People hate Disney?
 

From an article in Slate..

"Disney is so good at being good that it manifests evil; so uniformly efficient and courteous, so dependably clean and conscientious, so unfailingly entertaining that it's unreal, and therefore is an agent of pure wickedness. Imagine promoting a universe in which raw Nature doesn't fit because it doesn't measure up," Carl Hiaasen wrote in Team Rodent: How Disneyland Devours the World. Critics like Hiaasen view Disney as the creators of a real-world Matrix, an inauthentic world that's dangerous because it's more seductive and appealing than the real one. "Disney has colonized our pleasures so thoroughly, we no longer recognize them as produced, manipulated, and constructed by Disney," Elizabeth Bell, a Florida communications professor, once told the Baltimore Sun.

Daymn. I always thought the mouse was cool.

Your thoughts?

Don't know if this fits your topic exactly, but I have heard and read several times that the Disney outfit is HELL to work for.

Anybody who can confirm or deny??

I doubt I put Disney on a par with Satan, but while there are lots of Disney movies I really like, there are aspects of Disneyfication that I have problems with. The quote you provided seems to tap into my problems.

There is an inauthenticity about it all. I think it is manifest in many Disney movies, particularly animated ones, as a formulaic world where all is beautiful and where everything wraps up very neatly. Once we had Bambi's mother dying, but no more. Take The Little Mermaid -- a pleasing little movie that bears little resemblance to Hans Christian Andersen's much darker story on which it is based. (I remember the reports that J.R.R. Tolkien was adament that Disney should never get hold of his stories because he feared, rightly so it seems, that Disney would try to make them cute.) And as I read the real (as in A.A. Milne) Winnie the Pooh stories to my own children, I find myself having little patience with and liking of any of Disney's "Empire of Pooh," except for the very first movie that draws directly from Milne's books. Syrupy sentiment and ubiquity replaces true childlike charm and wonder.

Can you tell I dread taking my children to Disneyworld?

I think this might be somewhat off topic but --

In my global marketing class we studied Disney and how much control they have. They have so much control over how their company is portrayed it's ridiculous and probably really close to how much control someone like Saddam Hussein has over how he is portrayed in his country of Iraq.:p

Disney has this kind of 'aura' about it.. everything about it is about childhood fantasy and 'happy' things. I don't really have a problem with it. In fact, I honestly felt like a kid when my high school band went on a trip to Disneyworld and we stood to watch their parade. :)

Slate is right (as usual). A lot of fairy tales have been "Disneyfied" even before Disney came along, but that's neither here nor there.

When I went to Walt Disney World it did nothing for me...forever long lines and every other building was a shop, not a ride...give me Kennywood anyday.

Disney has some of the strictest appearance standards for their workers around (although this may have changed somewhat). Among them, you are not allowed to have highlighted hair or wear earrings bigger than a quarter (only one pair, of course). Which is within their rights to do so, but it certainly doesn't promote "it's a small world after all."

Don't matter to me. If a girl I'm seeing wants to go to Gimmickland, then by all means, rev the truck up.

I did an internship there and enjoyed it. To stay sane while working for the mouse, I think you have to view it for what it is...a huge, huge Fortune 100 company with its own agenda. A lot of people get disillusioned while working there because of their own fuzzy feelings for Disney products, movies, etc..

{AXO Alum clutching heart and stumbling back ala Red Foxx...aka Sanford for those young'uns} IT'S THE BIG ONE!!

I am SO MUCH in love with WDW -- truly. My life dream (and the reason I have a master's in event planning) was to go live at WDW...in the castle no less ;) -- I am 110% Disney crazy. We vacation there practically every year, and I never EVER get tired of it. I know the parks forward and backward - up and down. Know when to go to which park, and when to ride (and not ride) certain things due to lines -- I should write the travel guide :D

Anyway -- check out this site:

www.intercot.com

and meet some TRUE Disney nuts -- some of these people actually get MAD and CORRECT folks when they call the Magic Kingdom (MK) "Disneyworld" -- it is insane people!!

Anyway, I had to learn all the "inauthenticity" theories during my degree -- I have strong issues on this because I don't personally believe that ANY experience can be inauthentic -- meaning that EVERY experience, whether going to Spain and backpacking for a month, or going to the grocery store for eggs, is an authentic experience. It just depends on the person's perspective.

And people think that a travel & tourism degree is all fun and games :p

Of course it is inauthentic, its a cartoon. Cartoons aren't real. Although Simba is still King of Jungle. Go make friends with a lion. Just kidding, i'm not really that bitter.

Here is why Disney sucks now....They butcher classic tales like Aladin (it was supposed to take place in China) and Sinbad (I wonder if anything else from 1001 NIghts will be made). They used to do cool stuff like fairy tales but then tried to make adult and adultesqe references that kids don't get and older people don't apreiciate. Plus most of their movies just suck. I hate Disney, and I don't really have a good reason. Hang on I'm thinking of one. Maybe go to bathroom now, or fix yourself a sandwich. Okay I got it, they turn children into mass consumers with all the merchidizing of their cartoons. Little kids are little kids, they should not be targeted emotionally untill after pueberty. I really resent that they are making children into materiallists, as the new toys will only be cool untill the next dumb thing comes along. It's wrong. But the Pirates of the Caribean movie should be good, it directed by Gore Verberski (spellling, sorry) the same guy that did The Ring.

Oh yeah, plus they made Fantasia 2001. I refuse to even acknowledge that as a work of art. Walt Disney wanted to meld animation with music, two things he loved dearly and was passionatte about, and they turned it into a marketing class project. I hate them.

Hillary Duff is a cutie. I hope she takes the money and runs.

Of course it's inauthentic, it's entertainment.

It shows folks have too much time on their hands when they start to complain because their entertianment choices are not "authentic" enough.

Since when has entertainment really ever been authentic?

I have a sister who is working in Florida right now for Walt Disney World. But she was already a Disney nut. I don't really think that it's the greatest personally. I have never been to the Magic Kingdom, and it isn't high on my list of priorities. Their movies as of late have been very reminiscent of sitcom stylings - i.e. everything wrapped up neatly by the end. And have you ever been to a Disney store? I almost fainted when I saw the prices... if people can say that they aren't a commercialized business, tell them to go buy their kid a Disney gift.

I've grown up right near Disney. I've been to Disney a million times, and I still don't get bored with it. I think it's all in the details. I'm currently a Universal annual passholder, and i'm already bored with it after one year. I look at little things Universal does, and I think how much better Disney does it. So, IMHO, they may be a major corporation, but they are damn good at the theme park business. It is undeniable.

I also might add that it's so much a part of my memories from when I was little that I'm a little bit biased. :) I'm a Disney geek- I ride the Haunted Mansion and I recite the whole ride. Did I ever mention the speech I did for class on how it's special effects work?

I also know many, many people that work in the parks. I know some people that hate it, and never want to go back there, but I know many many others who absolutly love working for Disney, and praise how they've been treated by the company. I think a lot of it depends on what department and where you work. I've heard food service is by far the worst area, but I have a good friend that works in it and loves his job. (He works at I have a friend that used to work in Tomorrowland and loved all her coworkers and that area in general.

I personally have performed at Candlelight Processional all the way through high school and had pretty decent experiences. I'd love to work there so I can be in the cast choir one year. I also was lucky enough to perform at the opening of Animal Kingdom, and had a great time doing that. They're also really generous with Disney tickets as compensation.

There's a book called Dreamworld, by Jane Goldman, which is about a murder that takes place in a Florida theme park/resort. The main character is a member of the security squad at the theme park, and wrestles with her feelings over the theme park's policy of "just shoving it under the rug" for the sake of the guests. The theme park in the book is obviously based on Disneyworld, and there are a lot of references to behind-the-scenes type stuff.

From reading that, I can see how people might think Disneyworld is evil. But in real life, I don't think there's anything that wrong with them. It's just entertainment. And at least when you choose something Disney, you can't complain that you don't know what you're getting.

I don't hate Disney. Matter of fact, let me check my DisneyTime Countdown Clock...4 Days & 20 Hours until I'M BACK WITH THE MOUSE! I've waited almost 14 years to get back there, none of the rugrats have ever been, my dream is coming true in 4 Days, 19 Hours & 59 minutes and counting...

If you're a Disney nut, I strongly suggest http://www.disneydollarless.com, http://www.mousesavers.com and the greatest Disney site EVER, http://www.wdwig.com!

I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait!

I have to admit I love the parks as well. Nothing is greater than riding It's a Small World year after year and noticing dolls I hadn't seen before, or how the Haunted Mansion seems a lot more scary, or how when I was riding the Pirates of the Carribean I never noticed that it overlooked the restaurant in "Mexico." Or how years after the Globe ride was created, the technology they thought would be around, still could be, even though it's a bit outdated. Or after being heartbroken that Figment was gone, I was walking through Epcot and there he was in a new ride! That place never ceases to amaze me.

My grandmother knew a woman that worked at the hotels who absolutely loved the company.

I love most of the Disney movies, especially Cinderella! We took the older girls to Disney World about two years ago for the 100th celebration. We had tickets for all the parks, but ended up spending all of our time at the waterslides and the Magic Kingdom. The girls loved every minute of it. They literally fell asleep on their feet as we returned each evening. We have wonderful pictures of them talking to the characters while getting "autographs". The looks on their faces are absolutely priceless. I'll pay any amount to go there again in order to see the awe in their eyes as they watched the parade and talked to the princesses. It was so real for them! I'll always have these pictures to remind me of my girls in their most innocent days!

I personally don't care for Disney. I have no desire to go to Disney World, I don't collect anything Disney, I don't go gaga over seeing the newest Disney movie...

I just didn't buy into it as a child. I was never fond of watching Disney cartoons. I liked some movies such as Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Bambi, Pinnocio... but I wasn't obessed with them.

I got to go to Disney Land when I was 11 but I wasn't amazed by it...I more or less liked the rides and that was all.

So, call me a sourpuss, but Disney doesn't suit me.:rolleyes:

I don't really have anything against Disney, with the exception of Eurodisney :rolleyes: .

If I'm going to spend alot of money on a vacation though, there are a million places I would rather go than Disney world.

Wow, have fun! :) Disney's the best! Are you staying on site? If so, where?

Oh, and here's a plug for my personal favorite spot in all four of the parks. If you're at MGM and looking for a meal, you really need to visit Prime Time Cafe. The food ranges from 8-15 dollars, and is pretty good. However, the food isn't what I love about it- it's has a 1950's dinner at home kind of theme. Your waiters and waitresses are introduced as your "aunt" or "uncle"- I even got really lucky and met "Mom" when I was arguing over whether I waas going to eat my green beans. Yes, they treat you like family ther. They make you set the table, and you have to eat all your vegetables or else no dessert! If someone isn't eating them, they might end up with their waitress picking up the fork and feeding them like the fork is an airplane, complete with everyone else making airplane noises. I've even had a waiter trying to set one of my friends up with the guy at the next table.

So many people miss this restaurant, cause it's kinda out of the way and the Brown Derby is so much more flashy. But to me, it's one of the best places in Disney if you end up with a waiter that realluy hams it up. If it fits in with your Disney plans, I'd highly reccomend it. </plug>

I am getting very tired of the Disney Bashing!:mad:

What upsets me, is you are not talking about the Old Walt Disney, you are talking about the Disney Corp!

Walt was Born in the Mid-West, Mo. started Disney with a mouse he saw in the studio in KC Mo! Not his at the time but someother studio!

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"What did he call his Mouse that he drew for The First animated film and what was the Movie Called"?
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There a few Heros in The USA, George Washington, Abraham Loncoln, Benjamin Fraklin, And Walt Disney!:)

But, One must not forget Simon Boliver!

For some reason, I have never had the slightest desire to visit Disney World. Now my husband wants to take my daughters and they are very excited about it so I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. I don't want to disappoint them, but I'd so much rather spend a week together at the beach and not spending tons of money to wait in line and purchase overpriced souvenirs.

I don't consider myself a cynic, so I can't really explain why I am not as entranced by the Big Mouse as so many others are.

On a semi-related note, we took the kids to see Disney on Ice in February and I was so turned off by the fact that, beyond the $22.00 per seat that we paid to see the performance, it cost $13 for a program, $10 for a snowcone in a "commemerative princess mug" and $6 for a bag of cotton candy. And naturally, we had to make our way through these and all the other souvenir stands to get to our seats. I guess that's why they're rolling in the dough, though!

PS Grown-ups who walk around wearing apparel from the Disney Store (i.e. things like denim overalls with Piglet appliques on them) should be incarcerated!

PPS I LOVE the movie "Nightmare before Christmas" and was shocked to see tie in merchandise in the Disney Store. I didn't realize it was a Disney movie

I grew up in Florida, so the class trip at the end of the year was always to WDW. I like WDW, but I only go now when I am chaperoning and it's free for me to go. That way I do not feel as though I have just flushed 50 bucks down the proverbial toilet.

On the historical inaccuracies front...

For the most part, I don't have a problem that they are trying to sugar coat stories (like Winnie the Pooh). My problem comes in when they deal with historical figures, such as Pocahontas, and completely warp their lives to fit a script. One of my friends fights a losing battle each year trying to teach eighth graders that Pocahontas really didn't marry John Smith like the movie says. It's supposed to be a "gimme" question on her final and about half of the kids still miss it :rolleyes:

I like the old disney - Winnie the Pooh, Jungle Book, etc. WDW is awesome, it's a good theme park. Just plan your trip and come prepared and you can get good deals

And the #1 travel tip - Ride the rides while the parades are going - shorter lines :)

Well said. Everything I was thinking. I've actually been a few different times (when I was way young), but it was never the Disney-ness of it that attracted me back...It was the largeness, the high volume of people, and the rides.....Ah well, call me crazy, I don't love Disney :p

I think it was made by another company, and distributed by Disney. You know, an arrangement like Pixar has with Disney. Disney retains merchandising rights and distribution rights.

I could be wrong, but I'm reasonably sure Disney wasn't responsible for it creatively.

Just so you know, Winnie the Pooh wasn't always a Disney character. THEY BOUGHT HIS ARSE!

I hate that Pooh is now a Disney thing....GRR!! :mad:

I am not a Disney fan. I don't HATE them, but it's boring as crap...

There's nothing there worth $50+ dollars PER PARK! It's such a rip.

It's nice to visit once or twice, but yearly pilgrimages???

If I want to become a kid again, I visit the Six Flags parks to see Bugs Bunny or Paramount parks so I can see Spongebob...I like an undertone of naughtiness in my cartoons...

C'mon! No way a mouse can beat a cross dressing rabbit or a probably gay Squidwad!!!

*ahem*


a friend of mine's dad has been to "the secret room". he won't tell us much though.


QTE;)

What's the secret room supposed to be?

I've never heard about Disney having a secret room.

For the people who are anti-Disney: http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Disney.html

Very funny website...lol..

I've been to DisneyWorld twice, once when I was 6 and when I was 16...it sucked both times. I had much rather saved money and gone to Kings Island or someother themepark with decent rides. But I will admit, I did love the Haunted Mansion, went on it 8 times in a row with one of my girls! lol!

Do you mean Club 33 in Disneyland?

http://www.snopes.com/disney/parks/club33.htm#add

Kitso
KS 361

My boyfriend and I just got back from Disney and LOVED every minute of it. It's neat to go when you are more grown up. You get a lot more out of it. As a child I didn't appreciate it nearly as much as I did now. My cousin works at Disney and got us in for free. She LOVES working at Disney...so I'm not sure why people say they hate it. She's the activities director for the Cruise Line, by the way. I go on cruises for $75/a day...how awesome is that?!

I also did an internship for Disney. I loved working for the mouse -- it drove me nuts sometimes, but the longer I'm away from being down there, the more my college program means to me. I'm moving back to FL and transferring schools just to work seasonally!

Disney does a lot of things that are pretty questionable, but they also do a lot more to make people happy than many other companies.

yes:D

FYI, it's not called Eurodisney anymore, it's called Disneyland Paris, and it rules...their rollercoasters are much more grown up than the ones we have here at Disneyland, CA. There is something to be said for the original, but Disneyland Paris was great. Aside from the fact that you can buy beer and wine there, it gives you more bang for your buck, or more excitment for your euro perhaps? Anyhow...

And Club 33? It's kinda neat, I went there once with an ex-BF who had a friend who's mom's boss was a member(how is that for a Ferris Bueller moment), so we ate lobster or filet for lunch at Disneyland. It was alright, but if I'm going to be at D-land, give me overpriced burgers and churros, BABY!

One of my fave memories was going with my sisters, and some of their BFs, they all wanted to ride the monorail and I was like "Whar for, it's lame?!" and their response was: "But you can go to the bar at the Disneyland hotel, woohoo!"

HI Tom,

If I recall correctly the mouse was called Mortimer Mouse but became Mickey Mouse by the time he debuted in Steamboat Willie in 1928. So is that correct?

Anyway, as you can tell by me being able to answer this question I am a true Disneyholic. I love Disney even after working at the Disney Store for a holiday season. I have practically every movie available on DVD or video, have an annual pass to Disneyland, and collect various Disney items.

My all time favorite movie is probably the Original Parent Trap with Haley Mills. And my favorite animated character is Meeko from Pocohantas.

I go to Disneyland a lot and often I don't ride anything. Sometimes I just like to people watch, especially the kids as they see their favorite character the first time. Or even watching adults when they see their favorite character, sometimes they are funnier then the kids.

I'm looking forward to the Greekchat Gathering we're having on July 12th at Ralph's Brennan Kitchen in Downtown Disney. So far no one has said they want to meet in either Disneyland or Disneys California Adventure but I'm hoping someone will so I have another excuse to use my annual pass.

Carolyn

Monorail!
 

Oh how I love that thing. It was one of my favorite things about Disney World when I was younger. Going through the hotel to get to the park, memories!

I definitely agree about Disneyland Paris....I just loved the way Space Mountain was designed over there...didn't like it the first time, but after about the fifth time in two days, I was hooked...now Space Mountain holds very little thrill anymore (although I still love the ride :))

Thanks...It has been several years since I've been there and the last time I was there it was Eurodisney. It was soon after it had opened and at the time it had love/hate relationship with Europeans. From what I hear, the original Eurodisney was ill equipped to handle the entire park sitting down for lunch at noon - as is tradition in France and Europeans were unimpressed by features such as Cinderella's castle because they have their own real castles. I had heard that they changed it to Disneyland Paris and I hear it is better but I haven't been there since it was Eurodisney.

I've heard that Europeans don't go to Disneyland in Paris--that it's primarily Asian tourists and Americans. Of course, I don't know how true that is. I wanted to go there when I was in Paris last semester, but I was only there for 6 days, and I didn't want to choose between Versailles and Disneyland Paris--or try to squish them both in one day.

I have some very ambivalent feelings toward Disney--the corporation, not the man (Walt Disney was accused of having very racist, anti-Semitic sentiments--but I think that reflected the times more than his work, so I think I can separate the two). Being from Florida, whenever there's a state convention of any sort, it is usually on the resort grounds. As a result, I've visited a few times--usually in the Deluxe resorts, which are N-I-C-E--and my experience of Disney has always been a happy one. For the most part, I have enjoyed the movies--from the original "Parent Trap" to "Monsters Inc." Disney has always been a symbol of happiness and I hope to share that experience with whatever little Munchkins come along. Plus, any company that has allowed Michael Graves to design two hotels can't be too bad in my opinion. ;)

On the other hand, the company does things that make me look at it sideways. One is the Reedy Creek Improvement District, essentially Disney's own sovereign government within Osceola County--it gives the corporation the right to do whatever they want, whenever they want. It's very old--Walt Disney himself wrote some of the proposals in the 1950s. The corporation does not communicate with the metropolitan area about any of its expansions and changes--which has accounted for some of the terrible sprawl in Orlando. The butchering of American history and literature makes me question the company's motives as well--Pocahontas? The Little Mermaid? Each has been essentially ruined by Disney. Mr Munchkin blames Disney for "the dumbing down of America," I'm not sure I would go that far--but they have been a damaging influence on the younger generations, if only because the insane product endorsements that come as a result of a Disney film. Kids become intimately involved with a character before the movie even comes out. Check out the Disney Store.

Disney was not creatively responsible for Nightmare Before Christmas--Tim Burton was the force behind that, and he's not that Disney-like of a character. :)