I was under the impression that in their theme parks, the costumed Disney characters weren’t allowed to speak. For example, that guy inside the Minnie Mouse costume might actually have a deep gravely voice and a thick Brooklyn accent. (“ ‘ey, kid, choo wanna otta graf?”)
My question is about the women portraying Sleeping Beauty or Belle or any character who’s face isn’t covered by a big costume piece. It almost makes sense that a freakishly large foam head isn’t going to move its lips and talk to you, but Belle? I mean, we all know Belle is real, right? What I mean is… both the character and the “cast member” (isn’t that what they’re called in the theme parks?), are human. Not a mouse or a dog or a duck, but a real person. So it would seem odd if she didn’t also speak like a real human. And from what I recall those characters had normal speech patterns, so finding a person who could reasonably portray them (live, in public, in real time) would be easier than finding someone who could accurately portray, for example, Donald Duck.
So… who’s been to Disneyland recently? Did you meet Sleeping Beauty or Belle or a similar character? Did they talk?
My daughter got to speak with Mary Poppins and Alice in Wonderland, so it’s as they say - the “face” characters speak.
The kid beamed for three straight days, had no problems with tiredness (she walked for miles - one day we went around the lagoon at Epcot 3 times), and rode the front car at Space Mountain by herself (“No, Daddy! I want to ride alone!”) all at the age of 6.
Yep. If you can see their mouth moving they can talk. If it is a big immobile artificial head they can’t.
That applies only to the personal interaction. They “talk” all the time in scripted shows around the parks.
This can be annoying sometimes. At Disneyland Paris a Gepetto was very excited that we were American (don’t know why, American tourists aren’t all that rare) and spent about 10 minutes miming a conversation to find out where we were from. No kids were around so I really wish whoever was inside would have just whispered a quick question.
It seems to me that, when I was growing up, even the human characters like Snow White had artificial heads (at least, going from the commercials). Am I correct in my recollection? I’m very glad that they don’t do that any more; it looked ridiculous.
That could have gotten him fired, obfusciatrist. Disney is really strict about such things, and working as a character “on stage” is a very high profile job.
One thing my mom’s told me (she works backstage) is that the villains always have to let the little kids win. You wouldn’t believe how many times Cruella de Ville’s been told she shouldn’t smoke.
Yes, I know. But when stuck watching Gepetto air draw letters (California takes a while) that doesn’t stop me from wishing that the CM would have done so anyway.
Sure. The reaction to them by children is widely variable by age and temperament. But I’ve met my fair share who believe they’ve just met Donald or Woody or whomever. And then a fair share more who will pretend long after they know otherwise because they like it that way.
I guess I could see a really little kid thinking that. Like, 3 or 4. Maybe five. But past that…what, do they think that the movies are actually filming Mickey and Minnie? That they’re just animated versions of their real lives? Maybe I missed out on a lot having a far smaller suspension of disbelief…
I’ve heard at various times that Disney park workers get embittered about the rules, to the point of calling the place “Mouschwitz” or “Duckau” but whether or not this is true, I couldn’t say.
Used to work at Disneyland so maybe I could shed some light on the subject
Dunno about when you were growing up, you might be remembering the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. She can’t talk because its a guy. Height requirements makes it more difficult to find a female with the proper body type. I’ve seen many Mickeys and Minnies who are the opposite gender but the Queen always seems to be a guy
I remember one incident in which us workers sorta had to break character. The Tomorrowland Terrace restaurant has a stage that rises out from the ground. Weekend nights are usually reserved for bands, but during the day they usually have some kind of show. From about 2001-2006, TLT was renamed Club Buzz for Buzz Lightyear. There was a show with Buzz and Zurg and all that. Well during a part of the show, Buzz is incapacitated by Zurg. Some kid was crying about that and the mom wanted us to reassure him that Buzz was going to be ok. So I can say for certain that yes, even the plastic costumes do fool some kids
This is true, but I’ve never heard those specific epithets. Disney’s pretty facist about its rules; it has to be, they’ve been sued before but the reason varies “Disney sued for headless characters”. There are rules stating that you cannot take your character’s head off onstage even if you get heatstroke and vomit inside your plastic head. You’re supposed to run backstage at that point. Also, during my training, we are specifically told things such as never tell people a character is in more than one place at a specific time. You cannot say Mickey’s in Toontown, or you can see him in a show, or he is also in the parade. There’s one Mickey, act like it. To Disney’s credit, they are pretty good at coordinating the times for character appearances so that a character appears in one place at a time.
I was at Disneyland a couple years ago, just inside the gates, and was almost knocked on my ass when this guy blew past me at a full sprint, carrying his tail in both hands. Apparently, one of the young 'uns had been a bit too grabby, and he had to exit the public view ASAP before he ruined the magic forever.
ImprovGeek was Shrek at Universal Studios for a while. He was not allowed to talk, but IIRC he lobbied successfully to make burping and farting noises. I think he started an Ask The thread.
FYI, I was at Disneyworld last year with my brother and his family and the characters we enjoyed the most were Cinderella’s evil stepsisters, who were really nasty. Even better, a woman standing near my sister-in-law said something about how rude they were, not understanding that they were in character.
Some young kids don’t like the characters, they get scared. My son who was 2 did not like them at Disney World. The characters are used to that reaction so they know when to back off.
