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In the field of
sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
, the term ''Disneyfication'' describes the commercial transformation of things (e.g. entertainment) or environments into something simplified, controlled, and 'safe'—reminiscent of the
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
brand (such as its
media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...
,
theme parks An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...
, etc.). The term broadly describes the process of stripping a real place or thing of its original character and representing it in a sanitized format where references to anything negative or inconvenient are removed, and the facts are simplified with the intent of rendering the subject more pleasant and easily grasped. In the case of physical places, this involves replacing the real with an idealized, tourist-friendly veneer—resembling the "
Main Street, U.S.A. Main Street, USA is the first "themed land" inside the main entrance of the many theme parks operated or licensed by The Walt Disney Company around the world. Main Street, USA is themed to resemble American small towns during the early 20th centu ...
" attractions at
Disney theme parks Disney Experiences, commonly known as Disney Parks, is one of the three major divisions of the Walt Disney Company. It was founded on April 1, 1971, exactly six months before the opening of the Walt Disney World Resort. Led by Josh D'Amaro, t ...
. Based on rapid Western-style
globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...
and
consumerist ''Consumerist'' (also known as ''The Consumerist'') was a non-profit consumer affairs website owned by Consumer Media LLC, a subsidiary of ''Consumer Reports'', with content created by a team of full-time reporters and editors. The site's focu ...
lifestyles, the term ''Disneyfication'' is mostly used derogatorily to imply the social and cultural homogenization of things. In other words, according to ''The Disneyization of Society'', "to Disneyfy means to translate or transform an object into something superficial and even simplistic." The term can also be used to describe the
internationalization Internationalization or Internationalisation is the process of increasing involvement of enterprises in international markets, although there is no agreed definition of internationalization. Internationalization is a crucial strategy not only for ...
of American mass culture; the notion of entertainment that is bigger, faster, and better but with worldwide,
Americanized Americanization or Americanisation (see spelling differences) is the influence of the American culture and economy on other countries outside the United States, including their media, cuisine, business practices, popular culture, technology ...
uniformity. More specifically, some may use ''Disneyfication'' to be associated with a statement about the cultural products of the Disney company itself, denoting the general process of rendering material (a fairy tale, novel, historical event) into a standardized format that is recognizable as being a product of the Walt Disney Company according to Bryman.


Disney in popular culture

At the start of the twentieth century, popular culture was reaching its highest potential in terms of what it would become today by modern standards of overall American culture. The mass production of pleasure and entertainment is meant for a profit-inducing audience and that change within the entertainment industry is actually catered to its audience. Trends are influenced by the people of the time period in which it was being produced. The history of popular culture can be traced back to the start of early human communities and the addition of electricity in the home that really defined the modern concept of culture, with examples from the 1900s such as the radio, bright signs, automobiles, and the television. The
Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
created a monumental shift in the world of popular culture since the decision to use
Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...
as the icon and purveyor of the
American Dream The "American Dream" is a phrase referring to a purported national ethos of the United States: that every person has the freedom and opportunity to succeed and attain a better life. The phrase was popularized by James Truslow Adams during the ...
. The company gained the ability to influence the world with the power of association and gradually created cultural shifts as a result of Disneyfication becoming so popular in the west. The desire and demand for
Americanized Americanization or Americanisation (see spelling differences) is the influence of the American culture and economy on other countries outside the United States, including their media, cuisine, business practices, popular culture, technology ...
or Disneyfied culture spread to other countries through film, songs, architecture, stories, and other real-world elements. Over time, each concept in popular culture defined the overall culture of the time it was developed and
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
's addition to Hollywood altered local and international perceptions of popular culture through Disneyfication, which is typically used to alter a topic in popular culture like stories, amusement parks, or fan conventions. Events like wars and other major world events became the driving forces behind these cultural shifts and can be held accountable for the push to Disneyfy the world, or as the definition insinuates, to make a safe space or thing in an unsafe environment or time. The Walt Disney Company was created as a result of creating something out of a desire to comfort scared individuals or to alter the appearance to appeal to family-friendly ideals in a controlled manner, but the term ''Disneyfication'' did not come until 1959. At the start of the Company's history, after
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Walt Disney was inspired to use his interest in expanding the imagination to cure the world's distress and anguish. After coming back from the
war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
in 1918, the young Walt Disney took his first step in the animation world and got a job that allowed him to draw for a film company. By 1922, Disney spent his time recruiting animators in order to jumpstart his first company, Laugh-o-Grams, which led to Walt Disney's first out-of-the-box idea. In 1923, halfway through the filming of ''
Alice Comedies The ''Alice Comedies'' are a series of Live-action animated film, live-action animated shorts created by Walt Disney in the 1920s, in which a live action little girl named Alice (originally played by Virginia Davis) and an animated cat named Ju ...
'', the company went broke and forced Disney to sell his camera in order to move in with an uncle in Hollywood. Disney became the epitome of the American Dream and started a billion-dollar company in a run-down garage. By 1928, Walt Disney began working with a distributor that allowed for the creations of the company to be recognized by hundreds, including the success of the famed character
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (also known as Oswald the Rabbit, Oswald Rabbit, and Ozzie) is an animated series, animated cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures. He starred in several animated short film ...
whose rights were later given to another company.
Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...
became the most famous character in the world and the new face of the Walt Disney Company. Mickey's success became far greater than anticipated by the Disney animators and his fame surpassed that of the actor
Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...
among all ages and was used in global platforms such as international political propaganda because of his popularity among people. Every artwork produced since then has been a clear trademark of the Disney name and, in turn, every cultural aspect in the Disney films or world has been changed to fit the Disneyfication process.


Disneyfication of society

According to
Merriam-Webster Merriam-Webster, Incorporated is an list of companies of the United States by state, American company that publishes reference work, reference books and is mostly known for Webster's Dictionary, its dictionaries. It is the oldest dictionary pub ...
, ''Disneyfication'' is the process in sociology in which a person, place, or things are simplified or altered to meet the same image requirements of Disney productions. Characters and stories created or used by Disney have been able to alter the ideas of stories, art, gender, sexuality, disability, race, and perspective of the ordinary. The Disney craze became so great and widespread that The Walt Disney Company was able to Disneyfy amusement parks for other countries. These places in
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
and
Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
now have their own piece of the desired Disneyfied Western society. The major success of the media produced by the company is also an important key factor and attributed to the specific techniques of earlier films that left an impact on people, including psychologically affecting events like the death of a family member or rules for being seen as beautiful. The term ''Disneyfication'' has been used in sociological studies to explain the process of the transformation of things to essentially sugarcoat the reality of unsafe environments or issues like the threat of a unique identity. For example, Walt Disney's creation of an amusement park is the embodiment of what ''Disneyfication'' was meant to describe, an escape from a harsh reality. Imagination was the original source of inspiration for Mr. Disney and, according to ''Disneyland and Culture'', "The happiest place on earth can in the twenty-first century accommodate what in the twentieth represented the pure and abject horror that people fled to Disneyland to escape from". The Walt Disney Company intricately pitched the theme park to their targeted audience, those who wanted an escape. In particular, the parks were given names ending in ''world'' or ''land'' to give the illusion that real life stops and fantasy begins because the "
imagineers Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc.—commonly referred to as Walt Disney Imagineering, Imagineering, or WDI—is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construc ...
" are able to make dreams come true by focusing on different themes not seen in everyday life. EPCOT, one Disney's many themed parks, opened in 1982 with the purpose of inviting the public to explore a fun multicultural experience for families and friends. The attraction brings the chance to visit over 11 cultural experiences, including a variety of cuisines, without having to travel far and with the comfort of knowing one is in a safe and controlled space. This "land" alone has been able to bring more exposure to controlled cultural exposure by creating an Americanized vision of Asian and European architecture, food, music, clothing, and stories. It also provides the ability to expand Disneyfication into other countries like China and Japan with the openings of
Shanghai Disneyland Shanghai Disneyland (; Pinyin: ''Shànghǎi díshìní lèyuán'', Shanghainese: ''Zaon-he Diq-zy-nyi Loq-yoe'') is a theme park located in Chuansha New Town, Pudong, Shanghai, China, that is part of the Shanghai Disney Resort. The park is oper ...
and
Tokyo Disney The (local nickname ''TDR'') is a theme park and vacation resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, just east of Tokyo. The resort is owned and operated by the Oriental Land Co., a subsidiary of the Keisei Electric Railway, under a license from ...
, despite the fact that people all over the world have grown fearful over time that their own folk tales or myths would fall victim to a form of Disneyfication. Walt Disney's rapid Disneyfication of nostalgic stories is often connected to American capitalism but still creates success in the ways in which Walt Disney presented the park and films to the American audience. The Walt Disney Company found a clever and comforting way for Disneyfication to make its way into the entertainment business worldwide. The term ''Disneyfication'' was coined by
Lawrence Lipton Lawrence Lipton (1898 – July 9, 1975) was a Polish-born Jewish American journalist, writer, and Beat Generation, Beat poet, as well as the father of James Lipton. He is also known for coining the term ''Disneyfication'' in 1959. Early life ...
in 1959, while ''Disneyization'' was coined by
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
's Peter K. Fallon and popularized by Alan Bryman in ''The Disneyization of Society'' (2004), in which he described it as "the process by which ''the principles'' of the
Disney theme parks Disney Experiences, commonly known as Disney Parks, is one of the three major divisions of the Walt Disney Company. It was founded on April 1, 1971, exactly six months before the opening of the Walt Disney World Resort. Led by Josh D'Amaro, t ...
are coming to dominate more and more sectors of
American society The society of the United States is based on Western culture, and has been developing since long before the United States became a country with its own unique social and cultural characteristics such as American English, dialect, Music of the ...
as well as the rest of the world." Though the two are largely used interchangeably, Bryman states his preference of ''Disneyization'' over ''Disneyfication'' because he takes the latter to be accompanied by negative connotations and described four dimensions of Disneyization in particular: *
Theming Theming is the use of an overarching theme to create a holistic and integrated spatial organization of a consumer venue. A theme is a unifying or dominant idea or motif on which any new construction idea, new style generation, any product is desi ...
– where an institution or object is placed into a narrative that is mostly unrelated to the institution or object to which it is applied. Example: themed restaurants (e.g.
Rainforest Cafe Rainforest Cafe is a jungle-Theme restaurant, themed restaurant chain owned by Landry's, Landry's, Inc. of Houston. The first location opened in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, on February 3, 1994. By 1997, the chain consisted of ...
), or themed hotels on the
Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city limits ...
. * Hybrid consumption – where multiple forms of
consumption Consumption may refer to: * Eating *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically known as consumption * Consumer (food chain), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of n ...
that are associated with different industries become "interlocked with each other." Example: restaurants at
IKEA IKEA ( , ) is a Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in Sweden that designs and sells , household goods, and various related services. IKEA is owned and operated by a series of not-for-profit an ...
and
Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box warehouse club retail stores. As of 2021, Costco is the third-largest retailer in the world, and as of August 2024, Cos ...
. *
Merchandising Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of Product (business), products ("merch" colloquially) to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative w ...
– the promotion and sale of goods or services with objects bearing copyright images and/or logos. Example: clothing, pens, and stationery with New York City branding. * Performative labor – making employees not only providers of services but also of entertainment; in other words, frontline service work is made a performance.


See also

*
Escapism Escapism is mental diversion from unpleasant aspects of daily life, typically through activities involving imagination or entertainment. Escapism also may be used to occupy one's self away from persistent feelings of depression or general s ...
*
Celebration, Florida Celebration is a master-planned community (MPC) and census-designated place (CDP) in Osceola County, Florida, United States. A suburb of Orlando, Celebration is located near Walt Disney World Resort and was originally developed by The Walt Dis ...
Similar concepts *
Cocacolonization ''Cocacolonization'' (alternatively ''coca-colonization'') refers to the globalization of American culture (also referred to as Americanization) pushed through popular American products such as the soft-drink brand Coca-Cola. The term is a p ...
*
McDonaldization McDonaldization is the process of a society adopting the characteristics of a fast-food restaurant. The McWord concept was proposed by sociologist George Ritzer in his 1993 book '' The McDonaldization of Society''. McDonaldization is a reconce ...
* Walmarting


References


Further reading

* Betts, Raymond F. ''A History of Popular Culture : More of Everything, Faster, and Brighter''. New York: Routledge. * Bryman, Alan E. 2004. ''The Disneyization of Society.'' UK:
SAGE Publications Sage Publishing, formerly SAGE Publications, is an American independent academic publishing company, founded in 1965 in New York City by Sara Miller McCune and now based in the Newbury Park neighborhood of Thousand Oaks, California. Sage ...
. . * * * * Kehoe, Andre. 1991. "Christian Contradictions and the World Revolution: Letters to my Son." Glendale Publishing. * * * * * WILLS, JOHN. ''Disney Culture''. Rutgers University Press, 2017. * Zukin, Sharon. 1996. ''The Cultures of Cities''.
Blackwell Publishing Wiley-Blackwell is an international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons. It was formed by the merger of John Wiley & Sons Global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business with Blackwell Publis ...
.


External links


A Reader's Guide to Disneyfication

Jean Baudrillard's. ''Disneyworld Company''
European Graduate School The European Graduate School (EGS) is a private graduate school that operates in two locations: Saas-Fee, Switzerland, and Valletta, Malta. History It was founded in 1994 in Saas-Fee, Switzerland by the Swiss scientist, artist, and therapist, ...
{{Consumerism Social change The Walt Disney Company Cultural globalization Cultural hegemony 1950s neologisms American imperialism Eponyms