YOUNG LEADERS

DISNEY CASE
STUDY
2HRS

AIMS: To highlight the differing opinions people have about the Walt Disney
Company and give Ss practice in independently researching and delivering
a presentation on different Disney audience types.
MATERIALS: · Walt Disney logo picture for brainstorming – 1 per pair
· Disney Fanatics sentences cut up and stuck on poster boards, windows
or doors (DO NOT STICK DIRECTLY ON WALLS)
· Picture of George Reiger (Disney ‘Tattoo Man’)
· ‘Disney Go Home’ picture
· ‘Disney Audience Types’ – cut up and one handed to each pair

STAGE: PROCEDURE: TIMING:

Warmer / · Give Disney logo pictures to pairs and have them brainstorm what 10 min
Lead-In they think of when they think of Disney (write on the logo paper).
· Feedback – Were Ss ‘Disney kids’? Who’s been to a Disney theme
park? Who’s a massive fan? Who hates Disney? Why?
Disney · Tell Ss that people react to the Disney Company in different ways – 5 min
audience some people love it, some people hate it. In this respect, it is very
types intro different to most companies on the stock market – people do not
have as strong opinions about Coca Cola or Apple as they do about
Disney.
· Explain that according to Janet Wasko, who wrote a book about
Disney, most of America have had some kind of contact with Disney,
and people’s reactions can be split into 7 types.
· Write these types on the board in the wrong order: fanatic, fan,
consumer, cynic, uninterested, resister, antagonist.
· Have Ss work in pairs to put them on a cline from the most loved to
the most hated. Explain/concept check vocab as they work.
· Feedback – tell Ss you are going to present the two polar opposite
views in class today.
Running · Put Ss into multinational pairs. 20 min
dictation · Have them choose roles – one is a writer, the other is a runner.
(fanatics) · Draw attention to the text you have stuck around the room. The
runner must find a sentence, remember as much of it as possible and
go back to tell their partner. Their partner must write it down. There
are 8 sentences and the winner is the first pair to write down all
eight. Tell Ss to be careful and walk quickly rather than run!
· When they have finished the running dictation, have Ss put the
sentences in the correct order so they form a cohesive paragraph.
· Feedback.
· Do they think this paragraph is about fanatics or antagonists?

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 · Have Ss discuss their reactions to the fanatics, specifically George
Reiger. Show them the picture of him to contextualise this further.
· Feedback some ideas.
Antagonists · If fanatics are people who actively seek for Disney to be a part of 20 min
their lives, what do Ss think antagonists do? (Elicit that they actively
try to work against the company and its products).
· Have Ss brainstorm possible reasons why people would want to do
this.
· Monitor and elicit ideas.
· Feedback. Possible answers include:
o Protesting sweatshops/child labour
o Protesting big business/consumerism
o Disagree with values Disney present to children (e.g. every
princess is very thin, women’s roles are to fall in love with a
man, etc.)
o Manipulation of traditional fairytales/folk stories (e.g.
Pocahontas was actually about 12 years old when she
married John Smith)
· Show ‘Disney Go Home’ poster; tell Ss this was hung in Times Square
in New York in 1998 to protest Disney’s large presence in the Square
with billboards and a large Disney store.
· Have Ss discuss why the artist, James Victore, chose this design. How
does he think it will work to antagonise the Disney Company?
· Feedback on Ss ideas. Tell Ss that the Disney Company is extremely
sensitive about copyright and their image of ‘The Mouse’. George
Reiger even has to have special permission from the Disney Company
to have so many of their images tattooed on his body, and only one
tattoo artist is allowed to ink him. Therefore, James Victore is sure to
have angered them with this campaign.
Presentation · Tell Ss they’re going to research the other audience types in their 35 min
Intro pairs and give a 3 min presentation on them.
· On board, write what they have to include:
o Define the audience type
o Give some examples of what that type of person is likely to
do/how they are likely to act
o What does that audience type believe about Disney?
o What are your own opinions on this audience type? Do you
agree/disagree? Why?
· Write website on board: disneydot.wordpress.com, tell Ss this is a
good starting point.
· Hand out audience types to pairs, give Ss 30 min to research and
write/rehearse presentations.
Presentations · Ask for volunteers or choose a strong pair to go first. 30 min
· Have listeners make notes on each audience type as presentations
are being made.
· At end, have an open class discussion on which audience type it is
best to be and why? E.g. Being a fanatic is probably unhealthy, but
fanatics are perfectly happy in their own world of Disney. Is it good
to be uninterested? Do you miss out on anything if you don’t pay
attention to Disney? Etc.

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DISNEY FANATICS
Cut the sentences up and put them on the walls before class. They are purposefully small so Ss
will find locating them more challenging, heightening the competitive element and increasing
motivation. Be sure not to stick these directly on the walls! Use poster boards (speak to your DoS
to arrange these), or stick them on doors/windows.

Text taken from Janet Wasko, Understanding Disney, (Polity Press, 2001).

Disney fanatics are big consumers of Disney products and services and
organise their important life events, such as birthdays and weddings, around
Disney.

These extreme fans have been known to design their weddings around Disney
themes, including music and wedding vows based on Disney films.

With the Classic Disney emphasis on romance, it is not surprising that devotees
(as well as less intense fans) often arrange honeymoons at one of the Disney
theme parks.

Disney World is said to be the number one honeymoon destination in the USA.

One of the most extreme Disney fanatics is 44-year-old postal worker, George
Reiger, who had more than 1,000 tattoos of Disney characters on his body in
August 2000.

He claims that he is the number one Disney fan, and it is possible that many
would agree with his claim.

He has made 284 visits to the Disney theme parks and he spends every cent he
earns minus living expenses on Disney, which, by 1993, totalled over $500,000.

He also wants his ashes to be spread in the Seven Seas Lagoon and the Pirates
of the Caribbean ride at Disney World.

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George Reiger. Picture: www.flashyourtattoo.com

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James Victore’s poster protesting the Disney take-over of Times Square. Picture: www. designarchives.aiga.org
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DISNEY AUDIENCE TYPES
Cut out and hand to pairs as their presentation topic.

Disney
Fan
Disney Reluctant
Consumer
Disney Enthusiastic
Consumer
Disney Admiring
Consumer
Disney
Cynic
Disney
Uninterested
Disney
Resister
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 Picture: www.fanpop.com

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