A Win for the Trickster

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Recommendation time!

If you enjoy my stories inspired by Native American characters you might like the recent animated film Moana. The Polynesian trickster Maui legacy.shadowandact.com/wp-con… bears some broad similarities with Nanabozho, and to a lesser extent Coyote. He stole the show for me. Now, if I want to explain the concept of the trickster to people who aren’t familiar with mythology, I have something to point to. I’ve always felt a little left out in the fandom for the Avengers movies, because their version of Loki doesn’t feel like the trickster I grew up reading about. He’s interesting, but a bit too broody to be really fun. Maui is bouncy and naughty, compassionate and selfish. He helped shape the world in a way that was more comfortable for humans, and then kind of wrecked it. All those interesting contradictions that make the trickster such a compelling character.

Could this be a sign that non-European story cycles are becoming more marketable? I hope so. I’d love to see a movie starring Nanabozho. My favorite version of his tale is action packed, hilarious, and filled with emotional drama. Coyote would make a fun lead too. Or how about Anansi?

Do you have a favorite traditional character or story you’d like to see appear in film?

 

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Hi, I'm Muppet by Azzeria Ambuscade by teagangavet :thumb673354983: Maui - Serious Hair Bun [Moana] by Skydrathik



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Oly-RRR's avatar
I was surprised how much I liked Moana (and especially Maui)! I have low expectations for Disney/Pixar lately and it was actually good fun (and good songs!) even though I expected it to be Another Princess Movie.

And I think non-European cycles happen  in mainstream animation from time to time (Mulan, Lilo and Stitch, Kung-Fu Panda, Brother Bear, probably something else I forgot). Now that I think of it I tend to like those films and they are generally a good thing, though there's something about "here's this entire culture simplified into a 2 hour cartoon about finding ur place in society and luvin' ur family" that slightly bugs me when it comes to mythological stories. Or maybe it's not even the stories themselves but how non-European stories are always separated, a very special episode. I think our world could use more stories about people from different cultural backgrounds cooperating and coexisting, especially these days. But that's not exactly what you asked about, and then that's me, I always want something slightly low-key.

Can't quite think of my favourite traditional story... Kalevala and Scandinavian myths in general would be fun if done well (yes, I'm pretending Frozen didn't happen). I gotta dig into my mythology encyclopaedia because I used to have a lot of favourite stories there but can't think of anything right now.