The Disney Look - PART ONE
Say! Here's something a little bit different. Our friend Sue B. acquired a cast member item from 1987, "The Disney Look". No, it's not about the angry looks I got from Walt when I gave him some of my great ideas ("Walt, baby, popcorn is so yesterday, we need to sell chocolate-covered pork rinds!"). It's about the very specific standards that the park had regarding grooming and dress for men and women. For instance: leather-studded collars? Frowned upon! I don't understand it, but it is so.
This item is 19 pages, and it's a lot of reading, which is hard because of all those long words such as "hair". So I will be splitting this up into three posts. By the end, I expect each and every one of you to conform to these standards. I'M LOOKING AT YOU, K. MARTINEZ!
Here's the cover, featuring folks who look so neat and tidy that their surnames just might be "Osmond". I have had older versions of "Disney Look" guides, but I think they are all gone now - so it's a bit jarring to see the Captain EO poster behind the fellow in the upper left. Is that an Ambassador in the upper right? We definitely have a Tour Guide in the lower right. The woman in the lower left might have worked in the costume department, while the Skipper just looks cool. What is the building behind Donald and that gentleman in the lower photo?
Before humankind invented the Table of Contents, there was chaos, unrest, and ring around the collar. For new hires, this ToC helped them to be their best selves in the shortest time. Get rid of that mullet, shave off that foot-long goatee, and (for the gals), reduce the height of that beehive hairdo by at least six inches.
Dick Nunis has some words of wisdom for us all. The three things that guests comment upon most frequently? "First, the cleanliness. Second, the friendly and helpful employees. And, third, the good, all around Show". Dang, I would have guessed "Are werewolves real?" would be in there, which is why I am not a Disneyland cast member. Dick mentions "French crew cuts", I have no idea how that is different from an American crew cut, but it frightens me just to consider it. I have Dick Nunis's book, I should read it!
"We are going to continue to enforce our defined standards of appearance...". Enforce, with extreme prejudice!
Here is some helpful information about costumes, and how they are designed, created, and used in the real world. I believe that the smiling young lady in the top photo is working at one of the souvenir booths just outside the tunnels into Town Square, what do you think? And HEY, what do you know! There's our good friend Bu, the Platonic ideal of neatness and tidiness. Not a hair out of place! "D" pin and name tag just so. Reading the text, I see that I would not have qualified as a cast member because of the three teardrops tattooed on my face.
I think Bu has told us stories of some costume mishaps that happened to him during his years as a Guide, it's nice to know that they had a system in place just in case. To this day I think it's amusing that they frowned on facial hair so much, considering the famous mustache on the founder, who said mustaches made men look like "city slickers". Hmmmm! Don't wear Hai Karate, but do apply Arrid Extra Dry. Mood rings are "out". I love the mention of "Earth shoes", are those still a thing?
That's it for PART ONE! The next installment will be in less than two weeks. MANY THANKS to Lou and Sue for this fun item!
22 comments:
Major-
The true secret of "The Disney Look" has been revealed by Dick Nunis: "When our guests talk about how clean DISNEYLAND and WALT DISNEY WORLD are, they are not just saying that there is no paper on the streets or that the paint is fresh... they're also talking about our Cast Members". I can't believe it - the secret all along was fresh paint on the cast members. It's pure genius-!
So when did the 'moustache and beard rule' go into effect-?
Thanks to Sue and The Major for sharing this publication.
In the first photo with that guy strangling Donald (it's about time!), I think that's just some latticework of an outdoor eating area. I thought maybe the Plaza Inn, but probably not.
Sounds like the "French crew cut" is what we 'Mericans would call a 'flattop with fenders'; short and flat on top, long and slicked back on the sides.
On the page with Bu (I'm jealous), I think I see some cherry bombs and M-80s for sale at that souvenir booth.
I totally understand why all these rules are necessary, but geez. It sure sounds overly zealous and persnickety. But I guess that's the only way to keep thousands of employees in check.
This publication is quite interesting, and kinda fun to read. Thank you very much, Sue. And thank you, Major for a particularly humorous commentary.
Flashback to many years -- nay, many DECADES ago, maybe the 70s. I was in a Main Street gift shop, towards the back, and overheard the two young ladies at the counter who I didn't really notice on entering. The conversation ran something like this:
First: "These new blouses are too flimsy. You can see my bra through it."
Second: (laughing) "There are no breasts in Disneyland."
First: "Seriously. I told our lead about it, and she said to wear a camisole. Camisoles don't work for me ..."
As the conversation continued I made my way to the front, exiting with eyes forward as if they didn't exist. Well, what DOES one do? Looking and smiling was, in this care, subject to gross misinterpretation.
Women used to wear beehives in "high-fashion" colors of pink, blue, green, and purple? I don't think I've ever seen pictures of that. I remember Tracy Turnblad in "Hairspray" had blond and brunette two-toned hair. And I also see that sometimes on contestants of vintage game shows. But I didn't think having hair dyed the colors of the rainbow was a thing until the punk scene arrived.
The location behind Donald and friend, is the patio for the former Hills Brothers Coffee House. It might have been the American Egg House in 1987.....not sure when they American Egg Board (the restaurant's sponsor) pulled out of DL.
The shop location in the photo above the pic of Bu, was the Small World Souvenir Stand. We can see several IASW souvenirs, such as multiple records and some music boxes (lover right corner). And in the upper left corner, we can see many "dolls from around the world" on the shelves. There is also a Main Street Electrical Parade picture disc/record, next to the IASW records.
Bu, that Tour Guide costume really needed to have a plaid shirt and vest! :-)
I still have my copy of "The Disney Look" from 1981. I don't think too much changed between then and 1987. But now, there have been much "relaxing" of the dress codes. And I'm pretty sure that part about maintaining "weight and size" has been dropped. And if I'm not mistaken, mustaches were allowed before beards were, but I don't remember the specific dates for either.
I wonder if there is a handbook out there titled, "The Carny Look." ;-)
Thank you Sue and Major!
Gee, I just realized that I knew the answers to my mustache (2000) and beard (2012) date questions. After leaving my comment, I remembered that I had posted this L.A. Times article in 2017! Major, maybe now they will allow your 40 facial piercings! ;-)
Bare Upper Lip No Longer a Must for Disney Workers
A French Crew Cut is cut close to the scalp following the shape of the head tightly. It was popular in the United States with some new wave people and mods in the early to mid 80’s …. But gave way to the Flat top resurgence in the mid to late 80’s.
The costumes clockwise :
COVER :
area manager - female
Jungle cruise - male
Tour Guide - female
Office - workroom attire
Wardrobe workroom
Captain EO - male
plaza Inn - female
PAGE 3
*New Fantasyland merchandise - female later attractions too
*Tour Guide - Male
PAGE 4
*Riverbelle Terrace -male
*maintainence /engineering -male
*big thunder bbq/ranch - male
(Sorry I was having problems typing this )
I just need to know... will there be a test?
Thanks, Major!
Zach
Back in the 1970's When I worked as a ride operator at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, there was a dress code and hair style code. Men's hair couldn't be long, but we were allowed to have a neatly trimmed mustache which I did have. No beards though.
And no extreme make up or hairstyles for woman at the Boardwalk.
I can understand Disney's dress code back then and relaxing it bit later. Change with the times as to what is acceptable in appearance and representation. The only problem I had was that Walt had a mustache and yet no male "cast members" were allowed to sport one who worked at his park.
Thanks Sue for "The Disney Look". The interesting thing abut this booklet is that it's all young people. There were mature adults that worked on the frontlines at Disney back then in the many shops and stores.
From what I’ve seen recently, most of this has been set aside. Still, Disney CMs are well-groomed and dressed, except for those few creepy men in dresses.
Fascinating to read, and good to see our friend Bu back in the day. The very embodiment of the Disney Look.
Thanks Sue and Major!
JG
Oops.. thank you, Sue, too.
Nanook, the fresh paint on the cast members is the DISNEY DIFFERENCE! I thought that the mustache and beard rule went back to the very beginning.
JB, they should make a cartoon about a guy strangling Donald. Turns out he’s being mind-controlled by Chip and Dale. I swear I have NEVER heard the term “French crew cut” before, it sounds like it must go back to WWII. Cherry bombs and M-80s, YES. I do understand that they need to have standards, even strict ones for a Disney park. And I also understand that the standards can change over the years.
DBenson, ha ha, yes, you could only pretend that you *heard nothing*! I once spoke to a woman who’d worked on the Storybook Land Canal Boats, and was kind of amazed that she told me about some “lady problems” she experienced due to the costume requirements that women had to adhere to. I won’t go into details.
TokyoMagic!, maybe in the 1980s women were using spray-on hair color for the “New Wave” look? Maybe not so much on beehive hairdos though. By 1987, punk was almost “old hat”. Ah, the American Egg House, I should have recognized it! Do you have any of those IASW souvenirs visible in that photo? I think that those “dolls from around the world” have become fairly expensive collectibles nowadays. I think the only copy of “The Disney Look” that I saved is a very old one, but I’ll have to dig it out and see if I’m remembering it right. If so, maybe I’ll scan it someday!
TokyoMagic!, I didn’t know I’d told you about all of my facial piercings, but I’m glad that you are aware of them!
Mike Cozart, it seems like a French crew cut would be a neat clean look (“military”, in fact) that Disney would approve of. Guess not. Thanks for the ID on the various photos/costumes!
zach, there will be a POP QUIZ!
K. Martinez, I guess I assumed that the Beach Boardwalk had pretty lax standards compared to Disney, but it sounds like they were largely on the same page (except for the mustaches). I always laughed when I read Walt’s quote about men with mustaches looking like “city slickers”. Uh, Walt? We need to talk.
JG, I guess the men in skirts is a bit shocking in a way, but ultimately I find that I don’t care that much. It doesn’t hurt anybody, and as long as they are otherwise toeing the line, it’s OK.
zach, you have passed the pop quiz.
Could someone from the year 1987 please hand a copy of this to Joe Rohde. Apparently he never got one, or believes it is not important to set an example for those who are required to abide by certain standards.
"Wear a camisole".... I think I overheard that as well, but I think it was "you MUST wear a camisole"....I also heard (directly) "Guys: ya gotta wear shorts"....(not short pants btw). If you were in custodial often times you would get wet. It was kind of a "beyond wet pants contest" as they became pretty sheer. It wasn't in print, but it was most definitely directed on my first day of work going through the Disney University. I don't particularly disagree with any of these autocratic appearance guidelines...and they weren't guidelines, they were pretty strict. Depending on where you worked you could ride that line between "OK' and "not OK"....and generally, other supervisors would rat you out in the name of "consistency"....and when you don't have it, it becomes an HR nightmare. "Susie wore hoop earrings and I can't!" I think on all of my performance appraisals it said that "appearance was impeccable"...I'm not bragging...but I was very much a loyalist, and wanted to put my best foot forward in terms of what I could control in the "look of the Disneyland Show". The "Walt had a mustache, why can't I?!" statement was said all the time, and the response was pretty simple: either: "Walt didn't work at Disneyland" or: "Well, you aren't Walt Disney". The operational reason is that you did not want Frontierland mustaches in Tomorrowland, or Main St. for that reason...and even though it all makes sense in Bear Country, the next day you could be doing crowd control on Main Street. A "clean cut" look was the Disney standard, with no extremes. For ladies: "you can't get a weave" or "frosted hair", but as long as you could really "turn it out" and were absolutely beautiful, the predominately male supervisor force looked the other way. Same thing with eye liner, shadow, etc. TG's did all those things....not over the top...just enough to stand out along side the other employees. Club 33 waitresses: same thing....(and no waiters there). "verboten". The appearance guidelines gave me discipline. You can't show up sloppy: ever...no matter if it was a hot sweaty Summer day or not: it would be called out, or someone else in the park would be ratting on you. You had to be "on" any time on stage, and for our group: off stage too. We were constantly surveilled. People today have a different POV, and the "Disney Look" is really "no more". Hence: no need for a small team of people to lead it, or produce books such as these. I disagree. You need someone to lead it. As far as facial hair, either you can grow a good one, or not. If not: don't. I'd rather not see some 20 year old struggling to look 40. I see a lot of sloppy going on most of the time these days, but I'm the one who would be monitoring employees...so I am really really picky. Above all, Disneyland is a show: and all the employees are part of it....and although I am all for non-traditional casting, I wouldn't mind turning the clock back to the time of this employee manual. Not everyone needs to be a super model, you just need to be neat, clean, tidy...and with a well tailored costume. Speaking of the "size range of costumes"...well, you can do the math. They also cautioned guys to not get "too muscular" to go outside of the size range of shirts. If you were pregnant and wanted to work closer to your "baby time" you could pay to have your costume made: which a few ladies did. As a TG you weren't allowed to go out on tours though: you were placed in "non guest visible" locations: and that is IF you paid for the costume and were wearing it backstage... a very different time indeed. Thanks Sue for taking us back! I can't say I miss that hair much: it was quite the thing to maintain: FYI: no hairspray was used in the creation of my personal Disney look despite popular belief.
There was a difference between those 'on stage' at Disneyland and the creative types at WED. And I recall a mustache or two back in the 70s for those who were hired by Walt way back when who were 'grandfathered' on Main Street. Perhaps they were RETLAW guys...I just don't recall. Yes, the code was strict, and we took ways to skirt it a bit if we could. Heck...one of my canoe 'seasonals' actually had a short pony tail which he tucked into his cap. He always wore a hat off stage. Then he went to the NFL. Thanks for this trip down memory lane Sue. Most of us from that ear bemoan what the 'standards' are today. One was a part of the show...not the show itself. And it worked. KS
MAJOR : the French Crew Cut is only about a quarter inch high - maybe less so it’s almost a shaved head - which would be too extreme for disney ( on stage )
k. Martinez : I think later in this booklet you’ll see older castmembers - I know in many of the other editions much older employees are shown.
When castmembers gained too much weight for whatever reason - including Heath or pregnancy they would be assigned “limited work” backstage … usually it was repetitive tasks like price tagging plush toys or sorting things. If a cast member had an injury but could still work while they healed , they often would be assigned “limited work” ….. but it wasn’t a desired thing to do .
And as Ken mentioned there were exceptions for some grandfathered employees … as well as some backstage machine shop guys and signshop guys … at WED , MAPO , MCGLASSHAN , RETLAW , WDI … anything went look wise if you wanted as you were not directly dealing with guests. …. Even smoking in the job was ok at one time!
In general Disney didn’t have too much difficulty enforcing these DISNEY LOOK STANDARDS… for the most part the people being hired tended to be already clean cut Americans …. So any “extremes” were usually pretty minor and easily taken care of with a trip to CAST CUTTERS.
These same look standards applied to Tokyo Disneyland …. And we’re also very easy to maintain in Japan but i remember the head of costuming telling the story that female costumes required black or dark stockings …. There were some exceptions like tourguide and Fsntasyland skirts …. But in Japan at time the culture was having white stockings … and it was difficult getting the ladies to wear the black or dark stockings /socks . Many of the Tokyo Disneyland costumes that are duplicates of the ones used at DL or WDW were re-designed to use pants and not shorts or skirts …..Tom Sawyer Island costumes being a good example.
Sue & Major- Thanks. In the thumbnail of the 1st picture, it looks like the female Plaza Inn CM is wearing a Davy Crockett hat.
-DW
Wore a uniform and followed the associated grooming standards for 24 years. You volunteer to do the job, you follow your employer's rules. Not sure why some folks (including those uniform) have trouble with that.
Lookin’ good, Bu! I always wanted hair like that but never had the patience to use mousse or whatever. Plus wearing a hat or exposure to southwest Oklahoma or northwest Ohio wind would kind of mess it up in two seconds anyway.
Thanks, Sue! This is awesome!
"I can't believe it - the secret all along was fresh paint on the cast members. It's pure genius-!"
LOL!
I'm glad everyone is enjoying this "Disney Look" guide. BTW, the guide writer could've saved half the pages and just used one page for the male look -- with a picture of Bu filling up the entire page, with the caption, "Look like THIS!"
Fun comments, today! Thanks, Major and all.
Anonymous, are you telling me that you don’t like seeing Joe Rohde’s stretched out earlobe? I feel like the story about him receiving that earring from a shaman is odd. Does that mean that the earring defines you for the rest of your life, Joe?
Bu, I hear about people who don’t wear underwear; some think it’s sexy I guess, but I think it’s weird/gross. I don’t want to know how people in custodial got their pants wet. Is it a case of “Hey, it happens to everyone”?? I accept no excuse beyond a torrential downpour. I practically have the Disney Look NOW, though perhaps my hair would be considered too long by their standards. As people know, I have a glorious mullet… party in the back (etc). The hair is nice and poofy up front too, it defies gravity. I’ve only dabbled in facial hair, maybe I didn’t give it a chance, but I didn’t like the way it felt. I remember my grandma saw me with a short beard and said, “You’ve RUINED your face!”. Seemed a little overboard. I think they should have made mustaches OK, but everyone had to have the exact same style. See: Lemmy from “Motorhead”… that’s the kind of mustache that they could have used as a model. I would think that anybody could push the envelope of the “Look” as long as they generally looked nice and neat, and that there was nothing obvious to freak people out. We have seen men with facial hair in old Frontierland pix, Stagecoach drivers and such. So there WERE exceptions. I remember finding a photo of a man playing an accordion in Frontierland, he was smoking a cigarette AND he had a fine cookie duster. I’m sure nobody complained.
KS, I always appreciate it when a person (or rule) is grandfathered in. I believe that one of the issues with not having a new Peoplemover is that they lost their “grandfathered” status after the Rocket Rods, which is a darn shame. Is it crazy that I still hold out hope for a Peoplemover of some kind?
Mike Cozart, I suppose a crew cut of that “peachfuzz” style might be seen as weirdly aggressive. Though I have photos of myself as a tot with hair that short! I remember reading stories about Walt calling out employees for being fat. E. Buzz Price, perhaps. His name is “Buzz”, give him a break! Hey, John Hench had a mustache, supposedly people would see him in the park and mistake him for Walt.
Mike Cozart, I’m sure that most people who had a wish to work at the park probably had an idea of what they were in for, as far as grooming. Perhaps during the hippy days, that might have caused more issues, but I’m often surprised when I see photos of Disneyland from, say, 1972, and you don’t see a lot of men with long hair, at least by today’s standards.
DW, ha ha, maybe that woman just has a real raccoon sleeping on her head.
Chuck, I kind of agree, if you take the job, you should follow the rules. There are lots of other places to work. Medieval Times, for instance! I don’t think most people can have hair like Bu’s is in that photo - it’s beyond perfect.
Do you have any of those IASW souvenirs visible in that photo?
Major, I don't have any of the IASW souvenirs pictured! I wish that I had bought one of those small music boxes. I think they had a little hand (finger) crank that you turned, to make them to play, instead of a spring like the "wind up" kind have. I do have a IASW picture disc, which was also sold at that stand. In fact, I just bet that to the right of those MSEP picture discs, and just out of frame, there was a stack of the IASW picture discs.
Bu, I used to have my hair in pretty much the exact same style as you, and I never used any hairspray either! It just stayed in place. I think drying it with a blow dryer helped with that.
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