“Minnie, We Love You!”: The Rehabilitation of Cultural Aroma in the Stage Shows of Tōkyō Disneyland and DisneySea
Location
Rosen Classroom 111
Start Date
21-6-2024 2:00 PM
Description
The infamous 1992 opening of Euro Disney was plagued by poor cultural awareness. In contrast, Tōkyō Disneyland and DisneySea launched successfully, with DisneySea reaching 10 million guests within its first year. One significant reason is that the Oriental Land Company (オリエンタルランド) operates Japan’s Disney resort rather than the Disney company, yielding cultural adaptation decisions to Japanese cultural stakeholders. “ ‘Minnie, We Love You!’: the Rehabilitation of Cultural Aroma in the Stage Shows of Tōkyō Disneyland and DisneySea” explores cultural adaptations in three Tōkyō Disney resort stage shows and theorizes ‘cultural aroma’ and ‘glocalization’ as useful concepts for examining cultural representation in Japan’s Disney resort.
Modern Japan’s media exports often exhibit mukokuseki (無国籍, ‘without nationality’) to better sell to non-Japanese audiences – however, in Tōkyō Disney parks, the reverse is true. Problematizing Iwabuchi’s widely-applied concept of ‘cultural odor,’ which insinuates that marks of Japanese culture are undesirable, this study rehabilitates ‘cultural aroma’ to describe cultural adaptations aiding foreign franchises’ performance in Japan. Another helpful term is ‘glocalization,’ accommodating a global brand or product to a local market’s needs. The presentation then turns to analyze musical cultural representation in three case studies from Tōkyō Disneyland and DisneySea stage shows. ‘Duffy & Friends’ Wonderful Friendship’ embraces kawaii (可愛い, ‘cute’) aesthetics, depicting stuffed animal characters especially popular in Japan. ‘Minnie, We Love You!’ and ‘Festival of Mystique’ cast Minnie Mouse as a J-pop aidoru (アイドル, ‘idol’), narratively featuring Minnie in ways not seen in the U.S., while Mickey functions as an accessory to Minnie’s adventures and heroism.
Recommended Citation
Yee, Thomas B., "“Minnie, We Love You!”: The Rehabilitation of Cultural Aroma in the Stage Shows of Tōkyō Disneyland and DisneySea" (2024). Theme Park Music and Sound. 7.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/tpms/2024/friday/7
“Minnie, We Love You!”: The Rehabilitation of Cultural Aroma in the Stage Shows of Tōkyō Disneyland and DisneySea
Rosen Classroom 111
The infamous 1992 opening of Euro Disney was plagued by poor cultural awareness. In contrast, Tōkyō Disneyland and DisneySea launched successfully, with DisneySea reaching 10 million guests within its first year. One significant reason is that the Oriental Land Company (オリエンタルランド) operates Japan’s Disney resort rather than the Disney company, yielding cultural adaptation decisions to Japanese cultural stakeholders. “ ‘Minnie, We Love You!’: the Rehabilitation of Cultural Aroma in the Stage Shows of Tōkyō Disneyland and DisneySea” explores cultural adaptations in three Tōkyō Disney resort stage shows and theorizes ‘cultural aroma’ and ‘glocalization’ as useful concepts for examining cultural representation in Japan’s Disney resort.
Modern Japan’s media exports often exhibit mukokuseki (無国籍, ‘without nationality’) to better sell to non-Japanese audiences – however, in Tōkyō Disney parks, the reverse is true. Problematizing Iwabuchi’s widely-applied concept of ‘cultural odor,’ which insinuates that marks of Japanese culture are undesirable, this study rehabilitates ‘cultural aroma’ to describe cultural adaptations aiding foreign franchises’ performance in Japan. Another helpful term is ‘glocalization,’ accommodating a global brand or product to a local market’s needs. The presentation then turns to analyze musical cultural representation in three case studies from Tōkyō Disneyland and DisneySea stage shows. ‘Duffy & Friends’ Wonderful Friendship’ embraces kawaii (可愛い, ‘cute’) aesthetics, depicting stuffed animal characters especially popular in Japan. ‘Minnie, We Love You!’ and ‘Festival of Mystique’ cast Minnie Mouse as a J-pop aidoru (アイドル, ‘idol’), narratively featuring Minnie in ways not seen in the U.S., while Mickey functions as an accessory to Minnie’s adventures and heroism.