Disney celebrates its 100th anniversary. A century that the entertainment giant has been showering us with films, cartoons and songs. For the occasion, Disneyland Paris is revealing some well-kept (or not) secrets.
French Touch
It sits in the middle of the park, the majestic Sleeping Beauty Castle hides a plethora of references to France. “The entire architecture of this magical building will be inspired by several French buildings” explains Laurent Cayuela, designer writer at Walt Disney Imagineering Creative Paris. “The shape of the castle, stretched towards the sky with rocks, is inspired by Mont Saint-Michel. As for the roof… It refers to the Hospices de Beaune. »
But that’s not all, like Disney films, easter eggs – winks – are scattered everywhere. Let’s take the towers of the castle, there are 16 of them, “to refer to Princess Aurora’s 16th birthday when she pricks her finger” says the Mickey Mouse employee, “and do you see the balls on the roofs? They are Burgundy snails,” he whispers to us.
Parisian influence
On the other side of the park, at Walt Disney Studios, there is no shortage of French references. And for good reason, an entire district is dedicated to the most frenchie rats: Ratatouille. “We were inspired by the fountains of the Place des Vosges in Paris, by changing the lion heads to rat heads,” explains Laurent Cayuela. “And the coat of arms of the City of Paris has been reworked, we replaced the boat with Rémy who arrives with his spatula on his book. »
And in the wonderful world of Disney, we don’t walk on any ground, “like in Paris, we have real cobblestones”. Other secrets are still to be discovered in the world of Mickey and Minnie, but we will leave room for dreams and not reveal everything.