title: Locating Moana through children’s eyes: “Seeing with others” in cultural identity and global media in Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Spieker, Annelore

subjects: children’s media reception

abstract: This thesis investigates how children aged 5 to 12 in Aotearoa New Zealand interpret cultural representations in global animated media, with particular attention to Disney’s Moana (2016). Through a child-centred, transnational lens, the research examines how young audiences make sense of ethnicity, culture, and identity in mediated stories, and how these interpretations are shaped by their personal, familial, and educational experiences.
The study draws on Jesús Martín-Barbero’s (1987, 2006) theory of cultural mediations, along with theories of globalisation and transnationalism, to understand how meaning-making occurs across local and global cultural flows. It also engages with children’s geographies to attend to questions of spatial belonging, migration, and place-based identity.
The study is based on qualitative data gathered from 94 research participants through face-to-face and online data collection with a diverse group of 54 children representing over 30 ethnic backgrounds, including a large subset of participants from 10 Brazilian-background families living in Aotearoa New Zealand. Children were invited to interpret a range of 24 characters drawn from 16 Disney and Pixar media texts (15 animated films and one television series), with a particular emphasis on Moana. In addition, perspectives from 36 parents, as well as three primary school teachers and one principal, were collected to examine how families and educators use media for cultural learning and identity negotiation.
Findings reveal that children actively interpret cultural cues through visual, emotional, and relational frameworks. Characters such as Moana and Maui were often identified as being “from here”, drawing on landscape, school-based learning, and everyday cultural knowledge. Brazilian families used global media texts to support cultural transmission, while children articulated desires for characters who resembled them not only in ethnicity, but also in language, values, and personality. Across the thesis, tensions emerged between cultural recognition and confusion, reflecting the complex dynamics of growing up in a legally bicultural and yet multicultural society, such as Aotearoa.
This study contributes to scholarship on children’s media reception, transnational identity, and cultural representation by highlighting the voices of young viewers and the interpretive environments in which global media are made meaningful. By bringing together children’s perspectives with those of their families, and situating these within the cultural context of Aotearoa New Zealand, the thesis underscores how global animated films like Moana are not passively consumed but actively negotiated. It offers new insights into how identity, belonging, and cultural knowledge are shaped through everyday interactions with media, particularly for children growing up in transnational and multilingual households.

text: Locating Moana through children’s eyes: “Seeing with others” in cultural identity and global media in Aotearoa New Zealand This thesis investigates how children aged 5 to 12 in Aotearoa New Zealand interpret cultural representations in global animated media, with particular attention to Disney’s Moana (2016). Through a child-centred, transnational lens, the research examines how young audiences make sense of ethnicity, culture, and identity in mediated stories, and how these interpretations are shaped by their personal, familial, and educational experiences.
The study draws on Jesús Martín-Barbero’s (1987, 2006) theory of cultural mediations, along with theories of globalisation and transnationalism, to understand how meaning-making occurs across local and global cultural flows. It also engages with children’s geographies to attend to questions of spatial belonging, migration, and place-based identity.
The study is based on qualitative data gathered from 94 research participants through face-to-face and online data collection with a diverse group of 54 children representing over 30 ethnic backgrounds, including a large subset of participants from 10 Brazilian-background families living in Aotearoa New Zealand. Children were invited to interpret a range of 24 characters drawn from 16 Disney and Pixar media texts (15 animated films and one television series), with a particular emphasis on Moana. In addition, perspectives from 36 parents, as well as three primary school teachers and one principal, were collected to examine how families and educators use media for cultural learning and identity negotiation.
Findings reveal that children actively interpret cultural cues through visual, emotional, and relational frameworks. Characters such as Moana and Maui were often identified as being “from here”, drawing on landscape, school-based learning, and everyday cultural knowledge. Brazilian families used global media texts to support cultural transmission, while children articulated desires for characters who resembled them not only in ethnicity, but also in language, values, and personality. Across the thesis, tensions emerged between cultural recognition and confusion, reflecting the complex dynamics of growing up in a legally bicultural and yet multicultural society, such as Aotearoa.
This study contributes to scholarship on children’s media reception, transnational identity, and cultural representation by highlighting the voices of young viewers and the interpretive environments in which global media are made meaningful. By bringing together children’s perspectives with those of their families, and situating these within the cultural context of Aotearoa New Zealand, the thesis underscores how global animated films like Moana are not passively consumed but actively negotiated. It offers new insights into how identity, belonging, and cultural knowledge are shaped through everyday interactions with media, particularly for children growing up in transnational and multilingual households.

year: 2025

title: Creativity awards: Great expectations?

authors: Kilgour, A. Mark

abstract: Given the creativity inherent in advertising, one useful measure of creativity may be the advertising creativity award. Although creativity awards have been used by academics, agencies, and clients as indicators of exemplary creative work, there is surprisingly little research as to what creative elements they actually represent. Senior agency executives were selected to assess their own campaigns in terms of originality and strategy, and were also queried about whether those campaigns would win creativity, and effectiveness, awards. Findings show that the campaigns deemed worthy of creativity award recognition are usually highly original. Yet, most award-winning work is rarely regarded as being highly strategic. The results indicate that this originality bias contained in award-winning advertisements may limit their usefulness as proxy measures of creativity. Although the originality aspect of creativity is reflected, strategy and appropriateness are not adequately, nor proportionately considered. Implications for the use of creativity awards by researchers, as well as managerial issues, are discussed.

text: Creativity awards: Great expectations? Given the creativity inherent in advertising, one useful measure of creativity may be the advertising creativity award. Although creativity awards have been used by academics, agencies, and clients as indicators of exemplary creative work, there is surprisingly little research as to what creative elements they actually represent. Senior agency executives were selected to assess their own campaigns in terms of originality and strategy, and were also queried about whether those campaigns would win creativity, and effectiveness, awards. Findings show that the campaigns deemed worthy of creativity award recognition are usually highly original. Yet, most award-winning work is rarely regarded as being highly strategic. The results indicate that this originality bias contained in award-winning advertisements may limit their usefulness as proxy measures of creativity. Although the originality aspect of creativity is reflected, strategy and appropriateness are not adequately, nor proportionately considered. Implications for the use of creativity awards by researchers, as well as managerial issues, are discussed.

year: 2013

title: Toitu Te Moananui a Toi – The Effects of the MV Rena on the Water Quality, Chemistry and Zooplankton of Otaiti (Astrolabe Reef)

authors: Dempsey, Te Puea Toni

subjects: metal contamination

abstract: Humans have had a profound effect on the world’s oceans, particularly through pollution. Marine pollution incidents are particularly important and increasingly involve both petrochemical and metal contamination. The effects of complex high level, point source pollution events such as ship wrecks on larval recruitment to reef environments is not well understood. Larval settlement is heavily influenced by chemical cues, hence pollution events could have a long term influence on reef ecology, and the likelihood that planktonic zooplankton can entrain contaminants into the reef food web is also of concern.
This thesis aims to address concerns from local Tangata Whenua, government, researchers, stakeholders and the public about the long term recovery of Otaiti following the MV Rena shipwreck and subsequent reef contamination. The incident is a complex one involving metallic container debris contamination along with oil. Research focussed on assessing the effects of water borne contamination surrounding the wreck site in order to examine acute and chronic responses of planktonic invertebrates: (1) the influence of Rena and associated debris to the chemistry and quality of water in the benthic zone around the wreck, (2) the toxicity of contaminants to survivorship of zooplankton, and (3) the influence on contaminant plumes to zooplankton recruitment behaviour of Otaiti.
There is a clear effect from the Rena and its associated debris field on the water quality and chemistry of Otaiti. Aluminium and copper for example, were consistently elevated in dissolved and total metal concentrations around the debris field. Laboratory based exposure of zooplankton to realistic concentration gradients of Rena contaminated sediments resulted in increased mortality with increased contaminant concentrations. Behavioural responses of pelagic and settling invertebrates to Rena pollution influenced sediment highlighted sensitivity to associated contaminant plumes. This could have significant ecological implications to the recruitment behaviour of other planktonic organisms that rely on reef conspecifics and chemical cues to initiate settlement.
Ecological concepts such as ecosystem function and biodiversity dynamics (including recruitment) relate the life force and longevity of a system. Key concerns within the scope of this research were highlighted that may have implications to Tangata Whenua decision making in assessing the Mauri of Otaiti. It can be implied that the Rena continues to impact the Mauri of Otaiti due to the presence of contaminants within the debris field.

text: Toitu Te Moananui a Toi – The Effects of the MV Rena on the Water Quality, Chemistry and Zooplankton of Otaiti (Astrolabe Reef) Humans have had a profound effect on the world’s oceans, particularly through pollution. Marine pollution incidents are particularly important and increasingly involve both petrochemical and metal contamination. The effects of complex high level, point source pollution events such as ship wrecks on larval recruitment to reef environments is not well understood. Larval settlement is heavily influenced by chemical cues, hence pollution events could have a long term influence on reef ecology, and the likelihood that planktonic zooplankton can entrain contaminants into the reef food web is also of concern.
This thesis aims to address concerns from local Tangata Whenua, government, researchers, stakeholders and the public about the long term recovery of Otaiti following the MV Rena shipwreck and subsequent reef contamination. The incident is a complex one involving metallic container debris contamination along with oil. Research focussed on assessing the effects of water borne contamination surrounding the wreck site in order to examine acute and chronic responses of planktonic invertebrates: (1) the influence of Rena and associated debris to the chemistry and quality of water in the benthic zone around the wreck, (2) the toxicity of contaminants to survivorship of zooplankton, and (3) the influence on contaminant plumes to zooplankton recruitment behaviour of Otaiti.
There is a clear effect from the Rena and its associated debris field on the water quality and chemistry of Otaiti. Aluminium and copper for example, were consistently elevated in dissolved and total metal concentrations around the debris field. Laboratory based exposure of zooplankton to realistic concentration gradients of Rena contaminated sediments resulted in increased mortality with increased contaminant concentrations. Behavioural responses of pelagic and settling invertebrates to Rena pollution influenced sediment highlighted sensitivity to associated contaminant plumes. This could have significant ecological implications to the recruitment behaviour of other planktonic organisms that rely on reef conspecifics and chemical cues to initiate settlement.
Ecological concepts such as ecosystem function and biodiversity dynamics (including recruitment) relate the life force and longevity of a system. Key concerns within the scope of this research were highlighted that may have implications to Tangata Whenua decision making in assessing the Mauri of Otaiti. It can be implied that the Rena continues to impact the Mauri of Otaiti due to the presence of contaminants within the debris field.

year: 2015