Page 16 - The Disneyization of Society
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DISNEYIZATION
clearly different character from the streetwise, sharp-talking rabbit that was to
spring from the pen of later Warner animators like Chuck Jones. In particular, the
7
characters during this phase of temporary Disneyfication are cuter and more
sentimentalized than those of the period before Thorson’s arrival and after the
immediate period following his departure. Walz observes that during this period
traditional Disney themes of the kind that will be encountered in later chapters,
such as nostalgic yearnings, were in evidence.
A second assault on the world of Disney from the point of view of its trivializa-
tion and sanitization of culture can be seen in the controversy surrounding
Disney’s abortive attempt to launch a new theme park called Disney’s America. In
1993, Disney proposed a theme park dedicated to American history to be built at
Haymarket, close to the Bull Run/Manassas battlefields in Virginia. The location
would also have been 35 miles from Washington, DC. Disney’s proposals were
subjected to a torrent of criticism from historians and environmentalists. In spite
of posturing that it was determined to go ahead even in the face of opposition,
the company pulled out of the proposal the following year. While the term
Disneyfication was not necessarily employed by contributors to this debate, the
kinds of points that were made about the likely impact of the park and its repre-
sentation of history were more or less exactly the same as those of authors who
inveigh against the spread of Disneyfication.
Two factors lay behind historians’ opposition to the plan. One was that the pro-
posed park was to be located on almost sacred ground, an area of immense sym-
bolic significance for the American people. The other, which is more salient to the
present discussion, was to do with doubts about Disney’s ability to get across
American history in anything other than a trivialized and sanitized way. As
Synnott notes, Disney’s treatment of American history in theme park attractions
such as American Adventure in Epcot and Hall of Presidents in the Magic Kingdom
(both in Walt Disney World, Orlando – hereafter referred to simply as Disney
World), which was widely viewed among historians as banal, was very much asso-
ciated with this lack of faith in Disney versions of history. 17 Even Michael Eisner,
Disney’s chief executive, acknowledged in his autobiography that historians
believed that the company ‘couldn’t be trusted to depict American history in ways
that were sufficiently complex, subtle, and inclusive.’ 18 Fears about the handling
of such complex and sensitive issues as the treatment of Native Americans and of
slavery, which had been the subject of considerable criticism in American
Adventure in particular, loomed especially large. For Giroux, Disney’s capitulation
was evidence that the ‘Disnification of American culture’ could be resisted and
challenged. 19
A further example of this kind of unwanted historical portrayal can be seen in
Colonial Williamsburg, the living history museum that celebrates the lives of
upper-class Virginians of the colonial period. Prior to the revision of the museum
in the 1970s by ‘new historians’, Colonial Williamsburg was frequently criticized