“Mirror Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?”
“Well,” responded the mirror “Applicant 1 is far too old to be Snow White.”
The casting director drew a line in red pen through the appropriate name as the mirror continued to speak, “Applicant 2’s lips look nothing like they should and Applicant 3 is a few sizes too big to fit into the costume.”
“So,” responded the casting director “none of this lot then?”
The Mirror briefly considered the question “Nah” it said, “axe them all.”
Whilst this is a fantastical version of the casting process of Disney Princesses, it doesn’t veer too much from the truth. Other than the sentient mirror, of course. A person might well dream of becoming a Disney Princess, but if they don’t look right, sound right, and act right, then they certainly won’t be a princess in Disneyland. It can be incredibly difficult for a prospective princess to get their glass-slippered foot in the door. And if they can achieve their dream job and finally don the tiara of their favorite princess, then there’s no guarantee that they’ll last long in the job before getting canned.
Disneyland has a host of stringent rules for its face characters to follow. Fail at keeping in line and it’s a quick and slippery slope to the exit. Some of these rules make sense, some are weird, and some are just plain stupid. Here are 20 rules you didn’t know that Disney Princesses needed to follow.
20 No Breakages Allowed
Let’s start with one of the most important rules of them all. Whilst on the job, a Princess can never ever break character. If someone is dressed as Belle, then that means they must behave exactly as she would, possessing the knowledge that Belle would have residing in her brain.
The performers must watch their character’s films again and again.
That means that she wouldn’t know who Harry Potter is, how to tweet, what the updates are in the latest iPhone, or, and this depends on where she is within the Beauty and the Beast’s plot, that the Beast is actually the prince. No slip-ups on this are permitted. It requires a lot of knowledge on the cast member’s end. They want to be absolutely certain that what they say and do is as their Princess would say and do.
19 What’s The Point?
Disney employees are never allowed to just point with one finger. Though this must make counting from one to ten difficult, it is none the less a rule that all Princesses must follow. Why? Was Walt Disney himself terrified of a single solitary finger and thus had them banned? Perhaps pointing with one finger might result in the princess accidentally poking out the eye of an unsuspecting child? Maybe Princesses don’t like a finger?
Well, there are two reasons for this. The first is because in some cultures pointing with one finger is considered rude. Particularly in China, Japan, Indonesia, and Latin America. In some African countries, you should never point at another human, only at inanimate objects. The second reason is using two fingers makes it easier for children to see.
18 Pick It Up
Nobody wants rubbish, garbage, or litter all over the theme park they’re visiting. Even though lots of people must drop litter, the last thing they want is to see anyone else’s. It’s like breaking wind: we like the smell of our own barn burner but can’t stand the stench of anyone else’s cheek squeak. Anyway, after that slightly odd digression, I’d best return to the point. Every employee at Disney World is required to pick up trash whenever they see it. Which isn’t that strange.
What is weird is the manner that the rubbish must be picked up in.
A Princess is not allowed to just stop, bend over and pick up the offending item. Instead, they must gracefully pick it up using a ‘swooping’ motion. This keeps the action in the style of a Princess character as well as preventing Google from being filled with photos of Princesses bending over.
17 Not Too Big, Not Too Small, Just Right
Let’s say that you, yes you, decide that you want to be a Disney Princess. First things first, you’ll have to get out your measuring tape and take a long hard look in the mirror to see if you’re the right princess for the job. Disneyland Princesses must be between 5 feet 3 inches and 5 feet 7 inches in height. This varies from character to character. Some Princesses carry other requirements: Jasmine, for example, must have a “toned mid-section.” If you’re taller than 5 feet 7 inches then you can’t be a princess. But you could be an evil queen! She can be as tall as 5 feet 10 inches. For all characters, though, the maximum dress size is a 10. If someone is a larger dress size, then they won’t be able to fit in the pre-existing costumes.
16 No Being Human Allowed
There’s a lot of dos and don’ts for all Princesses to follow. Some of these are quite extreme. Princesses are both forbidden to frown and to have bad posture at any point in costume, for example. Some of them make sense, like the one about how no Princess can be on their mobile phone at any time.
Then there’s the rule about smiling.
A Disney Princess must ALWAYS smile. A former Belle had this to say about it to Cosmopolitan: “It was a lot of fun, but emotionally, it was tolling. You have to smile for an hour straight; you can’t drop your smile until you go on break and are behind closed doors because Disney doesn’t want any pictures of us not smiling. The first few weeks, my face literally hurt.”
15 Fit In
There’s a lot of other requirements that Disney has that must be abided by, should a person want to be a Princess. These mostly pertain to maintaining the expected Disney look. So, no princess can have tattoos, body piercings, earlobe expansions, or disfiguring skin implants. Surely though, this is a missed opportunity by Disney? It must be time for a modern, tattooed, earring, lip ring, navel ring-clad Princess to sing to some animals and get to the ball on time. Actually, there is a slight amendment to the tattoo situation. The guidelines on the website say tattoos are allowed, so long as they are “discreetly and completely covered at all times.” So just don’t go getting a massive face tattoo if you want to be Ariel, I suppose.
14 Warming Up
Now, just because you pass your audition, don’t think that you’ll immediately be able to don a ballgown and become a Princess. You’ve got to earn your stripes first. Our mysterious Belle speaking to Cosmopolitan elucidates further:
“To start in any character role, you have to go through training for the “fur characters,” like Goofy or Mickey. I did Chip and Dale for two weeks—and it was really exhausting. There are certain heat indexes that allow for shorter “sets” out in the parks, but some people pass out because it’s so hot inside the costumes.”
The costumes have no ventilation and you sweat out a ton of water.
Once those two weeks of fur are done with, then, and only then, can you get to be a Princess or a “face” character.
13 When You’re Disapproved Of
Even when a performer becomes a fully-fledged Princess, there’s always the possibility that they can be prevented from working due to their appearance. This can be temporary if the problem is easy to fix. It can result in the actor getting canned if it cannot. Our Mystery Belle tells us more of what occurs behind the curtain"
“Most of the drama happens when someone gets disapproved, or not allowed to go out on set. One girl got disapproved because her arms got too chubby. Another girl had a very bad acne breakout all over her face, and they disapproved her. Then everyone talks about whether she should or shouldn’t have been disapproved—it’s awkward.”
A Disneyland Princess has to be constantly aware of their appearance. Their job depends upon it.
12 The Magic Number Is 172
There’s absolutely no time to take it easy being a Princess. You’ve got songs to sing, evil villains to defeat and hundreds of guests to meet.
“We couldn’t spend too much time playing with the kids though, because we had to greet 172 guests per hour.” Cosmopolitan’s secret Belle tells us “Disney decided that was the magic number. An attendant would have a clicker to count the number of people we met, and if we went under, we would get a reprimand.” That doesn’t sound too terrible though, I mean, how bad can a reprimand be?
If you get four reprimands, you get fired.
Oh, that’s pretty bad then. It was even worse when a Princess knows a kid has been waiting for hours to see them, as to maintain the magic number they have say “Okay, let’s hurry and take our photo,” and shove them out the door.’
11 Ice Ice Belle
Elsa brazenly declared that the cold never bothered her anyway. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the performers. Instead, when you’re wearing a flimsy costume, things can get very chilly indeed.
“The one time that I got really, really angry at work was one of the only days that was actually really cold in Florida—so cold you could see your breath.” An ex-princess tells us, “I had to stand in a doorway welcoming guests into a restaurant in a sleeveless formal dress. I was freezing and my eyes were watering, but the location managers wouldn’t let me go get my coat.” Why would a freezing cold employee not be allowed her coat? “Later, I was talking to the photographers, and they told me that that restaurant sold the photos of Belle and the guests for, like, $35—and when Belle was wearing the coat, they sell 30 percent less pictures.”
10 The Parents Don’t Behave
There is one danger that all Princesses fear. It’s not evil stepmothers, angry dragons, or hairy backed princes that causes their terror. Instead, it’s a creepy Dad. An ex-princess shares this sordid story:
“Another tricky thing was the creepy dads who would whisper in my ear when their kids were taking pictures with me. They’d say, “When the Beast goes to bed, I’ll be waiting for you in the library.” All I could think was, God, I’d hate to be your wife. I couldn’t break character, but I would always address it and say something like, “Um, I go to bed when the Beast goes to bed.”
One of her friends wasn’t so lucky though.
She was an Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, and her skirt was unzipped. So, one of the dads decided to stick his hand in her zipper. Fortunately, there were petticoats underneath, acting as a barrier and preventing him from grabbing anything.
9 Princess Training
It seems that most Disney Princesses, in the films at least, are born with an innate sense of Princessyness. Did anyone ever teach Cinderella to dance so elegantly? She just seemed to have the ability there and ready to be used because she, even though she didn’t know it at the time, was destined to be a Princess. It’s not so easy for others though. And for those others there is always Princess School. This ex-princess tells us a little more about it:
“Princess training is a four to five day process, during which you’ll learn all about your assigned princess. You’ll watch films of the princess so you can mimic her mannerisms and voice, observe current Disney princesses on the job, and learn princess facts and trivia.”
8 Shelf Life
There’s one other major problem that every Disneyland Princess faces: aging. There is a very limited shelf life to being a Disney Princess; in fact, 27 is the standard retirement age. That’s it. Had I been a Princess (and I curse and rue every day the fact that I wasn’t) then I would have retired nine years ago.
This is to keep their princesses looking young.
Samuel L. Jackson didn’t find major success until he was 46 years old when he appeared in Pulp Fiction. Darwin didn’t publish On the Origin of the Species until he was 50. Julia Child didn’t make her television debut in the French Chef until the age of 51. And yes, you’re quite right, I only included those three examples to make myself feel better about being 36 and never having gotten to be a Disney Princess.
7 Sit Down? Never
So, you know all those rules I mentioned before. No? You mean to say that you just skipped to entry 7 as you assumed this would be where the more interesting stuff would be? Typical. Well, let me catch you up then. Disney Princesses can’t point with one finger, they have to do a ‘sweeping’ motion to pick up litter, they must always smile and constantly be on the lookout for amorous fathers. Now you’re all caught up, there’s another rule I need to add: Disney Princesses are not allowed to sit down whilst working. Never. Oh, and Princesses can’t say anything negative or derogatory about visitors to the park. So, if any of them ever refer to you as a ‘treasured guest,’ then they’re using a code word to explain to others that you’re a nuisance and being difficult.
6 Signature Move
Every actor must know the signature of their character. This isn’t a general interpretation of the signature, either: instead they must be utterly exact in their reproduction of it. Indeed, the signature should be flawless. The actor is essentially replicating a signature that has been used since the very first Disney Parks were built.
This is to keep up the illusion.
Seems like an awful lot of hassle for something so minor doesn’t it? Well, Disney Park managers don’t think so. Instead they want the signature that a visitor receives from Cinderella to be exactly the same as to the one they received a decade ago. After all, it’s the same Cinderella, right? It’s not like another four Cinderellas were sacked over the last ten years for being too old, is it?
5 No Singing Allowed
A signature ability of any Disney Princess is that of singing. If a princess can’t recount an emotional response to a situation in her life, ultimately resulting in a mood changing key change, then she’s not worth the weight of her tiara. As such, upon arriving at Disneyland, you may expect any princess you meet to burst into a jaunty rendition of her iconic song at a moment’s notice. That, however, is not the case. The Princesses and other “face” characters are not permitted to sing. Instead only certain actors carry the authorization to unleash some warbling. This would include the actor playing Belle in the Beauty and the Beast show, but not the actor playing Belle at a meet and greet.
4 Princess Down!
Some people might think that life would be relatively risk free with a job as a Disney Princess. But those people would be wrong. It’s incredibly dangerous. During their two-week training as Fur characters, prior to donning their ballgowns, Princesses are exposed to all sorts of potential harm.
There have been reports of loveable mascot characters such as Mickey, Pluto and Donald, being hit around the face, stomach and buttocks. Then there’s other examples of these mascots being put in a hold. Some actors have had injuries such as a dislocated shoulder and others with bruised finger bones. Then there was another Princess in training who had to ultimately have knee surgery due to the weight of her costume. Finally, another learner princess suffered whiplash due to the weight of Minnie Mouse’s head being twisted from side to side when a guest picked her up and shook her.
3 Are You A Real Princess?
Just because a princess has passed casting and survived two weeks as a ‘fur’ character, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll get to keep their jobs until retirement at the ripe old age of 27. That’s because Princesses have to re-audition for their jobs every six months. Managers will make sure the Princesses’ silhouette hasn’t changed and check their body shape, weight, and general appearance to ensure they still have the right look.
If they don’t, then the consequences can be quick and unforgiving.
An ex-Belle told Cosmopolitan, “they had me dress up as Belle and came back in and they were like, “We’ve just been noticing that your mouth is very different than all the other girls.” It was the most bizarre thing ever, and it very clearly had nothing to do with my mouth.” She concludes, “I got canned—and it hurt.”
2 I See Dead People
Bizarrely, a Disneyland Princess should not be scared of ashes. Why is there even an issue such as this for a Princess to contend with? That’s all to do with the Haunted Mansion. The Los Angeles times in 2007 reported, “On Friday, workers at the Anaheim theme park spotted a guest on the ride sprinkling an unidentified substance into the water, prompting them to close the attraction and alert police. A witness described the substance as a baby powder that quickly dissipated.” A later report stated, “within hours of Friday’s incident, online columnists and bloggers who track news at the park said they began receiving e-mails from Disney employees claiming the episode was a case of the surreptitious scattering of human ashes.” Not baby powder.
1 Must Be A Cat Person
Any prospective Princess had better be a cat person, or at least not be allergic to the animal’s hair. That’s because there are some 200 feral cats lurking in the shadows of Disneyland. They’ve been there since the park was first opened in 1955, probably attracted by all the food left discarded by the park’s visitors.
The cats stayed, though, for the vast amounts of rats that they could feast on.
This is, of course, a great incentive for Disneyland executives to allow their furry friends the run of the park in the early hours of the morning. There are now even shelters where the cats receive spraying and neutering, flea treatments, vaccinations and other care. These actions have drawn the praise of many cat lovers, who feel it’s an excellent way of protecting the feral population.
