Haunted Mansion script to become more PC?

casrin · Post by **casrin** » Jan Thu 10, 2008 4:32 pm

Against changing it, therefore FOR keeping it the same.

saritajuanita · Post by **saritajuanita** » Jan Fri 11, 2008 3:46 am

Oh boy, it's shooting the hippos and chasing the maidens all over again. Honestly, who complains about this, except for that woman in Texas who got upset that the WalMart Halloween decorations were too scary for her precious little poppets?

I actually experienced something like this when I worked at the park though. I used to get shifts at strollers, and when I wrote the family's name on the label for the stroller, I liked to include a Mickey Mouse silhouette. When we got really busy, I'd make the silhouette by making three swirls with the Sharpe (two each for the ears, a larger one for the head). Some of the other CMs liked the idea and started doing it as well. At DCA, the labels were ABL themed, so I added bees. Anyways, a week or so later, the DL strollers manager calls us together and tells us that only names can go on the labels from now on. Apparently, someone had done a hasty "swirly mickey" that, to a guest who'd probably fail a Rorscharch test, apparently looked like a 666 (if you were drunk, half-blind, and squinted). Apparently this guest was so offended by this supposed "666" that they immediately lodged a complaint with City Hall. The result? No more Mickeys for anyone else, because rather than look at the preferences of the general public, DL bowed over to the paranoia of a very small minority. Here's hoping they don't do that here (especially given how rabid HM fans can be...).

ETA: after reading the article, I have to wonder if anyone in Glendale ever talks to anyone over in the park. If the peopler over at Miceage.com are to be believed, the turnover rate at DLR is something like 150% a year. I'd assume this includes some HM cast members. So what are they going to do? Have the acting coaches come out each month to retrain the new crop? It seems like a wasteful approach to a non-problem. Don't fix what ain't broken. Instead, head over to the Jungle Cruise and instruct the skippers about the proper distance from the mouth for the microphone to be held at.

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Jan Fri 11, 2008 5:17 am

saritajuanita wrote:Apparently, someone had done a hasty "swirly mickey" that, to a guest who'd probably fail a Rorscharch test, apparently looked like a 666 (if you were drunk, half-blind, and squinted). Apparently this guest was so offended by this supposed "666" that they immediately lodged a complaint with City Hall.

That cracked me up. I can sorta see how loosely-drawn Mickey circles might look like a triumvirate of 6's, but the fact the guest looked at it and thought "oh noes devilry!" instead of "wow that's a sloppy Mickey head", given the place that they're in, is completely hilarious to me.

So what are they going to do? Have the acting coaches come out each month to retrain the new crop? It seems like a wasteful approach to a non-problem.

That's an excellent point I hadn't considered before. I assume the new spiel training will just be part of training if you land a role at the HM. I wonder if there will be requirements that cast members who can work there have to have some modicum of acting ability now? I've seen some pretty personality-impaired people working various rides around the parks; I doubt everyone has the ability to pull of an (almost) actual acting role and provide the 'consistent quality' the Imagineer in the article was talking about given. Interesting.

danimal3114u · Post by **danimal3114u** » Jan Fri 11, 2008 10:54 am

DisBeamer wrote:
saritajuanita wrote:Apparently, someone had done a hasty "swirly mickey" that, to a guest who'd probably fail a Rorscharch test, apparently looked like a 666 (if you were drunk, half-blind, and squinted). Apparently this guest was so offended by this supposed "666" that they immediately lodged a complaint with City Hall.
That cracked me up. I can sorta see how loosely-drawn Mickey circles might look like a triumvirate of 6's, but the fact the guest looked at it and thought "oh noes devilry!" instead of "wow that's a sloppy Mickey head", given the place that they're in, is completely hilarious to me.

You know that the person actually didn't think "oh my, that cast member is a devil worshipper." They were probably hoping to get a law suit out of it, or at the very least some special treatment for having been "offended." And of course, this is all at the expense of their children, who probably had to wait in line at City Hall at the beginning of the day so that they could file a complaint instead of going on one of the rides or seeing a princess, etc.

Post by **YZFDonor** » Jan Fri 11, 2008 1:09 pm

Just like the bad scenes in the movies... you have to play a movie, frame by frame to see this stuff AND then you have to imagine seeing some of the items in question.

My question is:
If YOU see it and I don't, WHO has the corrupt head???

Cheshire Cat · Post by **Cheshire Cat** » Jan Fri 11, 2008 3:23 pm

Oh boy, it's shooting the hippos and chasing the maidens all over again

Not to side track, but this just reminded me of soemthing. Last visit (about two weeks ago) our Jungle Cruise Skipper pulled out the gun for the hippo pool, and to my surprise, it actually made snapping noises. I thought they were just there for the decor now, but apparently the skippers are allowed to use them if there are no young children on board (which there wasn't).

saritajuanita · Post by **saritajuanita** » Jan Fri 11, 2008 4:13 pm

Cheshire Cat wrote: apparently the skippers are allowed to use them if there are no young children on board (which there wasn't).

Heck, I've seen them shoot at the hippos even with kids on board. However, they give a CYA warning about how loud the sound will be first.

This reminds me of my favorite (off script) skipper crack. Before they gave them their guns, back, our skipper was going by the hippo pools and he said "Wave to the hippos, wave to the hippos - cause all we're allowed to do is wave to the hippos." The tourists didn't really get it, but my friend and I collapsed into giggles.

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Jan Fri 11, 2008 8:16 pm

danimal3114u wrote:You know that the person actually didn't think "oh my, that cast member is a devil worshipper." They were probably hoping to get a law suit out of it, or at the very least some special treatment for having been "offended." And of course, this is all at the expense of their children, who probably had to wait in line at City Hall at the beginning of the day so that they could file a complaint instead of going on one of the rides or seeing a princess, etc.

Yeah you're probably right. I still like the mental image of the person crying devil worship at Disney though.

I do feel bad for kids with parents like that though (both those that see devil worship where none exists, and those who'd rather spend the day complaining than having fun...).

saritajuanita wrote:Heck, I've seen them shoot at the hippos even with kids on board. However, they give a CYA warning about how loud the sound will be first.

Yeah, when I rode in Dec. there were small kids on board all the times I rode and there was definitely hippo shooting on each time. I thought it was back all the way now (which I thought was pretty cool, really - glad to see the reversed that).

Post by **Dr. Ravenscroft** » Jan Mon 14, 2008 1:05 pm

saritajuanita wrote:
Cheshire Cat wrote: apparently the skippers are allowed to use them if there are no young children on board (which there wasn't).
Heck, I've seen them shoot at the hippos even with kids on board. However, they give a CYA warning about how loud the sound will be first.

I was there in Dec. and the CM just said "LOOK OUT" then fired off at the hippos, there were a couple of kids in the boat, they just wanted her to fire again because it was cool. Then I have had CM's try to do it and it fails and you just hear clicking to which they reply "Yeah they don't like the clicking either"

AND I REITERATE-----IF YOU DON"T LIKE THE SPEIL DON"T GO TO THE HAUNTED MANSION THAT IS FULL OF 999 GHOSTS.

saritajuanita · Post by **saritajuanita** » Jan Mon 14, 2008 2:51 pm

Dr. Ravenscroft wrote: Then I have had CM's try to do it and it fails and you just hear clicking to which they reply "Yeah they don't like the clicking either"

I've heard this one before too - it's a good way of brushing off the awkwardness when things go wrong.

AKLRULZ · Post by **AKLRULZ** » Jan Sat 19, 2008 8:27 am

Seems like the minority opinion gets the majority vote these days - how'd that happen?

saritajuanita · Post by **saritajuanita** » Jan Mon 21, 2008 3:33 am

AKLRULZ wrote:Seems like the minority opinion gets the majority vote these days - how'd that happen?

The same as always - the majority just wants things to stay the same. Most people don't form groups or sign petitions to keep things the way they always were. It's people who want change, whether right or wrong, who tend to put their comments out there. The people who want to maintain the status quo are usually just reactive.

jenhen27 · Post by **jenhen27** » Jan Mon 21, 2008 10:13 am

I'm sorry, but what part of the HM spiel is politically incorrect? Who are we offending? Ghosts, horror film writers.... or maybe maids and butlers. Yeah, we don't want to give maids and butlers a reputation of being sinister. Seriously, this whole thing is ridiculous. It just doesn't make sense. It sounds more like it's offensive because it's scary rather than offensive to a particular group of people.

On a related note, a few years ago, we were on HM and a few doom buggies in front of us was a teenager who kept screaming like her life was in danger. Actually she screamed in the line queue as well. It was incredibly irritating and ruined the ride a bit. Perhaps she and her family complained.

cap396 · Post by **cap396** » Jan Tue 22, 2008 7:37 am

I'm sorry, but what part of the HM spiel is politically incorrect? Who are we offending?

I have the same question. I think it's fine the way it is now.

Post by **js3901** » Jan Tue 22, 2008 9:26 am

cap396 wrote:
I'm sorry, but what part of the HM spiel is politically incorrect? Who are we offending?
I have the same question. I think it's fine the way it is now.

if you both read the first post in this thread, there is a link to a Jim Hill Media article which says the lines in question.

Subsonic Radio

Haunted Mansion script to become more PC?

Should the Haunted Mansion script become more politically correct?