Through studying the many realms of communication through various courses, I have come to learn that icon has a number of different meanings. Throughout Comm265, Visual Rhetoric Visual Culture, we have been studying iconic photographs, those photographs that which have passed that test of time and because of many characteristics still hold deep meaning and relevance after many years. In terms of semiotics, an icon is a representative symbol of something. An example of this may the images (or icons) that represent the applications on a smart phone- Instagram’s icon of a camera in order to represent the purpose and use of the application.
In the United States of America, there are a number of icons that encompass the United States. One of those icons is the Cinderella Castle made famous by Walt Disney parks and film. The Cinderella Castle that appears are the beginning of each Walt Disney Pictures film and that is also the centerpiece attraction for the American Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Park. The Walt Disney Company, that has had such a strong presence in the United States of America since early stages of animation entertainment , now, as a media conglomerate, has a number of different business subgroups that help to spread the brand in mediums such as film, television shows, radio stations, magazines, books, theme parks, and much more. Because of this strong presence, Disney’s repetition of the Cinderella Castle has been a prime example of culture industry thus allowing it to become an icon of the United States.
Although an icon of the U.S.A., the Cinderella Castle is also employed outside of the United States in Tokyo Disneyland, located in the capital of Japan. Through research, it has become evident that Tokyo Disneyland integrates the Cinderella Castle in order to appropriately market theme park and the overall cultural response to this usage has been positive. According to Themed Entertainment Association, Tokyo Disneyland holds second place to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, U.S.A. for the top number of annual attendees to a Walt Disney amusement park. Concerning the U.S. response tho this usage was more rather positive than negative. Although the success of Tokyo Disneyland may not be relevant to commoners of the United States, the elites that supervise the media conglomerate of the Walt Disney Company may see the success of the company’s existence in Japan as a positive. I do not believe there is another icon other than the Cinderella Castle that would pose as an appropriate icon in Tokyo Disneyland. Because of the ambiance and and sense of childishness that Tokyo Disneyland wishes to create, the Cinderella Castle is the most appropriate icon to include in both advertising as well as the park itself.
The thinkers from Sturken and Cartwright’s (2009) “Practices of Looking” that best fit this assignment are communication scholar Armand Mattelart and cultural critic Ariel Dorfman. Mattelart and Dorfman discuss how Donald Duck was once used by the United states in order to sell ideas “to promote ‘good neighborliness’ in South America in the 1940s” (Sturken & Cartwright, 2009, p.398). Although I do not believe that the United States based media conglomerate of The Walt Disney Company has implemented agenda setting such as the example of Mattelart and Dorfman’s Donald Duck theory however I do believe that the use of the Cinderella Castle is used to achieve business purposes for their location in Japan.
Cartwright, L., & Sturken, M. (2009). Practices of looking: an introduction to visual culture. New York, NY: Oxford University Press Inc.
Tokyo Disneyland Honeymoons. [Image]. (n.d.) Retrieved from: http://as1.wdpromedia.com/media/honeymoons/honeymoons/slideshows/magical_places_03.jpg
Walt Disney Studies-The Castle-Logo. [Image]. (n.d.) Retrieved from: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Z8IHW0EfhAg/maxresdefault.jpg
Colin Mallory 