Rebecca Finnerty Dr.

Guenzel ENC 1102 3/31/14 The Disney Standard: Setting the Bar

Finnerty 1

A family trip to Walt Disney World is one of the most cherished memories for an American child. Whether it be a meet and greet with a character or a thrilling ride on one of the many famous attractions, most children will look back on their interactions with Disney with admiration and fondness. The Walt Disney Company spends millions each year in order to maintain the level of authenticity and staged reality that is offered in their many theme parks around the world. Within their parks they take reality and molds it with their special brand of magic to make it something of their own. It is important to not only understand how Disney creates this reality, but to understand the basis of reality itself and its part in the psyche of the average child. Walt Disney World fabricated fantasy to influence their target population in order to obtain financial gain. In this paper I will be focusing on the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida especially on how the Walt Disney Company set the bar for fantasy and reality, and constantly makes strides to raise it further. As long as Disney has been producing entertainment certain populations wonder whether or not it is healthy to expose children to this level of fantasy play for long periods of time. Of course it is completely normal for a child to have an active imagination however being at such young age this company can have a great impact on the moral forming of childs personality. Before looking into how Disney has created this new norm for fantasy we must first look

at fantasy itself and how children and adults perceive it. It is true that there were fantasy figures existing in the minds of children before Disney was in existence. These figures include entities such as Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. Elizabeth A. Boerger theorizes that the children may hold beliefs in these entities due to the association with a reward when they awake in the morning i.e. Santa Claus delivering presents and the Tooth Fairy leaving money in exchange for a tooth. These such ideas of fantasy were directly given from the prompts of an adult who created these entities. And although children do see and interact with these characters it is not to the level that they do not become immersed in the world of the character. The level of fantasy is only aided by stories and the extent of the childs imagination. For example when going to meet Santa Claus you are not taken to the North Pole, the home of Santa, to meet him. Disney prides itself with complete domination within living a fantasy. With the existence of the Disney characters within the park the child is literally immersed in the environment of the character reinforcing the reality of their existence at a level that is not met by the traditional family characters. This immurement goes in line with the idea that children are more likely to believe something when there is a reward attached to the belief as the case of Santa Claus. However the reward that is attributed with this is not a physical reward like presents on Christmas, however a sense of belonging and the chance to be treated like a princess should be treated. Within the Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World has opened the new Beauty and the Beast Restaurant: Be Our Guest. This impressive restaurant is located under a faade of Beasts castle and is a perfect replica of the ballroom from the movie; here the guests have a chance to interact with the characters within their own environment, therefore solidifying their existence in reality opposed to their existence in fantasy. The creation of fantasy within the theme parks must start with the companys main

purpose, to make films, and more specifically animated films. These revolutionary films took audiences outside the realm of the reality of the normal world and were the flagship to a whole new manner of story telling. The Disney brands quickly became an integral part of our society taking over the work of entertainment. Alan Bryman defines Disneyization as a process by which the principles of the Disney theme parks dominate more and more sectors of society. Since its inception the Walt Disney Company has been growing exponentially from an animation studio to a leader in the world of entertainment. This Disneyization has transformed ideas of fantasy into realities of fantasy. Disney has created a product were you can not only watch your idea role model on the screen and learn their story, but meet them within their fantasy world. The Disney princess brand its on of the strongest marketing campaigns in the history of the company. Dawn Elizabeth England, Lara Descartes, and Melissa A. Collier-Meek state The advertising campaign aims to attract a wide audience of girls with the ultimate goal of encouraging children to personally identify with the characters so that they will purchase the associated products. Disney presents their idea of the perfect princess and role model for little girls and markets them accordingly. They make millions off this brand and continue to expand it. There have been arguments for years about the messages that these model women leave on young impressionable girls. These children are making these fantasys their realities and many dont want their children to be affected by the accused racism and gender inequality of these princesses. Nathalie Carrick and Jodi A. Quas state children who engage in large amounts of fantasy play may confuse the boundaries between fantasy and reality. These children who are exposed to both the films and the parks could continue to believe that this fantasy is the reality of every day life. Children specifically have fantastical imaginations that reach realms that we cant

even comprehend. For example a child fantasy playing as a fantasy character knows that, in reality, there is no such thing as magic, however they still will insist that regardless of reality, magic is real and they can produce results with its power. Disney takes this idea and uses it to make reinforce the idea of their reality by again immersing the guest in the world of their fantasy characters. Opened in 2006 the Bippity Boppity Botique located in both Downtown Disney and Magic Kingdom offered the perfect opportunity for young guests to role-play as their favorite princesses. This service includes a princess makeover including hair, nails, and makeup tailored to whichever Disney princess the guest prefers complete with a copy of a dress that princess wore and any accessories that match the theme. Millions of little girls have been turned into a princess for the day both in appearance and by the actions of the cast members who are required to call hem princess.