Topic 7Topic 7

Space and Identity: Disneyland Space and Identity: Disneyland

Mickey Mouse Monopoly: Disney, Childhood and Corporate Power

Disney’s Media Dominance How to be a Girl? How to be a Boy?

(Gender Representation) Commercializing Children’s Culture

Mickey Mouse Monopoly

The Disney Company's massive success in the 20th century is based on creating an image of innocence, magic and fun.

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Mouse Monopoly will provoke audiences to virtually synonymous with childhood pleasure.

History of Orlando Walt Disney World

All started from false premises. In persuading the Florida government of their plan.

Walt Disney described on screen the EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) plan, a model city, a residential community of 20,000 real people, working and playing there.

Disney demanded from the Florida government “solid legal foundation” & “flexibility” – municipal bonding authority, and the creation of two municipalities together with an autonomous political district controlled by the company and empowered to issue tax-exempt bonds.

Reedy Creek Improvement District

In 1968, Florida Supreme Court ruled that the Reedy Creek Improvement District was legally entitled to issue tax-free municipal bonds – the bonding power permitted public funds to be used for private purposes that are entirely in the disposal of Disney.

Autonomous Political District Autonomous political district means buildings,

constructions, land-use, transportation and law and enforcement are controlled by the private corporation.

Disney’s autonomous political district in Orlando: a special administrative region.

Will Disney HK be a Special Administrative Region within an SAR?

Autonomous Political District

As an “autonomous political district,” the Florida Disney APD (the Disney government), has free land use and free use of county, city and state infrastructure built by tax-payer money. Disney is a landowner-controlled government.

On the one hand, taxpayers need to bear Disney World’s entire infrastructure cost, and the entire administrative burden of regulating and inspecting the theme park’s construction.

On the other hand, Disney, as a private company, does not need to bear any responsibilities for addressing off-site impacts (e.g. traffic jams, road and public utilities safety etc.) as other developers, like Universal Studio.

Autonomous Political District The Reedy Creek Improvement district has its own

Laws and Law Enforcement force:

Disney uses private security guards to perform the police function within the Disney theme park and community, but Disney, as “private” company, has no obligations to provide “public records” about crimes in its properties to the government.

Conflicts with & off-site impacts of the Disney APD:

The EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow): where were the citizens-residents?

Disney did not build the EPCOT residential community but only hotels.

Orlando Disney (in Orange County, Florida) opened since 1966, but for very long, the EPCOT was no where to be found. Even in 1982, the EPCOT has no residents. It only showcases “world” restaurants, with themes like China, and these restaurants have mechanical games and rides inside them, just like a mini version of the Disney theme park.

Potential Problems of Hong Kong Disney:

Political & Governance Issues : Disney will trap benefits, becoming an SAR within the

HKSAR

Degree of tax-payer subsidy Hong Kong government owns 57% but has no decision

making rights. If the HKDL loses, the HK also loses. The government officials in HKDL are not accountable

to Hong Kong people.

Governance, public facilities & infrastructure, surrounding land use, property rights etc.

Economic Issues: What we can learn from the Orlando case: World Tourism Organization projects - 2010, HK

will be the 5 largest tourist city/economy

The Myth of Tourism: Tourist economies (relying heavily on tourism industry) –limited job benefits to the city – e.g.

Tourism economy can’t shift from low wage industries to high-tech industries.

Most jobs require only low level skills - does not promote value-adding skills. No accumulation of local tacit knowledge.

Economic Issues:

Disney has the first right to consider buying the land of Phase II reclaimed land ( 竹篙灣 ) at a premium price (28 億 5000 萬 ).

Government loans to Disney 56 億 to be paid back in 25 years

Assistance from governments in building theme parks

Sustainable Development Impact on economic and corporate strategies:

outsourcing, e.g. coloring to Beijing

Economic Issues:

Disney will resist paying: Who will be responsible for maintaining the

areas around Disneyland HK? LEGCO archive on Disney 1999 September

to December; 2005 Mar 16 meeting CB(1)1062/04-05(03); CB(1)1063/04-05 etc.

Demolitions: 財利船廠清拆工程 Housing issues: 2010: projected 810 萬人 . At

first, the land now belonging to Disney ( 東北大嶼山 ) was to be the site of these public housing.

Disney sea and air rights

Potential Problems of Hong Kong Disney:

Economic (Environmental) Issues: Physical/Cultural Landscape impacts; environmental

hazards (non-disclosure clause) Land Reclamation: the Lantau and Cheung Chau

research Demolitions: 財利船廠清拆工程 , no environmental

compensations Air pollution due to daily fireworks. Myth: Disney investments has nothing to do with high-

tech development

Economic Issues

The Disney brand will define Hong Kong in the tourism industry. Can Hong Kong then develop industries other than tourism?

Disney and other tourist attractions will stimulate low-wage service economy with increasing age discrimination, encouraging a city’s young work force to give up education and training for more and more low wage jobs.

Cultural Disney:

Synergy: a combined action or operation between individual units - produce an immediately recognizable brand。

Walt Disney CompanyWalt Disney Studios Walt Disney

AttractionsWalt Disney Consumer Products

Walt Disney AnimationTouchstone PicturesHollywood PicturesDisney Channel (85): bought ABC>200 more channels to come, 20+ radio stationsDisney Vacation Club

Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Euro Disney, Tokyo Disneyland

Stores, records, licensing 16,000 items of merchandise worldwide, computer software, Disney Education (English learning program with Harvard)

What we can learn from the Orlando case: Cultural Issues

Cultural Domination: any local newspapers or magazines criticizing Disney died due to Disney pressure and market manipulation.

Intellectual Property violence: Culture of Extreme Control: Controlled sense of total environment “Disney realism” programs out negative, unwanted elements,

like poverty, war, social issues Control nature through technological progress and corporatism Controls employees through instruction manuals, handbooks,

scripting, audio-animatronic figures phasing out cast members.

What we can learn from the Orlando case: Cultural Issues

Culture of Extreme Control: Control visitors’ behavior. LA park spokesperson Bob

Roth, “We de reserve the right to ask people to leave if we feel their appearance would be offensive to others at the park.” (Koeing, 209).

Private property: can enforce discriminatory rules of its own, e.g. No gay couples dancing and touching, No sloppy clothes

Suppress Cultural Diversity: eliminate and transforms local cultures, heritage,

communities to Disney-fied versions. Eliminate historical conflicts, wars, genocides and other “unpleasant” facts

Cultural Issues: Disney Values

Disney Movies: specific formula, always moral tales with overt values represented – reinvention of folk tales (de-politicized, sanitized)

Heroes and heroines are handsome/beautiful (eventually), with upper class or aristocratic background. Villains are extremely fat or extremely thin, with exaggerated facial features, and usually have accents, body languages of poorer classes and non-white cultures.

Individualism, optimism, good triumphs over evil (but de-contextualized from social reality)

Corporatism (corporations improves our lives), technological progress, consumerism (consumption replaces control at the workplace)

Cultural Issues: (1) The Disney Corporate Model

Alan Bryman, The Disneyization of Society “argues that the contemporary world is increasingly converging towards the characteristics of the Disney theme parks. This process of convergence is revealed in: the growing influence of themed environments in settings like restaurants, shops, hotels, tourism and zoos; the growing trend towards social environments that are driven by combinations of forms of consumption: shopping, eating out, gambling, visiting the cinema, watching sports...”

Cultural Issues: the GDAP – Global Disney Audience Program

When asked to use one term to describe Disney, the most frequent answer is “fun,” followed by “happiness,” “fantasy,” “imagination,” and “family.”

Need alternative visions and rhetoric to deal with this. The audience term Disney animation as “cute, cozy,

warm, clean, safe, friendly, heart-warming, carefree, enchanting, wonderful, perky, innocent, mystical, moral.”

Disney-Harvard English program deal – target global middle-class aspirations (from age 0 onwards).

Invading memories: Kodak-Disney Deal – all childhood memories encrypted in Disney experience.

Cultural Issues: the Global Disney Audience Program

Reasons why respondents enjoy Disney:(1) pleasant memories with family and friends(2) contrast to everyday life practices and association to

holidays, celebrations, gifts(3) association with rituals and tradition(4) escape from problems such as pain of aging and social

problems Disney’s ubiquity incorporates family, romantic and

friendship rituals: some respondents place Disney in a “special, almost sacred, category.” (Wasko&Meehan, 2001: 332)

Movies are also promotional items introducing new characters for new Disney products: commodifying emotions

Potential criticisms against Disney: Labor Issues

Beware of Mickey:

Disney Sweatshops In South China

Potential cultural criticisms against Disney: Labor Issues

Emotional Labor: even the janitor is a “CAST MEMBER” performing a

staged cleaning. Control design of products, then licenses the actual manufacture to independent subcontractors, mostly in

Third World countries in poverty-level wages and inhuman conditions.

“Toys of Misery: A Report on the Toy Industry in China,” The National Labor Committee reports, 2001, 2002, 2004: http://www.nlcnet.org

Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee reports: www.cic.org.hk

Mexican & Chinese workers’ cases: www.maquilasolidarity.org/campaigns/disney/findings.htm

China Labor Watch report

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