For the majority of my Disney trips I travel solo unless my mother decides to come and that has not happened since Winter 2011. January was the first time I met friends at Disneyland since High School Grad Night. So much fun thank you!! Since my family was interested in the parades, I filmed them to be watched when I returned home after each trip.
Disney Sensation Parade: I filmed this parade in Fall 2013 and there is quite a bit of diversity shown. What do you think? There was a two year old next to me that was perfectly copying the princess procession! Many of us stopped and watched how she remembered the choreography perfectly! As for Disney Princesses, I have had many of my classmates ask me, "Which Disney Princess are you?" Of course my answer is ".....!" I am not and will not ever be a Disney Princess. Princess Tiana and Princess Jasmine are from two of my three top Disney films so when the Disney Designer Princess Dolls came out with all the madness at the Disney store, I did stand in line to get my doll. Actually, I got the last Jasmine which is a whole other story! If you are interested I could add those pictures to a future post.
Three Kings Celebration January 2014: Donald and The Caballeros celebrate The New Year representing Brazil and Mexico. This was a new parade that displays the diversity of these countries through the performers featured. I am sure they will bring this event back. The entire cove in California Adventures dedicated to this event had awesome Mariachi bands, a salsa lesson, arts and crafts and The Three Kings display. I missed out on the Lunar New Year celebration in late January/early February but I am sure the parade would have been just as interactive and appropriate.
If you have not been to Disneyland or you have been and you never watched a parade they are very interactive. I received funny faces from a few of the performers in The Lion King march and a wave from Tiana. Yes, they interact with adults and children which makes the experience a lot of fun. Even when you line up to take pictures with the characters, no matter your age the characters will either give you a hard time like Daisy did me when I had tons of Donald pins on my lanyard but zero Daisy...Sorry Daisy I do have one now! Or do what Goofy did to me and left his leg up to pass gas. Yes, yes I have witnesses! These entertaining acts did transpire! Overall, Disney fun is what you make of it, what and who you can relate to and of course remember to see Genie at the Aladdin show in California Adventures. His jokes stem from every bit of pop culture, vary slighty every performance and are very humorous! Currently, he goes on about twerking. Enough said!
Update: I recently found clips from Disney's Chinese Lunar New Year parade on YouTube. While I was not present for these celebration, I found the parades lacked a special something the other parades had. Perhaps an element of fun? Authenticity? Please share your thoughts. Check out Hong Kong Disneyland celebration from 2009... Do you find any similarities or major differences?
Often teachers are afraid of the openness and “unfamiliar territory” of the new technology, so restrict what can and can’t be done, creating a closed approach and system. We are hopeful that perhaps innovative early childhood educators might take up “new tools” and use them in “new ways (Gosnell, 2011). As an educator and a parent, I have always looked at Disney negatively. So your blog definitely brings out some strong points namely: supporting children's popular culture, using technology for learning.
ReplyDeleteTo bring up a discussion and my ideas about Disney, I am going to break this up into : The teacher self and the parent self only for making my points clear.
The Teacher self
As a teacher, I would like to read more about:
1) Increasing Screen time: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children accumulate no more than 2 hours per day of screen time, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that children be active daily for at least 60 minutes (Chamberlain, Wang, & Robinson, 2006). As we expose children to media and technology, we are taking away their time to engage in physical activity and thus increasing the childhood obesity. The increased usage also leads to decreasing their play and thus affects their overall development.
2)Television is passive listening: Children’s play is both an essential learning tool for young children and deeply affected by the quality of the teaching environment in which it takes place. This means, learning is an active, social process. It does not involve sitting and being a passive listener for long periods of time. (Gosser, 2012). Television is one way communication and hence lacks the interactional aspect.
3)Consumerism: Another disadvantage of watching television shows is the supplemental products, such as clothing, dishes, toys and more, are being marketed to the specific age group. Children are viewed as consumers. If the television show is only for three to four year olds, then the characters on the shows should not be showing up on bottles, Sippy cups and toddler’s clothing. By taking this commercialism away from parents, the less likely they will be to turn on a show that is not age appropriate for their child. (Gosser, 2012). Television also brings consumerism and this does not leave the littlest viewers. The 3-5 year olds demand Cars, toys that are the supplemental products of these TV shows.
Thanks so much Divya for your thoughtful responses! When fellow educators hear about my topic they are often confused and think I am advocating for children watching more television in their classroom. I am also often asked, "How is popular culture in the classroom? What's the relevance?" You picked right up on the most obvious, consumerism and marketing to the little ones. Disney pull ups, sippy cups, lunch pals, bibs..I know some parents are either dreading whether or not to indulge and invest in a Disney character or character coordinating their child or carefully planning their children's outfits. There are so many choices! Currently, Disney's Pixar characters are making the biggest debut for Infants and Toddlers both inside and outside the classroom - all Sully, all Mike all Cars.
DeleteThere was a time when Disney's animation and their real life shows lacked an accurate view of Domestic and International peoples. Disney has made changes toward marketing to all people both culturally and economically. Products range in price so every parent and child can find something that fits their budget. The first classrooms I began teaching in allowed one non Disney toy per child. The problem was the one toy 80% of the children brought were Disney, Pokemon, Yugi-Oh or Beyblade toys! Administrators assumed the children without the commercialized toys would feel "left out" or class systems would form and divide children between those who have and those who do not have. What actually occurred in my classroom was children sharing their toys and telling stories about the characters. While the toy may appear to be the symbol of a fixed narrative based on the character dialogues in the story, while watching television children are creating their own tales and narratives for the characters using their toy. Their toy is an extension of themselves in their favorite story they use to navigate both their classroom and home worlds.
The parent self:
ReplyDeletePersonally I have been a "fussy" and "always full of questions" kind of a parent and disney has definitely been my greatest fear.
I fear Disneyfication!!!
I have always been interested in critically analyzing disney, for the powerful effect it has on children. I was visiting a friend and her son under - 2yr old was playing with these Cars and calling them by their names. I was amazed to hear him talk so much. His mother(my friend) informed me, that those are characters from the Disney movie- Cars. And her two year old son watches it everyday and has memorized dialogues that he enacts all day. My son was feeling left out because he had no clue about the name of these cars.I was surprised to see that. I have always been critical about disney store and the products they try to push through these stores. So, my friends son could buy all the characters from the movie and now could enact the whole movie too, using the toys. Disney has redefined childhood fantasies, instead of engaging in finding out the names of the bugs, children are interested in these car like characters who talk. "The scope of disney empire reveals both shrewd business practices as well as a sharp eye for providing dreams and products through forms of popular culture in which kids are willing to materially and emotionally invest" (Giroux,1997).
My next fear was, Will my son feel left out in school and at other places because he does not know the names of these Cars? How demanding are these movies(for parents and children)? They are a part of children's culture, children's conversations are dominated by the characters and their lives. Is it essential for children like my son to know it , to be able to fit in? Is "Disneyfication" essential for this generation of children in US? How can we as parents and educators challenge the ideas that Disney tries to push through the movies and keep our children away from being viewed as mere consumers. Looks like Disney is the new teaching machine and hence just like we undergo several evaluations as educators and as parents, disney need a taste of evaluations too. "The stakes are too high to ignore such a challenge and struggle, even if it means reading Disney's animated films critically" (Giroux, 1997).
Yes, Disneyfication would be scary! If I woke up as Mickey Mouse I would have a squeeky voice forever! But waking up as Stitch or Sully would be really awesome! I would be the good little bad blue alien (Stitch) or the best scare monster (Sully) with blue and purple fur!
DeleteAs for your son, if he does not know the stories, I am sure his classmates will share the entire movie plot and each car's personality with him. But my question is, has he shown interest in his classmates Cars adventures? Disney is only part of children's culture when the child invites it in. It's that moment when you see your child in a store picking up a toy because of a special meaning it has for him reminding him of the play he shared with his classmates, when he watched the movie with you or how he empathized with the emotions of the character. You are always welcome to borrow any of my Disney movies for you and your son to watch but the way you challenge Disney is by not showing your son Disney movies until he asks to watch it with you. Will he succumb to the magic of Disney once he watches his first movie? I do not think so. Since you will question watch you see in the movie with your son and discuss what you both are watching throughout the story, especially during plot events that can be hard for young children to understand, he will not engage in passive consumption but learn how to utilize his active listening and critical thinking skills while watching a movie.
When parents are huge Disney fans their children often become so because of their parents' love for Disney, purchasing multiple consumables from home decor to clothing and toys as well as multiple vacations to the Magic Kingdom, Disneyland place children in Disney by default. One of the great things about children's culture is it is a reflection on their identity, personal choices and their imagination. If we as educators, parents, adults force an introduction with anything from popular culture and technology then it denies children one of the most valuable quality of their childhood, discovery!
I love your insights on the disney's adventures! I agree their parades are very interactive and that's what makes it so much fun! I know there is a kid in everyone. I cant wait to revisit Disneyland and would be so much fun!
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