News New Changes Coming to the Disney Look 2021

Stupido

Well-Known Member
Wow this is VERY progressive. A lot more progressive than I thought Disney would get.

Tattoos and piercings are a huge change, but it seems like that might be overshadowing the rest of this?

Am I understanding this correctly: Cast Members (regardless of gender) will get to decide if they want to wear pants, shorts, or skirts across the board?

Same for painted nails, and opening up acceptable hairstyles regardless of gender?

This is huge, and will have a wild impact on the parks and society as a whole. It's no secret that a huge amount of people working for Disney fall under the LGBTQA+ umbrella, and I for one am very excited to see Cast Members have the option to express themselves on a more authentic level.

Kudos, Disney. I can't wait to see what the parks will look like, and how these changes will affect the Entertainment end of the company going forward.
 

Disney Analyst

Well-Known Member
Huge mistake in my opinion.
I don’t see the point of this change whatsoever.
Employee self expression is fine, express oneself. But do it outside of the workplace.
If you are customer facing, the customers should not be exposed to an employee’s personal expression decisions. Should political shirts be allowed? Political tattoos? “Mommy, why does that man have a naked mermaid on his arm?”

So when they say "appropriate tattoo" that sounds to you as if they would allow a naked mermaid?

....
 

stevebwv

Active Member
So what is an acceptable tattoo? Who gets to be that arbiter of acceptable? Does a wrist tattoo of butterfly meet an acceptable standard? What about a forearm tattoo of Mickey by a bad artist? Who judges the quality? What about a neck tattoo? Or face? Why discriminant on body placement or artistic quality or subject? That would no be equitable.

Disney once understood that bringing the look to a generic level allowed them to set the story while never offending anyone. When the story called for something abnormal they could introduce it. But once you have it you can't get rid of it.

But then again, today most of their design quality is "generic Cleveland Hilton". I guess the bell services can look as sketchy as any other city.
 

FerretAfros

Well-Known Member
What is it about allowing "appropriate tattoos" that is confusing?
While I'm sure there will be more guidance on how they define "appropriate," it really opens the door for a lot of inconsistency with how it's enforced. One lead may say that a particular tattoo is okay, while another may not. And unlike hair and nails that can change from day to day, a tattoo is going to remain the same, making the inconstancies even more pronounced. I feel sorry for the lower and middle management who are going to have to enforce this on a daily basis.

Additionally, it represents another instance of placing the individual CM's personal style ahead of the larger designed environment that they're working in. Whether you want to say that employees are wearing a costume to play a role, or wearing a uniform to look uniform, the purpose of the matching outfits is to make everybody look the same. But when tattoos are introduced, with designs that may or may not fit a particular location, a lot of the carefully-constructed imagery can begin to unravel.

As much as Disney's social media likes to proclaim that "every role is a starring role," most of CMs are supporting roles at best. If a theme park were a film, many roles would be considered extras, filling in the periphery of your experience, largely making things happen without being the focus. With few exceptions the starring roles would be in the entertainment department (assuming that individuals can even be the stars, rather than attractions and spectacles being the stars), which already has different guidelines based on filling those particular roles. I understand the difficulties of hiring and retaining a large workforce at Disney's wages, but this seems to be a dramatic departure from policies that they've operated under for 66 years, and it's unlikely they'll ever shift back.
 

dreday3

Well-Known Member
While I'm sure there will be more guidance on how they define "appropriate," it really opens the door for a lot of inconsistency with how it's enforced. One lead may say that a particular tattoo is okay, while another may not. And unlike hair and nails that can change from day to day, a tattoo is going to remain the same, making the inconstancies even more pronounced. I feel sorry for the lower and middle management who are going to have to enforce this on a daily basis.

Additionally, it represents another instance of placing the individual CM's personal style ahead of the larger designed environment that they're working in. Whether you want to say that employees are wearing a costume to play a role, or wearing a uniform to look uniform, the purpose of the matching outfits is to make everybody look the same. But when tattoos are introduced, with designs that may or may not fit a particular location, a lot of the carefully-constructed imagery can begin to unravel.

As much as Disney's social media likes to proclaim that "every role is a starring role," most of CMs are supporting roles at best. If a theme park were a film, many roles would be considered extras, filling in the periphery of your experience, largely making things happen without being the focus. With few exceptions the starring roles would be in the entertainment department (assuming that individuals can even be the stars, rather than attractions and spectacles being the stars), which already has different guidelines based on filling those particular roles. I understand the difficulties of hiring and retaining a large workforce at Disney's wages, but this seems to be a dramatic departure from policies that they've operated under for 66 years, and it's unlikely they'll ever shift back.

Times change. Companies change with the times.
 

seascape

Well-Known Member
They must know they can't hire enough cast members without changing their policy. This is a great sign for the economic recovery.
 

DCBaker

Premium Member
Examples released by Disney -

new-disney-look-2.jpeg
new-disney-look-header-1.jpeg


 

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