Mouse Tales: A Behind-The-Ears Look at Disneyland [Paperback]

David Koenig (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Koenig, a freelance writer and editor, became friendly with many part-time employees of Disneyland in Anaheim. When they joined a major strike in 1984, Koenig was inspired to write this book. Drawing on interviews and extensive research, Koenig describes in detail Walt Disney's plan and the goals for his amusement park; the behind-the-scenes mechanisms of the attractions; the selection, training, and expectations of the employees; the persona of the Disney characters; profiles of guests (both welcome and unwelcome); the tragic accidents that have occurred and the lawsuits that ensued; and the spinoffs throughout the world. Though the lurid details of park mishaps and employee dissatisfaction are of interest to some, there's more here than most visitors would want to know. Even the author comes across as an admirer rather than as someone blowing the cover on the magic of Disney. Most libraries will want to stick with Birnbaum's Disneyland (Hyperion, 1992).
Elizabeth Loftus, Onondaga Cty. P.L., Syracuse, N.Y.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Koenig's tale may surprise some, since many of its specifics are so at odds with the Magic Kingdom's ultrahygienic image. If you've heard about Euro-Disney's problems (management control of staff lingerie, etc.), you expect to hear the travails of Disneyland employees, and Koenig does not disappoint, offering detailed explorations of visitor complaint procedures in which employees are presumed guilty and given no opportunity to defend themselves; the rigors of wearing hot, heavy, bulky character costumes; etc. But surprise comes when you learn of the invasion of at least parts of the Happiest Place on Earth by vermin: when the staff of one concession stayed late to complete a special project, they were horrified to see rats literally come out of the woodwork when the main park lights went off. What's more, Disneyland battles invading insects in many areas by many means. For all that, Disneyland's management comes off well, only occasionally looking insensitive. A valuable addition to popular culture literature and to Disneyana. Mike Tribby --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 254 pages
• Publisher: Bonaventure Pr (July 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964060566
• ISBN-13: 978-0964060562
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,429 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #19 in Books > Travel > United States > States > California
  • #28 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Performing Arts

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Security and cameras see everything!, March 31, 2005

By 

James McDonald (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mouse Tales: A Behind-The-Ears Look at Disneyland (Paperback)

Oh! This book is a keepsake.
Whether you are a big Disneyland fan or just not a swooner for Disneyland, you will find something in this book you'll enjoy reading. You see although many wonderful, magical things have happened inside Disneyland, several naughty things have happened too. This book will expose the employee that liked to take his pants off and run around the elevator in the Haunted Mansion (page 87). The submarine worker who stripped down to his underwear to save a mermaid. The worker that used to hide under the Haunted Mansion track to put his hand under women's skirts. The overweight man stuck in Injun's Joe's cave. The rats that used to jump around Tom Sawyer island. The kitty cats that hide in the forestry waiting for Disneyland to close. The obese woman stuck in the railcar. Her husband had too push her out with his feet to get her out (page 121).
The lovers did what on the Inner Space ride? Security was waiting for them at the end of the ride.
Did you know that New orleans Square had a jail . It was not an attraction, but the real thing. That was where security took the unruly guests the park.
Security used to be in every dark corner and entrance/exit. Now they have cameras in trees, in the walls and on the rides. You can see one on the Splash Mountain ride hidden in a little house with a roof. Security can even be dressed like a guest waiting in line in front or back of you.
Also you will learn how the creator of Mickey Mouse's voice and cartoonist, Walt Disney had this idea of creating a new modern amusement park that almost was built in Burbank. You will see just what was on those acres of land before the bulldozers took over. With only one year to build the castle and Disneyland, Opening Day, July 17, 1955 had many embarassing bloppers especially on live television as Art Linkletter recalls. Even Walt Disney got caught in an embarassing moment.
Every story is accurate and true as told by former cast memebers. Author, David Koenig painstakingly contacted over 200 employees, went through libraries, examining 650 Superior Court cases against Disneyland and still even more eye-blurring research just to get the facts ma'am for what turns out to be a very entertaining and funny coffee table book. It sits nicely on your bed table too.
Second book: "More Mouse Tales: A Closer Peek Backstage At Disneyland.
Third Book: "Mouse Under Glass: Secrets Of Disney Animation And Theme Parks"
Special 50th Anniversary Edition: "Mouse Tales: A Behind-The Ears Look At Disneyland: Golden Anniversary Special Edition" with Audio CD. (Hardcover).

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great source of behind the scenes information, July 28, 2000

By 

R. Mohr (Troy, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mouse Tales: A Behind-The-Ears Look at Disneyland (Paperback)

This book gives the reader information about what it must be like to work at the Disneyland Park. It gives information about the building of the park, the people who work there and some of the things that Disney Company does to try to maintain the feeling of magic for its customers.

I enjoyed reading about the many things that happen every day and night at Disneyland that help to make the customer experience better. One example is the army of workers that come out at night to make sure that everything is clean and safe for the next day's customers. I think that it would be fascinating to watch what happens at night at Disneyland or Walt Disney World but I doubt that I will ever have that opportunity.

This book shows that Disneyland is like all other parks in that there are the unglamorous and even dangerous areas. I think that the author might have gone into more detail on some of the more gruesome accidental deaths than I would have liked. However, I appreciated that the author presented this information in a factual way and did not betray the reader's trust by getting on a soapbox to preach and draw unsubstantiated conclusions based on these isolated incidents as other authors have.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in how Disney runs their parks and makes those parks so popular. This book is an easy and quick read and gives the reader a lot of information is a fairly short amount of time.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mostly ejoyable and amusing. Finished it in a day., October 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mouse Tales: A Behind-The-Ears Look at Disneyland (Paperback)

I bought this book with some reservations since I saw both positive and negative reviews from former "alleged" cast-members. Thankfully, I discovered that Mr.Koenig DID document his sources so one can make a judgement as to what is likely truth and what is possibly fiction. Apparently, he did pull a good amount of his information from microfiches of local newspapers in addition to cast and ex-cast interviews.

In a nutshell, the book shows that Disneyland, despite its magical mystique, is still a very human place with gemstones and lumps of coal. The one chapter that lost my interest was "Lawsuit Land" which, after going through several other stories of how guests can be so careless or thoughtless, began to be redundant.

Overall, the book was an enjoyable and easy read. It's a collection of interesting notes and stories of the park, its founder, its cast and its guests; not an intellectual dissertation of Disney's impact on culture. There's a laugh here and there; some awe at peoples' kindness or stupidity; and interesting snippets of the park's growing pains. It certainly left me with a better appreciation of what troubles the cast-members have to go through, and an understanding of how to be a more gracious guest on my next trip to the kingdom.