Customer Reviews

Inside the Mouse: Work and Play at Disney World (Post-Contemporary Interventions)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

This book falls somewhere between David Koenig's "Mouse Tales" and Stephen Fjellman's "Vinyl Leaves". It leans a bit more toward the former and seems to have been intended as a critical assessment of Disney, Disney World, popular culture, consumerism and more. It is written in the form of a vacation memoir that tries to weave together the perspectives of academics, parents (some of the authors ARE parents who took their children to Disney World), photo essayists (there are 50 photographs in the book and a handful are noteworthy), Marxists, and feminists. Perhaps this breadth - or lack of focus - is one of the reasons the book failed to really engage me. There are some insights but I struggled to get at them since the writing was a bit verbose and the authors did not provide footnotes on several references. My overall impression of the book was that of a well-intentioned but poorly-written thesis. I did not come away with the impression that the authors disliked Disney or Disney World. As someone who has visited the parks, I can easily agree with some of the criticisms and frustrations noted in the text. Unfortunately for me, most of the messages that the authors where trying to convey to me got lost in the style. For academic insight, try Fjellman's book which, for all its deep thought and length, was actually much easier for me to follow. For an easier read about backstage goings-on at the mouse-house, try Koenig's book which I found most enjoyable and reasonably well-documented.

The researchers mar their efforts in two ways. First of all, they started with an obvious anti-Disney bias and throughout the book, the reader is forced to endure their efforts to validate their prejudices.

Secondly, as another reviewer has noted, the language is more than slightly problemmatical. Of course, there is nothing wrong with academic writing, but these people never eschewed the chance to use 100 words when 15 would have sufficed. The style is clearly meant to impress; it only clouds the issue. Writing clearly is an art; these reseachers don't have a clue.

The authors started their project with the agenda of being critical of Disney. They refused to participate in the experience of "The Mouse" before rejecting it. One author was absolutely horrified when she found herself shopping in the park, and immediately returned to her distanced observer position. The authors treat Disney and those who enjoy it, snobbishly. Yet they frequently fall prey to their own criticisms (the most amusing parts of the book). This book was not "entertaining," nor was it "playful". It seeks to ask why Disney is "the quintessential embodiment of American Leisure" yet it spends more time discussing the parks hiring practices than it does asking or answering this question.

This book does not aim to be a tell-all of the behind the scenes workings of Walt Disney World. It is, rather, a look at the implications that Disney World has on the experience of its visitors. The book provides an interesting look at how Disney reinforces social norms (specifically the heterosexual family consumer unit) and controls experiences. I really enjoyed reading this book, and found the writers' personal experiences to be very enjoyable.

I'm a big Disney fan, and found myself vehemently disagreeing with many of the essays in this book (academics just don't "get it"); however, it did force me to think about just why these critics are dead wrong. Most enjoyable to me were the "behind the scenes" interviews with (mostly) former employees and the architectural commentary.

I got this book admittedly hoping to maybe read a little dirt on how Disney isn't what it's cracked up to be all the time. Instead I got page after page of almost pointless pontification by at least one self-described Marxist and a lot of other eggheads trying to use big words to impress readers. Some things just aren't as deep as one would like to make them. You can't analyze everything and break it down the way these authors are attempting to. They just come off sounding idiotic. They're over thinking it. They also managed to work in some unattributed gossip about what goes on (rapes, murders, etc)in a fashion that left the reader wondering what was the author's imagination and what was stories they were relating to the reader from interviewees. So much for academic integrity. If you get someone like me who enjoys Disney but knows the corporation isn't always great to actually work and wants to get the scoop from employees, but who hates this book, imagine what true disneyphiles would think of it. This sort of pretentiousness and isolation from reality is why kids today are exiting college knowing almost nothing worth knowing.

Pompous, boring, convoluted, biased are the words that come to mind about this book. The authors seem to be angry people - not just Disney-haters, but haters in general. Some of their opinions made me laugh; the trouble is, they weren't trying to be funny. All I can say is, if these people hate Disney so much, why have they gone there umpteen-hundred times?

This book is neither a "light read" or an informative travelogue. It is full of the type of jargon you would expect from academics presenting a paper at a conference (no offense meant, as I am married to an academic and am a journalist myself). The authors, although well meaning, get too involved in obscure references and their own personal baggage. While I did pull several good references from the book and had a few chuckles, it is simply not the type of book most Disney fans want to read.

Even as a very open minded person (who is a Disney fan), I find this one of the most bizarre takes on Disney that I have ever read. The research appears to be nothing more than anecdotal and Jane Kuenz is obsessed with anything that she views as supporting heterosexuality. The authors take the things that we love about Disney and try to convince you that thoses things are bad. The "conclusions" are not supported by legitimate research and the agenda quickly becomes an annoyance Do yourself a favor and skip this book. There are much more enjoyable ones out there.

If you prefer the Marxist view of the world and think Disney is the symbol of capitalistic evil, this book is for you!

On the other hand, if you're looking for solid research and thoughtful reflection, find another book. The authors gather together anecdotal evidence in a biased fashion and then draw grand conclusions. The approach is roughly: Think Disney exploits its workers? Look for a few disgruntled workers to back up your claim. Find one who doesn't complain? Call 'em naive and move on...

When they started reciting known urban legends as truths, I knew the book was a joke.