Disney Adults / Disneymania

[RonRiot]

Its not "Briar" the Uncle Remus characters were caller Br'er for "brother".

In the original story the rabbit escapes when they throw him in the briar bush. I assume that’s part of the ride.

 

[NoReturn]

Its not "Briar" the Uncle Remus characters were caller Br'er for "brother".

I HAD NO IDEA.
Thank you for correcting me.
I thought it was because they all lived in the briers. Like it was the animal equivalent of their neighborhood.

See:

In the original story the rabbit escapes when they throw him in the briar bush. I assume that’s part of the ride.

 

[HandsomeDan]

I HAD NO IDEA.
Thank you for correcting me.
I thought it was because they all lived in the briers. Like it was the animal equivalent of their neighborhood.

See:

Its ok my friend, its difficult to know these things when original Southern culture continues to be expunged from existence, hence why this ride is going away.

 

[s0mbra]

That reminds me of an infamous duo of Disney adults who were so obsessed with the Horizon ride at Epcot that they rode it religiously for years just so they could sneak out of the carts and "explore" the set, and when one of them died, the other spread his ashes near the ride iirc.

The incredible true story of the Epcot Horizons superfans who ruled the ride | Boing Boing

In 1995, after a year-long closure, Disney re-opened Horizons, the GE-sponsored original Epcot ride devoted to showcasing different ideas about the future, a kind of heir to the Futurama at the 193…

boingboing.net

I don't remember the full story, but I have to say that while I can understand wanting to goof around with friends by sneaking into forbidden or unexplored places, the tremendous obsession with just one mediocre ride for years and wanting to be laid to rest in it feels beyond weird to me.

There are tons of Disney adults who still do this along with attempts to spread the ashes of their family and peers.
View attachment 4696126
(Pictured: Jodie Jackson Wells, circa 2009, spreading her mother's ashes at Disney World.)

Grassy clearings, the haunted house, watery moats, the late Splash Mountain, and dozens of others, even the Small World Ride. Its just weird man. Imagine some random dumb kid running off and he trips and falls into some lolcow's ashes.

Disney should set up a little memorial garden in each park where you can spread your ashes (for a price, obv) or something. I bet they'd make bank with it with how much of a problem it seems to be.
Maybe have a character present or something.

You're welcome Disney you can have that one for free.

 

[toilet_rainbow]

Its ok my friend, its difficult to know these things when original Southern culture continues to be expunged from existence, hence why this ride is going away.

Disney has a weird "I don't like you but actually I do" relationship with Song of the South. It has always wanted to profit more from it in some way because it was a successful film for them. Br'er Rabbit is in a lot of vintage Disney extended universe books and merch. The movie was getting rereleases in theaters as late as the 80s. Despite never releasing the movie on home video in the States, you could still see Uncle Remus singing "Zip a Dee Doo Dah" on Sing a Along tapes in the 90s. Br'er Rabbit and co have/had comics in Europe. (I don't know if any of them are still going, but Disney comics are a lot more popular and less woke in Europe than they ever were in the States.) Disney is batshit with copyright enforcement (to the point of suing daycares that had Mickey painted on their walls) and yet it's super easy to find bootlegs of Song of the South.

Song of the South still sells. Even people that don't even know what Song of the South or the source materials are love the characters and the ride they're on. Disney just doesn't like to admit it because it wants to be seen as this squeaky clean woke company. So now it is remaking Splash Mountain to seem as such to emotionally stunted adults. I think it's more a mix of corporate greed and a publicity stunt.

Whereas Song of the South has a strained relationship with Disney, however, Princess and the Frog has a strained relationship with the public. Anyone else remember that whole "Maddy/Mammy" controversy? It also feels like more people are obligated to "like" Tiana or the film because muh first black Disney Princess. People are already losing their shit over the new Frog design. Not like the inevitable "perceived racism" backlash will happen any time soon. Disney Adults are going to take videos and selfies on the new ride that they claim to despise for replacing their beloved Splash Mountain the second it's open. Disney already knows that it's won. It's got the people giving them money by the cajones.

I could also go on a whole spiel about Southern pop culture as a whole being erased or censored, but that's for another day.

 

[NoReturn]

Whereas Song of the South has a strained relationship with Disney, however, Princess and the Frog has a strained relationship with the public. Anyone else remember that whole "Maddy/Mammy" controversy?

Yes

It also feels like more people are obligated to "like" Tiana or the film because muh first black Disney Princess.

I like her because she has a job. The whole thing about being poor around wealthy people, and even being friends with people with more money than you, was really relatable. It's a shame they market her primarily as the "black princess" instead of the "Working class princess".
Honestly, it betrays a weird mentality to me, this idea that non-black people can't relate to black people and vice versa. I think it might explain all that shit about "We need to see ourselves." when it comes to race-swapping characters.

People are already losing their shit over the new Frog design.

The what now? I saw the thing for the ride itself, but is there something new?

I could also go on a whole spiel about Southern pop culture as a whole being erased or censored, but that's for another day.

Why not to-day? I wanna learn.
And let me tell you, as a non-Southerner you guys aren't imagining it. Growing up I knew southern culture was a thing, but I knew nothing about it beyond the stereotype that southerners are uneducated.

 

[Bruno Powroznik]

Disney should set up a little memorial garden in each park where you can spread your ashes (for a price, obv)

Experience the magic™ of sending your loved ones to the afterlife, the Disney™ way! Only $100 per jar of ashes. $200 extra to have mickey pour the ashes.

 

[Privilege Power Hour]

Why not to-day? I wanna learn.
And let me tell you, as a non-Southerner you guys aren't imagining it. Growing up I knew southern culture was a thing, but I knew nothing about it beyond the stereotype that southerners are uneducated.

Jumping in since I grew up in the South, a lot of it has to do with reducing the South down to exactly what you said: a bunch of uneducated rednecks, a term that itself sprung from the South being largely made up of farmers who would get sunburned from working outside all day. I was lucky to see the last days of the very mannered South, where even poor farmers abided by a pretty arcane set of rules that are now considered passe at best (it's rude to wear a hat indoors, extensively using ma'am and sir for everyone), misogynistic at worst (men, even boys should always stand up and give their chair to a woman. Also holding the door for women). I personally don't have much of an accent because of growing up with the TV on and all, but it comes out sometimes when I've been drinking, which my friends in college found hilarious that a guy they saw as bright like me could get drunk and have a stupid retard accent, a good reason for me to start limiting my drinking when I was that age.

There's also a lot of downplaying Southern cultural achievements, like having a really rich history of literature, arguably the finest in the country, but that doesn't matter any more because classics read by every schoolchild in America for at least a century such as To Kill a Mockingbird and Huck Finn are being taken out of the curriculum for depicting racism at all, even though their big point is how racism is bad. Hell, the South shows its love for turn of phrase with a bunch of really colorful metaphors and aphorisms, but again, these are seen as a sign of stupidity and you better turn English into something that sounds like a completely inoffensive news anchor, or worse, HR manager.

The final thing that's super-taboo to talk about is that the media does hang on to a few positive Southern stereotypes, but they're now specifically part of black culture and don't you dare say they're actually a general Southern thing. The most obvious one is food, which is largely shared by both blacks and whites in the South, but now is black soul food exclusively. Many of these culinary dishes have hard-to-trace origins, but you better believe that any self-respecting person knows blacks invented them. Same with plenty of music; folk songs like Wayfarin' Stranger are Southern treasures that we can't really trace the origin of, but are almost universally cited as being black spirituals because people are too stupid to understand that at one point spiritual was a term that referred to most any hymn from the South.

Anyway none of that even touches on the really nuanced stuff, like race relations, which are historically far more complex than most give credit for. And there's a reason we might as well not touch on them, the same reason the South is reduced to being the place where white trash lives and listens to stupid white trash music like country music: that's how corporate entertainment portrays the place, and that's all that matters. And so the South's only worthwhile cultural touchstone to a lot of people is going to be Disney World, where masses of consumer sheep make pilgrimage every fucking day, as evidenced by this thread. Fucking kill me.

 

[Montalbane]

Small PL but it will make sense I think.

My little cousin likes bananas.
She has a whole literal song and dance when presented with a banana because she really likes to eat them.
It is the cutest thing I have ever seen.

My little brother does the same with nutella bread.

The point is that kids have a world of wonder and beauty of their own.
And disney used to be a small piece of that world available for all to see.

Used to.

Now its another grimy corporate mc'hellhole where unless you're rich or in debt you cant afford to go.
These disney """adults""" are broken beyond any repair.
I dont know what makes them tick.
But I want to.
Why are they likes this?
Child abuse?
Bullying?
A general sense of societal malaise?
Why?

 

[Unfunny]

Why are they likes this?
Child abuse?
Bullying?
A general sense of societal malaise?
Why?

Nostalgia, comfort, and safety. Same usual horseshit as any other adult who engages almost exclusively with cartoons.

Children's cartoons/disneyproduct are not challenging media. You know right away who the good and bad guys are. You don't need to think about themes or motivation because it's usually made obvious. It's uplifting, familiar, and it feels like childhood. Times are tough, people regress.

The other part of it is just people's natural inclination to be a part of something. When you're into Disney, you're a part of a group that selects your interests, helps you create your personality, and even your goals. If you want to make content, it gives you something to make it about. If you want to collect something, here are your plastic keys and smiling vinyl shelf liners. If you want to make friends, you can join a Disney-based group and immediately have something in common. Social lubricant.

Now with the addition of influencers who specialize in Disney content, you also have a hierarchy of "famous" people in the community that look glamorous and further excite people about the fandom's culture. They set trends, people chase them, they feel fulfilled upon doing so. Etc.

When you're a burned out adult in a frightening world, it's a lot easier to sit and much on mouse shaped rice krispies and figure out how to get the newest limited edition popcorn bucket than set real goals.

I feel like theres definitely levels to how far down the disney adult rabbit hole someone goes. I know a couple of them but its contained to doing their honeymoon at disney land and only really watching disney/marvel stuff.

Disney should set up a little memorial garden in each park where you can spread your ashes (for a price, obv) or something. I bet they'd make bank with it with how much of a problem it seems to be.
Maybe have a character present or something.

You're welcome Disney you can have that one for free.

It's incredible that so many people want to memorialize significant moments in their life, like a marriage or their own death, at a theme park. Is nothing sacred?

"Uh-oh, hope I don't get any of pappy's ashes in my dole whip!"

 

[std::string]

Now with the addition of influencers who specialize in Disney content, you also have a hierarchy of "famous" people in the community that look glamorous and further excite people about the fandom's culture. They set trends, people chase them, they feel fulfilled upon doing so. Etc.

Disney and Universal both realized pretty early that sponsored influencers on IG could drive engagement like crazy.

I'm sure that $16 cocktail at the Polynesian hits different when you're being paid to drink it.

 

[IAmNotAlpharius]

Nostalgia, comfort, and safety. Same usual horseshit as any other adult who engages almost exclusively with cartoons.

Children's cartoons/disneyproduct are not challenging media. You know right away who the good and bad guys are. You don't need to think about themes or motivation because it's usually made obvious. It's uplifting, familiar, and it feels like childhood. Times are tough, people regress.

The other part of it is just people's natural inclination to be a part of something. When you're into Disney, you're a part of a group that selects your interests, helps you create your personality, and even your goals. If you want to make content, it gives you something to make it about. If you want to collect something, here are your plastic keys and smiling vinyl shelf liners. If you want to make friends, you can join a Disney-based group and immediately have something in common. Social lubricant.

Now with the addition of influencers who specialize in Disney content, you also have a hierarchy of "famous" people in the community that look glamorous and further excite people about the fandom's culture. They set trends, people chase them, they feel fulfilled upon doing so. Etc.

When you're a burned out adult in a frightening world, it's a lot easier to sit and much on mouse shaped rice krispies and figure out how to get the newest limited edition popcorn bucket than set real goals.

Something I wonder is if Disney is mortgaging it’s future. I’ve noticed that kids have started gravitating more towards universal parks. Minions is surprisingly popular amongst younger kids and there isn’t a Disney equivalent. Plus most of the notable shows they like are not produced by Disney, even if Disney distributes them. If I was a Disney stockholder I’d be concerned about the company’s health after many of these Disney adults start retiring and dying off. I’m not convinced that Disney has the stranglehold on children, ie future adults, like it did previously. I feel like they’re focusing on Disney adults over their previous core audiences.

 

[AskeDead]

Something I wonder is if Disney is mortgaging it’s future. I’ve noticed that kids have started gravitating more towards universal parks. Minions is surprisingly popular amongst younger kids and there isn’t a Disney equivalent. Plus most of the notable shows they like are not produced by Disney, even if Disney distributes them. If I was a Disney stockholder I’d be concerned about the company’s health after many of these Disney adults start retiring and dying off. I’m not convinced that Disney has the stranglehold on children, ie future adults, like it did previously. I feel like they’re focusing on Disney adults over their previous core audiences.

good thought. i don't know of many zoomers that are into disney stuff. they seem to like minions like you said and spongebob, but not much from modern disney. when millenials hopefully age out of nostalgia trips or just die off disney may be fucked.

 

[WelperHelper99]

good thought. i don't know of many zoomers that are into disney stuff. they seem to like minions like you said and spongebob, but not much from modern disney. when millenials hopefully age out of nostalgia trips or just die off disney may be fucked.

I would say a fair few are, but it's not like it used to be. People want edgy, less sanitized content? Why do you think anime exploded over the last decade? Disney is always gonna be there, have fans, have its cruise ships and parks, but it's going to shrink, with its corporate practices laid bare and looked at like kid shit.

 

[Unfunny]

Something I wonder is if Disney is mortgaging it’s future. I’ve noticed that kids have started gravitating more towards universal parks. Minions is surprisingly popular amongst younger kids and there isn’t a Disney equivalent. Plus most of the notable shows they like are not produced by Disney, even if Disney distributes them. If I was a Disney stockholder I’d be concerned about the company’s health after many of these Disney adults start retiring and dying off. I’m not convinced that Disney has the stranglehold on children, ie future adults, like it did previously. I feel like they’re focusing on Disney adults over their previous core audiences.

I don't think they do either. Imo the last hope they have for sustaining with zoomers is their Marvel capeshit and Star Wars stuff, but the mouse definitely doesn't have enough w rizz. Maybe this is the generation that finally deals them a blow.

 

[Cool kitties club]

The most obvious one is food, which is largely shared by both blacks and whites in the South, but now is black soul food exclusively.

Its crazy to me how food that was given to slaves by the masters is somehow used as evidence that the slaves invented it. I remember watching this really awful Disney Adult troon video essay just seething at Splash Moutain. There was one part where he talks about the ride queue seethes how the music there has instrumentals of "RACIST MINSTRAL MUSIC" when the songs are classics like My Old Kentucky Home, Dixie, Swanee River, and "zip coon" (zip coon is just alternate lyrics to the turkey in the straw tune which has dozens of lyrical variations some racist some not). "Splash Mountain his differently when you realize Florida's state song is a racist minstrel tune" fuck off yankee.

 

[WelperHelper99]

I don't think they do either. Imo the last hope they have for sustaining with zoomers is their Marvel capeshit and Star Wars stuff, but the mouse definitely doesn't have enough w rizz. Maybe this is the generation that finally deals them a blow.

If Disney is to survive, they need to get edgy, cool again. I'm a zoomer, and I still hear Tron talked about, especially legacy. It wasn't just a good disney movie, but a good movie. They've done basically nothing with the IP since they got star wars. And how about some 2D movies? Return to tradition and all that. They've expiremented with anime with Star Wars Visions, and it was fairly well received. Give us a feature film that's anime using one of their IT'S, it'd be nuts.

 

[Steam Deck Verified]

Nostalgia, comfort, and safety. Same usual horseshit as any other adult who engages almost exclusively with cartoons.

Children's cartoons/disneyproduct are not challenging media. You know right away who the good and bad guys are. You don't need to think about themes or motivation because it's usually made obvious. It's uplifting, familiar, and it feels like childhood. Times are tough, people regress.

The other part of it is just people's natural inclination to be a part of something. When you're into Disney, you're a part of a group that selects your interests, helps you create your personality, and even your goals. If you want to make content, it gives you something to make it about. If you want to collect something, here are your plastic keys and smiling vinyl shelf liners. If you want to make friends, you can join a Disney-based group and immediately have something in common. Social lubricant.

Now with the addition of influencers who specialize in Disney content, you also have a hierarchy of "famous" people in the community that look glamorous and further excite people about the fandom's culture. They set trends, people chase them, they feel fulfilled upon doing so. Etc.

When you're a burned out adult in a frightening world, it's a lot easier to sit and much on mouse shaped rice krispies and figure out how to get the newest limited edition popcorn bucket than set real goals.

I agree with the general sentiment, but it's too charitable for the average Disney adult imo. Having been on Tumblr during Disney's huge millennial revitalization in the early 2010s, rarely are they the ones actually experiencing the frightening world or tough times (the people who ARE suffering were priced out of Disney trips and merch hauls long ago). They trend towards sheltered, middle-upper-class or upper-class, neurotic, and spoiled. You can lose count of how many were jobless women who got their doormat partners to bankroll their third trip that year with the girlies in lieu of saving the money, or hyper-consumerists bragging about their collections of merch and Blu-Rays. Reaching for comfort media when burned out is normal, but for these types, "burned out" is the zomg-I-just-did-adulting, "booked their yearly physical over the phone" or "had to put their camera on for a Zoom call", so I can't summon similar pity.

A missing piece of the puzzle that led to the mania was the big hugbox movement a decade ago that tried to validate all media as equally valid and rewarding, and that you were an elitist, gatekeeping douche if you though that Big Hero 6 or The Hunger Games weren't every bit the piece of art that e.g. Tarkovsky and Tolstoy were. People were afraid to have their tastes challenged or even lightly criticized, much less told that maybe they should try exploring material that was a bit more mature and challenging, or anything that made them "uncomfortable." Many had no patience for anything that wasn't animated, or over 105 minutes in length, or had subtitles. Intersect that with hyperfixating autists setting the tone for what's a "normal" level of fandom and sexual depravity towards the characters, and it becomes 100x worse. Not that everyone should be forced to watch a 4-hour Chinese movie on depression in their free time but damn, I'd rather see a 1000-word social media essay on your interpretation of that, rather than how you read into the eye movements at 1:19:23 in Turning Red.

I wouldn't be surprised if they grew into the young English teachers trying to spearhead movements to replace Shakespeare in the classroom because ummm he's not relevant anymore! Even though you wouldn't have The Lion King without him.

I would say a fair few are, but it's not like it used to be. People want edgy, less sanitized content? Why do you think anime exploded over the last decade? Disney is always gonna be there, have fans, have its cruise ships and parks, but it's going to shrink, with its corporate practices laid bare and looked at like kid shit.

They groups might not intersect, but there's still a surprising amount of support for moral puritanism in art. There are plenty of popular spaces on Twitter and Reddit where people think: there is zero point to any sex scene so they should all go away, portrayals of rape (graphic, implied, mentioned, or past) should be completely excised from media, villains should not be charismatic or have any kind of persuasion in their arguments, cops should always be portrayed negatively (if they're in the narrative at all), and traumatized characters must always beat their trauma. Some are zoomers, some are millennials who don't want to feel "uncomfy" and only want to feel good when consuming media. They're extremely vocal, have already influenced Disney (see their "copaganda" complaints for Ms. Marvel and how Disney bent the knee) and will keep Disney's pockets fat for years. At least many of them refuse to have kids, so the next generation might look different.

 

[ASeabear8952]

Something I wonder is if Disney is mortgaging it’s future. I’ve noticed that kids have started gravitating more towards universal parks. Minions is surprisingly popular amongst younger kids and there isn’t a Disney equivalent. Plus most of the notable shows they like are not produced by Disney, even if Disney distributes them. If I was a Disney stockholder I’d be concerned about the company’s health after many of these Disney adults start retiring and dying off. I’m not convinced that Disney has the stranglehold on children, ie future adults, like it did previously. I feel like they’re focusing on Disney adults over their previous core audiences.

Well Disney distributes Bluey, and that’s very popular amongst little kids. Hell it even has a sizable teen and adult following. I guess that’s one of the few things they have going right now.

If Disney is to survive, they need to get edgy, cool again. I'm a zoomer, and I still hear Tron talked about, especially legacy. It wasn't just a good disney movie, but a good movie. They've done basically nothing with the IP since they got star wars. And how about some 2D movies? Return to tradition and all that. They've expiremented with anime with Star Wars Visions, and it was fairly well received. Give us a feature film that's anime using one of their IT'S, it'd be nuts.

There were rumors a few months ago that they got the exclusive streaming rights to Bleach.

 

[WelperHelper99]

@Seeking 1 Hetero E-Boy I don't thinking Disney is dying any time soon,I just think that a slow down is inevitable at this point.

There were rumors a few months ago that they got the exclusive streaming rights to Bleach.

That they infact did, and by all reports... it slapped hard. They've had a few good anime, like Summertime Render. The question is how many weebs have Disney plus and how many chose to pirate- they're kinda in the Netflix situation.