Adults Disney, the tribe that loves the cultural large and transforms it: “Everything outside ceases to exist” | Culture | EUROtoday

Daniel Pontón is 35 years previous and has a terrific ardour: he’s what is named a Disney grownup. Her passion seems in each nook of the home in Parla (Madrid) the place she lives together with her fiancé. So a lot in order that they’re contemplating eradicating the mattress from the visitor room/museum to make room for the invasion of stuffed animals. On the mushy pillows there are Mickey, Stitch, Jack Skellington, Olaf, Chip and Chop… and different unknown ones. The cabinets and partitions are additionally coated. All this memorabilia, and different hard-to-find collector’s jewellery, like park keys, are souvenirs out of your time at Disney shops and theme parks. Because Pontón, who tries to go to the one in Paris a minimum of each two months, has simply develop into, due to his TikTook channel with greater than 110,000 followers, a influencer official of European Disneyland. With his social identify, iDanny, he’s a part of a subculture that’s usually seen with contempt, however that has been carving out a social and financial area of interest for years in one of many world’s nice cultural corporations, which in 2025 will as soon as once more be the chief of the worldwide field workplace.

The psychology and sociology of this area of interest viewers, the rejection they arouse, their financial relevance and their obsession is what the guide research from varied views. Disney Adults (for now, solely in English) by AJ Wolfe. The 48-year-old creator explores this social tribe from inside after constructing her personal firm due to being a Disney fan herself. On the net The Disney Food Blog It started by ranking the meals within the parks and is now one of many reference websites for guests. “I sought to explain that our subculture does not denote immaturity or escapism, but rather community, creativity and nostalgia. Stereotypes are built in the extremes, in the exaggeration of networks, when reality is much more routine. This is our way of building identity by sharing hobbies”, Wolfe explains to EL PAÍS by email. She writes it from knowledge and in the first person, but also questioning what is happening around her: “We feel close to what makes us safe, protected and happy,” she points out.

Pontón, for example, plays music from the park to relax, escape from his professional and personal routine, and return to his safe place, something many Disney fans do. He listens to the birds and nature of the Secuoya hotel and the loop of the parking lot. “When you go to the parks, every thing exterior ceases to exist. It creates a sense of rest the place you solely have to fret about which character to hug, the place to eat or which attraction to experience. I evaluate it to individuals for whom the one factor that relaxes them is the seaside. It’s a protected place the place you management every thing,” says iDanny. Wolfe factors out within the guide that it’s “the best escape from reality, because everyone is happy there, […] and an effortless existence is embraced for a few days (…). In addition, it helps us face reality better when we return,” he says. Everything that surrounds Disney, from musicals to merchandisingit is a world without “surprises” and the place “everything works”. She highlights one other sensory expertise that brings again the perfect reminiscences: the odor of the water within the attraction of Pirates of the Caribbean.

But, if there’s this halo of happiness and optimism round it, why is that this motion so reviled and parodied? Wolfe says within the guide that really the neural patterns amongst sports activities followers, Star Wars, Star Trek or Disney should not so totally different, and that these followers should not extra obsessive or consumerist, however he maintains that “since this fandom It has such a feminine and diverse presence, culturally it is perceived as different, more childish or embarrassing. Traditionally, femininity has been rejected as less serious, while passion in masculine fields is celebrated”: “We have had to fight to be considered adults.” On their web site, 80% are readers, and they’re additionally those who often plan holidays.

In Disney: the exhibition. 100 years of magicin Madrid until January, the audience is diverse: parents with T-shirts Star Warspeople without children, couples or retired friends whom Disney has accompanied throughout their lives in an exhibition that reviews the history of the company. Among these intergenerational visitors, a mother and daughter, ages 30 and 50 and both named Yolanda, dance to Disney hits with their helmets on. As for Pontón, its founding moment was the resurgence of animation in the nineties with The lion king o Aladdinalthough they have not been able to afford to go to the park and feel that “magic that makes you be a girl again” that they talk about.

Because being a Disney fan is an expensive passion. Wolfe says in her book that when she became a fan, the souvenirs They became “collectibles” and that created a “completeness” that had to be stopped as it became an obsession, immersed in fervent competition with the rest of the followers. There came a time when he felt that some objects did not even interest him, it was simply FOMO (fear of missing out), exploited by a Disney capitalism that sells exclusive buckets of popcorn for $30. She has paid 1,000 dollars for nights in a hotel, and the man from Madrid has queued at dawn to get mickeys exclusive. Today she wears an expensive and gigantic Pandora bracelet made of Disney figures: “I haven’t got kids, nor do I’m going out to occasion, so the cash I’ve is spent on my passion, however there are occasions when it’s a must to say: it will likely be once more.”

Although both defend that there are many degrees, also for those who cannot spend as much: “Football or Taylor Swift followers proceed to be followers even when they do not go to occasions. You may be a part of a group on-line or share it with your folks. But it’s true that parks have gotten dearer. We must see how a lot the general public is keen to pay, as a result of the meals rivals the costs of massive cities,” explains Wolfe. IDanny, in fact, recommends in his account strategies to save in the parks, and not fall into the debt that many sink into: “The ‘I do not wish to cope with the world, so I run away’ half may be good, however it’s a must to ask, how are your funds going? And at work? How do your folks really feel about you? Have you known as your mom? There is a line the place you start to show your again in your life,” says a psychologist within the essay.

Due to its skill to spend, Disney is aware of that it has one among its biggest monetary property on this viewers, not just for new parks like Dubai, but additionally for its chain manufacturing. The current nostalgic hits of The lion king o Lilo y Stitchfor instance, not solely attraction to kids, however to adults trying to relive their childhood. Fans of yesteryear now have the funds for to journey again in time, and this is without doubt one of the few corporations that may push “emotional” spending, the guide notes. There are very costly experiences for individuals who wish to get married within the park, and specialised cruises are booming: till 2024 there have been solely 5, however earlier than 2031 they plan so as to add 13 ships that sail the waters world wide. One of them has its personal island. This market area of interest is predicted to exceed 2 billion in income in Disney accounts by 2029.

Perhaps the problem now, in truth, is to draw era Z and alpha to the model, which has expanded its viewers in recent times due to Star Wars, The Simpsons, Avatar (one of many home’s greatest billion-dollar hits this yr, together with Zootropolis 2 o Lilo y Stitch) or Marvel. That’s why Disney has simply signed agreements with video video games Fortnite or Sora’s synthetic intelligence know-how to lift future Disney adults.

Rocío and Alejandro are one other 26-year-old couple who’ve traveled from Malaga to Madrid to see the exhibition. They are drawing characters on one of many tables on this interactive exhibition. In their home they’ve united a number of Disney worlds, probably the most conventional of hers and that of Marvel and Star Wars his. After passing via the park this yr, his purpose is to return yearly. For this there are additionally specialised brokers, reminiscent of Ariel Ferrero, an Argentine dwelling in Madrid, captivated with Disney and specialised in its parks and cruises globally: “From Disney, they even give us courses so that we are updated and know the details. And there are more and more adult packages, although in reality there we all become children.”

Eight of the ten most visited parks on this planet are Disney. In 2023, these from Florida and California exceeded 17 million guests; Tokyo, 15, and Shanghai, 14. Especially after the pandemic, and with a society the place there are fewer kids, guests millennials and era X have grown up. Which additionally implies that these dream locations now serve beers or cocktails.

Disney and Pride

They have additionally included events reminiscent of Pride, realizing that the LGTBI public is a crucial portion of Disney adults. Pontón acknowledges that there’s nonetheless quite a lot of work to be performed on this facet of range, particularly after the corporate’s newest setbacks in opposition to the Trump Government: “When Disney approaches the LGTBI, there is a lot of criticism that stops them. But it is true that six years ago there were no Pride collections, nor content like that on platforms and parks. Now we have the Disneyland París Magical Prideand that gives visibility,” he explains. “It is important to have a love story between two princes. I would like there to be more steps, but if before there were possibilities, now there are fewer.” Wolfe acknowledges that this “frustration” exists: “It is difficult to see that decisions, values ​​and politics do not align with yours, and it is a tension that exists in the majority: managing our passion with the awareness that it is a business machine.” A Disney grownup economic system that’s not so new both, as a result of already in 1935, Disney collected 30 million in licenses, specifically for the primary Mickey watch.

Both are totally conscious of the great and unhealthy of this framework. “The positive side is that you express yourself freely, it can encourage joy, creativity, a sense of identity and community. And it is also a good place to deal with stress and find happiness in routine. But it can be problematic if you turn it into escapism to escape from responsibilities and emotions. And there is a social and judgmental stigma that makes you not be understood,” Wolfe particulars.

IDanny says that, though he does not like soccer, he shares the “passion of what they feel.” And he explains that his passion is comparable: “What happens is not normative, it is not socially accepted, but it is a consensus that I don’t know who has created. Anything that goes beyond that is attacked. It’s an easy joke, but I don’t hurt anyone. The videos are always positive, I show what you do in the park, the reaction of the characters, it’s nice… I already know that there is a person inside the suit, but in that moment you live the fantasy and the magic.”

What do you reply to all those that reject this underworld as a result of it “infantilizes”? “To be understood by others is to be loved. Those who hate it will never understand us,” responds a superfan within the guide, who additionally factors out that there are very legitimate criticisms, and that they make themselves: the competitors, the exaggeration of some influencers that make them look unhealthy, extreme nostalgia, addictions that result in million-dollar money owed (many followers lower for some time to detoxify). Pontón, who collects greater than 100 totally different Mickey ears and obtained engaged within the Paris park, says that “Disney adults are happier”: “So we live longer, thanks to having found our community and a safe place to meet like-minded people.”