Has anyone seen any costumed character break character?

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Kyle
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Has anyone seen any costumed character break character?

Post by Kyle »

I'm sure most of us know how well the costumed characters stick to character, regardless of the situation, but I'm wondering if there has been a point where someone got them to break it, either accidentally or just because they stopped caring. And I'm talking more about the ones that show their faces rather than the ones with giant plastic heads. those are the ones who tend to get caught doing things they normally wouldn't, (crimes even).
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singerguy04
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Post by singerguy04 »

One of my favorite stories about a time I met some characters is from my second trip to Disneyland for the 50th anniversary.

My mom and I had just entered the park and in front of the giant mickey hedge and floral arrangement and the train station we found Cinderella, Snow White, and Aurora playing duck, duck, goose. I decided to watch because I thought it was extremely cute. During one of the turns this little boy got Cinderella with the goose, and by the time she had gotten up and got about half way around the circle she says "You're a fast little sucker!". Everyone laughed including the kids, but there's no way that she was probably supposed to say that. Then one of the fathers spoke up and said, "Well it can't be too easy trying to play in glass slippers", then Cindy said "It's better now that they've added treads to my slippers" as she showed us all the bottom of her shoes.
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Post by Barbossa »

Is that video still up on youtube how Pluto chased that kid around the Main Street hub after the kid kicked or pushed him? That was amusing. :lol:
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Re: Has anyone seen any costumed character break character?

Post by Escapay »

I've seen them break character many times backstage, out of sight and out of mind of the guests. :P

In some instances, I've also seen them stay in character backstage when a Keys to the Kingdom tour passes by the entrance to the Pedestrian Walkway.

Regarding on-stage breaking character, I've never seen any personally. However, I do remember watching a youtube video of a "Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage" performance from the mid-90s. Unfortunately, I can't find it anywhere as searches for "Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage proposal" brings up different results than the one I'm looking for. But the gist of it is this:

Two cast members who perform in the show had been dating for awhile, and during the finale when they're dancing to the waltz-y version of the song, the man took the place of his girlfriend's usual dance partner, to which she made a quick look that said "What are you doing? But we're in a performance, so I guess we have to keep dancing." All of a sudden, the music fades to silence, everyone stops dancing, and an announcer says something along the lines of someone within the Disney family wanting to ask a very special question. Then the cast member is given a microphone, takes his girlfriend cast member to the front of the stage, and talks about how they met while performing this show, and how the started dating soon after. Since then, he can't imagine life without her, takes out a ring, and asks her to marry him. Everyone cheers and applauds as she nods yes. The announcer is back and thanks everyone in the audience for sharing in the magical moment, and just as seamlessly as they paused the show, they went right back into it as the dancers started dancing again and the show ended.

I really wish I could find that youtube clip, but I have a feeling it might've just been a video that a friend posted years later since the couple had celebrated their 10th anniversary, and it wasn't intended to be a widely-searched thing.

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Re: Has anyone seen any costumed character break character?

Post by stitchje1981 »

Escapay wrote:I've seen them break character many times backstage, out of sight and out of mind of the guests. :P

In some instances, I've also seen them stay in character backstage when a Keys to the Kingdom tour passes by the entrance to the Pedestrian Walkway.

Regarding on-stage breaking character, I've never seen any personally. However, I do remember watching a youtube video of a "Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage" performance from the mid-90s. Unfortunately, I can't find it anywhere as searches for "Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage proposal" brings up different results than the one I'm looking for. But the gist of it is this:

Two cast members who perform in the show had been dating for awhile, and during the finale when they're dancing to the waltz-y version of the song, the man took the place of his girlfriend's usual dance partner, to which she made a quick look that said "What are you doing? But we're in a performance, so I guess we have to keep dancing." All of a sudden, the music fades to silence, everyone stops dancing, and an announcer says something along the lines of someone within the Disney family wanting to ask a very special question. Then the cast member is given a microphone, takes his girlfriend cast member to the front of the stage, and talks about how they met while performing this show, and how the started dating soon after. Since then, he can't imagine life without her, takes out a ring, and asks her to marry him. Everyone cheers and applauds as she nods yes. The announcer is back and thanks everyone in the audience for sharing in the magical moment, and just as seamlessly as they paused the show, they went right back into it as the dancers started dancing again and the show ended.

I really wish I could find that youtube clip, but I have a feeling it might've just been a video that a friend posted years later since the couple had celebrated their 10th anniversary, and it wasn't intended to be a widely-searched thing.

albert
That is such a great story to tell your grandkids when your older!
cute, very cute and surprising :)


A few years ago I saw something else on you tube, it even got in the local papers! I thought it was in Disneyland Paris where backstage they were waiting to come on the show and then something happend (sorry for any kids who are on this board) : the characters get it on!!!

here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8iK12baYFM
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Post by Wonderlicious »

In the Lucky Nugget Saloon at Disneyland Paris, I once saw Friar Tuck take his belt off and start tying up Judge Claude Frollo with it (why Frollo and Friar Tuck were in a Western inn, I have no idea). In the same place, we also once saw Prince John defying the constrictions of his huge, furry head by chatting up a row of young women. :lol: Oh, and my 9 year-old self was horrified to see Alice speaking in an American accent at Walt Disney World, and for Bert to speak in received pronunciation as opposed to a campy Cockney accent. :headshake:

Out of curiosity, when it actually comes to fur characters, do the people playing them just get told to don a random costume by somebody, so that they'd essentially have to jump from personage to personage every day? I remember seeing Brer Fox at Disneyland Paris once, and really got the impression that the person in the costume honestly didn't know whom he/she was supposed to be portraying. I've seen Song of the South, but I don't recall Brer Fox wiggling his fingers in front of people's faces like an extremely contrived silent-movie baddy. :lol:
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Post by Poody »

Pocahontas loved my boyfriend's Mortal Kombat shirt.... she said they were listening to the song from the earlier and started breakin' out in her own dance to the song.... LOL
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Post by Disney Duster »

Thanks singerguy, and I have an idea, but what exactly are treads? And duck duck goose is just too cute for the princesses!

Scaps, so, by the time you watched the video, it was the couple's 10th anniversary? Wow, so they not only stayed together after only sometime together, but they must have started very early on when the show began?

And was the waltzy part that he proposed at after the Beast transformed, I presume?

Wondy, you mean Bert has a very proper British accent as opposed to his movie one? That is kind of scary!
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Post by singerguy04 »

Disney Duster wrote:Thanks singerguy, and I have an idea, but what exactly are treads? And duck duck goose is just too cute for the princesses!
Basically, it's the rubber at the bottom of the shoes to keep you from slipping, they add traction. Her slippers looked like they were a kind of clear plastic with rubber bottoms.

You're also right, it was WAY too cute. I took a few pictures of the whole thing, but when my old computer crashed they all went away :(. Now all that I have are some pics my mom took and had printed.
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Post by Disney Duster »

I'm glad they are clear plastic, so they look like glass. She should also have clear stockings instead of socks (except in the winter time, though she should still have flesh-colored socks).

And by the way, when I say "too cute", I usually mean that it's really, really cute, not that I think they should tone the cute down a bit, lol. I like that they were that cute!

Sorry about your pictures. :(
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Post by DisneyJedi »

You probably wouldn't believe me on this, but I recall seeing a video on YouTube at a Disneyland meet and greet, Ariel was not herself, LITERALLY. All I recall about it was Ariel and some greeter talking about Twilight or something. I mean, seriously. Shouldn't Disney characters like her not even KNOW those kinds of things exist? :x
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Post by Disney Duster »

Well, these Disney characters have been transported to our place and time, and from other guests coming, they can know about things in the outside world. One time someone told Rapunzel they had an iPad. That's how they could learn about these things.

However, they probably should "forget" anything that outsiders tell them for the next guests, but if they said "Oh yes, someone told me about the iPad, and gave me a Twilight book to read!" it might be okay.

Also, Ariel's the one who wanted to learn about the human world, after all!
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Post by Wonderlicious »

Disney Duster wrote:Wondy, you mean Bert has a very proper British accent as opposed to his movie one? That is kind of scary!
Yep. That Bert was from 1997, mind you, and I believe that many Berts before or after have spoken with a more suitable Cockney accent (probably better than Dick Van Dyke's attempt, but that's something else :lol: ). The Alice speaking in an American accent irritates me more, though, as at least the bad Bert was speaking like he came from England, period.

Also, I've managed to find some backstage videos (not the mock-sex one from a few years ago :roll: ), which are probably most relevant posting in this thread.

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/c4L41eipN74?fs ... ram><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/c4L41eipN74?fs ... 2=0xe87a9f" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

From a few years ago (the parade float Cindy rides in has been retired), and when the princess/prince characters actually came out casually as opposed to being fenced off and only able to meet in a queue-up fashion. Some may find this interesting, but others, such as 05jetter, think otherwise:
05jetter wrote:This is why Paris is known for having the worst face characters. So unprofessional and all of you should be fired. You would have never been hired at any other parks in the first place because Paris is so sub par that they will take anyone, even people who look nothing like the characters. You are all losers and I can't believe that you ever worked for Disney.
Well, they can't be so much in the way of losers. Having to deal with a multilingual environment is difficult, and that Cinderella looks somewhat like her animated counterpart, I think. :) And modesty is a virtue in my books.

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/i3wX6VzluCA?fs ... ram><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/i3wX6VzluCA?fs ... 2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
Part of a set of videos; this one is most interesting as we get to see the costume department from the late 80s at Disneyland California, warts and all (the other videos basically consist of people bumming around with a video camera, not very interesting to be honest). If you don't mind seeing seemingly severed heads of chipmunks and Gummi Bears, or having Eeyore's skin seem to peel off to reveal a person, you should be fine. :p
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Post by Tangled »

I once saw Tigger spin around and hit 5 kids in a row with his taill. Then the cast member beside him said, "Having a bad day, huh Tigger?" then escourted him away. He muttered something, and my little cousin was like, "Why did Tigger say something?"
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Post by BellesPrince »

05jetter wrote:This is why Paris is known for having the worst face characters. So unprofessional and all of you should be fired. You would have never been hired at any other parks in the first place because Paris is so sub par that they will take anyone, even people who look nothing like the characters. You are all losers and I can't believe that you ever worked for Disney.
How rude is this?

Just shows what this person knows too, as there are a lot of castmembers who move around the different parks. I know of several US castmembers who have worked in Paris, and several people from Paris who have gone on to work in Tokyo.

People really shouldn't comment on things they know nothing about.
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