Disneyfication

[alik9221]

Hi, I study Geography at university and have a big geography book with lots of definitions and as I was flicking through the index looking for something I came across this word and I just thought I’d share it. It’s nothing spectacular but still......

'Disneyfication- A process through which a PLACE becomes marketed primarily as a tourist destination, through standardized LANDSCAPE symbolization. The term derives from the Walt Disney theme parks that originated in California in 1955. Disneyland offered highly organized SPACE with themed areas, united by the central 'Main Street'. It celebrates order, cleanliness and predictability as part of the tourist-in-playground experience. Some argue that Disney spaces celebrate travel and consumerism in a simulated experience and landscape that mimics reality but is never quite real. The term 'Disneyfication suggest a critique of this commodification of PLACE.

Johnston, RJ, Gregory, D, Pratt, G and Watts, M (ed.) (2009) The Dictionary of Human Geography (5th edition). Oxford: Blackwell. ----(just to cover my bases )

 

[zooey]

You've started on a path now...
Next stop is Baudrillard and Giroux.

 

[Atomicmickey]

That rabbit hole goes deep indeed. Steel yourself, there be rough waters ahead for any Disney fan with thin skin. But it's a fascinating ride . . . .

Don't forget Wasko, Fjellman, Budd and Kirsch, Bryman, etc.

Here's my Disney book collection, if you're interested, many on this topic.

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Atomicmutant&tag=disney

And my collection is small compared to many others!

Not to mention a whole slew of unpublished academic papers, etc.

If you like this topic, you're going to have a lot of fun in the months ahead reading up on it!

 

[alik9221]

Some help please?

not sure if anyone will see this but anyway...
im thinking of writing my dissertation for my final year of uni/college on this topic but i need some help in coming up with a idea that i could gather data via questionnaires etc...
does anyone have any ideas at all?:shrug:

 

[MarkTwain]

^ That's an interesting topic I've thought about writing about myself, it the need were ever to arise. Fortunately, it looks like architecture majors are exempt the usual super-long dissertation.

I think an interesting take on the topic might be examining the ways Disney design has both in turn impacted and reflected American/modern culture. Eg, how Main Street USA has become a paradigm and one of the most iconic views of that stage of American history, but is itself a bit of a falsehood. Or how Disneyland's Adventureland may have been inspired by the 1950s tiki craze, or Frontierland by the 1950s western fad.

I also think that a lot of the articles and authors listed above have taken a very negative view to Disney's impact on modern culture - perhaps it would be interesting to offer a more positive rebuttal to that? For example, that DHS' Hollywood Boulevard can raise awareness of LA's aging art deco architecture, or that Epcot's pavilions serve as a kind of education and insight to global culture.

Just some ideas.