Spot the DISNEY

Disneyfication (what is that?)

Disneyfication is a result of globalisation, where characteristics and principles related with it is spreading worldwide.

There are 4 major attributes in Disneyfication:

1. Theming:
Environment of a setting is themed into an unrelated object.

2. A fusion in consumption product:
Different areas of consumption products are combined, confusing consumer on the purchased product.

3. Merchandising:
Products are branded and under copyrights, including products under licenses.

4. Performative labour:
Employees view their working environment like a theatre, displaying a certain mood purposely for the sake of their job requirement.

I have chosen Lotte World, in Seoul, for in-depth research on Disneyfication which I believed had met the 4 criteria of been Disneyfied.

Lotte World (Seoul)

Introduction

Lotte World is a recreation centre under the company, LOTTE CO. LTD, which is trying to create a new way of life by infusing sports, arts and cultural activities to merge as a new world. It houses an indoor and outdoor theme park, hotel, duty-free shops, huge discounted department store and a fitness centre. The theme parks were given different theme such as “Adventure” for the indoor theme park and “Magic Island” for the outdoor. The hotel and department store are also named as Lotte Hotel and Lotte Department Store.

Theme Parks

Indoor and Outdoor rides
Attraction rides at the Lotte theme parks have different themes. For example, the log boat ride has a theme of Jurassic Jungle, a roller coaster ride is given the theme Pharaoh’s Fury and a leisure boat ride is themed as The Adventure of Sinbad. The retail shops in the theme parks also sell products in different themes too and even had it’s own shop selling the most up-to-date products in Lotte World called the San Jose Emporium and also the Lotty’s Emporium.

Festivals and Parades
Different types of festivals are also parade in the indoor theme park such as Masquarade festival, Rio Samba festival, Halloween party and Christmas festival.The recent Masquaraed festival was seperated into two activities, with one being a parade and the other being street performance. The parade is then further divided into three themes such as Nature, Fairytales and Dream of Venice.There are also different parade and show happening in Lotte World such as Lotty’s adventure parade, the Galactic Oddessy laser show and Christmas parade.

Folk Museum

Initially it was built to collect, store and exhibit historical relic of Korea, for the local community’s consumption. However, it had evolved into a site where not only locals, but also foreigners could understand and enjoy the the past and custom of Korea. It is made up of 3D miniature models, mini villages and also artefacts so as to be user firendly to those unfamiliar with Korean culture. Traditional music, dance, food and culture of Korea to recreate the atmosphere that is experienced in traditional market. It is section into four areas: the history exhibition hall, miniature village, the performance hall and Jeojagori.

· History exhibition hall
It showcases the different eras of dynasties in Korea. Includes the pre-historic period room, Goguryeo room, Baekje room, Gaya room, Silla room and Goryeo room. Each rooms displayed artefacts like potteries, paintings and also sulptures to engage the visitors during their visits.

· Miniature village
It displays the daily lifes of ancestors during Jeseon Dynasty and is only one eight of the original place.

· Performance hall
It is an area where Korean traditions ceremonies could be displayed such as the wedding, exocisim, Samulnori and Pansori. It consist of the composition of performance hall, Dongheon and the Japanese occupation room.

· Jeojagori
A Korean street market where traditional restaurants, unique Korean handicrafts and also a place where Nanjang dancers and singer could be found entertaining groups of visitors.


Analysis

After a brief exploration of what Lotte World is made up, it is considered Disneyfied due to the several reasons.

Firstly, everywhere in Lotte World involves in themeing. Be it attraction rides, restaurants, parades, festivals or even the retail shops, all of them has a different theme that made them unique and stands out from the rest of their similar counterparts. The names given to them sounds too fantasied and magical such as Fantistic Odessey, Castle Music Show and Fantasy Dream.

Secondly, Lotte World had combind the consumption of products offered. As a small world alone, it comprimises many differnet types of products such as themeparks, department store and hotels too. This actually confused the consumer on what is the final purchase product. Another evidence is the folk museum, where there were also a mixture of several activities together such as eating at one of the tradional restaurant, visiting cultural sites and at the same time shopping for local handicrafts.

Thridly, the theme park itself comes out with hamster-like mascots and start selling products such as t-shirts, caps, cushions and dolls with their own logos and characters printed on it. This result in the branding of the attraction and licensed merchandises.

Last but not least, employess at several attraction sites within Lotte world such as the Jeojagori and the theme parks will display certain emotions required at their work place. Take for example, the theme park, for one to be the mascot, one must show the special characteristic of the character if not the charater will not match with what it was suppose to be. Hence during the employees work time, they have to put on a mask and pretend to be anyone else but themselves. The ride operators must also smile at the visitors even though they are having a bad day. In Jeojagori, the Nanjang dancers and singers need to put up a fake front and entertain the visitors whenever they come.

Thus, all these factors justified Lotte World as a Disneyfied site.