Maybe the WDW characters are more real than I thought... - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Maybe the WDW characters are more real than I thought...
After posting the thread about my dismay over Beast not giving autographs, I wondered why it didn't occur to me sooner that when the photographer told me The Beast can't write, she meant that literally. The Beast costume is so massive that the arms of the CM inside it can't possibly extend to the paws, and even if they did, the paws are so large that the most Beast might be able to do with practice is to stamp an autograph. Edit to add: http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...ml#post4403071
So, I mused about this for a bit and concluded that a good deal of why I didn't realize The Beast's animating CM wouldn't be able to write at all is that I buy into the make-believe more than I was aware at the time.
Think about your own reactions a bit, and you may recall occasions when you were nearly as excited and into the experience of meeting characters as any kid too young to understand that these are just Cast Members acting roles.
I think it's easy for me to fall into that mindset because Disney characters are so much a part of most people's growing up that you never entirely lose belief that they're real. I suspect, also, that those of us who love Disney retain more willingness to believe than the "Disney is dumb/for babies" types.
Anyone else have a similar realization?
Last edited by Her Dotness; 12-21-2014 at 06:06 AM..
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"I buy into the make-believe more than I was aware at the time."
That's the magic! That's why we keep going. . . the ability to suspend reality and believe. That's what Walt wanted and we love doing it so much that we return again and again.
A friend and Disney fan told me that one of her friends that "likes" Disney said "I bet Jody thinks Mickey is real." That was the best compliment I could have ever gotten!
A man who played Santa once explained that when you put on the suit, people react to you as though you were Santa and in some ways you become the jolly old Saint. I can well imagine that the person inside the character suit kind of feels that love and adoration directed toward them and kind of becomes the character.
Seeing the characters in the parks make the stories come alive for me! You know when you are reading a book and you have all the pictures playing in your head and you can "see" it?? Just like that!!
I was 23 the first time I saw Mickey (he was just walking around back then, no lines) and I was jumping up and down worse than the kids (I think I embarassed them). Ya, I know it was a person in a costume but that never took away from that moment the excitement of seeing him. I was definitely a kid again.
I think there may be some misunderstanding of my OP intent. I meant that I thought The Beast probably couldn't write because he's a beast. The prince in beast form might not remember how to write.
I think the Photopass photographer might have meant he can't write in both senses: In beast form, the prince has forgotten that human ability. Also, the costume is so large that the animating CM's hands don't extend into the Beast paws so there would be no possibility of holding a pen or managing even to sign with an "X."
Until I thought about the practical aspects of the costume in a real sense, it honestly hadn't occurred to me that that's why The Beast can't do autographs.
So, yes, DawnK, the characters are very real indeed for me!
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
The first time I saw PUSH, I was amazed. I must have spent ten minutes just staring at him trying to figure out how this trash can was rolling around and having conversations with people. That was when PUSH noticed me sitting there with a frown on my face and came over.
I don't care what anyone else says. In Disney World, trash cans move and tell jokes, I can ride a run-away mine car and Figments are real.
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