This is a page where I will collect links to tv shows and movies in te reo Māori suitable for beginners to watch. If you have any suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact me and I can add them to this page.
I am in the process of reworking this page with more suggestions, and a clearer progression of the difficulty as you learn and improve your language skills. Check back in a week or so!
On the categories, I’ve separated everything into beginner, intermediate and advanced. Beginner is simple reo which uses shorter, simple sentence structures, often being children’s shows. Intermediate is the majority of content available, tv shows and movies, a lot being normal dialogue, but also longer and more complex language. Advanced is much more difficult, and especially includes things like documentaries with kaumātua and fluent adult speakers. This should all roughly line up with the categories available on Māori+. Also, within categories, the easiest stuff will be closer to the top of the list.
Also know that to gain the most benefit of absorbing the language from watching these, avoid using English subtitles. Otherwise you’ll be reading English rather than working your brain to improve your te reo comprehension. And, for the best results try watch things slightly above your level but that you still enjoy and understand at least the storyline.
TV Shows
Most content is available for free on either Youtube or Māori+, unfortunately a lot that is on Māori+ is region-locked to NZ and sometimes also Australia & Pacific Islands.
Beginner
Many of the kids shows are produced in both English and te reo Māori, this page links to the te reo versions.
Tākaro Tribe - Te Reo Rārangi
Created for preschoolers, it follows 5 patupaiarehe (woodland fairies) each named after the vowels in te reo: A, E, I, O, U. Each episode they learn a new word, how to spell it and how it looks in real life. They also have extra songs and videos other than the series. Empty (grey) links are videos I couldn’t find.
- Youtube channel
- Website
- Learn the alphabet
- Season 1: all | playlist | 1-5 | 6-10 | 11-15 | 16-20
- Season 2: all | playlist | 1-5 | 6-10 | 11-15 | 16-20
- Season 3: all | playlist | 1-5 | 6-10 | 11-15 | 16-20
Pipi Mā
“Join Pipi, Hura, Tītoki and Pītau Pōtiki as they discover and explore the exciting world within their kōhanga and beyond!”
Te Tari Tūtai
A short action-comedy series about secret agents who may not be the most competent out there. It solely uses the most simple, short beginner sentences, with each episode showcasing a couple different ones. A good first beginner content to watch if you want to avoid the preschool-level shows, but don’t have a foundations down enough to start watching Darwin and Newts.
English subtitles are embedded in the comic speech bubbles, and they say in the future they will release a version with te reo Māori in the bubbles as well.
Darwin and Newts
This kids tv series follows Māori siblings Darwin and Newts as they explore their world through science and playing in the outdoors, accompanied with other characters. It is a step up from Te Reo Rārangi or Te Tari Tūtai, but has simple language and is easy to follow along with.
Both Craft with Newts and Experiments with Darwin season 1 were only produced in English.
Molly of Denali
It’s set in Alaska and “follow[s] the adventures of feisty and resourceful 10-year-old Molly Mabray, an Alaska Native girl.” A kids TV show with 2 seasons. The language is a bit more advanced than Darwin and Newts.
- Māori+ (until 21st July 2027)
More
See the Beginner Reo wāhanga on Māori+.
Intermediate
Te Pāmu Kūmara
“Te Pāmu Kūmara is a 100% Māori language children’s live action drama. It follows Tai and her superhuman family who live a simple life on their kūmara farm, however, real estate agent Grace, has enlisted the help of a local to try anything to get their hands on the family’s land.”
Be sure to check out the rest of Kura Productions’ tv shows!
Ngā Kōtiro o Taranaki
“A stunning colourful, 2D animated short series set in 1870’s Taranaki, Aotearoa. The Land Wars in Aotearoa are over. A Taranaki hapū is planning a feast with Pākehā former soldiers to mark the start of more peaceful times. Not all is what it seems.”
- Māori+ (until 31st March 2027)
Tōku Reo Kōkara
A 6-episode (10 mins each) documentary focusing on “the important role mothers play in the effort of te reo Māori revitalisation and creating future generations of te reo Māori speakers.” They use quite simple kupu at a nice pace.
We Bare Bears in te reo Māori
A cartoon dubbed by Cartoon Network New Zealand a few years back. There are 3 full-length episodes, 7 two-minute episodes, 10 thirty-second episodes of a learn te reo series, and 1 behind the scenes recording video. The language is probably high intermediate and they speak fast, but it’s very entertaining.
More
See the Intermediate Reo wāhanga on Māori+.
See the Bilingual Content section on this page.
Advanced
These are shows that were created with fluent speakers in mind, so they often contain more advanced features of te reo and/or get spoken relatively quickly. However, you should still try out watching at this level every couple months to test your level of understanding and see if you’d be comfortable studying through these. On high energy days, you might be able to watch these “intensively” where you repeat sections two or three times to hear and try understand all the words then the meaning, before checking against the subtitles (if available).
Te Karere
News delivered in te reo Māori every weekday at 4pm. The Youtube version contains the backlog and gets English subtitles, however it’s often released a couple days later.
Te Kauwaka: Te Mōrehu Kaitā-Hau (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
Two seasons of 20 episodes each were translated several years ago, and it’s currently on Māori+. No subtitles are available.
Waka Huia
Waka Huia is a documentary series by TVNZ which follows stories from te ao Māori. Most is in te reo (with English subtitles) but there is occasional English (with Māori subtitles).
More
See the Advanced Reo wāhanga on Māori+.
Movies
Matewa Media are an awesome film company who partnered with Disney and create Māori dubbed versions for Disney films. Currently there are 6 of them, and they’re all available on Disney+ if you have a subscription. There is also Māoriland who partnerned with Dreamworks to create a te reo version of Shrek.
There is a lot of language in these and they’re great for improving your reo comprehension, especially if you’re familiar with the story. You can totally start watching them even in the early intermediate stages, however they were targeted at a fluent/native speaker level and as such, contain lots of specific kīwaha, advanced reo and fast-paced speaking.
Intermediate/Advanced
The Lion King
Moana
Frozen
Coco
Encanto
Moana 2
Shrek: Kātahi te Korokē
- TVNZ+ (currently unavailable for streaming)
- Māoriland
- Download the Rauemi - a behind-the-scenes look into its making, including the final dialogue script.
Ka Whawhai Tonu
“Aotearoa, 1864. In the brutal Waikato land wars, Maori defiantly stand their ground with impossible odds against British forces. This heroic conflict is told through the eyes of two young teenagers, who must find their own destinies amid the chaos of battle.” Contains complicated, fast-paced language with English subtitles.
Bilingual Content
There are some really great bilingual shows that have been made over the years, with lots coming out all the time now. It’s satisfying to switch between languages and understand both (to varying degrees). Most will have English subtitles, which your brain will automatically read and not focus on te reo, making it less useful for learning. If they’re embedded in the video, you can block them with web extensions like ZeroBlur, or just cover them up.
Intermediate
Ahikāroa
“Follow a crazy group of city based rangatahi, they’re young, kura kaupapa raised and dangerously onto it. Their world orbits around getting cash, cutting corners and charging their phones.” 7 seasons each with around 20 episodes, which are 25 minutes each.
Kupu X
“Kahu’s childhood was marred by a web of lies obscuring the facts around her mother’s disappearance, trusting no one and assuming everyone had something to hide. Then she met Tomai, her polar opposite, a volatile tāne who could hold vital clues.” 6 episodes of 10-15 minutes each.
Dead Ahead
“A high-powered Māori lawyer (Miriama Smith) accidentally unleashes her chaotic tūpuna, forcing the living and the dead to navigate their shared legacy.” 6 episode season of 20 minutes each.
Online Reading
Reading is an important skill, but not everyone is able to fork out the money to buy books. Instead, there are many sources on the internet which publish in te reo Māori, and some stories as well. This is only a sample, but there are many other websites you could find to practise your reading.
I suggest using the free app Lute for reading online articles. It integrates useful features for language learners including a dictionary, statistics, and tracking new words as you learn them.
Publications & Blogs in te reo Māori
- Māori Myths, Legends and Contemporary Stories (16 by TKI)
- Waatea News - Te Reo News
- Ngā Pitopito Kōrero a Eishi (blog)
- Kōkiri Magazine (some issues have a couple articles in te reo)
- He Muka (nā Te Taura Whiri)
- Āhuru Mōwai (free Māori Graphic Novels)
This page was first published on 2025-03-29. Last updated 2025-11-28.