Abstract
As one of the earliest examples of media convergence and trans-media storytelling, the Disney theme parks demonstrate some of the modes of work organization now so closely associated with “digital capitalism” and its alleged “new spirit” (Boltanski & Chiapello, 2011). The opening of Disneyland in 1955 thus marks the rise of an original business model, founded on the synergy among the studios’ activities in the areas of film-making, television, merchandising, and theme parks. Long before the advent of digital convergence, this strategy of cross-promotion allowed the Walt Disney Company to expand the same coherent fictional universe across a number of complementary media platforms.
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© 2015 Thibaut Clément
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Clément, T. (2015). “Whistle While You Work”: Work, Emotion, and Contests of Authority at the Happiest Place on Earth. In: Frayssé, O., O’Neil, M. (eds) Digital Labour and Prosumer Capitalism. Dynamics of Virtual Work. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137473905_9
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