being a princess

so ever since i went to disney when i had just turned fifteen and saw a girl from the local community college working at disney, i wanted to work at disney while in college too. Now i'm a sophomore in college and still want to do the work program just as badly as before, if not even more than ever since all i can do lately is read about disney, and i have it figured out in my four year plan to go next fall, hoping they pick me to work at disney. now two of my RAs at last year both worked at disney as characters, and they gave me advice and told me all about the program, and while initially i thought i wanted to go as a lifeguard or a character greeter, because my minor is sign language so i could sign with guests, and i always assumed i was too average to be a character at 5'5''. but then as i've been reading more and more about characters, i've found princesses are preferred to be between 5'2 and 5'8, which makes me right in the middle of that. plus as a princess i could still use sign language, since my hands would be my own, and not a big floppy costume's hands. i have a pretty semetrical face with no distinguishing features to make me seem less like any certain princess, and now this has made me think maybe i COULD be a character. all this time i thought characters had to be either real short or real tall (my female RA was short and played alice, my male RA was tall and was goofy, captain hook, and several others) but this recent thought has opened a whole new world (no pun intended) to the possibility of being a princess. does anyone know of any other guidelines i would need as a princess? im thinking since my interview/audition won't be until around february i'm going to work out more until then, but does anyone else have any other tips on what to do for then, or what they think other guidelines to be a princess is if they worked at disney? i danced for nine years and have a good singing voice, although my range isn't very big since i never had formal training :worried: i just hope all this excitement isn't in vain... thanks so much, sorry i wrote an essay haha! :mickeywav

Well, what you would have to do is go to an audition (we have auditions every Thurs afternoon, but if you are doing a CP, then it would be different) and at the audtion, you would have to be "spotted" as having potential for a face character. You can't just waltz in there and say "I wanna be Cinderella!!" kwim? Not that you were gonna do that... but just to let you know, everyone starts out in fur.... unless you start out auditioning for an equity role, in which case you better be REAL good and also those are for specific roles, (i.e. to be cast in a specific show) except for the times when they have open call auditions.

That said, it can never hurt to audition! If anything, it gives you the EXPERIENCE of doing the audition, kwim? Good luck to you!! :) Also, there are Interpreters, who do the ASL-interpreted performances of shows. You might enjoy that, because the CM's doing that not only have to be able to know ASL (duh.. lol) but also have to have some acting ability, to really give some excitement and "oompf" to what they are doing. They don't just stand there straight faced and sign - they act somewhat, too. :)

yeah i plan to do the college program. i know everyone as you put it starts out in fur, and i'd have no problem doing that, the reason i just figured if i had a chance as any character that it'd be a princess is bc from what i heard, the ones in fur are usually short or tall, and i'm pretty average. what i meant was how do you know you have potential for a face character? like what are characteristics you see in people who get face characters, any of them, or specifcally princesses. like i found that princesses are preferred to be between 5'2 and 5'8, is there any other features that seem to stick out for them or other face characters? thats basically what i was asking, so i'd kind of have an idea what it means to have face resemblance, bc i dont frequently think someone looks like a cartoon character lol, and what typical characteristics of these people are. my audition is a long way off, but thanks for the good luck wishes :)

also, just curious, what's an equity role?

thanks alot for the tips and help! :)

You know, I have no clue what it is they are looking for in face characters, since I have seen some .......let's just say, of all shades of green. Meaning, I have seen some princesses with, for instance, a huge arching nose, some with a huge out-there set of teeth, etc. So, the positive of this is that just because you may have some 1 thing that you think is a 'flaw' doesn't mean that you are ruled out of being a princess, kwim?

No, they don't IMO look like a cartoon, but some (a few) actually do amazingly seem to resemble their character....while in costume. OUT of costume, you are looking at them and going "how is she this princess??" b/c you just can't imagine it out of costume, kwim? Which would be why tthey get "spotted" at auditions, asked to try on wig, etc and then they see how much someone resembles a princess.

I am 5.6 (and three-quarters..) according to Disney, which puts me at about Chip N Dale height. It does make it harder, b/c there are a lot more characters that are really short or really tall - not a whole lot that are "average".

An equity role simply means the person is under contract and is salaried (as opposed to having an hourly role... like mine)

A few things--characters in fur are all heights. I am 5'7" (5'5.5" by disney height--so around your height) and I am friends with many different characters. They don't just pick one end of the spectrum or another. Also, don't give your hopes up for being a princess. I am told by many, and many at work, that I should be definitely be a face character--but alas I am not. My face is just too young for my height. They are extremely specific when you audition for face, but no one really knows what exactly they look for every time there is an audition.

Being in fur is a blast, and I wouldn't change that. Sure, it's not so glamorous--but neither is face when it comes right down to it. Audition, if not for being a face character, but for the experience that comes along with being in the entertainment department. Plus, with your experience in ASL, I would gesture (ha!) to say you are rather experienced in animation and "showing" not "telling" people what you mean without ever having to say a word. That is extremely useful in fur.

Audition, you'll never know until you try!

The posts here have been so positive rather than some of the negative comments I've heard from other former CM's. I think Chip, Dale, and there's a pirate that may be in your height group. My dd dressed as a pirate for a team building event and she's 5'2". I'm in the Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Daisy height group. I wish you luck with your dream. You won't know until you try.

hey guys, sorry i haven't written on here in ages, i've been reading the forums when i can, but since i'd been in school since a little after the last post til now, it was usually pleasure reading and not thinking to come write myself. :) thanks alot for your advice. so besides height, and the fact that a few offbeat characteristics might be okay, what about weight? from the pictures i've seen of cinderella it doesn't look like you have to be a stick to be her, which is a breath of fresh air that someone little girls look up to doesn't weigh as much as those little girls themselves. i also know a friend of mine who plays alice isn't superthin either. any guesses about weight/build for the princesses? reading this just makes me more and more excited that in less than a year i'll actually be in my last month of CP, and in a month or two i'll finally be auditioning for it and getting a confirmation that, rather than my usual answer of, "well i PLAN on being at disney in fall 08" i can say i WILL be! oh i'm so excited, i've been reading all the WDW secrets thread and am taking mental notes for once i'm down there and have playtime on my days off. i work at a bookstore now and even was perusing the disney guides, and found one especially that i plan to buy that when i get a confirmation that i'm accepted to the CP im going to give my parents as a way of saying "I'M IN, use this when you visit me! :D" haha i'm writing another novel again, but i can't wait, and any ideas about the build of princesses? thanks so much guys!

I have no useful advice as I have never worked at or for Disney, but in looking thru the photos on this site of various princesses, it looks like Cinderella is a regular size (not a stick) and they keep her close to that size I'm guessing for image reasons. All the rest, except Mulan, look like anything from regular size (4-12) and a few look downright plump. I saw an Ariel in WDW on our last trip who had an actual roll over the top of her tail and it was not from constriction of the tail, it was a thick and obvious muffin top (probably from too many muffins) The Mulans always look tiny.I have seen a thick Snow White, a very thick Belle and a verge of being thick Aurora, from a distance. So there is probably a look and a "look", are you photogenic, do you present well, do you have that invisible star quality and do you present yourself confidently, but not arrogantly and never with rounded shoulders which reads as low confidence? Keep trying though, too many people on here have mentioned trying once and quitting, and you do not want to be a grandma years from now with a bagful of regrets because you did not try one more time. Good luck and keep the rest of us posted, we love this stuff and others may be encouraged by your story.

I just wanted to wish you luck with your quest!!!!

And can I ask, what does kwim mean???

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Originally Posted by tarynkelly

I just wanted to wish you luck with your quest!!!!

And can I ask, what does kwim mean???

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I don't know, can you? :grin:

kwim = Know What I Mean

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Originally Posted by MandaBella

I don't know, can you? :grin:

kwim = Know What I Mean

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Well I do believe i can Miss Manda!!!:lol:
Thanks for telling me, it should have been obvious really

hey guys, tomorrow is my interview and a week from today is my audition! i'm really excited and nervous, i can't wait to tell everyone how it went! :)

Good luck!!!! Hope it goes well for you!

How exciting, I hope you get some good news!

Pixie Dust coming your way! I hope you get everything you want!