te eke i te taki, te whiu o te kupu me te ngākau o ngā waiata."

(One of the hardest things for us was trying to match the standards of the original. When it comes to composing these songs in te reo, the beats must match, the words must match, as well as the overall feeling of the song).

The film also employed language exponents from each of the dialects featured in the film. Pania Papa, the language exponent and consultant for Tainui, told Te Karere that productions like these help endear the language to future generations.

"Ka nui ake te mana o te reo, te arohatia o te reo, e ngā reanga kāore anō pea kia mātakitaki i tēnei kiriata, kia whakatōngia tērā kākano ki roto i o rātou manawa."

(There will be much more strength and love towards our language by our next generation, who will watch this film, maybe for the first time. Our hope is that they cherish the language in their hearts).

Coming off the heels of the Lion King Reo Māori, Frozen Reo Māori becoming the third film to be voiced in Māori and premiered October 27. Co-musical director Pere Wihongi told media in detail what it took to reversion such a popular and iconic Disney film from English into te reo.

"We're actually also translating the tones and actually how Māori would say certain lines, and how our natural language and the way we naturally speak in te reo Māori how would we naturally say that line and not too much attach ourselves to the original, or what we call the domestic version that says it in a different American twang because naturally in te reo Māori.

“And so it was really about finding te rere māori, the natural body flow of including our tones, as well as our language in this film.”

Wihongi also reiterating that for the team working on Frozen having a much broader goal in mind going beyond just translating and presenting a Disney classic into te reo.

“It is about presenting them the possibilities of what te reo Māori can do.

“And as well as maintaining the true authentic beauty, that is, Disney films, and matching that with an even more beautiful language. I think it's an amazing tool to inspire generations.

“It's an amazing tool to also inspire other cultures as well.

“This is a steppingstone to the bigger picture, which is to ultimately create and form our very own Māori animations from core concept.

"And then actually, eventually those films will instead be translated in te reo Pākehā so you know, a it's a steppingstone but it's an amazing accomplishment.

“And also an amazing example, to hopefully inspire our tamariki, and show them the true magic of te reo Māori.”

All three movies are available now on Disney+ just in time for the holidays for the most te reo conscientious.

It wouldn't be a year in review without mentioning the successes of the Waititi family, as Taika Waititi added another Hollywood movie to his resume with the MCU’s Thor Love and Thunder, his second MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) movie having directed Thor: Ragnarok first.

Waititi expressed his gratitude to New Zealand for all of the support he has received in his endeavours within the MCU.

“Everyone back home has been amazing.

“I can't wait to come back, I'm moving back home in August, through to the end of the year and I just can't wait to hang out with my family and friends and everyone but everyone's just like yeah the reason I kind of get to do what I do is because of the support of a lot of the people at home.”

The movie’s lead protagonist, Aussie actor Chris Hemsworth, made no bones in telling TVNZ that he was bored acting as Thor and wanted change.

“I was getting a little bored of myself you know and a little bored of me as Thor and and that has nothing to do with anyone else.

“But my interpretation of it my creative inspiration.

“I met Taika, we actually were really good friends prior to him taking the job.

“And once he got the job, I said, 'Listen, I'm bored of Thor, I'm bored of me'.

“He talked, he said, 'Guess what?'

“I'm bored of you and I'm bored of Thor as well.

“So, he came to smash it and recreate it and rebuild it and we did.”

While another Waititi, Tweedie (of Disney Reo Māori fame) won an Emmy for her short series Rūrangi.

“We're able to make world class content with the small pennies we have in Aotearoa.

“So, I'm really proud about that but also all that representation you know and all our communities in the one series.”

Cliff Curtis also returned home to star in Muru, directed by Te Arepa Kahi, while also finding time to play Tonowari, a water chieftain in Avatar 2 which is out in cinemas now.

While the success of Māori was seen on the screens it was also heard in the music industry. After a three-year hiatus, the APRA Silver Scrolls were held on October 19, where Rob Ruha and Ka Hao won the coveted APRA Silver Scroll Award for their song '35'.

The song was composed by Rob Ruha, Kaea Hills, Te Amorutu Broughton, Ainsley Tai, Dan Martin, and Whenua Patuwai and the name of the song refers to the highway number which runs along the East Coast of the North Island.

Upon receiving the award Rob Ruha spoke to the importance of unity in achieving success.

“E te whānau, koia nei te kotahitanga i wawatatia ai e ngā mātua tīpuna i te pō, e ō mātou kōkā, a Tuini rāua ko Ngoingoi.”

(Family, this is the kind of unity that our ancestors aspired to, especially by the late Tuini and Ngoingoi Pewhairangi)

Both Tuini Moetū Haangū Ngāwai and Te Kumeroa 'Ngoingoi' Pēwhairangi QSM were also inducted into the NZ Music Hall of Fame on the same night.

However, Ruha and Ka Hao weren’t the only successful Māori on the night.

Te Iho, written by Aja Ropata, Byllie-Jean, Chris Wethey and performed by AJA and Byllie-Jean garnered the Maioha Award while Troy Kingi, Jonathan Crayford, Joel Taskoff and Diggy Dupe won best original music in a series for their work on The Panthers.