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View Full Version : Were autographs always part of the character experience?



disney jones
04-03-2005, 10:45 PM
This is something me and the DW frequently discuss and disagree on. I grew up in SoCal in the '60's and '70's and NEVER remember getting autographs of characters. If DW comes, the autograph books are one of the essentials.

Pictures, yes.

Autographs? huh?

i think autographs came about for some reason in the '80's, but that's just a personal guess. Because of my own tradition, we've never gotten autographs when its just been me and the girls the last year.

Pictures, most definitely - we've gotten about 76 different characters plus many others with them in their different outfits (we have Goofy, for instance, in about 6 different outfits). A $50 character meal will be spent if we know when can get one of the few remaining we don't have, but last month we bypassed Storyteller's because there wasn't any one 'new' in there.

DW occasionally suggests we bring along the girls' autograph books from 2003 when we've gone lately, but it's never felt right, so I don't do it, plus it takes time, it's something else to carry, and just doesn't have the same magic a picture has.

So how far back does anyone remember getting autographs? i know a lot of people treasure them, and the girls occasionally ask about it too, but not on my watch! :eek: :)

Opus1guy
04-03-2005, 10:53 PM
My brother has a Disneyland autograph book signed by many Disney characters, Mooseketeer Roy Williams and several Mouseketeer members of the original television Mickey Mouse Club series...from the early 60's. So I'd say yes...autographs were probably always a part of the Disneyland character experience.

One Disneyland "character" was particularly popular with autograph seekers:

http://alastair.familydallas.com/pictorials/1968.jpg

;)

disney jones
04-03-2005, 11:07 PM
My brother has a Disneyland autograph book signed by many Disney characters, Mooseketeer Roy Williams and several Mouseketeer members of the original television Mickey Mouse Club series...from the early 60's. So I'd say yes...autographs were probably always a part of the Disneyland character experience.

One Disneyland "character" was particularly popular with autograph seekers:

http://alastair.familydallas.com/pictorials/1968.jpg

;)But those were real people :eek: ......... oh, i mean to say, not that characters aren't real ......... ummm, how do i put this????

well, to rephrase, autographs from stars of the animated films - yeah, that's what i meant to say!!

3894
04-04-2005, 06:02 AM
I went a couple of times a year from 1966-1975 and just don't recall the autograph books. Doesn't mean they weren't there.

JeffG
04-04-2005, 06:52 AM
I definitely remember getting character autographs at Walt Disney World in the early 70s. It was definitely a staple of my visits when I was a kid. I can't speak from experience as to whether or not they were common at DL as well, but I would imagine they probably were.

-Jeff

rentayenta
04-04-2005, 07:46 AM
I don't remember getting autographs as a child and I went often.

We started doing the autographs for my oldest when she could carry the book and pen by herself; I think it was her 3rd birthday. It sort of snowballed from there.

SCUBAbe
04-04-2005, 08:10 AM
I never got autographs. I don;t even think my parents took pictures of me with them. I liked observing them from a distance...kind of like now..LOL..and as a teenager following the hot peter pan around. (knowing what I do now..I just hope the was a guy...LOL) People get herd mentality. When they see others do it they want to do it. Especially at Disneyland where people all herded around all day. (oh, and kaiser...LOL) I try to think on my own and do my own thing..:)

kadiehl
04-04-2005, 08:30 AM
We never did autographs when I was kid but got some pictures. Then again, they did not have the number of characters out and about in the parks (I am talking WDW) when I was little like they do now.

On our first trip we got tons of autographs and pictures for my son...that was one of his favorite things to do. On our second trip last year with my daughter, we got a few more but my son has most of the autographs. He got some on Halloween night from some of the villians and Quasimodo and Esmeralda. He just wants to fill in the blanks. He was not really into the villian thing though as he turned down the opportunity to get many of their autographs.

So now, we take pictures and get autographs :)

Susan L
04-04-2005, 08:30 AM
I also grew up in So.CA during the 60s and 70s and I had a DL autograph book that I made during those years and got characters to sign it. I didn't have alot but got a few over the years. Unfortunately I lost my DL autograph book when I moved from the area.

CrazyTrain
04-04-2005, 10:37 AM
I always feel bad for the non-face characters trying to see to sign autographs :( I do think it's a cute idea for kids, though.

Klutch
04-04-2005, 10:45 AM
When I visited Disneyland with my fifth grade class for the bicentennial, some students were getting autographs. Although I had visited Disneyland many times, this was first time I saw people getting autographs from the characters.

Thus, I think the concept has been around for a long time, it just wasn't nearly as common back in the 1960s and 1970s. When I visited Disneyland in 1995 after a very long hiatus, I saw there were autograph books and large pens for sale everywhere. We bought a book for my daughter and she had a lot of fun getting autographs.

Of course, the concept of waiting in line to see a character is also new. When I was a lad, the characters wandered the park and you could actually stop them to say hello without creating a mob scene. Alas, no more.

disneygirl42
04-04-2005, 11:04 AM
.

Of course, the concept of waiting in line to see a character is also new. When I was a lad, the characters wandered the park and you could actually stop them to say hello without creating a mob scene. Alas, no more.
I always think it's so magical when people are content to just come upon a character by suprise, exchange a few words or a hug, and move on. they have a memory to keep, and smiles on their faces...those are my favorite memories.

when I was a kid, I remember seeing peter pan standing on one of the stone walls, holding onto the edge and looking into the sky like he was about to take off flying. it was something I never forgot. we *did* get a picture, but it didn't even occur to me to stop him, make him pose, and kill the magic of that moment by demanding he sign a book for me. I don't even think I'd have known what to do with an autograph if I had gotten one.

now they market those books everywhere, with pretty pens and everything...of course kids are going to want them.

sometimes people aren't even sure who I *am*, but they still want me to sign. my worst day was when there was a school having some sort of "scavenger hunt" contest thing...they all ran up with these yellow hats, and I was supposed to sign them--they kept pushing their hats closer and closer to my face, so I'd sign theirs first. more and more of them kept coming. I finally asked what it was, and when they said "the one who gets the most character signatures wins," I said "*I* think the winner will be the one who has fun today and doesn't worry about such things."
because what a silly idea, for the school to decide they didnt' have enough to do in Disneyland so they had to run around with a list of things to "get". makes me feel a bit nauseous. more power to the kids who decided to look around them, notice the loveliness of the day, and enjoy it rather than racing from character to character.

o.k...switching off my inner gremlin now... sorry folks, just don't get me started about those *#%^&*% autograph books!!! :rolleyes: :mad:

disneygirl42
04-04-2005, 11:08 AM
although...I just had a thought. the autograph books *do* work when the little ones are very shy, and don't know what to say. it acts as a sort of bridge from them to the character, they feel like they have something to do so they dont' feel so awkward.

kids should never worry about things like that...I noticed that parents sometimes go "go up to her and say___" but they really don't have to do that. if a kid has nothing to say, and just walks up to a character and stands there, the character will take care of the rest. that's what we're there for!

biolabetty
04-04-2005, 11:22 AM
I don't recall seeing the autograph books until I took my two oldest children to DL for the first time in the early 90's. They did it once and we have never done it since. For us, the special times with characters have been the ones where we just came upon them accidentally. Last week I took my two little ones to DL and as we were leaving the castle area towards the hub, we saw Peter Pan. They were excited and went to see him, and he took their hands and started walking with them down Main Street. Kids would stop him to get his autograph, which he did, then he would take my kids hands and keep on walking. They had such a great conversation with him about Captain Hook and Tinkerbell, they probably spent 10 minutes with him. They were so excited afterwards that they had to call their Dad on the phone to tell him. That's a memory that will last more than the autograph for us.

experiment626
04-04-2005, 11:23 AM
I don't remember autographs when we went in the 70's - early 80's. I also don't remember character meet and greets, or for that matter characters out and about. The only time I remember seeing characters were during the parades.

hlbtimes2
04-04-2005, 11:24 AM
[QUOTE=disneygirl42]
sometimes people aren't even sure who I *am*, but they still want me to sign.
[QUOTE]

Now you have me really curious as to who you are!

GREGOR
04-04-2005, 11:36 AM
As a wee tot in the mid to late 60's, I remember the passport books being more popular than autograph books. Every ride had their own stamp and they stamped your passport just like they do to a real passport when entering a country. The object of course was to collect every ride and fill up your passport. And I think they were free because we got one everytime we went. One day, I'm going to find all these somewhere in the back of my parent's attic.

adriennek
04-04-2005, 11:52 AM
although...I just had a thought. the autograph books *do* work when the little ones are very shy, and don't know what to say. it acts as a sort of bridge from them to the character, they feel like they have something to do so they dont' feel so awkward.

And this is one of the reasons why I think autograph books are a good thing. For me, it's not about whether or not Disney is making a buck off of the books and pens. It's about the children and their developmental levels.

Children are not abstract thinkers. They are concrete thinkers. That's the first part. The second part is that the more of our senses we use in an experience, the more we will remember about the experience.

If it's so much a part of the "memory" then in my mind, the autograph book just makes the memory more concrete.

The child has an autograph book- that's a motivation to get over fear or anxiety to approach the child. Just because a character is "Trained" to make the interaction go well, that doesn't mean that the child knows that! It's a CHILD. No one has trained the child to know "Don't worry, Disney trains them to interact with you." And believe me, telling my child, "Go ahead, it will be ok, the characters know what they're doing" isn't going to help! If my child is already anxious, a trained character will help, but I think it's expecting a bit much of the characters to be able to reach every anxious child based only on some training from Disney.

The child is seeing the character, but if this is a head character, then the child won't hear the character talk to him/her. That's one sense lost. Physically holding the book and having the character, head or face, sign the book will further add to the child's memory.

Then, afterwards, the concrete thinking child has a concrete memory of the experience. Not just a photo that they have to wait to develop or to get home and get printed See my .sig. How many people even print them?? Will the children actually have a photo to hold? An album with the photo in it and the story written down? Many do not! The autograph book is a tangible reminder of the experience.

Now, if I were to come here and demand that the characters GIVE my child something to remember the interaction, I would perceive THAT as being greedy. In fact, I wouldn't want my child to think that he's not having a good time unless someone GIVES him something tangible. But an autograph- a written communication on a piece of paper, just for him- that's something special. It's "free" but it's priceless. And considering that we purchased the autograph book ourselves, it's not like we're demanding something be 'given' to us?

Sure, I don't like the lines to see characters. It's not nearly as special as spontaineous interactions. But I don't think that blaming autograph books is the "problem." I think that because of autograph books, Disney probably has more motivation to actually put the characters out there for people to meet. That's a good thing.

But look at the crowds at the parks? Do you think people are really filling the parks because they know if they go they can get character autographs?

I think it's a sign of the value of the autograph experience that they are popular. People like them. They want to have the tangible connection, they know that they will stimulate and inspire their children to visit characters. Isn't that the point of having characters available?

My son only had his first autograph book in March. He and his brother have had AP's since the months they turned 3. They've been going to the parks since they were less than 3-weeks old. They love Disneyland. And in the month since they've had their autograph books, they've loved to revisit those memories by bringing their books to me. They show me the autographs, READ them to me, and re-tell me the stories about the interactions they had that day.

In my book, my sons' autograph books get a big yellow thumbs up.

Adrienne

kadiehl
04-04-2005, 12:01 PM
You are all right about the shy kids, my son had his book going which made my daughter want to go with up with him to get autographs...her first autograph she got on her own was the ole' Mouse himself, Mickey Mouse. That is the first character she ever walked up to on her own.

Earkid
04-04-2005, 12:02 PM
My niece doesn't do the autograph book thing. I'm not sure why but she just doesn't get into it. She usually isn't shy but one time we were in Ariel's Grotto and there was NO ONE else there and we walked down the stairs and there was Ariel. She instantly got shy. She asked me "what do I say to her"? I told her to tell Ariel how much you like her movies and that you practice swimming like her in the pool. They had the best 10-minute conversation centered around swimming techniques. It was a great opportunity since no one else was waiting.

So if your kids aren't into the autograph thing they can talk to the characters about the movies they have been in.

kadiehl
04-04-2005, 12:07 PM
Now you have me really curious as to who you are!

Ooh, ooh, I want to know too! ;) :)

merlinjones
04-04-2005, 12:46 PM
I think there were always some kids that did the autograph thing on their own up until the late 80's/early 90's when it had became sort of a natural competitive fad (possibly at WDW first?), then the marketing department caught on and started selling autograph books and pushing the concept to everyone.

But it certainly was an off-the-radar thing when I was growing up in the 60's - 70's. The characters were always fun to see, but it was simply a charming atmosphere and photo op thing back then.

The Princess phenomenon seems to have taken it one step further yet... with the little kids in matching costumes at the park in recent years - - which definitely never would have happened in those days. The idea of wearing costumes to the Rennaissance Fair was sort of a breakthrough in that regard - in the early 80's.