Disney: Where does it stand?

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  • Hey guys. I'm gonna admit that this is tied to a podcast that I'm doing tonight, but it's something that I've genuinely wondered about for a while, so this question was coming sooner or later. Might as well be now.

    For all the years that I've been going to cons and doing game shows, I notice the occasional Disney cosplay here and there. Always cool to be seen, and usually just as well done as everything else I run into.

    But I can't help but wonder how people really feel about where Disney's "place" is within the convention and geek world. With all of our focus predominantly on anime and video games, how high is Disney on the ladder? Do you see it as just as welcome as all the other stuff? Is it direct competition that's taking away from everything else that's around? Is it completely shunned because no one runs panels or rarely sells products devoted to it?

    Where do all of you sit on the matter?

  • Always been a lifelong Disney fan, and I see plenty of Disney cosplay (anyone who ever complained that Disney takes away from the animu, well, Disney was the inspiration for Japanese anime, there ISN'T a Disney convention out there and you can't cosplay in the Disney parks, and conventions for Western animation are rare if existent at all, so where the hell else would you wear it...). The main reason you see so little Disney merch, fanmade or official, and not much in the way of panels or showings either, is that the Mouse's lawyers are GIGANTIC. Conventions won't even touch anything Disney for fear getting a Cease and Desist or bigger, even for a fan panel on "who's the best princess". Individual made-to-order commissions for cosplays or art or whatnot that are usually not made more than once are generally the only way you can get away with selling anything associated with them in the con scene. Believe me, many of us congoers hate that fact. A fan-run Disney convention would be seriously awesome but would be slammed right down before it could happen. I do Artist Alley at most cons I attend and many of them have "No Disney fanart or fan products" in the rules, even if virtually all other sources are allowed.

  • I think I've always thought of it as awesome and exciting to see. In fact, I'm more excited to see a Disney character I know and love than a random anime character I know nothing about. Disney is a lot more universal than a lot of games and anime, and while most everyone does know Disney, it's not widely cosplayed versus whatever anime is popular that year, so I don't tend to get sick of them as easily. I'm hoping to cosplay Esmeralda eventually! I'd also love to do a Star Wars/Disney cross over soon too :)

  • [QUOTE=ShinobiXikyu;5060664]Always been a lifelong Disney fan, and I see plenty of Disney cosplay (anyone who ever complained that Disney takes away from the animu, well, Disney was the inspiration for Japanese anime, there ISN'T a Disney convention out there and you can't cosplay in the Disney parks, and conventions for Western animation are rare if existent at all, so where the hell else would you wear it...). The main reason you see so little Disney merch, fanmade or official, and not much in the way of panels or showings either, is that the Mouse's lawyers are GIGANTIC. [/QUOTE]
    Pretty much! However, I'm going to push back on what I've bolded. D23 Expo in Anaheim is an official Disney Convention that began in 2009. Now, having said that, not everyone can or wants to travel all the way out to SoCal for a con, but that's basically the main choice for Disney fans who want a Disney con. If a fanmade Disney con were to open elsewhere, it would certainly get shut down long before the doors would even open.

    Now, as far as cosplay goes, on the whole Disney cosplays are extremely popular (at least from my personal observation). Kids love them, adults who grew up on Disney love them. They're huge winners every time. According to my fellow cosplayers who regularly cosplay Disney, if you cosplay a well-known Disney character, you won't be able to go further than a few feet without someone wanting your picture. At Comic Con-type conventions, they're also massively popular since Disney is basically a huge facet to western pop culture. But going back to ShinobiXikyu's original point, part of the reason why the Disney fandom isn't heavily represented in the geek community is the fear of getting a strike from the Walt Disney Corporation.

  • I grew up watching several of the classics (ie; Snow White, Sleeping Beauty etc.). I've only gone to cons for a short while, but I always see Disney cosplays everywhere I go. They're always neat to see.
    I personally think that people who cosplay from Disney happen to do so because they like the character enough to dress as them, just the same as someone who would want to cosplay from Revolutionary Girl Utena or something.
    Most cons I go to are centered around anime/manga and anything of the sort, but there are no rules that say that you have to dress from someone who is sourced from anime. Fan Expo is all-inclusive but for me comes off as more comic centered (Marvel, DC etc.) so again for me I think it just depends on who the person decides to cosplay as.
    With that said, for AN I always see Marvel cosplays even though the con focuses on anime/manga. I don't think there's a competition unless cosplayers happen to enter a skit/masquerade.
    I always enjoy seeing costumes from any source, even if I don't know where it's from because I may like the costume :)
    The source material is Japanese so I can understand why some people would be put off, or question it somehow but it has expanded to all other areas so it's not limited to anime and stuff.

  • As a HUGE fan of everything Disney, and an avid Disney cosplayer I would love to see even MOAR AND MOAR Disney involved in these cons.

    I understand like others have said that Disney is such a stingy Juggernaut when it comes to anything related to them, but c'mon Disney ONE convention (D23) every TWO years in only ONE location each time is just NOT enough for all the Disney fans and cosplayers!! I really wish they would let up on their constant hold of rights to everything and let other Disney based conventions happen! If they are that hard up about them, then sponsor them and collect the coins from the sales of tickets, you know damn well they will make 1,000s of $$ at each convention!

    For me because I grew up with Disney and still LOVE it, I much prefer seeing Disney cosplays at conventions versus anime, video games, etc etc that I know nothing about. Going back to the frustrations of Disney's stinginess, it really does limit the conventions I can go to if I cosplay Disney. Yah anime based conventions are also typically "all-inclusive" but at the same time it's just not the place for Disney or other cosplays that aren't anime. I learned my lesson the one and only time I went to a predominately anime convention (NDK) as I went with Disney cosplay, and although there were a few other Disney cosplayers there too, I just did NOT enjoy myself as 98% of the cosplays there I did not know what they were.

    In the end I really wish Disney would let the reigns loose a little bit and let other Disney conventions happen, so there is more opportunity for cosplayers who aren't anime/video game based in their cosplays they do.

  • I see lots of Disney cosplays in my city, partly for conventions and partly for charity events (I think our local group has pretty much every princess at this point). Kids love seeing their favourite characters brought to life and seeing the looks on their faces makes all the blood, sweat and tears worth it. :)

  • Well, Disney does have it's own convention(D23 Expo) where you'll see TONS of Disney cosplays! It actually just happened last month! I went to it on Sunday and without a doubt, saw a lot of Disney cosplays! I cosplayed myself as Lilo when I went. :)

    But yeah, I've been a fan of Disney since I was a kid, and have a few Disney cosplays. I'm also planning more, too! XD

    ETA: I do know there's also another Disney-type convention here in CA called Mouse-con. I have yet to check it out, but might finally do so this year. The con is in November in San Francisco. It's a fan convention and it started two years ago I believe?? And it has yet to get shut down by Disney so I guess they got permission to have it. xD I mean since they have official Disney guests then I would certainly hope they do! XD It's pretty much a Disney collectible con, but hey, still Disney! :3

  • [QUOTE=Sonic Whammy;5060663]Hey guys. I'm gonna admit that this is tied to a podcast that I'm doing tonight, but it's something that I've genuinely wondered about for a while, so this question was coming sooner or later. Might as well be now.

    For all the years that I've been going to cons and doing game shows, I notice the occasional Disney cosplay here and there. Always cool to be seen, and usually just as well done as everything else I run into.

    But I can't help but wonder how people really feel about where Disney's "place" is within the convention and geek world. With all of our focus predominantly on anime and video games, how high is Disney on the ladder? Do you see it as just as welcome as all the other stuff? Is it direct competition that's taking away from everything else that's around? Is it completely shunned because no one runs panels or rarely sells products devoted to it?

    Where do all of you sit on the matter?[/QUOTE]

    Did you, somehow, miss how a couple of years ago each and every convention seemed to drown in Frozen cosplays? Disney cosplays are definitly nothing rare to be seen, at least thats my impression. Other (otherwise fairly geeky fandoms) are often much less presented on general conventions than Disney. Its been a part of most peoples childhood and the disney princess stereotype is kind of a popculture meme in itself. I don't see Disney cosplays as different from any other cosplay.

  • It's really not all that different than say, Doctor Who, Supernatural, Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek, video games.... etc...cosplays....it's just another form of media that people can geek out to.

  • [QUOTE=Scunosi;5060727]

    I kind of wonder if Disney cosplay has a bit of a reputation as "easy" cosplay, and maybe that leaves cosplayers not wanting to do it as much? Maybe I'm just imagining things but when I personally think about Disney cosplay I think of those home-run businesses throwing princess tea parties for kids, often with kind of chintzy costumes.[/QUOTE]

    I find most of the costume you can buy for Disney are horrible Halloween costumes. I know a couple of people who do commissions won't sell anything Disney.

    I personally love Disney and have done a couple of Cosplays. Most of the cons I go to have a decent representation for Disney. It's people's childhood. It's fandom expression. It's always going to be there. I think if Disney really tried to control the cosplayers too much it would just backfire.

  • [QUOTE=gypsy_girl;5060730]I personally love Disney and have done a couple of Cosplays. Most of the cons I go to have a decent representation for Disney. It's people's childhood. It's fandom expression. It's always going to be there. I think if Disney really tried to control the cosplayers too much it would just backfire.[/QUOTE]
    Eh, to be fair they already do to some extent. The parks have strict no-costume rules for anyone above a certain young age (for various reasons) outside of special events and instead of making everyone hate Disney it just created Disney-bounding, which honestly is practically just "modern AU Disney everything" or Disney gijinkas honestly.

    Though I swear I did see a Kairi cosplayer doing a photoshoot when I went to Disney World last year, but of course she's just wearing somewhat-normal streetwear so she's technically legal. But I think I heard in another thread wigs generally aren't allowed either so I wonder if it was a wig or just dyed hair. Hair dyeing is so popular these days Disney definitely couldn't just bar everyone with unnatural hair from entering their parks.

  • [QUOTE=Scunosi;5060727]I don't know, maybe this is a regional thing. You mostly go to German/European cons right? The cons I go to in the Pacific Northwest of USA don't tend to have too much Disney. Yeah I've seen some princesses, but you're more likely to see someone doing some sort of crossover cosplay (like Twisted Princesses or something) than plain 'ol Disney over here. It wouldn't surprise me if you see more Disney at international cons since it's got a much more global scope that even non-video game or -anime fans could enjoy.
    [/QUOTE]

    Yes, I usually have to stick to german/european conventions (even if I wish I could go to US ones) and I did count those "fan versions" of disney princesses in, as it gives people more varity to portay a character without going to suffer making a ballgown.

    But what I wanted to say that, with a few expectations Disney doesn't appear to me to be especially underrepresented (compared to other fandoms) to a level that would make (for me) this threads question...normal or to be expected. Sure, it can't outnumber current hypes, but it always seemed to be a steady thing, even if people take a creative twist on the designs. Which, I think, serves as a good answer to the OP, about his concern that Disney may have no place at conventions.

  • I do know that here in California, usually the conventions I attend will have a Disney gathering. Fanime always has two, actually. A regular gathering and an "extended family" gathering. The extended one is for basically all things tied with Disney, while the regular one is I think strictly the movies. Sac-Anime has a Disney gathering, as well, and lately they've been getting Disney-related guests(not that I mind seeing them, but I wish they would stick with anime-related guests since it is an anime-based con :/ )

    I agree though in the fact that Disney shouldn't be so salty about people wanting Disney fan conventions. Or they should collaborate with people so that they can have more cons(especially ones outside of CA).