Cast Member Confidential: A Disneyfied Memoir
Chris Mitchell
2010
Citadel Press – Kensington Publishing Corp.
www.kensingtonbooks.com
$15.95
258 pages
I bought this book at Compass Books in Downtown Disney
Last week I described a pretty straightforward memoir of a Cast Member at Disneyland who really loved his job and the Company and presented both in a very positive light. Chris Mitchell is really telling a very personal story and uses working at Disney’s Animal Kingdom as a transformational force. Warning. If you are easily offended by inappropriate sexual contact between Disney characters then you might want to turn away.
Chris’s journey begins with being on top of his world. He was the editor of a skate magazine, had lots of friends in Los Angeles, a strong family, and he was in love. Just like a Disney theme park attraction, suddenly everything went wrong. He lost his job, his friends abandoned him, his soul mate went in another direction, and his mother became gravely ill. So what did he do? He ran away to Florida and got a job at Walt Disney World. The author describes himself as a self-centered jerk and this would become obvious during his early days at the parks.
The idea to work for Disney came about when he was assigned to Florida to take photos of a skater who also worked in the Festival of the Lion King show. That is when the author found out he didn’t have a job to back to. He got fired. His buddy suggested he apply for a job at Disney and told him about the “dark side” of working at Disney. He claimed that many of the Cast Members lead a double life. This notion intrigued the author so he got a job as a Photopass person.
When Chris first got the job, he thought his experience, as a professional photographer would lead to taking nature photos. He was disappointed to learn that he would only be taking photos of guests and the characters. In his previous life, he enjoyed playing the role of the anti-establishment person but now he was frustrated that he was just part of the “machine.” This really irritated him and he wasn’t shy about showing it.
In LA, he thought he was the big man on campus. At WDW, his attitude guaranteed that nobody wanted to have anything to do with him. His job meant he was around the Cast Members who were the “friends” of the characters. This is how these staffers referred to themselves when out of costume. Chris boldly stated “children are idiots” which is not something you say to people barely making more than minimum wage but love doing it because they know they can bring a touch of happiness to the guests.
He consistently refers to the Disney cast member guidelines while being "on-stage" and contrasts that with behavior "backstage". He even alleges he got into trouble trying to help a guy who was having a heart attack as that is not his role and contrary to the Guidelines.
The book outlines the different between Face characters (who can talk) and Fur characters (who are enclosed in suits). You are cast by your height. Examples include Mickey who is between 4’ 10” and 5’, Pluto who stands at 5’ 6” to 5’ 8”, the Genie, Captain Hook, and all of the Princes who are 6’. The Queen of Hearts is 6’ to 6’ 3” and is usually played by a man. After awhile, people are described by being either Goofy or Pluto height. Typically, a character is onstage 30 minutes and then off-stage for 30 minutes. During the summer, that is adjusted to 20 minutes on with a 40-minute break. The process of the brief photo opportunity is called “love and shove.”
To curry favor with his coworkers, he tried to psycho analyze their double lives (Disney by day and their alter ego at night) and took photos of them as characters in very compromising photos. This may have worked to make him a bit more popular but it would come back to haunt him. This is not a child friendly book.
We become privy to the sub groups of guests. They include The Family Reunion and The Mouseketeer. Others included the Parkhopper who had 4 days to cover every park, the water parks, and toss in a round of golf. There are the Pin Traders who stop every cast and try and make a deal. I would fall into the category of a Disniac. We tend to wear limited edition clothing, have an annual pass, and know way too much about the parks and are not afraid to share that knowledge.
The group he hated the most was the Collectors. The author tells the story of how a couple were able to cut the Camp Minnie-Mickey patch off the costume while they were getting autographs. They are the evil version of the Disniac.
As he was becoming more accepted by the “friends” of the characters, he started to see his life turn around. He stopped being so cynical and started to understand the joy that the characters bring. It was one story about a girl who was about to die who had a chance to meet Ariel that seemed to make one the biggest impressions. He was so motivated by this experience he even tried out to be a “friend.”
But it was too late. He had caused enough trouble and made enough enemies that his career would come to a quick end. As a guy who was always trying to be the outsider he saw the magic and finally came around. As Chris was being fired, his boss said, “It’s so easy here. You settle down at Disney and you meet all these people who are more deviant than you could ever be – weird and wonderful – and it’s like, for the first time, you’re not the black sheep of the family. You’re just part of somebody’s magical experience.”
He moved back to LA, reconnected with his family, found happiness that was enabled by his journey at the World, and wrote this book.
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