Random Face Character Question...

[princedalton]

I was looking at some photos of face characters from DLRP and I wondered if they speak English? I guess most Europeans do anyways, but are they from France? Or are they from the US? or the UK maybe? Just curious

[ICe101]

I believe, I am not positive, that most of the cast members speak English and French.

[TDLFAN]

Face characters at DLP do not impress me much. Seems like the people they choose to play these characters are locals and for the most part, do not project the image of the characters they portray all that well. Sadly but that is how I rate their performances.

[nathan detroit]

Like the cast members, the face characters are at least bi-lingual.

[soundtracker]

In fact, many of the Princesses are British, so speak English with a UK (usually Essex) accent!

[davewasbaloo]

We met a wonderful Cinderella last year, with a Californian accent!!!! I was really shocked.

[fizzog]

I would guffaw if Cinderella suddely yelled out with an Essez accent. Not quite like the film! I would love to play characters in the parks, just for a week for fun hehe.

[pussnboots]

I just read this trip report about this rather flamboyant and energetic Prince Phillip who had to drag along the world's surliest Aurora, which made me laugh. Although the person who wrote the report didn't quite see the humor in the situation.

I think that's one thing that can be said for the face characters; the men are clearly doing the job they were born to do (although some might ogle the costumes of their female counterparts still.) With the women, it's a hit-or-miss kind of thing.

But I digress. This is all very interesting! I never get close enough to the face characters to actually hear them speak — wouldn't that be creepy, a grown man, Smithers-style in line with the tween girls — so I had no idea some of them sound like they should be married to Peter Andre. That's hilarious.

[soundtracker]

It's an insurance thing - for some obscure reason, it's cheaper for DLRP to hire British dancers for the parades and shows, so most of the people you see performing on Main Street every day are British.

For a similar reason, the Tinkerbell who used to glide up the zipline to start the "Fantasy in the Sky" fireworks each night was actually a man!

[TDLFAN]

Originally Posted by fizzog

I would guffaw if Cinderella suddely yelled out with an Essez accent. Not quite like the film! I would love to play characters in the parks, just for a week for fun hehe.

Isn't Cinderella supposed to be british? I thought that was the case, therefore it would seem natural if Cindy spoke with a brit accent.

[MonkeyDishwasher]

I always thought she (Cinderella) was French... But then again, Princess Aurora's origins are French or English, it doesn't quite seem decided. Years ago, I remember seeing her in EPCOT, right between the England and France Pavilions. Nowadays she's been shifted over to the France Pavilion, but just a few years ago it seemed sort of ambiguous. So, who knows.

[davewasbaloo]

Ok guys, to clarify the originals:

Cinderella is Cindrillon - French
Sleeping Beauty is Belle au Bois Dormant - French
Snow White is Schnee Weiss - German
Alice is English as is Wendy
Belle is French
Pocahontas is American
Jasmine is Arabian (however evidence suggests the stories emanated in Iran)
Ariel is Danish
Hope that helps

[nathan detroit]

Should I be pedantic and point out that the origins of the story of Cinderella are actually Chinese?

No, I won't.

[luke7059]

I actually thought that face-characters weren't allowed to speak haha!! Next time I go to DLP I'm going to make a point of having a chat with one of them! I always assumed that face characters were played by French performers, but a few friends of mine went over to perform in 2004/2005, and they played both face and costume characters.

[PeaJay18]

The Jack Sparrow we met in Feb had a Cockney accent!
He was very good at staying in character, and much better than the Bert who spoke English with a French accent that we chatted to the year before.

Surely nobody's accent can be worse than Dick Van Dyke's attempt, so why not just ape that travesty?