Los Angeles Magazine article (I missed this!)

[Cadaverous Pallor]

I was at my sister-in-law's place and noticed the November issue of Los Angeles Magazine lying around, including an article about Disney freaks. While nifty to see it talking about Al Lutz, and even crazier to see an interview with AVP, I was taken aback by this part:

At the MiceChat meeting an excited middle-aged women with a tangle of red hair stood up on a bench next to Lutz, held aloft a blue flag and shouted,
"Where are we going?"
"To the castle" replied 50 Disnoids.
"What are we going to do there?"
"Take it over!"
In single file the MiceChat members marched to the drawbidge of Sleeping Beauty castle where, in unison, they cried out, "Open the gates of Fantasyland casle in the name of the children of the world!" and then charged over the bridge.
Nearby, a little girl peeking out from behind her mother's dress asked, "Mommy, who are those people?"
"Oh, my God," said Sage, following after his members. "Are we geeks today."

I'm sure most of you know the red haired woman and the "Sage" they refer to is DustySage. He apparently did a rather large interview with them as well.

There's a chunk of the text posted here. I'd pick up a copy if I were you (I think the November issue is still available) - it's a mostly good article and quite the time capsule of this exact point in Disney geek time. It talks about how the Disney net fanbase has affected the park and pushed for the current clean up. For once, an article about Pressler and Ouimet instead of Eisner.

[Alex]

The author talked to pretty much everybody (even I spent an hour with him) so it is interesting to see where he went with things and what he decided to use or not use.

It also has some very odd inaccuracies in it, but it seems like any magazine article you read where you have close knowledge of the topic has those. It wasn't the "aren't these people just the freakiest geekiest" that I had feared it might be.

[Not Afraid]

Yeah, I just love being described as middleaged.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by Alex Stroup

It wasn't the "aren't these people just the freakiest geekiest" that I had feared it might be.

Yeah, and that impressed me.

He did seem to talk to everyone, and he did a good job balancing everyone out, I think. He included a lot of little gems that most muggles don't know, such as the fact that the big Disney fan websites came from the same group of friends, and that Ouimet is being put on a pedestal. Hell, he even mentioned that we use the word "Muggle". There were some good comparisons to other kinds of fandom.

There were some odd inaccuracies but most of it is dead on.

I think MousePlanet should have been given more credit for the genesis of things, and I wish he had mentioned that we were taking over the carousel, not the castle.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by Not Afraid

Yeah, I just love being described as middleaged.

Hehe, as soon as I saw that I was like "Lisa ain't gonna like this"

They didn't make us seem cool either, and this for me is the most problematic part of the article. First of all he decided to call us "Disnoids" which supposedly was a term used by Katzenberg for us. Yuck. Then there's this description (any typos are mine):

Part of what makes the Disnoids so suspect to the rest of us is that they're so serious about something so fun. At the nadir of America's pop-culture irony boom, they share an unironic love for the last remaining fortress of straight, buttoned-down, "middle-class" values, for the only unironic 85 acres left in America. As a group they're generally optimistic, wholesome people who believe in magic and think a good Saturday night includes a little Dixieland and maybe some swing dancing. They are men and women who still marvel at the conceit behind It's a Small World, basically flesh-and-blood, sentimentalized versions of our grandparents. They long for an America - and it once truly existed - where families dressed up in Sunday suits and dresses for a visit to Disneyland. It skeeves us out. They're so unhip.

Obviously, even after he talked to Dusty he still didn't realize the size of the gay urban fan base...

BTW, wtf does "skeeves" mean?

[wendybeth]

Lol- we're 'wholesome'.

I may have to frame that one.

Wouldn't it be nice to read an article that actually captured the true essence of us 'Disnoids'? (Another reason to despise Katzenberg, the illiterate little ****). I'm not sure anyone other than ourselves would really be that interested, though.

Personally, I love to spend hours and hours wondering at the conceit that is IASW.

[CoasterMatt]

I dare anybody to spend 10 minutes with me at Disneyland and describe me as "wholesome"

[wendybeth]

Still got that monkey, Matt?

[mistyisjafo]

Interesting article. Kinda weird having MC described by an outsider. I don't see anyone that way. Certainly not the described "As a group they're generally optimistic, wholesome people who believe in magic and think a good Saturday night includes a little Dixieland and maybe some swing dancing. They are men and women who still marvel at the conceit behind It's a Small World, basically flesh-and-blood, sentimentalized versions of our grandparents. They long for an America - and it once truly existed - where families dressed up in Sunday suits and dresses for a visit to Disneyland. It skeeves us out. They're so unhip."

That whole paragraph skeeves me out. Whatever THAT means!!

[Cadaverous Pallor]

The rest of the article is great though. After reading DisneyWar I was annoyed about the lack of an angle regarding Pressler's reign. This article talks about ALL that.

I wish it were available online.