Team Rodent: How Disney Devours the World

By Carl Hiaasen

"Disney is so good at being good that it manifests an evil; so uniformly efficient and courteous, so dependably clean and conscientious, so unfailingly entertaining that it's unreal, and therefore is an agent of pure wickedness. . . . Disney isn't in the business of exploiting Nature so much as striving to improve upon it, constantly fine-tuning God's work."
--from TEAM RODENT

TEAM RODENT
How Disney Devours America

"Revulsion is good. Revulsion is healthy. Each of us has limits, unarticulated boundaries of taste and tolerance, and sometimes we forget where they are. Peep Land is here to remind us; a fixed compass point by which we can govern our private behavior. Because being grossed out is essential to the human experience; without a perceived depravity, we'd have nothing against which to gauge the advance or decline of culture; our art, our music, our cinema, our books. Without sleaze, the yardstick shrinks at both ends. Team Rodent doesn't believe in sleaze, however, nor in old-fashioned revulsion. Square in the middle is where it wants us all to be, dependable consumers with predictable attitudes. The message, never stated but avuncularly implied, is that America's values ought to reflect those of the Walt Disney Company, and not the other way around."

BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Carl Hiaasen's Bad Monkey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Sep 29, 2010
• ISBN: 9780307764881

Carl Hiaasen

Carl Hiaasen (b. 1953) is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of more than twenty adult and young adult novels and nonfiction titles, including the novels Strip Tease (1993) and Skinny Dip (2004), as well as the mystery-thrillers Powder Burn (1981), Trap Line (1982), and A Death in China (1984), which were cowritten with fellow Miami Herald journalist Bill Montalbano (1941–1998). Hiaasen is best known for his satirical writing and dark humor, much of which is directed at various social and political issues in his home state of Florida. He is an award-winning columnist for the Miami Herald, and lives in Vero Beach.

Reviews for Team Rodent

[stembie3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love Disney. I own Disney stock, I have a Disney Visa. I've been to DisneyWorld at least 10 times and Disneyland once.

So it was with some trepidation that I picked up this thin volume. Hiaasen hates Disney with the passion that only a native Floridian can feel. He finds the dirt on Disney and Michael Eisner (the book was written in 1998), pulling no punches.

[aliceanna-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not as wickedly written as I'd hoped and expected. Some compelling arguments and reasoning about why Disney has become the evil empire. It was nice to hear from someone who thinks that Disney's sanitized, purified, commercialized, revisionist take on the world is simply wrong.

[turrean_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is not a 2010 publication; it's an ebook release of a book from 1998. As I read this supposed 2010 book, I kept wondering why on earth Hiaasen didn't have any information from after 1995, so I went looking online, and of course, found the original release date. Wish my public library would stop buying older books that have been repackaged as "new" ebooks.

I love Carl Hiaasen; he's clever and raunchy and satiric, and a great storyteller. His adult novels skewer people who value money or power above everything else; his books for kids show the environmental impact of greed and mismanagement. I was hoping for a good look at how Disney's presence has changed Florida.

And in a limited way, that's what I got, but all the facts and figures are from the mid nineties, and so now nearly 20 years out of date! If you're looking for Hiaasen's wit, go read one of his novels. If you want information on corporate greed, look for a more up-to-date source.

[spoko_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There's a great deal that's wrong with Disney, and Hiaasen's book is a good, quick, easily accessible introduction. From there, though, you should move on to more in-depth criticism. The most recent thing I've read that I would recommend would be Henry Giroux's The Mouse that Roared.

[ti99er_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Carl Hiaasen was one of the first of a number of authors who wrote a human interest story for the Library of Contemporary Thought published by Ballantine Books. Hiaasen decided to take a few pillow padded jabs at the Walt Disney Corporation. This particular piece is not a currant affair as it was published in 1998, but the story he tells is still relevant to the history of Disney. Hiaasen tends to contradict himself throughout the entire rant. He complains about the Disney plight but then defends the organization as one that “…wishes to bring happiness to kids of all ages.”Overall this piece was an entertaining and insightful view within Disney’s historic past. Yes, Disney is big and yes Disney is powerful, but it also brings a lot of enjoyment to people the world over. Welcome to the world of capitalism, Mr. Hiaasen (I believe by his success as a novelist he knows a bit about our free enterprise system, and has profited well from it). After contemplating this work I have come up with only two reason why Carl Hiaasen dislikes Disney so much: 1) the Magic Kingdom moved into his backyard, and not someone else’s, and 2) because as a kid he watched a Disney film called Rascal which planted the idea in his head that owning a pet raccoon was a good idea; (which he only discovered to be a bad idea by owning one after college) hardly something he could blame on the Disney Corporation.

[mramos_710291 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A novelist and Florida columnist laments the overwhelming presence of the Walt Disney Company, especially in his state. Hiaasen blames Disney for the ugly sprawl that is Orlando while pointing out that Disney World itself is not subject to urban planning regulations. On this count he is accurate. When Disney moved in, all land they purchased seemed to be exempt from many regulations. But as much as he laments on the evils of the Mouse, the largest damage is done by all the smaller companies that build up around Disney to take advantage of the millions of tourist flocking to the Magic Kingdom. But he fails to mentions all the jobs they provide. Though many employees say they do not like their rules and regulations. All successful companies must have them, especially when your business is the entertainment and safety of children. And lets be clear, all children love the Disney experience. Hiaasen asserts that Disney building their store was the genesis that cleaned up Time Square in New York. While in truth, they only agreed to open their store if Giuliani promised and followed through to clean up that part of town. And the Mayor was able to accomplish the required goals, at least on the surface. It is worth reading, but it is not up to his normal standards. It would have been better if the author used his investigative skills to gather some facts. This small book it is a very short and easy read. There is strong language.

[miketroll · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A fine journalistic essay. (For all that, I have to say, it's still an essay, a long feature-length Sunday newspaper article - but not a book!)Hiaasen accurately sets out the Disney mind-set and why it should disturb us. It comes from the same Victorian stable as Ripley with his Believe-It-Or-Not antics. The entire planet was just a toy store; all the better if you're the owner!For me, the most telling passage in an essay full of telling passages was: "Control has been the signature ingredient of all the company's phenomenally successful theme parks; every thrill, every gasp, every delightful 'surprise' was the product of clockwork orchestration."While short, this essay reveals Disney's hubris, smugness and - most worryingly, its lack of scruple with the democratic rights of individuals.This will be a theme for the 21st Century: how will democracy face down the power of big corporations?