A labor inspector took the Disney organization to court this week, contending that the company's dress and appearance code — which bans moustaches, beards, excess weight, short skirts and
fancy stockings — offends individual liberty and violates French labor law.
The case is an illustration of some of the delicate cultural issues the company faces as it gets ready to open its theme park 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Paris in five months'
time.
The Disney management, which is assembling what it calls a "cast" of 12,000 to run the theme park, argues that all employees, from bottle washers to the president, are similar to actors who
have to obey rules about appearance. Anyway, a company spokesman says, no one has yet put his moustache before a job. As one new "cast member" put it: "You must believe in what you are doing, or
you would have a terrible time here."
But what do people think of Euro Disney? People everywhere are wondering whether Europeans would like the American recreation.