With the crown jewel and icon of Magic Kingdom park being Cinderella’s castle, it is clear who is the star of Fantasyland. The list of attributes to Magic Kingdom that come from Cinderella are almost endless. Rather than just one or two small Easter eggs or possibly one attraction, Cinderella has:

- Cinderella Castle - Prince Charming’s Carrousel - Meet and Greet at Princess Fairytale Hall - Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique  - Cinderella’s Royal Table - The mural beneath the castle - Meet and greets with the Ugly Stepsisters, Lady Tremaine, the mice, or Fairy Godmother

Sword and the Stone, a Disney movie that is rarely mentioned or noted. Maybe if you play “Kingdom Hearts,” you got to learn magic from Merlin. Maybe you’re familiar with the tale, but when it comes to Disney Parks, King Arthur is rarely mentioned in theming or attractions, except for the Sword and the Stone attraction behind the castle in Fantasyland. For several years, Merlin himself hosted the ceremonial pulling of the sword each morning, and now it is the Royal Majesty Makers who daily host a ceremony in which everyone gets a turn to try to free the sword from the stone.

What I find most interesting is that the carrousel at Disneyland since opening day has been King Arthur’s Carousel. For many years it stayed this way, and it remains to be so at Disneyland. However, at Disney World the carrousel is Prince Charming’s carrousel, sticking with the theme of Cinderella and Prince Charming’s medieval faire in Fantasyland for the citizens. However, the Sword in the Stone statue and the ceremony still remains beside the carousel in Disneyland-styled parks, including Disney World.

The first time I watched Dumbo as an adult it was not what I expected. 64 minutes of beautiful drawings and simple stories and a title character who does not say a single word. 

However, the 64 minutes was no coincidence. Distributors wanted Walt to either shorten it or lengthen it... Make it a short film to be played in front of other features or make it longer. Walt refused and said the story could not be cut or stretched. It ended up being a great savior for the Disney studios after the wartime left them with minimal profits and box office flops, films today that we consider to be “classics” thanks to nostalgia and heritage of the company and our childhoods. Fantasia failed at the box office. So did Pinocchio. So did Alice and Wonderland. So did Sleeping Beauty. These films that we grew up with after the Disney Renaissance bring back fond memories and honor did not earn the profits needed. So, Disney created Dumbo on a modest budget and ended up gaining greatly. 

In 2009, Disney finally introduced the first African American princess in Princess and the Frog. That being said, finally African American women had a chance at performing in the parks in a character Entertainment role. However, Princess and the Frog was not the smash hit Disney hoped for, and most of the blame is laid on the princess title, making it a firm demographic “girls” movie based on the other films at the box office during that time. Although critical analysis of Princess and the Frog can be grim, the film is one of my favorite Disney Revivals, with stunning hand drawn animation, beautiful songs, and a powerful message of hard work and love.

Despite being a millennial princess, Tiana does not have much in the park to call her own, other than her interesting character meet and greet. She used to meet at Tiana’s Garden Glen in Liberty Square, but her greeting spot has suddenly changed to the Heritage House beside the Hall of Presidents in Liberty Square. An odd meeting place for a Princess, as well as the indoors location and lack of appropriate signage making her lines incredibly short. 

My hypothesis about Tiana’s lack of recognition does not stem from a racial argument, but a marketability and princess franchise one. Similar to my hypothesis regarding Emperor’s New Groove, they have not marketed Tiana nearly as much because of the movie’s lack of success in the box office that they had hoped for. Meanwhile, I blame Frozen. Yes, for those of you that know my distaste for the movie, you may roll your eyes, but take a step into a Disney park, and Frozen has taken over the world. (Disney World, that is.) The Princess franchise, including Fairytale Princess Hall, is Frozen-ized, as well as the Norway Pavilion at Epcot. Frozen’s unprecedented monster success for the past two years has led to Disney parks trying to incorporate as much as they could for guests in a speedy manner to keep up with demand. Princess and the Frog however did not have this issue, unfortunately. Unlike Emperor’s New Groove, Princess and the Frog is not entirely phased out of the parks. In fact, there are many popular areas that still celebrate the princess and her journey on the bayou.

At Port Orleans resort, you can stay in the Princess Tiana suite, where Tiana welcomes you to New Orleans in her own addressed letter with mementos and pictures from her friends and journeys. 

Character meet and greets are an important aspect of “bringing the film to life” at Walt Disney World, however, a lot relies upon environment, attractions that take you into the film, and the overall aura. Although Princess and the Frog does not have an area in a land to call home, one has to realize that it takes many films years to reach this. New Fantasyland opened at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in 2012, finally giving Belle her own village and Ariel her own castle on land. These films were released nearly 20 years ago. And although Rapunzel’s tower does stand between Liberty Square and Fantasyland, it is duly noted that Rapunzel’s themed area is only a bathroom and sitting area. It should also be mentioned that although Tiana’s film is heartwarming, there is no standing icon such as the tower or a castle that could leave guests in awe whether they have seem the film or not.

From 1989-1999, Disney Animation Studios thrived with nine classic animated features that broke box office records, raked in awards, and continue to stand the test of time today. In the year 2000, however, Disney’s Emperor’s New Groove was released, with little to no comparisons to its box office gold of the Renaissance. One of the freshest attempts to story and comedy, this lighthearted film revolves around selfish Emperor Kuzco who wants to demolish the peasant village to build his own private water park. Meanwhile, his counselor Yzma and her assistant Kronk are plotting to kill Kuzco in order for Yzma to take over the throne. In an accident with her potions, Kuzco is instead turned into a llama.

This film has rarely had any time in the parks. You may find a collector pin of Yzma here and there in a merchandise shop, but character meet and greets or an attraction? Not even close. In fact, it’s even hard to research where and when there were characters available to meet in the park. CharacterCentral.net, a blog and website dedicated to characters in the park, rare and common. 

Disneyland Paris uses the characters every once in a while for shows, but not necessarily character meet and greets. 

This film seems to be a blip in the Disney canon. Its unique art style and non-conformist story styles definitely could have an effect on its reception into the parks. My hypothesis is that it is not as marketable as a true adventure tale or a princess story. No one would be breaking down doors to meet Pacha. Although Yzma and Kronk are popular and lovable villains, there is no stereotypical demographic that they would pull the most amount of people. Disney has become so selective on what characters are available for meet and greets in the park. The usual list ranges from princesses, classic characters, and heroes, not only playing on gender roles but basic marketing demographics. When I was a young kid, there were characters not only wandering the park, but rare characters such as mice from Cinderella, dwarves from Snow White, and villains from obscure Disney Dark ages. My hypothesis for one major reason that was cut was due to character safety and budget cuts. If a character doesn’t emit affection from guests, (you know, more than just a quick picture and small interaction) they won’t buy merchandise with their face on it, they won’t rewatch the movie, and they won’t come meet them again.

Before working at Walt Disney World in the Disney College Program, I had a basic idea of who Walt Disney was. He was clearly a public icon for entertainment, and as a child, I remember the statue of Walt Disney holding Mickey Mouse’s hand. As a filmmaker in my studies, I grew to be infatuated with his films and the nostalgia and whimsy they gave me to escape my adulthood. However, I still didn’t really know who Walt Disney was.

At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, there is an exhibit called One Man’s Dream, a walkthrough museum with artifacts of Walt’s childhood and projects. Through the technological innovations and the dreams and stories he accomplished, I was immediately interested. I needed to know more.

Of course, there are many books on Walt Disney, relating different parts of his life. Some are built completely on opinion, some are biased. I chose the only biography of Walt Disney that was sanctioned by the Walt Disney Company. Bob Thomas had interviewed Walt four times during Walt’s life and was given full access to archives after his death. The 360 page book spans Walt’s entire life, painting a complete picture of who he was, what he accomplished, and how he did it. I will try to summarize what I found to be the most important parts. 

I. The Midwest Years 1901-1923 Elias Disney moved his family to Marceline, Missouri in order to rear them in a nice Christian town. An entrepreneur with many past failed ventures, Elias was moving the family often to reach into new fields and new opportunities. Walt Disney’s first memories are of Marceline, and they are incredibly fond. Walt had memories of working on the farm, drawing with crayons, and enjoying his family until they moved to Kansas City in 1910. Elias’s next venture was the newspaper distributor business where Walt had his first job working for his father as a delivery man. (Something that was mentioned as an anecdote in Saving Mr. Banks (2014), although the film is far from true in all aspects of the story).

Walt began as a cartoonist for the McKinley High School newspaper in Chicago, his first publication. Despite his humor and love for art, deep down his heart wanted to be in the war. However, being below draft age, he found it difficult to sneak his way in. Walt finally found a way into the war through the American Red Cross as an ambulance driver. Eventually, as an ambulance driver, Walt was sent to France in 1918. After returning from overseas, Walt applied to the Pesmen-Rubin Commercial Art for advertising. After seeing his sketches, he was hired to create drawings for advertisements. There he also made a valuable friend in Dutchman Ubbe Iwerks, talented animator and artist. After working together for a short time, Walt started his first venture into creating a business in the “Iwerks-Disney Commercial Art” for one month.

Walt, then, got a job with the Kansas City Film Ad Company where he began making cartoons that moved and were shown in motion picture theaters. He curiously learned every aspect of the business on the creative side, including how the camera worked. Once he gained enough experience through the advertising side, he decided to make his own shorts with the financial and business wizardry of his brother, Roy Disney. The enterprise was called Laugh-o-gram. Despite ingenuity and popularity, Walt had to declare bankruptcy. He left Kansas City with a one-way ticket to California.

II. The Cartoon Maker 1923-1934

Unemployed and living in his Uncle Robert’s apartment in California, he began to create a crude cartoon shop in the garage after no successful filmmaking prospects. He sent a letter to Margaret Winkler, a cartoon distributor in New York City, about a series he was creating, Alice’s Wonderland. Alice’s Wonderland, later called the Alice Comedies, was a mixture of cartoons and live-action. Shortly after, Margaret Winkler’s husband took over her job, Charles Mintz. Mintz strained the relationship between Disney and his enterprise, not living up to the contract financially or supportively. However, success still found the Disney Brothers, as they were able to put down a $400 down payment on a studio at 2719 Hyperion Avenue on July 6, 1925. 

By 1926, The Alice Comedies had reached a stopping point, as Walt looked for fresh new material. Universal Studios wanted to commission someone to make a cartoon starring a rabbit. Walt Disney was chosen, sent off sketches of a rabbit named Oswald, and Poor Papa went into production. Although Oswald didn’t begin as a knock-out series, by the third cartoon, newspaper reviews praised their improvement and comedy.

Despite the popularity, Charles Mintz had a trick up his sleeve. Walt asked Mintz for more money of $2,500 per cartoon instead of the usual $2,225. Mintz said he was going to give Walt $1,800. Walt was shocked, and then Mintz added, “If you don’t accept, I’ll take your organization away from you. I have all of your men signed up.” Behind Walt’s back, all of his animators had signed up to work for Universal. Walt stalled to try to find a way to get Oswald to another studio, but Mintz showed Walt in the contract where Oswald belonged to Universal Studios, not Walt Disney. Walt lost Oswald, but in a telegram to Roy he said “DON’T WORRY EVERYTHING OK.”

Legend has it, although even from Walt itself it was never quite clear, that on the train ride back from New York City after losing Oswald to Mintz, Walt dreamed up Mickey Mouse. A lot of Mickey’s personality was derived from Walt, as well as his voice. Ub Iwerks animated and drew. However, there were three more Oswald cartoons left in their contract, and the conniving artists who were leaving Walt still had three months left at the studio. Roy, Walt, and Ub began working on Mickey Mouse cartoons in secret, hiding it from the other artists or working in Walt’s garage.

Despite the first two Mickey Mouse cartoons not being yet distributed, with climbing costs, Walt began on the third, Steamboat Willie which would jump onto the new craze of talking pictures. After working with Ub to time the cartoon on sheet music, Walt ventured to New York City with a score under his arm and a can of film, ready to find someone to record the audio for the cartoon. Walt began working with P.A. Powers in order to record the score. It took them two times and two different orchestras to get it right. Walt demanded quality, and the first orchestra were not able to follow the cartoon to get it right. Walt filmed a moving ball over the cartoon to keep beat and help the orchestra keep up. Even after the fact, Walt still had to sell this expensive and fancy new cartoon. Finally, Steamboat Willie opened at the Colony Theatre on November 18, 1928 and became the success of which Walt had dreamed.

Suddenly, during this success, P.A. (Pat) Powers) who originally collaborated with Roy and Walt for Cinephone Sound Systems began to not send his receipts and payments. Walt quickly found out what a crook he was, trying to snake him just the way Mintz had. Ub Iwerks signed a contract with Powers, shocking Walt once again that his best friend all these years would leave the company. Ub mentioned artistic differences being the divide between him and Walt, dissolving his contract and receiving 1/5 of interest from his shares.

Meanwhile, Mickey Mouse’s popularity exploded with a million members in the Mickey Mouse Club by 1931. With the help of Herman “Kay” Kamen, Mickey Mouse merchandise hit the shelves, bringing great economic refuge to the Walt Disney Studios.

Walt demanded that Flowers and Trees, a Silly Symphony production, be completely redone for technicolor. Through much trial and error, Walt and his men finally found a way to get color onto film with their cartoons. With more hires coming into his studio, Walt also arranged for his artists to continue their schooling experience with classes from Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, believing there was always room to learn more. However, Silly Symphony’s really began to take off with the craze that was The Three Little Pigs. The songs and cartoon were everywhere. It was “unparalleled in cartoon history.”

III. Toward a New Art 1934-1945

Walt Disney could never officially explain why he chose Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as his first cartoon feature, but he loved the story elements and had fond memories of seeing the 1915 Marguerite Clark version as a young boy. He thoughtfully and carefully controlled every aspect of production, including the choosing of the voice for Snow White down to even his smallest animators. However, his initial budget ended up only being a third of what needed to be spent. Publicity was bad, dubbing the film “Disney’s folly.” Yet, when Disney finally premiered it in 1937, the audience stood and cheered. Celebrities turned out for “Disney’s folly.” Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs consisted of two million drawings. After the hard path that Walt tread to get there, he was finally feeling the euphoria of some success. He received a special Oscar, including seven small miniature statues as well.

Although the success was overwhelming, the studio did not have an easier time producing Pinocchio. There were animation issues with movement, story issues with character likability, and character design issues. Meanwhile, Walt worried about Mickey Mouse’s career. Walt’s attachment to Mickey was indescribable, and he planned to have the re-designed Mickey Mouse appear in a short cartoon titled The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, synchronized to Dukas music performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra. After meeting with the conductor, Walt began to collaborate on an entire feature, with the working title of The Concert Feature. In order to get the feel for the cartoons that Walt desired, he had his Sound Department develop an entire new sound system for theaters to create multi-aural sound, making a movie theater sound just like a concert hall. It was called Fantasound, leading to the title of the film: Fantasia. With Fantasia in pre-production, Walt also chose Bambi, the tale of a deer, to be his third feature film. With great financial issues and the coming of the second war, Walt had to start making more economically stable and reasonably inexpensive films. The company began having tough financial instances - again. Walt was tired of living “picture to picture.” 

But also the coming of unionization and Walt surprised to find a picket line in front of his studio in 1941 changed a lot about the way the studio worked. To combat this, Walt took a South America trip to film short films with his men. To make it a work trip that would help with his stress and nerves, as well as creating revenue for the company was right up Walt’s alley. The film turned into Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros. This was all well and good until the US Army occupied and moved into Walt’s studio on the morning of December 7, 1941 without warning. For the rest of the war, Walt worked on training films, propaganda, and ways to help the service however he could. Yet, with foreign markets frozen, the company was having more financial issues than could be imagined.

IV. Stretching the Horizon 1945-1961

After the war, the Disney studio was ready for revival. The first picture to be produced was Song of the South, a 70 percent live acton and 30 percent cartoon with some combined sequences. The cost was high, the critical reception was mixed, and the profit was low. Looking for ways to sustain the company, Walt began researching and production on a series called “True-Life Adventures,” starting with Seal Island. Still, Walt knew he needed a hit like Snow White and went into production on Cinderella. Despite being a success, Walt was reminded just how long animated features take to produce and the amount of man-power that goes into him. He began working on live-action films to be produced in England due to frozen funds. 

Walt had reservations about going into production for Alice in Wonderland, but continued, ending up to lose $1,000,000. Finally, in 1951, Peter Pan was put into production. Meanwhile, television. Walt experimented with a Christmas special in 1951. But, the idea of an amusement park continued to grow in his mind. He took touring trips everywhere of different fairs and amusement parks to research. He borrowed on his life insurance in order to finance the park himself since Roy was against the idea. Walt continued to borrow money from studio workers and investors, but finally he came to the conclusion: he would finance his park through television. Bill Walsh wrote the first official description of Disneyland for investors: The idea of Disneyland is a simple one. It will be a place for people to find happiness and knowledge.

ABC Network ended up being a 35% owner in Disneyland with a contract for Disney to produce one hour television specials. In 1954, Walt made the official announcement of the television series to begin in October 1954 and the park to open in July 1955. The TV show was a hit, along with Davy Crockett. Merchandise sales took off for the Davy Crocket phenomenon. 

Meanwhile, Disneyland construction ran into many problems with the Orange County building inspectors, with the builders being able to create Walt’s vision, and with the plumbers’ strike. Walt was incredibly involved in every single aspect of the park, down to the trash cans and the water fountains. Each attraction and land brought with it new challenges that Walt had to diligently lead his group through. If anything, I admire Walt for his dedication to his vision and hope that I can emulate that in my own work some day. When people told Walt no, he had confidence in his vision and persevered and asked them to do the same. 

Thomas writes that “within seven weeks, a million visitors had come to Disneyland. Predictions of attendance had been exceeded by 50 percent...” At the same time as Disneyland’s success, The Mickey Mouse Club on ABC was taking off greatly. It was the first quality programming for children on television, and it was incredibly profitable and another craze. 

As a current cast member of Disney World, one of the stories that stands out the most to be from this section of the book is about Walt and his wife, Lillian, spending the day in Disneyland. A guard stopped the two of them while they were about to go into an exhibit. Not only did he not recognize Walt, but he was rude and would not allow his wife to enter the exhibit. Walt later ordered the guest to be fired because if he was so discourteous to him, imagine how he was acting to the other guests. He said, “You can’t expect outsiders to give the courtesy we want.” Walt always wanted more for the guests, no matter the cost. A lot of the Park Operating Committee did not want an extravagant Christmas parade because it wouldn’t bring more money in, but would cause money to be spent. Walt declared, “We can’t be satisfied, even though we’ll get the crowds at Christmastime. We’ve always got to give ‘em a little more. It’ll be worth the investment. If they ever stop coming, it’ll cost ten times that much to get ‘em back.”

One of my favorite Disney films growing up was the zany and nonsensical Alice in Wonderland. Walt Disney’s colorful Wonderland was great escapism as a child, and now as an adult as well. With beautiful art and mise-en-scene, the world the filmmakers create is inviting, as well as terrifying, making you intrigued to dive right in. 

Walt had always had an infatuation with Lewis Carroll’s heroine. Some of the first shorts Walt created for the Disney Brothers Studios were the Alice comedies, a mix of real live filmmaking and cartoons.

However, the film is odd based off of Disney’s filmography up to that time: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, Bambi, Cinderella... Such classics held basic standards for storytelling along with certain emotion-drawing plot elements. Alice took a different approach that didn’t play well to contemporary audiences, which I will describe more from my research in my video.

Although Alice is a likable character, no one else truly is, nor are they supposed to be. With the likes of the Queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter, and the Cheshire Cat, the characters are irritable, nonsensical, and frustrating. For normal moviegoers, this storyline wouldn’t play. However, it found life in new generations throughout the years of the Disney library. 

Since moving to Disney World for the Disney College Program, I have learned so much about how Disney works and a lot of behind the scenes secrets. However, one subject that still alludes me is Imagineering. Although I am completely intrigued by their work (and have seen a few walking around!), I’ve always wondered how they brainstorm, what makes them pick their technological innovations, and what encourages them to invest in one story over another, one of the major reasons I chose this concentration for my research while I am away from UNCW.

I just finished a wonderful book that gave me a bit more research and insight into this subject for my Directed Independent Study through the UNCW Film Studies department. 

Walt Disney Imagineering: A Behind the Dreams Look at Making MORE Magic Real by the Imagineers with Melody Malmberg is a 190 page book filled with concept art, beautiful photographs, and an idea of how Imagineers work in all of the Disney Parks and resorts around the world. Although this book rarely focuses in on the stories behind particular attractions, it covers many intriguing topics including stories, color, globalization of attractions, architecture, and research and development.

One of the most interesting anecdotes relates to Animal Kingdom’s “It’s Tough to Be a Bug” located inside the Tree of Life. One year from the park’s opening, they realized the tree was large enough to be the home to an attraction. Pixar’s A Bug’s Life was still in production with Flik and Hopper their only two defined characters, creating may complications and challenges to not only create a film, but an immersive, accurate, creative, and interactive one. 

What I have realized since I started working at Disney World is how close our daily jobs are to the film industry. True, maybe many would consider us as theatre, but we are all a part of the show. Imagineering takes viewing movies and entertainment in a new ay that drags the guest into the film. Whether it’s A Bug’s Life or Captain EO, the theatre shakes, it sprays smells, you can feel mice under your seats and legs. This book mainly describes how the Imagineers tell stories rather than WHY they tell stories. Although it is a bit farther away than I had hoped from the inspiration behind the stories told in attractions, it helps me understand the medium of theme park attractions to better understand what I am researching with individual films and attributes. 

One of the most important factors I learned from the Imagineers’ book was Mickey’s Ten Commandments, printed at the very beginning on pg. 10. Marty Skylar, one of the Disney Imagineering Legends who worked at the company for 54 years, created them. He claims they now hang on the walls of many Imagineer’s offices to inspire their future work on theme park attractions.

MICKEY’S TEN COMMANDMENTS 1. Know your audience. Identify the prime audience for your attraction or show before you begin design. 2. Wear your Guests’ shoes. Insist that your team members experience your creation just the way guests do. 3. Organize the flow of people and ideas. Make sure there is a logic and sequence in your stories, and in the way Guests experience them. 4. Create a wienie (visual magnet) Create visual “targets” that lead visitors clearly and logically through your facility. 5. Communicate with visual literacy. Make good use of all the non-verbal ways of communication - color, shape, form, texture. 6. Avoid overload - create turn ons. Resist the temptation to overload your audience with too much information and too many objects. 7. Tell one story at a time. Stick to the story line; good stories are clear, logical, and consistent. 8. Avoid contradictions - maintain identity. Details in design or content that contradict one another confuse an audience about your story or the time period it takes place in. 9. For every ounce of treatment, provide a ton of treat. In our business, Walt Disney said, you can educate people - but don’t tell them you’re doing it! Make it fun! 10. Keep it up! (maintain it) In a Disney park or resort, everything must work! Poor maintenance is poor show!