Popular Culture Review Volume 29, Number 2, Summer 2018 | Page 146

Seasonal Ethnic Celebrations at Disney California Adventure
Caballeros birds during ¡ Viva Navidad ! from 2013 through 2015 on merchandise like t-shirts , hats , pins , and stuffedbird keychains . Some items , like the Limited Edition pins and stuffed versions of Panchito Pistoles and José Carioca , were wildly popular and soon became collector ’ s items due to their rarity , while others like sombreros and ponchos may have been deemed inappropriate and insensitive . A reduction and near-removal of these Disneyized and Disneyfied versions of Hispanics and Latinos and their ethnic identifiers were seen in the 2016 / 2017 season , perhaps indicating that some of these lines were crossed and that the merchandise and representation was no longer culturally-appropriate or profitable .
The strangeness that is the Chip and Dale chipmunks in traditional Chinese outfits for Lunar New Year also exemplifies the fine line between Disneyfication and Disneyization because these characters have not been read as any race or ethnicity except for their implicit whiteness since their first appearance in 1943 ( Disney Wiki “ Chip and Dale ”). By using Chip and Dale in this way , the Disney Company is remaining consistent in its practices to use anthropomorphic characters as connections to ethnicity and ethnic identifiers . Because they are fictional talking animals that are not human , they are therefore exempted from being politically correct and cannot be accused of cultural appropriation or disrespect . It is fantasy and fiction , after all , and the rules of everyday life do not apply here in the context of Disneyland and DCA .
DISCUSSIONS OF SEASONAL ETHNIC CELEBRATIONS AT DCA
In February 2011 , a push towards larger events with connections to local communities arrived with the first Celebrate Gospel event as a part of Black History Month . Initiatives to
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