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Disney Characters gone wild?


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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061013/wr_nm/disney_dc

 

It's been dealt with. Swept under the rug.

 

I think odds are good it'll stay there. Today's amusing internet meme. Nothing more.

You are just such the "expert" on this aren't you?

 

Seriously, your posts on this subject have really annoyed me because you absolutely have NO IDEA what you're talking about. But yet you're so SURE that you do....

 

--Robb "I hate it when people talk out of their asses." Alvey

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It's all pretty much been said but I totally know where Robb is coming from and will say this:

 

I know that when I go to a Disney theme park next time, I will think of this video when I see a Disney Cast Member.

 

And so for me, that means a little of the magic that Disney works so hard to build up has been forever lost for me. While I realise most employees would not do this kind of thing, that's not going to stop me remembering. I imagine many people will find themselves in the same situation.

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I agree with Robb and can see where he is coming from It is a shame when something like disney that we have all enjoyed and that has been around for years gets there reputation tarnished. If I remember correctly most of us that use this great site is because we love theme parks! the good ones and the bad ones. SO why applaued the what those ungrate full staff members got up to when all it is doing is damaging an image and the respect of disney. If this keeps happeing in the long term and I do mean long term there will be no disney parks to go to and that is sad because America does not have a lot of history compared to us in europe but what you have is great so maybe you young guys out there should apprieciate it and think twice before having a laugh at stupid things like this

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I think this thread has separated the men from the boys! Maybe even created some enemies or change how people think about each other! This is an extremely delicate issue. It ranks up there with bigotry as far as sensitivity goes.

 

I now see how serious this is and how much it is making an impact on people. At first I was just thinking it was a harmless thing of people just goofing around backstage! But now I know it is way behond this. Way behond the contracts! This kind of thing that affects the world as we know it!

 

This has tarnished the view on Disney forever to some people. But also to some they realize it is just some people messing around who can blow it off like no big thing, which I can do. Really to me personally it hasn't changed my view on Disney one bit. But I do know this has affected people on a severe scale! I know this will affect Disney for the rest of its life. But I also know that Disney will go on like it always has and always will!

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As long as we're caught up in image tarnishing, why not feel bad for the groups out there who can't defend themselves so easily?

I really do get what you're saying, but I think the difference between these groups and Disney is that these groups are being attacked from the outside. Disney is being misrepresented by their own employees and that just shouldn't happen. It's much easier to blow it off when it's not your own company causing your company to look bad, since your company did nothing wrong. Like all the pictures floating around the internet of Disney character 'porn'. Those pictures aren't made by Disney and everyone is [or should be] aware of that. People are going to take the video more seriously because Disney hired these people to represent their company. Honestly, if people believe that Kazakhstan is exactly how it's represented by Borat, then they probably need a little help separating fantasy and reality.

 

You said that with any company employees are bound to eventually do something like this, and while I do agree that this is probably true considering what many people are like, that doesn't make it any more acceptable. Especially when contracts are involved to ensure things like this don't happen. Yes, you can fire these people, but it's going to take more than that to explain why this happened.

 

Like I said before, I have no doubt that Disney will overcome this, like you say they will. But it still hurts their image and is something they shouldn't have to deal with since it never should've happened in the first place. If these people really wanted to make a funny video of themselves humping each other in Disney character suits, they should've bought some costumes from the Disney store and done it in their own homes. At least that way it wouldn't look like they were Disney employees. Although I should probably stop posting since this seems to be pretty much done with anyway.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061013/wr_nm/disney_dc

 

It's been dealt with. Swept under the rug.

 

I think odds are good it'll stay there. Today's amusing internet meme. Nothing more.

You are just such the "expert" on this aren't you?

 

Seriously, your posts on this subject have really annoyed me because you absolutely have NO IDEA what you're talking about. But yet you're so SURE that you do....

 

--Robb "I hate it when people talk out of their asses." Alvey

 

Just a prediction, nothing more.

 

Why does this get to you so much? My opinion is not so drastically different from your own. First your problem was because I defended those who found it funny. Next you seemed to equate finding humor in it, or thinking it an inevitable side-effect of Disney's (I admit, understandable) rules as condoning their actions. Then there was apparently some problem with me believing (and justifying my beliefs throroughly) that Disney will have no problem shaking this from their image. And finally you have a problem with a general prediction about where the media will take it from here.

 

You've hounded me at every turn. You've made rash generalizations about people in my age group. You've attempted to discredit my knowledge about intellectual property rights (which I actually have quite a bit of experience with, despite being just a stupid 22 year old). What's your problem? Can't people have different opinions around here? Mine isn't even that radical. I'm just as happy as you that the situation has been "dealt with" by Disney execs. I find the behavior just as inexcusable in the long run. I think the video's hillarious, but I'd still fire the whole lot of 'em were I calling the shots. And I have little sympathy for Disney because I know they can handle this. They have so much experience defending their image it's not even funny.

 

Sigh...

 

To add something new here, I'm a little amazed at some of the posts here. We mentioned how this could escalate out of control in the media and potentially turn people off to Disney (a quick google news search shows it has yet to do so). There was some thought that parents might see this behavior and generalize it to all park employees and make the mistake of thinking their children were in the hands of child molesters or something. The media is terrific at spinning, and such a belief would not be surprising of the average 24-hour news channel viewer.

 

But I'm a little surprised to see that idea floating around here. Presumably, anyone posting in these forums is in possession of facts the general public does not posess. This was an isolated incident at a park relatively few of the forumgoers here attend regularly. Those people are in all likelihood no longer employed with Disney, and I'm sure the parks will be clamping down on their rules with backstage behavior and cameras. Unless y'all are incredibly naive and were unaware that there were people in these suits, I have no idea why this would affect the "Disney Magic" for you all. Seriously, I'd like to know why a presumably intelligent theme park expert would let something like this affect their view of the parks. Would anyone care to shed some insight?

 

Finally, an aside. Since so many here are bent out of shape about image tarnishing, I think it's only fair to defend the country of France against similar "rash generalizations" (since nobody else seems to have bothered). In my experience in Europe, French people were no more likely to "do some weird things" than the people of any other country I visited. Unless by "weird things" you mean manufacturing perfume or selling crepes.

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As long as we're caught up in image tarnishing, why not feel bad for the groups out there who can't defend themselves so easily?

I really do get what you're saying, but I think the difference between these groups and Disney is that these groups are being attacked from the outside. Disney is being misrepresented by their own employees and that just shouldn't happen. It's much easier to blow it off when it's not your own company causing your company to look bad, since your company did nothing wrong. Like all the pictures floating around the internet of Disney character 'porn'. Those pictures aren't made by Disney and everyone is [or should be] aware of that. People are going to take the video more seriously because Disney hired these people to represent their company. Honestly, if people believe that Kazakhstan is exactly how it's represented by Borat, then they probably need a little help separating fantasy and reality.

 

I understand your argument, but I'm not sure it makes quite as big a difference as one might think. Given even footing, yes. A group made to look bad from within will look worse to the public than a group made to look bad from outside. But there are plenty of other factors to consider, the biggest being public awareness. I'll use the excellent example of France which was provided to me earlier. The Ali G show is on HBO, so relatively few people have seen Borat or his depiction of Kazakhstan. Meanwhile, you have people poking fun at France on how many cable news channels, stand up comedy routines, or sophomore history classes? France-ignorance is everywhere, and Kazakhstan-ignorance is a relatively isolated phenomenon.

 

Similarly, even though this video shows actual employees, pointing the finger at Disney has yet to catch like influenza. And even if it does, France-ignorance will certainly be more pervasive still (in fact, this would certainly contribute to it).

 

Anyway, that's a somewhat sloppy example. But the point is, there are plenty of factors to consider outside of who it is making the company look bad.

 

And judging people as a whole, yes. Many do need a little help separating fantasy and reality.

 

You said that with any company employees are bound to eventually do something like this, and while I do agree that this is probably true considering what many people are like, that doesn't make it any more acceptable. Especially when contracts are involved to ensure things like this don't happen. Yes, you can fire these people, but it's going to take more than that to explain why this happened.

 

I'm 100% with you until the last line. And that depends on how far this goes in the news. So far, I think their silent "we've dealt with it" is probably sufficient so long as public awareness remains where it is. Very few potential Disney vacationers would have any idea what you meant by "Mouse orgy" if you stopped 'em and asked today. If that changes sufficiently, further explanation is a must. But if not (and it hasn't in 24 hours), then I think their actions so far are enough.

 

They don't want to raise a public awareness that barely exists at present.

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Why does this get to you so much?

Because you're really just creating fictional statements and making comparisons and that don't really apply, but presenting them as if you know a lot more than you really do.

 

I've spent YEARS employed under the same contracts, dealing with similar licensing and brand issues, and understanding both sides in certain cases.

 

Please remember that it was MY JOB to create consumer products for Disney and we had to be VERY careful how we represented the characters and the company in each product. Disney's Aladdin for the Sega Genesis is a PERFECT example because we had characters from other films included within the game. Each character had very specific guidelines, and we had to get approvals from central licensing, the directors of each film, the animation department, etc. Hell I even spent 3 weeks in Florida working with the Disney animators to make sure each frame that was created stayed within the "video game" style guide.

 

As for the "age thing." I have every respect for people in your age group who can speak about any issue intelligently. But you clearly could not have as much experience with this, as I started working at Disney when I was 17 years old! Sorry, pal, but I've been doing this almost as long as you've been alive. And that's not to discount anything you've said based on your age, but you haven't exactly referred to any examples that you've been personally involved with to back up what you're saying. And like I said "I get it." When I was 22 or 23 and had a couple of products under my belt I too felt like "I knew everything" and wanted the world to know that. I'm sure ALL of us have been through that.

 

But even with my experience, I no "expert" on anything either. If someone came on here who had yet another 20 years experience on top of me about any issue, I'd listen and try to learn something from their experiences. Because where else are you going to get that wealth of information from?

 

I speak from actual professional experience and have been able to back that up with examples.

 

You speak from personal opinions and trying to fabricate some "fact" around them and from what I can tell, just to make you look "right." When in this case, the more you keep posting about it, the more you keep talking out of your ass. And it's so obvious! You have no "factual data"....you just keep making stuff up as you post!

 

If you want to share your opinions and argue them to death, that's fine. If you can do it in a civil manner, which you have done, we encourage that.

 

But don't share your opinions as a "fact" and misrepresent the issue and confuse others. THAT is what is getting to me.

 

--Robb "That is all...." Alvey

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Wow,

I cant believe how much this has snowballed since I posted it.

I`ll just put my two cents in here.

 

I have to say I wholeheartedly agree with Robb on this matter.

 

Yes it is a somewhat amusing clip. Indeed if one of us had seen it at a cast members hose it would have been funny.

However the fact is that this was taped and leaked out.

The Sun had this as their top story, and millions of people read that.

 

Disney has always been a place all about magic and, even as an enthusiast who knows a lot about backstage working etc of Disney, Disney parks are special.

I`m not going to ramble on about this, it has all been said before in this thread.

But The people that play Disney characters are employed to create the magic that is Disney. They should have known better.

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I've kept quiet about this because it's not difficult to see why this is gonna hurt Disney, but like Dave I'm gonna add my opinion.

 

Regardless of whether people find it funny or not, these employees have breached their contract, the evidence has appeared for all to see and when Disney's image is compromised like this, the shit is gonna hit the fan. And it has.

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What we all need to keep in mind is that while we have seen little about this in US media im sure the late night shows and comedy centeral will pick up on it if they havn't already (sorry don't watch much TV), it is also all over the net and first showed up in the Sun and while I don't have exact statistics I would venture to say it is a publication that millions of people read and if it was on the cover anyone that has gone through a store checkout line knows about it the damage has been done there is no way to "sweep it under the rug" at this point

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^i can only imagine what South Park will do on it,

Probably nothing. Its possible that it might end up on the daily show, but that would be about it. It wouldn't get into South Park unless it was on the news relentlessly and people were freaking out about thier child being in the hands of a molester.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I'm really not amused by this. These cast members should know better, it doesn't matter that they were out of public view, when you put on that costume you can't do stuff like that.

 

I hope they were all fired and worse!

 

I agree. I know they were just having a laugh but it's not the sort of thing that they should be doing while in costume. Besides, I didn't find it very funny.

I also agree with Robb. I can see how damaging this could be to Disney. They really shouldn't be working as a character if they're going to do that kind of crap.

It's bad enough that they did that but even worse that they filmed it. If someone is planning on taking their kids to meet Mickey and Goofy and they stumble accross that video, I think they will be a bit uncomfortable when seeing them in real life.

I think it's ok to have a laugh on the job but it was taken way too far and I can't believe nobody told them to calm down or grow up.

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