 |
|
|
Item Details
| Title:
|
ONCE UPON AN AMERICAN DREAM
THE STORY OF EURO DISNEYLAND |
| By: |
Andrew Lainsbury |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| List price:
|
£48.00 |
| Our price: |
£43.20 |
| Discount: |
|
| You save:
|
£4.80 |
|
|
|
|
|
| ISBN 10: |
070060989X |
| ISBN 13: |
9780700609895 |
| Availability: |
Usually dispatched within 1-3 weeks.
 Delivery
rates
|
| Stock: |
Currently 0 available |
| Publisher: |
UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KANSAS |
| Pub. date: |
31 January, 2000 |
| Series: |
CultureAmerica |
| Pages: |
280 |
| Description: |
Firsthand experience and research shed light on claims that Euro Disneyland is nothing but American cultural imperialism. A former employee goes beyond media bites and academic scorn to examine Europe's love/hate relationship with the park and some of the undiscussed issues surrounding it. |
| Synopsis: |
Branded a "cultural Chernobyl" and the "tragic kingdom", the Euro Disney resort has been on its own thrill ride since opening in 1992. The much publicized version of the Magic Kingdom gave Europeans alcohol-free "mocktails", surly employees, even colours too muted for the Disney image. Facing financial disaster, was it any wonder that Disney execs found themselves wishing upon a star for answers? After so many knee-jerk criticisms of Euro Disney, this book combines firsthand experience and research to shed new light on claims that the park is nothing more than a form of American cultural imperialism. Andrew Lainsbury, a former Euro Disney employee who knows what the park meant to its visitors, goes beyond media bites and academic scorn to examine Europe's love/hate relationship with Euro Disneyland and some of the undiscussed issues surrounding it. "Once Upon an American Dream" is a story of global capitalism on a grand scale. Lainsbury has plumbed company archives and interviewed key players to give readers the real view from Le Chateau de la Belle au Bois Dormant (Sleeping Beauty's Castle).He cracks open the Euro Disney controversy to reveal the park not as a tragic experiment in exporting American culture but the result of European efforts to "import" a popular form of American entertainment. Lainsbury tells how the Walt Disney company came to build a European park and locate it in France, how political negotiations affected its design and development, how it was promoted to continental audiences and what caused its widely publicized financial woes before being rescued by a real prince from Saudi Arabia. He reveals what it took to win back the hearts of skeptical Europeans - such as serving wine, selling flashy merchandise and placating the disgruntled workers. Finally, he looks into the magic mirror to speculate on the role of Euro Disney and the Walt Disney Company in the 21st century. Ultimately, Lainsbury shows that cultural imperialism is not an exlcusively American phenomenon but a global corporate strategy - and that global corporatism, by needing to be responsive to consumers, is so complex that it may not be as monolithic as feared."Once Upon an American Dream" is a fairy tale for our times, reminding us that, for all the critical huffing and puffing, the creation and marketing of pleasure is what Euro Disneyland is all about. |
| Publication: |
US |
| Imprint: |
University Press of Kansas |
| Returns: |
Returnable |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
No Cheese, Please!
A fun picture book for children with food allergies - full of friendship and super-cute characters!Little Mo the mouse is having a birthday party.
|
My Brother Is a Superhero
Luke is massively annoyed about this, but when Zack is kidnapped by his arch-nemesis, Luke and his friends have only five days to find him and save the world...
|
|
|
|
|