Page 91 - The Disneyization of Society

THE DISNEYIZATION OF SOCIETY

Goofy purchased in the Wonders of Life pavilion; merchandise deriving from
characters specifically associated with the parks, such as Figment (a character in
82 the Journey into Imagination ride in EPCOT); and a petrified Mickey looking out
from the top of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (a Disney-MGM Studios attrac-
tion) emblazoned on clothing. It is sometimes suggested that the Disney theme
parks sell merchandise that is available through any Disney Store in a mall or high
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street. This is simply not true: there is a vast array of merchandise in the parks
that is not for sale outside them. Most of this is merchandise specifically linked to
the parks and their ‘lands’, such as the petrified Mickey previously referred to.
The parks are designed to maximize opportunities and rationales for purchas-
ing merchandise. Main Street USA acts as a funnel. Visitors move from wide open
spaces after the entrance, are then channelled along Main Street with its many
shops selling merchandise, and then emerge again into open spaces. Not only do
they have to walk down Main Street to get to the attractions, they are placed in a
position where they are more likely to be lured into the shops.

Precursors of Merchandising

Merchandising is by no means a phenomenon that should be attributed only to
the Disney theme parks. For example, there was a large amount of Pooh-related
merchandise from 1929 onwards, including such artefacts as Christmas cards and
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calendars, books, and notepaper. Walt Disney certainly did not create the idea of
merchandising or even of merchandising animated cartoon characters. Felix the
Cat was the focus of a large range of merchandise in the mid-1920s. An American
writer in a trade journal in Britain, where Felix was especially popular, recorded:

It is almost incredible, but the most popular outstanding figure in the film trade at this moment,
throughout every nook and cranny of the Kingdom, is Felix the Cat. …There are Felix songs, Felix
tie pins, Felix brooches, Felix silver spoons, little and big Felix dolls, Felix pillow tops, Felix automo-
bile radiator tops, Felix candy, Felix blankets, Felix street vendor novelties and more other publicity
producing angles than a centipede has legs. 7

However, Disney itself probably provides one of the best examples of pre-Disney
theme park merchandising. This is a realm in which Disney have been pre-
eminent. Walt Disney’s first animated star was arguably not Mickey Mouse, but
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, around which he and his studio had created a popular
series of animation shorts in 1927. When he tried to negotiate a better financial
deal over these shorts, Walt found that it was not he but the distributor who
owned the rights to them. As a result, the studio had no rights to Oswald’s name
and therefore to the small range of merchandise that had begun to appear bear-
ing the character’s name and image. Thereafter, he zealously guarded his rights in
this regard. A major factor may well have been the revenue-producing capability