When you meet a costumed character inside a Disney theme park it’s supposed to be a magical experience. You can feel like you’re standing right next to Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, or a whole host of other Disney favorites. However, to keep the magic intact, those cast members are expected to stay in character the entire time they’re on stage. Giving theme park property a swift kick maybe isn’t in character for most, but for this one, we’ll make an exception.
The Colossal Meme account on TikTok recently posted a hilarious moment at Disney California Adventure where Chip and Dale came out dressed as Thor and Loki. Dale was too busy waving at guests and he apparently missed that he was walking right into a trash can. When he collided with it, he got a little frustrated and gave it a kick. It’s actually pretty funny.
@colossalmeme ♬ original sound - Colossal Meme
On the one hand, this might be seen as breaking character, you’d never expect to see Cinderella kicking a trash can. At the same time, this is Dale, who is the chipmunk who tends to have the shorter fuse. On top of that, he's dressed as Loki, and if Loki accidentally walked into a trash can you can fully expect he’d use magic to make it explode or something.
Honestly, playing off the accident by giving the can a little kick makes more sense than just pretending it didn’t happen, and makes the character feel more real in its own way. This is what you'd completely expect Dale to do if he did something silly like this.
What makes the characters feel real is the way they interact with you and with their environment. This works well for face characters who you can actually converse with, so there's a character you can see, but it’s a bit tougher with the fully costumed cast members. They can’t speak, so it's tough to look at them as anything other than people in big costumes. These sorts of actions are the only thing these characters can do to give themselves anything resembling a personality. If another character did this it might seem out of character, but for Dale, it feels right.
Disney Parks can be pretty tough on cast members who do anything in public that doesn't fit with the image they're trying to uphold. If there is a feeling that this is out of character, this cast member could get in some trouble.
I doubt anybody at Disney California Adventure is going to get bent out of shape over this incident. Yet, the clip is going viral, so it’s possible that higher ups might see it. Hopefully, if anybody does have an issue this cast member won’t get anything worse than a talking to.
