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!