FREE ESSAY ON DISNEY TECHNO-NATURE

DISNEY TECHNO-NATURE

Disney Techno-Nature
Like most Disney material, nature themes were incorporated into the earliest parks,
including Adventureland, Frontierland, Nature's Wonderland, and the newest, Animal
Kingdom. Disney carefully edited these "natural" settings that show the less wild side of
the wilderness. However, how does the tourist comprehend the illusions? How are the
plants and animals adapting to reflect the illusion, and how are they accented by the
interactions with both human nature and Disney's technological nature? These questions
and more will be answered within the following sections: Definitions, Technological
Nature, Kilamanjaro Safari, and The Final Answer.
The Animal Kingdom is a modern exhibit designed to follow the "natural pattern" of an
African community. The most eye-popping attraction, the Kilamanjaro Safari, is an
open-air, nearly barrier-free animal reserve at Florida's Walt Disney World. It was a
major shift from a cow playground to a zone of care for other wise caged animals. Here,
African animals freely roam through acres of savanna, rivers, and rocky hills. The rider
is advised to be aware, "You never know what could happen in the wilderness" (Tate 1).
Definitions
Before I can begin to consider the "nature" of the Animal Kingdom, the definitions of
nature and technology must be established. Webster's American College Dictionary lists
nature as "the natural world as it exists without human beings or civilization." In the
case of the Animal Kingdom, this definition is inappropriate because Disney itself is a
man-made civilization, with merchants, restaurants, and restroom facilities. Technology
is defined as that "branch of knowledge that deals with applied science, engineering and
the industrial arts." This definition of technology can be reworked to fit the Disney
model of nature. 
What exactly does Disney do? Disney applies technology to the Florida area. Technology
has allowed for hundreds of acres of Florida land to be safely destroyed by means of
controlled burning. With the help of technology, Disney has transported lonely zoo
animals and put them in their "original" surroundings once again. Technology uprooted
pieces of Africa to better care for African animals in the United States, as well as to
provide adventure for those who cannot jet to Africa for a true safari, which includes
some risk of danger and insecurity. (Tate 2) In following the form of Heidegger's
definition of technology as a mediation of nature, it correctly fits the Disney
technological nature (qtd in Phillips 218). 
Technological Nature
With these working definitions of nature and technological nature, we can move onto how
Disney's Animal Kingdom uses technological nature. In the newest theme park, Animal
Kingdom, Disney has recreated an African community and several other exotic lands, like
Dinoland and Asia. Disney engineers, called Imagineers, imported African trees, grasses,
and other plants, to provide the setting for the pseudo-savanna attraction, the
Kilamanjaro Safari Ride. 
How does technology add to the realness of the park? "While theme parks are mostly
illusion, occasionally things that seem authentic really are. Thatched roofs on buildings
in the faux village [of Harambe] were hand woven by 13 Zulu thatchers brought over from
South Africa, using bundles of grass harvested by their wives, sisters, and mothers. Some
1500 hand-painted wooden animals were crafted in Bali, under Disney supervision."
(Gunther 123) Ninety students from African countries were hired to "really validate the
experience." Disney has done a convincing makeover of the Florida acreage. When Franklin
Sonn, the African ambassador to the United States saw the new kingdom, he said "This is
my bush veldt. This is my home" (qtd in Shklyanoy 4).
Kilamanjaro Safari
Specifically, the Kilamanjaro Safari is the prime example of Disney's use of
technological nature. 
"Everyone, listen up! Climb aboard your open-aired safari vehicle for an exciting
expedition. African animals freely roam through acres of savanna, rivers, and rocky
hills. Look out for giraffes, gazelles, elephants, and lions. But beware, you never know
what could happen in the wilderness..." (Tate 1).
This greeting is just the beginning of the "wild" ride through the safari. Guests travel
in a 32-person vehicle driven by cast members (Disney employees) through an African
savanna featuring giraffes, gazelles, elephants and lions. The land is filled with native
African plants and trees. In preparing the park, Imagineers spent weeks in Africa, taking
notes and photographs of the savanna lands of Africa. 
"The savanna where [the animals] roam was once drab [Florida] cow pasture, but every weed
and rut has been meticulously contoured to resemble an African plain" (Corliss 67). Walt
Disney himself would be thoroughly pleased with this transformation. 
The Tourist
I briefly reproduce the setting of the Kilamanjaro Safari to place the reader inside the
park. Now take a look at the tourists around you. Sometimes the tourist falls into a
certain category, one particularly in the English sightseer. You've seen them; pale
skinned or sunburned from the glaring Florida sun, wearing "belly packs", nylon soccer
shorts, and black knee-high socks. He is carrying a seemingly expensive camera draped
around his neck with a theme park map in hand. Sound familiar? How do the tourists see
the Animal Kingdom, having never seen African animals up close nor met a native African?
Of course this is awe-inspiring, to even the most frequent visitor. "Oohs and ahhs"
invariably trickle out from the Safari vehicle while passing the sunning lions and the
bathing elephants, and crowds gather around the friendly native African students. 
How is Disney fooling the tourist? The animals presumably look like they reside together
in this large acreage of land, but once again the Disney illusion prevails. Moats built
to antagonize the most courageous predator separate the species from each other, and
feeding troughs are built out of sight so that the animals are not competing to live, as
they are in the wilderness. This illusion has several affects. The park was designed to
draw us into nature, which has produced an unanticipated effect. The nature of humans has
conflicted with the technological nature. Tourists observe only the face value of the
park; it is human nature to take subsurface workmanship, such as the laboring of
engineers and wildlife agriculturalists, for granted. Its illusion of intimacy and
hospitality translates into the mental logic that says one has already 'been there,'
fostering a sense of physical and psychic control that does not actually match the 'being
there' of a savanna trek in a developed pasture area (King 67). The plants must
continually be nurtured with nutrients found in African soils. A synthetic fuel is added
to the eighteen inches of Florida sand in order for the foreign plants to propagate and
live. The animals must readapt from a zoo surrounding to one more similar to where they
were taken from, as well as adapt to the artificial hormones and antibiotics lacing the
feed. (Mongeau) To the tourist, the plants and animals only make for the Disney illusion
for the tourist's enjoyment. The sightseers must remember that the safari is a modern zoo
terrarium and that the creatures are real and are living in a realistic environment, not
just a theme park. The creatures, in perspective, are interesting and entertaining
because of human interest (King 65). 
The Final Answer
In the beginning, nature was a competitor, a harsh environment to be subdued. Once under
control, it no longer posed a threat but an opportunity for aesthetic and recreational
exploration (King 60). Disney pioneered, engineered and directed a contradiction of
sorts, and further accentuates the mental and emotional confusion of the average park
sightseer. Disney has created what some critics call an "artful contradiction" and
"Disnification" of nature (Corliss 66; King 64). Everything is real and almost completely
authentic, but not real or authentic to the Florida mainland. Chairman and CEO Michael
Eisner says, "This park is all about magic and illusion." The magic, in all its glory,
separates the technological nature from the true nature from the tourist. The
manufactured "magic moments" are what make it real and separate it from the dangerous
possibilities of nature. It is not to say that Disney's Kilamanjaro Safari is
naturalistically correct or incorrect; it is a representation, and not a reproduction of
the true African savanna. How can nature be surpassed, you ask? Disney. That's how.
Bibliography
Corliss, Richard. "Beauty and the Beasts." Time Magazine; 20 April 1998:
66-70.
Gunther, Marc. "Disney's Call of the Wild." Fortune Magazine; 13 April 1998:
120-124.
King, Margaret J. "The Audience in the Wilderness: The Disney Nature Films."
Journal of Popular Film and Television 24.4 (1996): 60-68.
Phillips, Dana. "Is Nature Necessary?" The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks
In Literary Ecology. Eds. Cheryl Glotfelty and Harold Fromm.
Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1996. 204-22.
Mongeau, Lionel, former Disney Imagineer. Telephone interview. 
19 March 2000.
Shklyanoy, Polina. "Out of the Bottle." Advertising Age; 1 February 1999: 4.