Essay About Walt Disney Company And Cultural Values

Walt Disney Company
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1. Firstly, the Walt Disney Company was founded in the USA from two American
brothers named Walter Elias Disney and Roy Oliver Disney. Consequently the
Disney product itself is an American one. Furthermore the extent as well as
the content of the Disney stories is very American, because they deal with
topics such as “The excitement of great adventures” or “The loneliness of
being among strangers”; these are related to the American history as well as
to its cultural values.1
There is a substantial universal part within Disney. Firstly, Disney targets and
attracts people from all age classes, like children, adults and even
grandparents.2 Secondly, Disney casts and hires people from different
nationalities to provide a multicultural und multilingual workforce, being able to
support their international clientele.3
2. Firstly, Tokyo Disneyland, which was designed to imitate the Disney parks in
the US, was running very well with minor cultural adaptions. Consequently
Disney managers wanted to apply the same concept to Disneyland Paris, as
cultural differences are even smaller, compared to the cultural differences
between USA und Japan.4 Therefore the managers were relatively confident
and optimistic about their original plans and future expectations.5
Secondly, the managers didnt expect the intense criticism from Europes
cultural elite, e.g. The French president didnt show up for the opening event
because it wasnt his “cup of tea”, as well as the anti-Americanism from the
French side.6
3. Firstly, Disney changed their name from “Euro Disney” to “Disneyland Paris”,
because they wanted to create distance from the debated Euro currency as
well as to emphasize the Paris location. In addition Disney constructed a city,
called Val d Europe, in order to integrate Disney into France and Europe.
Furthermore, Disney opened up a second theme park, called Walt Disney
Studios Park. In this park Disney