[3] Recognizing the potential of the site to act as a monument to Hawaiian concepts of healing and gender diversity, the team began researching the history of the stones, which had long been hidden from the public.
This led to the discovery of the first recorded version of the oral tradition, a handwritten manuscript in the archives of the University of Hawai'i that became the basis for the film script.
[7] It was characterized by Animation Magazine as “a vivid animation seen through the eyes of a child,"[8] by Filmmaker Magazine as a "rich standout,"[9] by Zippy Frames as a "thoughtful film about connecting the past to the future, inviting understanding, and executed in a uniquely empathetic way,"[10] and by IndieWire as "a transgender, Hawaiian breakthrough.
"[11] The animated film was used as the basis for a children's picture book called Kapaemahu published by Penguin Random House.
It was also used as the primary storytelling device for the moolelo in a PBS documentary film and an immersive multimedia exhibition at the Bishop Museum, both titled The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu.