Say what you will about Disney (and lord knows I’ve probably said it) there are two very true things about it. First, it’s way more fun if you’re a kid or with a kid. Second, it’s American in a way that not too many other things are. John Wayne. John Phillip Sousa. Puritans. Apple pie, hamburgers, and McDonalds. That independent streak that once caused me to have a discussion with an Austrian about why Americans can’t ask for help. (We just can’t, ok?) I don’t know if it’s the storytelling or the marketing or the entertainment or the size of the company or all the stuff it makes or the fact that “safe” is the word it wants its customers to associate with it or some combination of all those things that make it American.
Whatever. Disney’s been a big influence on American culture. Here’s a side view of the Walt Disney and Mickey statue in front of Sleeping Beauty’s castle and one of Main Street USA (as envisioned by Disney circa 1890) at sunset.
One of the things my husband learned the semester he interned at Disney Imagineering was that the park allows feral cats to live in Disneyland to control the rodent population. They like Tom Sawyer’s Island (pictured below). I saw one running around California Adventure at dusk on Monday. That was a skittish cat.
We went to Disneyland last year too, and one of the things that was noticably different this time was that Disney has started selling re-usable bags, organic cotton t-shirts, and fresh fruit in the park. The cynic in me says: Disney wants us to think they’re green? How about not inflicting more plastic crap on the world? Or taking some responsibility to clean up some of the mess that the old cheap plastic crap has already caused? The more reasonable part of me says that this is a first step and that if it proves profitable, they’ll expand it and if Disney did start buying organic cotton, how much change could they effect? Probably a lot.
I bought one of the shirts and a bunch of fruit to improve the sales numbers.
One of the things I like about Disneyland is the mid-20th century style posters they use to advertise the rides (mostly in Tomorrowland, but other places too).
Disney takes its theming seriously: even the free bathroom shampoo bottles have Mickey ears.
