During a grocery trip with their mother, Rella Rivera, in Kapolei, Little Ryley and Rylyn of Oahu, Hawaii, were thrilled to discover a cashier who looked strikingly like their favorite animated character from “Moana,” Maui. The girls were ecstatic and could barely contain their excitement when they saw the cashier.
As they looked at William Va’ana, who had a tall and stocky build and Maui’s recognizable long, wavy hair, the sisters jumped up and down, shouting with excitement, “That’s Maui!” They were convinced that they had found the real-life version of their favorite character working as a Costco cashier. When Va’ana realized what was happening, he joined in on the fun and sang Maui’s iconic catchphrase “Chee-hoo!” with the girls. Rella Rivera, the girls’ mother, was delighted to see the joy on her daughters’ faces, and before she could even take out her phone to record the moment, Va’ana had already let out a loud “chee-hoo!” Rivera captured the unforgettable experience on video and shared it on YouTube, explaining that her daughters always searched for the “real life” demigod Maui during their Costco visits. She also expressed her gratitude towards Va’ana for making her daughters smile during each visit, mentioning that he had previously done character appearances as Maui for parties and at the Aulani Disney resort.
According to Rivera, “Every time he sees my daughters, he yells out to them with a ‘chee-hoo!’ and they love it.” Va’ana, on the other hand, revealed that he had not intentionally tried to resemble Maui. He told Hawaii News Now that he grew out his hair to try something different and only realized after the movie that he looked like the character. He was surprised to learn he had gone viral the next day at work, saying, “I’m not that great on phones honestly. I’m barely on social media. I came to work yesterday and everybody was like, ‘Eh, you went viral.’ I’m like, ‘OK. What does that mean?'”
The video of Va’ana has garnered over 5.5 million views on YouTube and more than 16k likes. Unfortunately, about a year and a half after the video was released, Va’ana announced on his Instagram that he had been diagnosed with Moyamoya, a rare brain condition. The post read, “Posting on behalf of William Vaana!! Asking for prayer mercies over William (a.k.a. Maui) Vaana as he goes in for brain surgery on Tuesday!”
In an update two days later, the family shared that William’s surgery had been successful. Then, on January 20, 2020, another update on Instagram indicated that he was recovering well. The post stated, “William is doing great. The surgery is healing, and his memory is gradually returning, which is a normal process.” Va’ana is currently working to raise awareness about Moyamoya, and he even dressed up as Maui to attend a little boy’s first birthday party in August of this year.