Disney Worldis supposed to be the most magical places on the planet. Children get to see their favorite characters in real life, families can enjoy shows and exciting rides together in the sunshine, and they all get to return home with memories of the experience that will last them a lifetime.
And while kids might not understand that the characters they see in the park are simply actors playing roles, theirparentsshould. But one father recently gotoffendedwhen he realized that you don’t necessarily have to be born a female to play a woman at Disney. Below, you’ll find all of the details, as well as a conversation with a representative fromThat Park Place!
Disney World is supposed to be one of the most magical places on Earth
Image credits:Craig Adderley / Pexels (not the actual photo)
But one father was not happy with his experience there, after deciding that the Evil Queen didn’t sound enough like a woman
Image credits:LocalFloridaGal / Youtube
Here’s a clip of the Evil Queen that another guest shared
A family has reached out to That Park Place claiming they spent over $300 on a character meet and greet dinner at Walt Disney World… only to discover the Evil Queen character was almost certainly a biological male. This represents the first time we’ve heard of Disney using a…pic.twitter.com/jHRt64wl4O
— wdwpro (@wdwpro1)April 23, 2024
In costume, the actor bears a striking resemblance to her animated persona
Image credits:Disney
To gain more insight on this situation, we reached out to the team atThat Park Place, anews site that covers theme parks, video games, entertainment and more. This is also the outlet that the family reached out to to complain about their recent experience at Disney World.
The news site also noted that this is the first time they’ve ever heard guests complaining about a biological male playing a female character. “In this particular instance, both the height of the performer and the vocal pitch seem to have been so masculine-presenting that the father felt this was more of a ‘drag’ performance than an authentic representation of the character,” they explained.
“In recordings that feature the performer speaking to guests, we have noted that Disney’s standard of even training performers on particular diction, accents and vocal tone appears to have been disregarded in this case. Though we can’t say for sure that we would have responded the same as the father of the family in question, we recognize his legitimate concern that the Evil Queen came across in a very non-traditional manner,” the rep continued.
“Disney Parks has made interesting decisions in terms of how they hire as of late”
That Park Place also shared that tall women might be put at a disadvantage when biological men are cast to play characters such as the Evil Queen. “There aren’t many roles at the Disney Parks which call for taller women. And the role of the Evil Queen at Artist Pointe in Wilderness Lodge is considered to be a very premium position,” they explained. “It’s a dream job for many taller–and older–women who yearn for this sort of position but have aged out of other roles at the Disney Parks. Many Evil Queens are former Disney princesses. If biological men can readily play this role and interact with guests even if their voices are masculine-presenting, it could greatly reduce opportunities for women who have dreamed of the opportunity to take on this theatrical performance.”
“Finally, it should also be noted that Disney Parks has made interesting decisions in terms of how they hire as of late,” That Park Place says. “They’ve gone so far as to seek stunt performers based not on their biological sex or physical traits, but rather their declared gender and presentation. For stunt work, that can be very dangerous since men and women have real physiological differences in all sorts of ways that matter to the safety of performers. Even beyond just Evil Queens, it appears Disney may have some serious reconsiderations when it comes to how they hire based on sex and gender. Safety and authenticity should conceivably come ahead of modern philosophical movements.”
57% of Americans admit that there is a fair or great amount of discrimination against transgender individuals in the United States. Yet 38% believe that our society has gonetoo farin accepting trans people. That’s frightening to hear, considering that 1 in 4 trans adults say they’ve been physically assaulted due to their gender identity,KFF reports. At the same time, 64% say they’ve been verbally attacked, and 41% report being harassed or feeling unsafe in a restroom or locker room.
While this issue is a lot larger than a family trip to Disney, it’s relevant to note that Disney is intended to be an accepting place for everyone. In 2021, Disney debuted an addedfifth keyto their legendary “Four Keys”: safety, courtesy, show, efficiency and now,inclusion. This emphasis on inclusion is intended to focus on how employees treat one another, as well as how they interact with guests.
Some readers took the conservative family’s side
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However, most had absolutely no problem with the actor
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