Tragic Kingdom

"Tragic Kingdom," a song from the No Doubt album of the same name, was written to lament Walt Disney's death and how Michael Eisner is widely considered to have ruined the company's classic focus on "show," or theming of the parks, to emphasize profits. Mr. Eisner actually saved the company from bankruptcy and hostile takeovers when he became Roy E. Disney's choice for CEO in 1984. However, years passed and Eisner became more driven by profits, to the point where Disneyland's buildings would fall apart from lack of maintenance. Locals in the town of Anaheim were often sad to see the Happiest Place on Earth in such disrepair, with shops opening in the buildings that once had attractions, and long-shuddered rides being left to rot. No Doubt, a band from Anaheim, was familiar with this problem and used it as the focus of their song "Tragic Kingdom," named after a nickname for the park, the "Magic Kingdom." In the below lyric analysis, the original lyrics will be italicised to differentiate them from my interpretations.

The references to Disneyland and Orange County begin with the album cover. The cover is a parody of the artwork on orange crates, which usually featured oranges, sunshine, a big orange tree full of fruit and sometimes a pretty girl with an orange. Here, though, the oranges are rotted, the tree is dead, there is a moon in place of the bright sun, and there are bugs in the corner. Gwen Stefani is posing with the rotted fruit in a dress supposedly stolen from an Orange County museum for the shoot. The back of the album continues the theme, with a sign welcoming tourists to Anaheim. Before Walt Disney built Disneyland, Anaheim was a small town with more orange groves than people. Disneyland was built on orange groves, and soon the land was developed with hotels, restaurants, and other tacky tourist traps that Walt abhorred.

~The Lyrics~

The song begins with the infamous, "Remain Seated Please! Permanacer Sentados, Por Favor!" recording from Disneyland's Matterhorn Bobsleds attraction. The recording was thrust into the spotlight when the line was change to, "Remain Seated With Your Seat belt Fastened! Permanacer Sentados, Por Favor!" Controversy was sparked accusing Disney of endangering Spanish speakers, as they were not told to keep their seat belts fastened. However, the bobsleds have a mechanism that does not let the belt release until the sled has reached the unload area. Rumour has it that Gwen Stefani worked at the Matterhorn before becoming famous with No Doubt.

Once was a magical place
Over time it was lost

Price increased the cost

Now the fortune of the kingdom

Is locked up in it's dungeon vaults

The first two lines reference Disneyland, the magic kingdom. If the song was written to be anti-Eisner, the the line about the magic being lost definitely refers to Eisner's reign. Paul Pressler, head of the Disneyland Resort under Eisner was infamous for ignoring the upkeep of attractions, causing the juice bar in front of the Tiki Room to collapse on guests. Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom park actually does have tunnels underneath it to make traveling easier for Cast Members, as well as storage of the park's money, but I assume the lines actually allude to Walt Disney putting the money he made back into his company, while Eisner did not.

The castle floor lies in traps
With coiled wires set back

Decoyed by old cheese
Now the drawbridge has been lifted
As the millions

They drop to their knees

Well, Eisner never set traps in Sleeping Beauty Castle, we can give him that. However, he was infamous for his promotions for the park, usually in the guise of tourist traps like "State Fair Days," where a Ferris Wheel was set up in front of the castle, ruining the careful forced perspective, and the Disneyland Circus, with a motorcycle "Cage of Death" in front of the castle. Many old imagineers hated this, so they put the "Partners" statue of Walt and Mickey in front of the castle, preventing and more obstructions. Decoyed by old cheese- (Mickey) mouse traps, anyone? As a fun anecdote, Disneyland's drawbridge has only been lifted twice, once for the park's opening and once for the opening of the refurbished Fantasyland in the 80s.

They pay homage to a king

Whose dreams are buried

In their minds

His tears are frozen stiff

Icicles drip from his eyes

No, Walt Disney was not cryogenically frozen. In fact, he was cremated. For a more metaphorical approach to the chorus, we can interpret his dreams buried in people's minds as his amazing, unfinished goals such as the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow and the Mineral King Ski Resort. The last part is fairly clear, that Walt somehow disapproves of Eisner's era as CEO, as cries about it.

The cold wind blows as it snows

On those who fight to get in

On heads that are small
Disillusioned as they enter
They're unaware what's

Behind castle walls

Anaheim really is not that cold, unless you are from the equator. However, as you are about to go into the Matterhorn's first lift hill, in an icy cave, there is a recorded sound effect of cold Alpine wind. No Doubt could possibly be alluding to Ms. Stefani's rumoured job at the Matterhorn, it could be simply for dramatic effect. This verse makes me more depressed than any of the others, as it makes Disneyland seem horrible, which I do not think it is at all. However, No Doubt could be predicting an Eisner-led Disneyland dystopia, where people expect the joy of Disneyland, only to find crumbling infrastructure, corporate sturm und drang, and more shops than attractions.

But now it's written in stone

The king has been overthrown
By jesterly fools
And the power of the people

Shall come to believe they do rule

(Please bare with me as Blogger has caused the formatting of my article to go rather spastic at this point. While each line is a space apart, they are all part of the same verse. I apologize.)

Here, No Doubt takes their worst swing at Eisner, claiming that he has overthrown Walt. Walt Disney, in fact, was eighteen years dead by the time Michael Eisner was named Chief Executive Officer, and the company was in financial ruin. Walt's successors had futilely tried to cling to anything with Walt's faintest fingerprints on it, but Eisner was a fresh face who revitalized the long dormant company with new ideas, not a "jesterly fool." Eisner's first decade is often considered the company's finest, as it saved Disney from hostile take overs and threats to divide the company and sell off each individual piece. The later part of the verse most likely refers to the guests who cause problems, only blame Disneyland, a small group of trouble makers to be discussed later in the song.

They pay homage to a king
Whose dreams are buried
In their minds
His tears are frozen stiff

Icicles drip from his eyes
(See Above)

Welcome to the tragic kingdom
Cornfields of popcorn
Have yet to spring open

This part is rather straight forward. Again, we see "Tragic" taking the place of "Magic," and mentions of popcorn. Perhaps this references Walt's rule of always keeping popcorn carts full, no matter how many people were at the park to make it look nicer. Reasonably, Eisner cut costs by changing that rule. I personally do not find fault with this as the number of popcorn carts does not affect my enjoyment of the park significantly.

Have they lost their heads

Or are they just all blind mice

We've heard all their stories

One too many times

There are two possible approaches to this verse. One interprets "they" as Disney Management. Are the people in power certifiably crazy, or are they simply oblivious to the visible problems with the parks? The Guests are annoyed with the company's excuses to justify what are perceived as bad decisions. Depending on one's opinion of corporate symbols, Mickey could be considered a mouse "blind" to the park's issues.

Approach number two casts guests at the park as the blind mice, here using the "Tragic" in the kingdom to refer to the deaths and lawsuits surrounding Disneyland's attractions. Are the stupid guests lunatics, or are they just unaware of their surroundings? This alludes to the classic nursery rhyme about the Three Blind Mice, who chop off their tails and are not aware of their self-harm. These people have made up wild justifications for their problems, such as the woman who stumbled out of the monorail, and deemed it badly made because guests should not have to step into the bright California sun, but the Disney company and the general public are sick and tired of the ridiculous excuses.

Hypnotized by fireflies

That glow in the dark

Midgets that disguise themselves

As tiny little dwarfs

Disneyland's "Pirates of the Caribbean" attraction begins in a moonlit bayou with glowing fireflies flickering out in the swamps of New Orleans, and the ever-popular Disney characters include Snow White's seven dwarfs. No Doubt is most likely alluding to the guests at Disneyland who fall too deeply into the fantasy, and believe that they cannot be harmed, and, for example, reach out of their boat in "Pirates" and fall into the water.

The parade that's electrical

It serves no real purpose

Just take up a lot of juice

Just to impress us

This part of the song is confusing, as it contradicts the rest of the lyrics.. If we are to believe that the kingdom became "tragic" under the reign of Michael Eisner, who is known for cutting the special details that did not have a purpose other than to make Disneyland special, then why is No Doubt villainizing the Walt-era Main Street Electrical Parade? Perhaps it's intent was to clearly tie the lyrics to Disneyland, because of all the references to Disneyland in the song, this is certainly the most obvious. While it could be a sad tale of the downfall of a fairytale kingdom, no stereotypical story of that genre included an electrical parade. The Main Street Electrical parade included floats covered in twinkling lights that danced through the park, accompanied by synthesized music from Disney's films. When the parade was to be stopped by Eisner, fans complained, so a successor, "Light Magic" was created to be the Electrical Parade improved, but "Lite Tragic" as it has been deemed, was an utter failure, so Disney revived the parade, and fans rejoiced that it was no longer "glowing away forever."

Welcome to the tragic kingdom

Cornfields of popcorn

Have yet to spring open

That concludes "Tragic Kingdom." Exactly one decade after the album was released, Michael Eisner was fired from his position as CEO of The Walt Disney Company, to be replaced by his chosen appointee, Robert Iger, after a long battle with Roy E. Disney, Walt Disney's nephew and the man who named Eisner CEO originally. While Eisner and Iger share many traits, Iger is more popular, as he has a stronger belief in spending money to make money, as exemplified by his purchase of Pixar, rearrangement of corporate positions, and the current billion dollar refurbishment of Disney's California Adventure park, built by Eisner on the former Disneyland parking lot. For further reading on Michael Eisner and his effect on Disney, he has written a biography, titled, "A Work in Progress," and the expose, "Mouse Tales: A Behind-The-Ears Look at Disneyland" and it's sequel, "More Mouse Tales," both by David Koenig. On the Internet, the blogs, "Re-Imagineering" and "EPCOT Central" are serious looks at the state of Disney's parks and resorts, with the latter focusing solely on EPCOT Center in Florida.