Ancillary #1: Globalizing American Entertainment
Nestled among the orange groves of Anaheim, California, the radical theme park “Disneyland” opened on July 17th, 1955. The park was one of the first of its kind on Earth to be an amusement park that was themed based on the works of an animation studio. Soon after its opening, this theme park quickly became a place that attracted people from all over the world. The themed entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company knew they wanted to bring this concept to places outside of Southern California. The first place they did this was in Florida, crafting an immense, complex property called Walt Disney World in Fall 1971. This property included the Magic Kingdom, similar to Disneyland, but also brought more lodging and dining experiences. Additionally, they created multiple new, unique theme parks in addition to the Magic Kingdom. Much like Disneyland, it quickly became a success. Ready to expand overseas, the Walt Disney Company drafted up plans for a Tokyo Disneyland. The park opened in April 1983 to high attendance. A common pattern was being demonstrated to the executives of the Walt Disney Company: building new Disney parks is proving itself to be widely successful and overseas developments are an optimal route for themed entertainment expansions. So, what did they do? Michael Eisner, then CEO, built Euro Disney in 1992, which is now known as Disneyland Paris. Then, Hong Kong Disneyland in 2005. Most recently, Shanghai Disneyland opened in 2016.
Laying out these numerous expansions may make it appear as if this was always an easy task for the Walt Disney Company, void of any conflicts, arguments, or hurdles. But, there were obstacles at almost every point of expansion. To understand why, it is necessary to go back to the roots of the themed entertainment division of Disney: Disneyland in Anaheim, which was the basis for all future expansions. It is an American concept, embodying the vision of both a Hollywood animated film and television producer, but also an American dreamer who yearned to create a radical concept that would be a crucial aspect of American culture. Not only is Disney, an American company, trying to globalize their films and shows, but they are doing it by replicating aspects of an American cultural element, Disneyland.
The globalization of American entertainment through the replication of classical American cultural elements has brought forth many issues. The biggest issue with this, especially seen with the creation of Disneyland Paris, is the “cultural intrusion” of American culture. Many of the French people did not want the American entertainment intruding on their country. To attempt to mediate this concern, overseas Disney parks often try to incorporate the culture of the country in which the park is being created, which may lead to cultural appropriation. Concerns about an American company exhausting the resources of another country to generate revenue that goes to America is also an issue at hand. All of these issues come with attempting to globalize a staple of American culture.
The Walt Disney Company serves as a case study on the globalization of American entertainment. With this case study, there is a clear question on the globalization of entertainment should be addressed on a global, national, or local level. There are many issues surrounding the context, as mentioned above, and there are certainly competing views on how to approach it or even approach it at all.
