If you love Disney, its parks, its media, and its merch, listen up.

So I work for Disneyland, and we are talking about striking very soon. So soon, in fact, that we've been hosting rallies just outside of the parks. Yesterday was the 69th birthday of Disneyland Anaheim... it was also a monumental rally.

I haven't seen anyone on tumblr talking about the impending strikes against Disney. Not even going through the Disney tags or searching tumblr for "Disneyland Strike."

Let's talk about why we're striking:

Cost of living in the immediate SoCal region is nearly 2x as much as we are getting paid.
Cast members that have worked for the company for long periods of time are still paid as mucha s new hires.
Disney has showed up to union negotiations with insulting offers, including at 25 cent raise. Most cast members make $19.90
Disney rarely schedules you. In some areas and departments, you are fighting with your fellow cast members for hours. I have heard of cast members who are only scheduled for 1 4-hour shift per week. Many of those cast members have upwards of an hour commute to and from work.
Disney Admin has told attractions castmembers [so: rides, rollercoasters, and anything fun you get to do and see at the parks] that we are losing them money, which is why they refuse to schedule us and pay us. In the words of my partner, who also works at the parks, Disney without attractions is an over glorified mall and a food court. Disney needs us, and they know it, but they do not respect us.
Disney has an unfair attendance policy. It can be very difficult to get a needed day off, even when it has been requested weeks or months in advance. When you do take a day off [with-out accrued sick or vacation time] it counts against you. You can have 3 a month, 6 in 90 days, 9 in 180 days, or 12 in a year. How do you accrue sick/vacation? Hours worked, which can be impossible with the scheduling practices mentioned above. (Most cast members trade shifts among themselves to get around this.)
Cast members feel unsafe and unsupported in the parks. Many cast members have felt threatened by entitled guests upset that they are following policy. Disney Leads and Managers have to say yes to these guests and make things happen, though. [Which only makes this behavior worse and more dangerous for cast members who are only doing their job.]
Cast members also report feeling threatened, or even being literally threatened, by management in the parks. Especially cast members who have a second job. Especially cast members who know their rights.
Further, cast members work in hazardous conditions with pay that does not reflect that. Many cast members report losses of hearing, sore throats, and severe back and shoulder pain. Cast members are also exposed to infectious diseases at a much higher rate.

The mouse gloves are off: Disney workers to vote on strike amid contract talks

The vote scheduled for July 19 could pave the way for a union coalition to call for a strike at Disney theme parks for the first time in 40

Daily Pilot

https://www.sfgate.com/disneyland/article/union-button-contract-dispute-19515296.php?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2u5o_mvU3i6jpIyHxBUZpEzD2GRSKFf5Pem4uRXqa6vKWDgZuffvINd1g_aem_AA1L0fI1phugJIluYMcDSw

aph-japan reblogged

izzyizumi

theabigailthorn

vadrigar1994 asked:

In the response to a person asking why you don't move to the US, one of your reasons for staying in Britain was "The entire US entertainment industry is about to move to Britain!". Is that a thing that's happening that I just haven't heard about? Or was it a joke?

theabigailthorn answered:

Oh that's real. Almost everything is filmed here now. All the Marvel stuff, all the Disney stuff, Barbie, Venom, House of the Dragon, it's all done here because we have very low wages, tax breaks for production companies, and very strict anti-union laws. You've also got Europe on your doorstep, which is great for location shoots, and Romania is a cheap place to film too - Wednesday is all shot in Bucharest and Django was filmed both there and in Transylvania. The notable exception is The Last of Us - Season 2 is going to shoot in Canada 'cause they need snow. It is, no jokes, cheaper to make a British street look like Las Vegas than it is to film in Las Vegas. Pinewood Studios in London is building an extension that'll make it the biggest movie studio in the world. I think the WGA and SAG strike victories will probably accelerate this trend: they can't replace Americans with AI, so they're going to replace them with Brits!

Which might sound good in theory to Brits cause it means jobs, but not if those jobs are exploitative. The stars, director, and the bosses will be Americans, but the drivers, makeup artists, crew, caterers, background artists, supporting players, editors and so on will be underpaid, overworked Brits, and the profits will go primarily to American companies.

I talked about this on tiktok a while ago:

As a Brit I’m becoming concerned about the str*kes across the pond. Here’s why.

Tiktok

aph-japan reblogged

polyamorousmisanthrope

Don't Make a Silly Mistake

Steamboat Willie is now in public domain.

Mickey Mouse?

That's a Trademark.

If you think that the Disney lawyers who specialize in trademark have not been preparing for this, you may be making an expensive mistake.

boreal-sea

I have a graphic design degree but I'm not a copyright artist, so the following is not legal advice, it's just a set of observations:

Steamboat Willie vs Mickey Mouse

On the left is Steamboat Willie, on the right is Mickey.

Biggest design difference: Mickey has gloves, and Willie doesn't. Don't draw Willie with gloves, if you do, you're drawing Mickey. You can't see it in this particular screencap, but Willie does have fingers, so you can draw him with full hands.
Willies eye's are black solid ovals, with no sclera and no eye-shine. Mickey has white sclera, smaller distinct pupils, and usually has eye-shine.
Willie is in black and white. You could theoretically make Willie whatever colors you want but for safety, you should obviously avoid Mickey's iconic red shorts with white buttons and yellow shoes.
Mickey's face is usually colored peach these days but it can also be seen in white.
Mickey's shoes tend to be drawn bigger and rounder than Willie's.
Willie doesn't talk, so he doesn't have the classic Mickey voice, so if you're doing like, a voice-acted video... just don't try to imitate Mickey. Give him a different voice.