Menehune are the magical creatures of Hawaii. Legend it has it, they are the mystical builders who created Disney’s Aulani Resort by moonlight. For this video series, my team and I created a few stories that tell the tale of how the Menehune built different elements of the resort, bringing magic to the land. In addition to creating the concept and stories with my team, I developed the look of the characters based on traditional Hawaiian clothing. As well as creating the storyboards to send over to the animation house. I worked closely with my team and the production team to oversee these shorts from concept to development and execution.

Around Aulani Resort, you can find many of these creatures frozen as stone or wood sculptures. These were useful references for the character development of the Menehune.

Art Direction & Illustration: Hail Nowak

Copywriting: Jason Rivanis 

Creative Direction: Hill Cheuk

Production: Disney Integrated Television