Disneyland employees have voted for their favorite characters in the Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars franchises and you might be surprised by the winner: Stitch, the galaxy’s most wanted extraterrestrial from the 2002 animated film “Lilo & Stitch.”
The Disneyland resort is in the process of issuing the new Disney100 name tags to 34,000 cast members — Disney parlance for employees. The yearlong Disney100 event officially kicked off on Jan. 27 with a new dark ride, fireworks show and nighttime water show.
Disney employees at Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Downtown Disney and the three Disney hotels got to choose their favorite characters that appear beneath their names on the new Disney100 name tags celebrating 100 years of Disney animation.
“Our cast members are the heart and soul of Disneyland Resort and the embodiment of the ‘Disney Difference,’” according to Disneyland officials. “They are known and celebrated worldwide for their passion, dedication and guest service. These name tags are a symbol of recognition for all that they do to bring the wonder of Disney to life.”
Here are the Top 10 characters selected by Disneyland resort cast members for their new name tags at the time of the Disney100 launch on Jan. 27, according to Disneyland officials.
- Stitch
- Tinker Bell
- Spider-Man
- Ariel
- Wall-E
- Mickey Mouse
- Belle
- Darth Vader
- Donald Duck
- Scarlet Witch
The Top 10 list includes two Disney princesses, two Marvel super heroes, two villains and two members of Disney’s Fab 5.
The name of the favorite character appears on the Disney100 name tag beneath the employee’s name in place of their hometown.
The Disney100 name tags serve as conversation starters between Disneyland employees and visitors as well as fellow cast members.
The ugly “dog” from “Lilo & Stitch” emerged as the favorite among cast members who had hundreds of characters to choose from — including some deep cuts like Mr. Prickly Pants from “Toy Story 3” as well as newer characters like Din Djarin, better known as The Mandalorian from the Disney+ Star Wars series.
Disneyland employees who didn’t make a choice of their favorite character were given Mickey Mouse as a default.
Not every character was available in the vast Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars catalog. Cast members report that characters from the Muppets and “The Nightmare Before Christmas” were unavailable — as were some of the Seven Dwarfs.
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Disneyland cast members working in Galaxy’s Edge — who remain blissfully unaware of Earthly trappings as part of the Star Wars land’s backstory — won’t be issued Disney100 name tags with the names of their favorite characters, according to WDW News Today.
The Disney100 name tags that employees will wear throughout 2023 carry the slogan “Where Wonder Comes to Life” across the bottom.
Disneyland employees wore bronze badges with identification numbers when the Anaheim theme park opened in 1955. Plastic badges engraved with the first names of employees were first issued at Disneyland in 1962.
The first unique Disneyland name tags were created in 1967 for the debut of the private, members-only Club 33 with employees wearing distinctive black name tags with gold lettering.
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