Thinking too hard about character integrity and consistency in the Disney parks – DePaoli on DeParks

There’s no question that character integrity in the Disney theme parks is taken very seriously. There’s only “one” Mickey Mouse and any of your favorite interactive characters knows the stories they’re part of inside and out. But character integrity and consistency is hard work. Let’s look at some of the questionable decisions made over the years in regard to character integrity and consistency.

disney character integrity

I’ll preface this all by saying don’t think too hard about it or you’ll give yourself a headache. What I’m writing about here is nit-picky and oftentimes nearly impossible to avoid. We all know you can walk through Town Square in Disneyland and get a wave from Mickey Mouse. Then, quickly cross the esplanade as you enter Disney California Adventure and find Mickey in new wardrobe giving that same smile and wave. But we all want to see Mickey, so we accept his omnipresence on Disney property.

Ariel has always been my favorite Disney princess. But the way she’s been encountered in Disney parks has been anything but consistent. Sometimes she has a fin and sometimes she doesn’t. Whether it’s a parade or meet & greet, she is often available to see in both forms.

ariel disney parks

The new live-action “The Little Mermaid” has made this even more complicated. You can often meet the “animated” Ariel at Fantasy Faire in Disneyland. But you can meet Ariel from the new movie near it’s a small world. The Disneyland app lists this option as “Meet Ariel (From the Live Action Story).” So, which one is the “real” Ariel? In Disney’s mind it seems to be both.

Meeting the NEW Live Action Ariel from The Little Mermaid at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Related to Ariel sometimes having a fin and sometimes not comes the question of during what timeline do characters “live” in the Disney parks? Another example with this issue is Beast from “Beauty and the Beast.” Most of the time we see Beast in his beastly form. But we all know he turned into a prince at the end of the movie. Therefore, technically the events of the film haven’t yet occurred. Unless we’re in some alternate timeline.

One issue that is particularly hard to handle is the scale of characters. These meet & greet characters are often a lot larger than they are in their stories. But in some cases, you’ll see them in various scales throughout the parks.

Over at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you’ll find Lumiere in a larger-than-life costume onstage during “Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage.” But at Enchanted Tales with Belle in Magic Kingdom, Lumiere is presented in his movie scale.

The early days of The Muppets in the Disney parks is another example of some scale inconsistencies. The Muppets were presented in traditional mascot-like costumes. Yet, we all know The Muppets are real, tangible characters that could have easily been presented in their normal state. To present them unnecessarily in this other way was an odd choice. But I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t love to see those oversized costumes again at some special event throwback nite.

The inconsistency of Mickey Mouse has even gone beyond the theme parks. The Mickey Mouse presented in the current Mickey animated shorts features a different style, and even a different voice, than traditional Mickey Mouse.

mickey & minnie's runaway railway

When Mickeys & Minnie’s Runaway Railway premiered at Disney’s Hollywood Studios featuring Mickey in his shorts-like style, I was genuinely wondering whether or not this would affect the meet & greet Mickey we find in that park. It hasn’t, and it seems as though we’re simply expected to recognize that although they are both Mickey Mouse, they’re also different.

Like I said at the beginning, don’t think too hard about any of this. When it comes to characters in theme parks it all requires us to suspend our disbelief. I guess if we’re willing to do that in the first place, we must to do the same with character inconsistencies and integrity.

What do you think? Do any of these “issues” drive you particularly crazy? Have you not even thought about any of this until now? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.


Jeff DePaoli is a producer and voiceover artist living in Los Angeles.

Jeff DePaoli is a producer and voiceover artist living in Los Angeles. He can be heard as the voice of Disney Trivia on Alexa as well as the host of “Dizney Coast to Coast,” the ultimate, unofficial Disney fan podcast. Get your FREE gifts of “America’s Hidden Mickeys,” “On the Rohde Again,” “Theme Park Comfort Kit” and more at DizneyCoastToCoast.com. DePaoli’s opinions are his own and do not necessarily represent Attractions Magazine.

MouseFanTravel

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

7 Comments

  1. My favorite is: Bing Bong, an imaginary character who was forgotten and ceased to exist in the movie, now inexplicably is the proprietor of a real-life candy shop at Pixar Pier.

  2. How can the movie Ariel and the live action Ariel not be two COMPLETELY different characters in the same Park??

  3. Actually, the current situation with the Little Mermaid is somewhat problematic. Namely, because Ariel looks vastly different from the animated movie and the live action.
    What will stop a young girl (or young boy) from asking the “live story” Ariel “why do you look different from my animated movie I watch at home?” Or vice versa, what will stop them from asking the “animated” Ariel the same, or worse “why isn’t your skin color darker, like in the new movie?”
    With all these other remakes, at least the main character(s) have looked relatively the same. But this one is kind of a big difference, and, from the mouths of babes, as the expression goes.
    Sorry, but to me, if they wanted to promote the new movie in the parks, they should temporarily remove the animated Ariel and just have the live action one at ALL meet n’greets.
    To me, this is very confusing indeed.

  4. Not much different than white blonde Barbie and black barbie
    Or white Santa and black Santa
    Get over it and have both white and black mermaid aerials sitting side by side in the parades

  5. In Disney tv show “once” they mixed up a lot of the races (and possibly sexes) also. Also play “Hamilton” mice races from white to black/Latino and the music was great and play was a great success. Long ago in past white male actors played all races and sexes, then just all races. A few years back the attempt was to get all the races correct. Now it is starting to be about diversity and allowing different races (and sexes) equal opportunity in acting different roles. For musical this may make sense if the goal it to get the best voice for the role. Hailey Bailie’ voice as little mermaid is excellent!