All hail the Mouse. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Florida has reported a record increase of more than 15,000 new cases of COVID-19 in a single day, but that hasn’t stopped the Walt Disney World Resort from opening its doors to paying customers.
The partial reopening of the Magic Kingdom was accompanied by a spectacularly tone-deaf promotional video, featuring eerie shots of empty roller coasters and employees grinning through their masks, repeating the phrase “welcome home,” with the forced enthusiasm of hostages at gunpoint.
As the video progresses, it slowly increases in intensity, showing unfortunate employees standing in formation, cult-like, awaiting their next victim to sacrifice to the almighty mouse, with close-ups of beating drums, costumed Disney characters dancing to the rhythm of death.
The contrast between the video’s manic, corporate enthusiasm and the deadly coronavirus lurking in the background is beyond absurd; as many Twitter users pointed out, the video would make a great trailer for a horror film.
Thus, a meme was born, as the video was remixed to the unsettling soundtracks of Annihilation, Us, and most memorably, the ritualistic chanting of Koyaanisqatsi; watching them in succession, it’s amazing how a simple shift in tone can turn a promotional video into a memorable piece of satire.
The original video was eventually deleted from Twitter, for obvious reasons, but still remains on Instagram.
Anyone who has ever visited Walt Disney World (or any theme park, for that matter), can attest to the fact that the places are practically petri dishes, the bacteria-covered surfaces of every atrocious theme restaurant providing ample opportunity for diseases to flourish.
Crowding through souvenir shops, queueing in the hot sun, sitting in sticky roller coaster seats and touching greasy handrails; there is no amount of preventive measures that could possibly make Disney World an appealing place to visit right now.
The Jurassic Park franchise and its repeated plot point of a theme park reopening its doors despite very clear dangers, prioritizing profit over public health, has never felt so real; indeed, that concept has bled into reality itself, into the production of Jurassic World: Dominion, which is still running on schedule, despite positive virus tests among the crew.
On the bright side, if there’s ever a future film adaption on the ill-advised reopening of Walt Disney World, we already have several trailers, ready to launch.
No Comments
Leave a comment Cancel