Rachel Fields Hallberg
As the gates opened at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on July 17, 1955, visitors had no idea what to expect. Walt Disney's fantastic vision had produced the first theme park of its type and magnitude. In order to advertise what attractions were available and to direct park visitors to them, artists were hired to design posters to depict each ride. These posters not only served the utilitarian purpose of displaying the rides and their locations within Disneyland, but they also functioned as works of art designed to excite Disneyland visitors and make them want to experience the various parts of the park.
The Alice in Wonderland Fantasyland poster was created in the 1950s or 1960s in a time of extreme gender bias. And this poster reflects the traditional gender stereotypes about females omnipresent in post-World War II America.
Although during World War II women had assumed important roles in the workplace, gender stereotypes were still extremely prevalent. Women were presumed to be the weaker gender, best suited for child rearing and domestic life. It was not until 1920 that women were even deemed intelligent enough to vote. Because common opinion alleged that women lacked the decisiveness and strength to manage a business or hold public office, positions of authority and control were held almost exclusively by men. This opinion is also reflected in Disney’s Alice in Wonderland poster. The design of the poster, including the lettering, layout, and images of characters, reflects the choice by Disney to support the common attitudes towards women during this era.
From the Alice in Wonderland poster’s lack of detailed images of the ride itself, the audience can infer that the poster’s designers were confident that the popularity of the movie alone would attract park visitors to the ride. There is also a lack of specific written information about the attraction. It is unclear whether the words surrounding Alice’s image-- “Upside Down Room,” “ Garden of Live Flowers,” “Mad Tea Party,” “Through the Key Hole,” and “Tulgey Wood”-- are the names of individual rides or just phrases from Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” or Disney’s movie version. The uneven font and small white lettering in this portion of the poster is especially difficult to read because the words wrap around the images of Alice and other characters from the movie and some of the writing is sideways. There is also an image of the Duchess character from the movie with people riding on her back. This picture is presumably an illustration of one of the cars of a specific ride within the Alice in Wonderland attraction; however, it is unclear whether this image depicts the only ride in the “Alice” area of Fantasyland. The majority of written words on the poster are almost unreadable when viewed from a distance.
The artist’s omission of visual detail and written information about the ride creates added emphasis on the image of Alice. Located in the center of the poster, the head and shoulder image of Alice is at least three times the size of any other part of the poster. Her bright yellow hair starkly contrasts the green background and her pink skin. The smaller images of other characters from the movie are pale blue and white and do not stand out in the composition. Viewed from a distance, these characters create a swirling image around the hole through which Alice is falling but are not recognizable as individual entities. They serve only to accentuate Alice’s descent. It is clear from the dominating size and appearance of Alice’s image that it is the primary means of attracting visitors to the Wonderland portion of Disneyland. The artist may have assumed that the poster would be viewed from a distance and that words or detailed images of the ride would not be as effective for the utilitarian function of the poster as an advertisement.
Due to the size and coloring of her picture, it is very easy for audiences to gather lots of information about Alice. In this particular image, Alice’s raised eyebrows and opened mouth create a facial expression of fear and surprise about her position. As she falls through the hole, rather than struggling to free herself she merely throws her hands up in a gesture of helplessness and despair. Her gesture depicts submission. She is overwhelmed and lacks the initiative to help herself. Alice’s reaction supports the gender bias of the time period by depicting a woman failing to take action. The image of a women being sucked into a vortex or falling into a hole is also suggestive of the weakness and vulnerability of women. It is also interesting to note that the only other female character in the poster, the Duchess, seems to be following Alice’s path into the hole. The women in the scene are following a downward path while the other characters seem to be merely spiraling. The female characters also do not fight their descent into Wonderland. Their submission may be representative of the idea held during this time that women are more susceptible to temptation. The differences in the movement of the different genders supports the opinion of post-war America that women were inferior and weak.
Although not very informative, the words in the poster reveal clues as to the artists’ intentions. The top of the poster reads “visit the wonderful world of Alice in Wonderland” in uneven, bouncy lettering. The curvy lines representing the motion of Alice and the Duchess look like the ledger lines of sheet music. This graphic detail creates a musical quality to the poster and softens the textual features. The rounded lettering and curving lines can be interpreted as feminine due to the fact that curves are typically suggestive of the female body. The writing is also in the same colors as Alice’s hair and skin, accentuating her physical features. The bright yellow word “Alice” at the top center portion of the poster brings attention not only to her name, but also to her long hair, a traditional female trait. And the words “Wonderland” and “Fantasyland” are the same pinkish hue as her skin. The coloring of Alice’s image is not realistic. Although most young girls lack the physical characteristics of the female form, Alice’s image has been designed to appear very mature and feminine. Her hair is an unnatural yellow, as if dyed, and her skin is a shade of pink which makes her appear to be wearing makeup. Her eyelashes are unusually long and dark for a blonde. The Disney artist who first sketched Alice exaggerated her features to create a more womanly image. In an attempt to illustrate a beautiful girl, the artist has lost sight of reality. But this stray from the norm is acceptable to Disneyland. Because the poster is illustrating a departure from the real world, the journey from reality to fantasy allows for the exaggeration of Alice’s most female features. The placement of Alice’s name at the top of the poster and Fantasyland at the bottom places the focus of the poster not on the place but on Alice, further emphasizing the exaggerated female image.
In accordance with Lewis Carrol’s book and the Disney movie, the poster presents Alice in a world of domesticity run amok. A tea party has gone mad under the supervision of the Mad Hatter, a male character. In the poster, small images of this character and others from the tea party appear to be intoxicated. They recline, tea in hand, with large eyes and crooked smiles. In the movie, even the concept of birthdays is corrupted as the tea party-goers revel in excess and indulgence. This scene, represented in the poster by a large teapot, depicts a mockery of the social activities of women. Also shown in the poster are the flowers that sing and dance in the movie. During World War II, many women kept Victory Gardens to conserve food supplies. Since light gardening became a common household job for women, it is interesting that Alice in Wonderland has a scene where a garden takes on a life of its own. It seems that the movie and the poster represent the “Wonderland” and fantasies of women to be filled with their social and domestic responsibilities losing their significance and becoming silly.
Although this particular Fantasyland poster depicts women as weak creatures descending helplessly into a hole, there are scenes in Alice in Wonderland which portray women taking control and being strong. For example, in the book, Alice follows the rabbit down the hole. While the poster illustrates the rabbit looking down on Alice from the outside world in the top left corner of the poster, a more accurate image would be of Alice looking through that hole at the rabbit entering Wonderland. Also in the movie, Alice eats the cake labeled “Eat Me” and grows to a giant size. Alice towering over the other characters rather than being sucked into Wonderland by them would present a female in a dominant role. At the very end of the movie, Alice takes charge of her situation by challenging the Queen of Hearts. She accuses the Queen and her soldiers of being just a pack of cards. This assertive action ends Alice’s visit to Wonderland. She controls her own destiny by taking initiative. Clearly, Alice is not a helpless character throughout the story. However, Disney’s choice of image of Alice pictured in the poster reflects an assumption that the audience would respond positively to a female image of submission and helplessness surrounded by domestic images.
From close examination of the different elements of this Fantasyland
poster--layout, lettering, and images-- it can be observed that the scene
shows women as weak, helpless creatures incapable of resisting temptation.
In our age of political correctness and feminism, this image might appall
audiences, but in post-World War II America, the poster merely mirrors
common gender stereotypes. Disney makes a statement, through the
design of this poster, that as a corporation it shares these attitudes
towards women.