Character comtradictions

[mom2rtk]

That name has been out there for a while. I remember after seeing the BATB show at DHS back in 2008 for the first time, I saw that name on a character site for the first time.

 

[disneyshakeygirl]

Glenn Keane, who was the head animator for the Beast/Prince, confirmed last year that that he, nor the director or producers, never actually gave Beast a name. On the commentary of the DVD that was released about 10 years ago, you can hear the producers say they never gave him a name, it's just Beast or The Prince.

Glenn said it's strictly a fan name and Adam just stuck, even though he was never given a name to begin with. Just a random fact. It is listed in the POR rooms as Adam, so I think that's what he is now known as, even though it's not his actual name.

 

[neverlandmom]

My kids 21,18,15,13,11, and 8 all know (of course the older ones know by now). Living so close to Disney we get to meet a lot of people who are "friends" with characters. What's really neat is even outside Disney they are so protective of the magic. Even though we know when we step inside the parks it becomes real to us and we still love meeting them. There is just something about that Disney magic!

 

[>Ash<]

some of these i think can be easily explained away with kids, here we go...

Ariel - because she misses her undersea friends her dad is able to turn her legs back into fins, then when she wants to see eric her dad turns her back into legs... he is king of the ocean afterall

(in the movie we know he has the power to turn her human, why not turn her back?? )

nobody would recognise him in prince form, so he found a way to turn himself back into the beast.

My favoriate one...

why cant they talk like in the movies? - Magic... magic brought them into our world, sadly some of them cant talk in our world and only have voices in the cartoon world.


hehe this is fun, have fun guys

 

[MikeyTex]

My kids never questioned if they were real or not...........what surprises me is that nobody has mentioned a kid asking the question that would strike immediate fear in me........"How come they talk on tv and not in real life?"

 

[JohnNYC]

Before we found these boards, my wife and I had no idea some of you let your children believe these things are real! So weird to us!
Not judging or anything, believe me, just very surprised. We never even thought of the characters like that.

Our kids have been going since birth, basically, and have always known they are people dressed up just for entertainment and have always found it fun to get pictures taken, etc. regardless.

Now they are 9 and 7, and while they don't ever want to wait on a long line to see a character, they still enjoy a hug or high five at a character meal or a random meeting in a park.

We can't be the only ones who find this whole "real" characters strange, right?

 

[SnapesGirl]

Before we found these boards, my wife and I had no idea some of you let your children believe these things are real! So weird to us!
Not judging or anything, believe me, just very surprised. We never even thought of the characters like that.

Our kids have been going since birth, basically, and have always known they are people dressed up just for entertainment and have always found it fun to get pictures taken, etc. regardless.

Now they are 9 and 7, and while they don't ever want to wait on a long line to see a character, they still enjoy a hug or high five at a character meal or a random meeting in a park.

We can't be the only ones who find this whole "real" characters strange, right?

No stranger than kids believing in Santa Clause! Some kids just believe and why not let them? Heck, real life is dull enough as an adult. I wish I could see the world through a kid's eyes again!

 

[WishingMom]

It's not confusing at all, and the answer is really very simple.

WDW is a place of fantasy and imagination. If your daughter wanted to dress up as Rapunzel for Halloween, would you limit her to ONLY dressing like "end of movie" Rapunzel? Of course not. Because your daughter's imagination can create any version of Rapunzel that she wants. If your son wanted to be Gaston, would you tell him he can't because Gaston is dead? Imaginations don't have to follow the rules of "who the character was when the story ended". They can pick the story up anywhere they want.

So ... in a place of pure imagination like WDW, characters can exist in many different forms. In one place, Beast is still a beast. In another ... he's a prince. In one place, Ariel is a mermaid. In another, she chooses to appear as a human. Gaston is alive, and Tinker Bell can talk. They are imaginary characters who can decide to appear in whichever form they want at whatever time they want.

Simple.

I absolutely LOVE this! Well said and so very true!

 

[JohnNYC]

Yeah, I thought about the Santa thing, which I have a whole other set of opinions about that I'll spare you from, but the characters are a little different. Most of them aren't even people! They're giant animals, or aliens like Stitch. Kinda weird for kids to think there are 5ft dogs and stuff running around, etc.

Again, not judging or trying to argue AT ALL, just very curious about this whole phenomenon. If it works for your family...great!

I just never thought our kids missed out on a thing...like I said, they love seeing characters regardless. They love the Disney magic, etc. and appreciate it the way we do. Heck, there are plenty of adults who love meeting characters and I'm pretty sure they know they are not real.
At least, I think they do!

 

[mesaboy2]

Yeah, I thought about the Santa thing, which I have a whole other set of opinions about that I'll spare you from, but the characters are a little different. Most of them aren't even people! They're giant animals, or aliens like Stitch. Kinda weird for kids to think there are 5ft dogs and stuff running around, etc.

Again, not judging or trying to argue AT ALL, just very curious about this whole phenomenon. If it works for your family...great!

I just never thought our kids missed out on a thing...like I said, they love seeing characters regardless. They love the Disney magic, etc. and appreciate it the way we do. Heck, there are plenty of adults who love meeting characters and I'm pretty sure they know they are not real.
At least, I think they do!

When DD8 was DD2, she didn't question the characters' reality or not. She believed it, and I'm in no hurry for her to grow up.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Dh and I were just discussing this the other day. We had seen some photos of the new story time with Belle that's going to be in the new Fantasyland. It apparently includes an animatronic, interactive Lumiere and Wardrobe (does the wardrobe have a name?). Anyways, DH was like, "Why did they go back to being pieces of furniture? Why would we want them to go back to being pieces of furniture?"

From that perspective, it does seem sort of wrong.

 

[WedgieSock]

I think keeping the magic alive for your children is fun - whether they believe you or not. I am 40 and EVERY year my Mom still says in an excited voice 'oooh I wonder what Santa has brought you this year" and her gifts to me have 'from Santa' on the label. I know, she knows, we all know. But its still fun

 

[aznshents]

I actually decided to be a prick in the bum last week when I was character hunting, and I went up and asked Belle why when she fell in love with the Beast he turned into a human, but in the parks meeting people he's still big and hairy.

She instantly responded with she likes him that way, and then went on about how beauty is really on the inside, etc. etc.

I didn't have anything for her.

 

[JohnNYC]

I think keeping the magic alive for your children is fun - whether they believe you or not. I am 40 and EVERY year my Mom still says in an excited voice 'oooh I wonder what Santa has brought you this year" and her gifts to me have 'from Santa' on the label. I know, she knows, we all know. But its still fun

Love this!

 

[PrincessKida]

Deleted

 

[Jerzeegator]

I am 42 years old and I still get excited when I see Mickey... I did KTTK last October and I saw some of the characters preparing for the parade bottoms on but no tops and I was honestly traumatized I had to turn away. I live for the magic and to take a few days to forget my big people responsibilties and just be a kid...I can't wait to share the magic with my new granddaughter who was born last week...

Can't wait to see you Mickey in 13 days...

Kelly

 

[jmm476]

I am 42 years old and I still get excited when I see Mickey...

Agreed! Heck, on my 30th birthday trip, I bounced my way over to Tigger when I met him at AK. Not walked, literally bounced! I just feel like a kid again whenever I meet characters. DH thinks I'm weird, but I don't care. I only hope DD likes meeting characters as much as I do.

 

[shalom]

I don't think there is anything wrong with telling your kids whatever works for you, but I just wanted to throw it out there that you can still enjoy the parks and tell them how things actually work and why.

Agreed. We never did the Santa thing when I was a kid -- we liked Santa but knew he was only a story -- and we raised our kids pretty much the same way. Although when eldest son decided Santa mush be real (we inadvertently ran into a Santa at the zoo where it would have been rude to completely avoid him), because he got everything he asked Santa for, his siblings kind of ganged up on him, so I switched from, "Nope, not real, but cool" to "I refuse to confirm or deny."

It is listed in the POR rooms as Adam, so I think that's what he is now known as, even though it's not his actual name.

Just out of curiosity, do the POR rooms list Snow White's prince as "Ferdinand"? I'm hoping not, because I want to play with that myth on a t-shirt.

 

[disneynewbee]

It's funny I have kids in lots of different stages of life 18, 9,6, and newly 4 and we have never discussed nor have any of them ever asked if the characters were real. My 18yo was 9 on our first trip so I know she's always known but it has never come out of her mouth and she has always played along and loves character meets. With my other 3 I really have no idea what they believe because I'm not going to bring it up unless they do. We always had a rule in our house though when it came to Santa since we have such a wide range in ages. When one would come to me and say someone in school told them Santa wasn't real or that they didn't think he was real my response was always " It's your choice whether to believe or not but once you stop believing Santa stops bringing gifts. When Santa stops bringing gifts mom and dad have to start buying them and we can't afford nearly as much as what Santa can. So it's up to you." This way even if they don't believe they pretend they do so they don't ruin it for their younger sisters. I remember my older sister bursting my Santa bubble way before I was ready to hear it. So I think my older ones know that if they don't believe they better keep it to themselves.

 

[bytheblood]

I dont know what any of you people in this entire thread are talking about. Of course they are all real. All 300 Mickeys!