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Disney Globalization

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Disney Globalization
Cole Younger N0086726

What do you understand by the idea that globalization produces a ‘shrinking world’?

A Disney World
Globalization and the Walt Disney Company
This essay will explore the concept of the shrinking world as a product of globalization, and investigate the Walt Disney Company’s contribution towards this phenomenon. It will begin by examining the primary motivating factors behind globalization, the spread of transportation and communication links, before presenting an overview of the Walt Disney Company and its role in media and tourism. It will explore the international presence Disney holds and its influence over international tourism and governments. It will explore allegations of homogenization amongst the Disney parks and explore the cultural recognition given to each international resort. It will then overview ‘Adventures by Disney’ in which Disney exports its theme park methodology to real culture, and will conclude by examining the ideas of Disneyization and McDonaldization in regards to Marc Auge’s theory of the place and non-place, before considering whether globalization is simply disguised Americanization. Globalization is a product of the massive transportation and communications breakthroughs made throughout the past two centuries. Originating with trade networks, and industrialised with the British Empire and its influence on a common language, they have lead towards a vast world infrastructure decreasing the ‘friction of distance’ worldwide. Still, global access to communication varies globally; for some it is two-way, as with the internet, yet only a quarter of the world population has access. For many it is one way; receiving broadcasts from establishments such as the BBC World Service, or nationalised television stations. The majority of communications channels are owned and operated by western businesses and institutions, prompting the question of significant western influence over world culture. At the forefront of this


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