CMU School of Drama


Wednesday, February 07, 2024

Taking Disney Costumes to the Next Level

Disney Parks Blog: With the reopening of Disneyland Hotel at Disneyland Paris, we debuted a new impressive collection of cast costumes created as only Disney can do – with Walt Disney Imagineering guidance, exclusive French designs and of course, amazing cast member creativity and attention to detail!

4 comments:

Ana Schroeder said...

I do not know that much about Disney, but I was surprised to learn that all of the costumes for Disney cast members featured in this article are made in France. It makes me happy that a company that makes so much money and has the resources actually uses it to create ethical clothing. I do really like the look of the costumes. They look very whimsical due to the sheen of the fabric but also expensive. You can tell the details were paid attention to within the design and the fabrics themselves. I enjoyed seeing the sketches in the background of the photo of the designer. I like how there are different styles yet all four designs flow seamlessly together. I can't quite tell whether or not these costumes are provided to the hotel workers or if the hotel workers are also performers since Disney calls all workers cast members, but I think it is nice how they took the lightweight feel into the designs.

Penny Preovolos said...

I love seeing articles like this because it gives me an excuse to either praise rant or be terrified of Disney. Just the sheer scale of the power and influence they hold is astonishing and it is so exciting for them to see articles like this because it proves my point. Rolling out entire new costumes for a Disney hotel is no small task. Especially with the attention to detail that is put into every one of these pieces. It's sort of hard to think not about the sheer amount of money that has been dumped into this enterprise. Not only is it making an entirely new hotel, but an entirely new theme and an entirely new set of costumes to accompany it. I love how they are decidedly “French” not that I have studied fashion in depth but I see the small nods to inspiration within the designs like the fleur-de-lis. And making 27,777 pieces with the same attention to detail is (even if you do not lie Disney) still a massive project.

Luna said...

I am such a huge disney fan, I love reading about what they are doing in all of their parks around the world. I also want to declare costume design as my concentration so this article particularly peaked my interest. Specific costume designers for what their characters wear. I think that’s a really cool job that I would definitely be interested in. I really liked learning about where the inspiration for the designs came from. I think that in Disney films they take a lot of creative liberties with when the piece was set so I think it could be really fun not have to design completely. I also think it’s really cool that they were able to have historically accurate pieces, but make them special and specific to the Disney movie. It is really cool they got to work with a fabric manufacturer to make custom fabrics for all the pieces.

Joanne Jiang said...

I’m going to Disneyland and Disney California Adventures this spring break, and while I won’t be able to see these specific pieces in real life, I’ll be able to see other costumes in real life. I haven’t gone to any Disney park in a couple years, and so I’m so excited to see the characters and their costumes in real life, as I’ve only seen photos of them. I know that Shanghai Disney introduced a new character, LinaBell, in 2021, and she has one “base” outfit, but the park has new outfits for the new season or holiday, and it’s always encapsulated the holiday vibes so well, and I’ve always seen pictures of the new character costumes on social media. I was originally planning to go to Shanghai Disney, but I unfortunately fell ill with COVID and couldn’t go. Being able to go to Disneyland and DCA will be such an opportunity for me to not only have fun, but also check out their costumes and other production elements!