Telling Your Toy Story: Fans’ Storytelling Practice in Shanghai Disneyland

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Telling Your Toy Story: Fans’ Storytelling Practice in Shanghai Disneyland

It was 4AM in Shanghai, and a group of people in colorful clothing suddenly appeared. They were headed for a magical place: Shanghai Disneyland. They were up so early to wait in line for hours in order to get their hands on limited series products and to meet the characters – some, like Mulan, from major films but others, like LinaBell, solely from a toy line – in the park. This might seem extraordinary, but it’s actually an everyday occurrence—let’s talk about it.

This post is part of a themed series on toys that asked contributors to think about a toy/toys/toy company and explore how various cultures, groups, audiences, or companies find and make meaning (or money) through such play.

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“Part of Your World”: Fairy Tales, Race, #BlackGirlMagic, and The Little Mermaid

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“Part of Your World”: Fairy Tales, Race, #BlackGirlMagic, and The Little Mermaid

In 2016 Disney announced a live-action adaptation of its 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid. Loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's 1837 fairy tale, the animation earned critical acclaim, took $84 million at the domestic box office during its initial release, and won two Academy Awards (for Best Original Score and Best Original Song). Given Disney’s recent foray into creating live-action adaptations of some of its most successful animated films, it’s no surprise that The Little Mermaid was added to the list. Yet controversy rose when Black actress Halle Bailey was announced as Ariel in July 2019. Among the critiques was the argument that the adaptation should be as close to the original as possible, and the original featured a white mermaid; that if a Black character was re-cast as white in a remake there would be uproar; and while representation in all forms is important it shouldn’t override the history of the characters.

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