Size a growing concern for Disney costumers
By Roy Rivenburg
Los Angeles Times
ANAHEIM - It's not such a small world after all. As Disneyland celebrates its 50th birthday, the park is grappling with a harsh reality of middle age: Mickey Mouse's entourage has put on a few pounds.
To accommodate the ballooning bodies of American workers, the Magic Kingdom is redesigning some of its costumes for ride operators, shop clerks, waitresses and other employees.
A couple of decades ago, the park's wardrobe department stocked a narrow range of sizes. Today, the uniforms for women extend from size 2 to 30. And men's trousers have stretched to 58-inch waists.
The super-sizing is the latest wrinkle in the park's unending quest to balance Walt Disney's storybook vision of perfection against real-world practicalities.
The demise of bans on mustaches and cornrow hairstyles drew considerable publicity a few years ago. But the shift on weight escaped attention. Although employee contracts still require medical leaves for workers who are ``unable to maintain their physical proportions,'' the clause is no longer enforced.
Disney officials downplay the issue, saying they're simply aiming for a more diverse workforce. But outside observers say a tight labor market for low-paying jobs has forced the company to loosen its strict personal-appearance standards.
``Disneyland can't be as picky as it used to be,'' said Jamie O'Boyle, a theme-park scholar at the Center for Cultural Studies & Analysis in Philadelphia.
Employers elsewhere are facing similar issues. In the airline industry, for example, a series of lawsuits wiped out weight limits for flight attendants. And some military officials consider obesity a threat to national security, warning of recruitment shortfalls unless weight standards are eased.
``Obesity is the issue du jour,'' said Bill O'Brien, a Minneapolis-based employment attorney. ``It's everywhere you turn.''
Behind Space Mountain, in a building filled with Goofy heads and seamstresses toiling over Tigger tails, Disney's costume maestros direct the resort's massive clothing operation. It's their job to outfit more than 14,000 workers and animated figures at the Disney complex.
The first clue to Disney's costume makeover hangs in an upstairs hall: a photo montage of thin 1966 employees next to snapshots of more recent ``cast members,'' who come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Nearby, a conference room displays sketches of five new costumes. One shows a more chaste tour guide ensemble worn by a gray-haired woman in her 50s.
``You'd have never seen that 20 years ago,'' said David Koenig, author of ``Mouse Tales,'' a behind-the-scenes history of the Magic Kingdom. Early tour guide slots were reserved for the prettiest young women, he said. Clad in jockey-style threads with velvet hats, riding crops and short plaid skirts, they escorted clusters of guests and VIPs around the park.
Today's guides include middle-age women and senior citizens who ``aren't as comfortable in a short skirt,'' so the costume is being overhauled for the first time in four decades, said Robbin Almand, director of entertainment services for Disneyland Resort.
The 2006 version, scheduled to debut this summer, features a longer hemline and looser jacket.
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