Undoubtedly you’ve heard rumors this week that PUSH, the talking trashcan from Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom, may be leaving forever on Saturday. In fact, Disney fans have been using the hashtag on twitter “#SavePUSH” religiously over the last 24 hours in desperation to convince Disney not to can the trashcan.
Well, since then, a Disney spokesperson has been quoted that the long-time character “isn’t going anywhere”. In fact, the character may have never been in real jeopardy at all.
Rumor has it that contract negotiations for PUSH were reaching a deadline this week and whoever was negotiating for the character may have pushed some otherwise reputable members of the Disney online community into starting the online campaign instead of taking whatever deal was on the table. So, to make this clear, PUSH’s owner apparently was unhappy with how his negotiations for more money were going and decided it would be best to use fans and members of the media to convince Disney to pay him more money.
Many Disney fan websites jumped on the band-wagon over the course of the last day and posted about the possible end of PUSH, probably unaware that they were being used and thinking they were doing some good for the performer and the fans of the character.
While recent similar campaigns, such as the one to save Billy Hill and the Hillbillies, were reportedly started by fans after an official statement about the performers had been made to some department in the company, this could be the first time a performer has tried to use manipulation in social media to assure they have a job at Disney at their desired pay rate. If true, this could certainly mean an interesting future for how Disney handles contract negotiations with entertainers at the parks. One could only assume that there are some people in management at Walt Disney World who are very unhappy with the situation, to say the least…
UPDATE: As of Sunday, Disney has informed cast members internally that PUSH will no longer be greeting guests and his contract will not be renewed. It is unclear at this time if this was caused by the scandal over the last 2 days or if they just simply could not reach an agreement. We will provide more info if and when it becomes available.
So, what do you think about this? Does this bother you? Why or why not?
If Disney would stop outsourcing the imagineering they wouldn’t have to deal with contract negotiations.
Imagineering doesn't come into play with contract negotiations of this kind. Imagineering is only the arm of the company that designs actual physical spaces and environments in the parks.
This is contract negotiation is between Disney Entertainment and the individual who owns the rights to PUSH.
What I meant by outsourcing imagineering was if they would stop hiring outside entertainment and just come up with these ideas internally there would be no negotiations.
This does help those of us who don't know the total inner workings information this helps me understand better. I just love going to the parks.
Ooops, hit enter to quickly. I wanted to add that Disney parks allow the inner child in me out and be free as I escape reality. Disney is a great company to have on your resume but honestly we all know it is a company that doesn't pay well for park jobs – most really love the benefits though which can out weigh the pay. I hope to be a greeter or entrance greeter when I retire just to see happy faces and welcome them to "The Happiest Place on Earth!".
Disney has raised prices on park tickets and hotels. Why do they think it is unreasonable for a performer to also receive a raise? Without a signed contract, PUSH could be gone. I admire them for taking the issue to the public. The park guests love PUSH.
There's nothing particularly wrong with the performer wanting more money. What fans are upset about is that it they feel used.
"Many Disney fan websites jumped on the band-wagon over the course of the last day and posted about the possible end of PUSH, probably unaware that they were being used and thinking they were doing some good for the performer and the fans of the character"
There's a difference between a performer requesting their fans for support, and duping them into it.
Wait – this push character is one guy? and he's not a disney employee? — i'm ignorant on the inside world of disney, but is that really the case?
Push is operated by a plain clothes cast member who is equipped with a hidden microphone and remote control. He casually follows Push around from a distance and controls him directly.
He is contracted by Disney to perform in the parks, but he is not strictly speaking a Disney Cast Member. Kind of like third-party stores at Downtown Disney. Those employees work on Disney property, but are not employed by WDW.
It very well could be that this character was developed by the owner, Disney saw the performance, liked them, and hired them, but never was able to purchase the legal rights to the character.
"Push" IS indeed a Disney cast member. I know him personally.
Wishe we could have saved Spectromagic or force them to recreate all the floats to bring it back.
I loved Push as much as the next guy but is it a HUGE deal that he's gone and not in the park? No… To me Push was a distraction while waiting for family members or a fastpass time to come up. It's not something we'd seek out or ever purposely take the time out to watch. If we caught it
Sad thing is in a week or so when negotiations get done and PUSH is back, the zealot internet nut jobs will believe they actually helped.
Why is this a "scandal"? Contract is up. Case closed. It could happen to anyone.
I could not have said it better. This is how the real word works folks. Just because it is something at the Disney Parks it isn't subject to constant renewal.
Sounds like PUSH got too "pushy"
This issue arose because Disney gave little information, so fans of course assumed that were staying silent because they were dropping PUSH, which they did. When you add this to a lot of removals of entertainment offerings, plus raised prices and the reduction in benefits through FP+, I can easily see why the Disney community got up in arms. Describing it like the fans were used and Disney isn't at fault is too simple.
Oh my gosh, are you kidding me?? I love PUSH, and so does my whole family. He’s hard to find, and eludes us often, but we seek him out whenever possible. I’m very disappointed, one less cute side attraction. He was a great little distraction. RIP PUSH.