There is all sorts of gender bending in the character department. Lot's of the female villains are played by males (because of their taller stature). My ex was Malificient in Fantasmic! he also played Queen of Hearts in the park. For years, Disneyland had walk around face characters of the two evil step sisters from Cinderella who were played by men.
Originally Posted by ron10036
Oops, off topic.. what show(s) where you on? I was on D-24 (Monsters, Inc.)
Most of the time both Mickey and Minnie are girls due to the size requirements for the characters.
And when someone gets Mickey, that's the ONLY character they play. It's a very very very big deal to be Mickey.
Buzz Lightyear is normally a girl; even though the costume weighs 120lbs!
The Red Queen is usually a six foot tall guy.
Sorry that is not correct. Auditions are given based on Height not Gender. Mickey can be either sex, and as small as 4 1/2 feet. Face characters are Gender Specific, Rubber Heads are not. But for the tall characters which the audition a friend and I went to, almost the entire group of about 30 or so people had done this before, where about 95% male and could dance up a storm. Also for characters like The Beast, you have to be tall enough and strong enough to carry the load of the costume on your shoulders. They would never cast a 5' female in that part. She would not survive the weight and heat inside that outfit. Even a small male could not do it.It's not about their height at all.... it has to do with how well they can ACT the part... not the height requirements...
They audition over a three or four day period, and no matter what think about "stree characters" they do have to dance and memorize dance routines as they may be pulled from the street for "events" at sports games, or charity appearances that include some kind of performance. It was not an easy audition for us, as neither one of us could dance to save our lives.
Peter Pan Forever!!! I Will Never Grow Up.
Thank You Poisonedapples
In 1995, I was a finalist for the Disney Store National Trivia Competition held at Disneyland. The night before the competition, we had to be a part of a rehearsal at the Tomorrowland Terrace. There were a number of characters involved in the show and they were there participating in what was called a "head and feet" rehearsal. So here were all these Disneyland cast members with big plushie heads and fuzzy, furry feet -- most otherwise dressed in T-shirts and shorts -- dancing all around us. I can most definitely tell you that gender matching is not a requirement for some of these roles. I will NEVER look at Clarabelle Cow the same way again.
A co-worker of mine from the Disney Store went on to play Mickey at the movie barn in Toontown. He was male, short and small so apparently he fit the role of Mickey just fine. In fact, when I got engaged to my wife, he arranged a special performance on the Fantasia set so that I could propose. He played the Sorcerer's Apprentice for us that night.
Matt
"I Only Hope That We Never Lose Sight Of One Thing,
That It Was All Started By A Mouse." - Walt Disney
http://www.StartedByAMouse.com
When I was a Store Manager for the Disney Stores they used to have a program called Around the World where we got to go to Florida and experience some of the backstage magic. One of the experiences was to portray a character at EPCOT and I was Friar Tuck, it was all about height! And I am a girl! Oh and StartedByAMouse, I was at that Trivia Competition!! Yay!
"Remember: when life gives you lemons, just be glad you're not a zebra."
- Skipper Mike
You're kidding me. I can't believe how much Disney has slipped in terms of preserving the believability of the experience.No - masked characters are NOT GENDER SPECIFIC.(I know, kinda wierd.) I took a tour in WDW a few weeks ago, and our tour guide told us a story about her friend's son - his first job at WDW was playing Flora in a parade (that's one of the three fairies in Sleeping Beauty). So, Minnie can be a boy, Donald can be a girl, etc.
On a side note, I've always been disturbed by those, mostly female performers, who, acting as characters of the opposite sex, imbue the character with mannerisms characteristic of said performer's own gender. The problem is especially noticeable in Paris for some reason.
I was thinking the same thing as PragmaticIdealist. If somebody blew the whistle on that tour guide, couldn't they get in trouble for that? What's the point of the official "these ARE the characters" line if the tour guide is gonna talk like that? I think it would be way more fun for them to completely act is if they don't know what you're talking about if you mention people inside the costumes and such!
BTW, kudos to the OP for asking the question. I laughed when I saw this thread -- don't know if I've ever thought to wonder about that before!! Now I'll be all weirded out next time I visit Mickey!
No - masked characters are NOT GENDER SPECIFIC.
Um, yeah that is inappropriate. Why do you gawk at the undergarmets of Disney characters? (And Alice is NOT A PRINCESS.) Oh, BTW, all princesses must be the same size. Our tour guide said they must be a size 8 or a size 10. (Those sizes are a little smaller than what is now an 8 or a 10 - WDW has never changed their sizes w/ department stores, so their 8 is probably a size 6.)
Hope this helped to clear up any confusion....
So they expect an Alice to be 5'1" and be a size ten, aree you sure they don't have smaller sizes for smaller characters.
Looks like I was misunderstood, I meant after the height factor... meening just because someone is the right height doesnt meen thay are a particular character based on thier height alone... Im well aware height is a major part of casting....
When my daughter's friend was going to college she played Princess Atta over in DCA. She did not perform in the show, though. What they would do is have the show performers go back stage and then come out for autographs and photo opportunities. But it wasn't the performers that came back out. They would switch back stage. Of course being a fully costumed character, do one would know that. She was very good (she studied acting in college). She left the job when she graduated but also the costume was giving her neck and back problems.
Several years ago one of the single teachers at my school had a roommate who was the face character for Belle. Can you imagine having a rommate who was so pretty she could be Belle? She did say that she was the nicest person and a really good roommate.
What?
No wait..... WHAT?
To suggest Mickey has always been a man, Minnie a woman is crazy, and then saying how Disney is slipping because of this, it boggles the mind. As long as I remeber, all charactes are based on height, and I'm 20. This isn't losing the magic, cost cutting, etc, numerous other complains, this is casting to keep the characters uniform in height and size.
...a vaguely celtic music fills the air...
Funny story about this topic. I was at the park with a guy friend of mine and we were walking along and talking and the Queen of Hearts came up and put "her" hand out for my friend to kiss it. My friend did not kiss "her" hand, and just kind of looked up and then at me and we walked around the Queen. Well, for the next minute or so the Queen followed behind us and eventually ran up in front of my friend again and put forth "her" hand to have my guy friend kiss. He this time kind of ran around h"her" to get away. The Queen THEN grabbed his hood (playfully, not menacing) and made him turn around and kiss "her" hand!!! LMAO
Well fast forward to MONTHS later, my friend was in the park with another friend of ours and he gets tapped on the shoulder. He turns around to see THE QUEEN! "She" waved and him and walked away. HILARIOUS. I love that it's TOTALLY a guy in that costume chasing my friend around...
Last edited by BetterThanThis; 06-23-2006 at 02:02 PM.
You people are funny. I don't know how you people get your information but a majority of the stuff in this thread is wrong.
Posting Permissions
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Bookmarks