Just Wondering.... - Character Performers

heys, well u cud always audition wen u got out ther, 5 foot 2 is an inch or so too big 4 the mouses i think, im not sure but its alice n wendy n then princesses they'd jus bulk up ur height with heels from wot ive been reading online

and yay jus saw im now not a newbie im 'earning my ears'!!

 

lol well i usually say im 5"1 but the only reason i said 5"2 was cos i haven't measured myself in ages! lol so i dont really know how tall i am actually =s but yeh i might be really happy with the job i get (if i get one that is!) x

 

Hey guys, I was a character summer 2008, so i can maybe answer some of your questions. First of all, they measure you, and Disney height varies sometimes from what you might think you are... also they measure you as early as your f2f interview, so you wont get in if you don't match a height range that they are hiring for. Within each height range there are tons of characters you can be. For example, I am 4'11" and was in the mouse/duck height range. Over the course of my program I was Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, Meeko, Stitch, Marie, and Lilo... and there were a bunch more in my height range that I could've been. Wendy and Alice are both mouse height, and the tallest mouse would probably be about 5'2" (i dont have the list in front of me right now, i'd have to double check... it also changes occasionally) Above 5'2" is Chipmunk height, then comes pluto height (where most of the princesses fall into) and above that Tigger and Goofy heights.

It is rare/impossible that an international would be a face character... It is extra training and they tend not to do it for us, unfortunately. Same goes for most of the shows and parades, although things like welcome show that dont need training are still open to us We are however able to go to the workshops and learn parade choreography and things like rollerblading, baton twirling, and puppetry which are super fun.

I havent heard/seen anything about heels on shoes being bigger or smaller for different heights... from what i remember from the shoe area of the costume department they are sorted by shoe size, not heel height... i could be wrong though, as like i said, i wasn't a face character.

i will put up parts of the list when i get home I won't put up the whole thing because i signed tons of confidentiality stuff and dont wanna get in trouble now that i'm reapplying lol, but i'll give you a bit of a sketch.
Check out my blog if you want, i have more details on there.

 

true story, i was character last summer (tall chipmunk height) and height wise they like you to be the height that you can do the most characters in. For example if youre like 4 foot 11 then youre good for loads of characters. if youre like 5 foot 2 youre also pretty good as you can do pooh, chipmunks, mike wazowski, white rabbit, einsteins etc. when it comes to goofy height, they prefer you to be the full 6 foot as then you can do more ie goofy tigger hook etc and from their perspective they want to hire the people for character that will be more flexible. i am five 3 and i was very lucky because of all of the disney pixar characters that were around this summer who are roughly that height (Carl fredricksen and Dug from Up) but normally like i say they like to have people who can do the most characters.
it really is like 99.9% positive you wouldnt get picked for a face role as its almost as rare for the guys from the american college program to do so, and seeing as theyre actually american, if you get what im saying, its not something worth counting on! (though i do still dream of being mary poppins cos i can ACTUALLY speak with an english accent ahem...)
but yeah as far as it goes youre there for like 8 weeks of work so theyre not gonna train you for parades or shows or face training simply cos its not worth it from their perspective. though just like its just been said welcome show at MK is a possibility (gutted i was never chip/dale 1 that day) and there are dance parties that are awesome that are sort of like shows. at most you could be rope puller in the jammin jungle parade, but its not that likely.
sounds like im trying to put you all off the whole character thing - im not! it was wonderful, really rewarding and exciting and good luck to all of you who have interviews this year, if you get it, it will be the best summer of your life! x

 

Hi Vic! Hope you're well!! You applying for next year?