Disneyfication

In this modern society that we are living in, there seemed to be an endless examples of highly globalized products and activities. Entertainment would be one of them and one of the most famous would be the magical kingdom of Disneyland.

"I think what I want Disneyland to be most of all is a happy place,
a place where adults and children can experience together some of the wonders of life, of adventure,
and feel better because of it." - Walt Disney

Disneyland and Disney World is set up by Walt Disney in 17th July, 1955. From comics and cartoons to movies and theme parks, there are some fundamental elements that can be found consistently throughout all his many projects; namely, his desire to foster a love of learning in young people and give them the ability to boldly and openly engage the exotic and unknown. Disney has reached out to millions across the globe through its cartoon and most famously, Mickey Mouse. Besides the comics, cartoons, movies and themeparks as mentioned above, it has also expanded into merchandises like toys, clothes, stationary, soft toys, computer games and even the "Disney World on Ice" World Tour which attracted tens of thousands to pay to watch the performance. Today, in an attempt to draw more crowds and give a more comprehensive Magical Kingdom experience, hotels and residences were introduced to the theme parks in the 1990s to integrate it into a resort.

There is a system and standard way of function within Disneyland itself and this system is adopted by all 4 Disneylands throughout despite their different locations. Although the four Disneylands are located in different places, the rides and themes are hugely similar, e.g. Dumbo the flying elephant, King Arthur/Cinderella carousel, Peter Pan's flight... just to name a few.

Concurrently, there might be a glimpse of hybridization attempts as each Disneyland has got its own speciality. Tokyo: Disney Seapark, Hong Kong: introduction of characters like Mulan. USA: Hollywood themes. Paris: naming of places and streets in french, Victorian streets and miniature Statue of Liberty.

Sociologically, I feel that what it is giving people is the feeling of entering surrealism, wanting them to feel pampered, "magical" in a fantasy realm that they would not want to leave, be it for the adults or for the children. Even for the adults, Disney is appealing to their feeling of nostalgia and their childhood dream or fantasy to engage them in this make-believe world so that they will stay and spend. Then, they would have achieved their objective.

Lin Jingpei