Disney Fires Ryan Gosling From Series, Left Alone at Disney World

While Ryan Gosling may be a mega Hollywood icon, most recently known for his role of Ken in the Barbie film, his roots began with Disney, and he was not always the leading man that he has crafted his career around.

In the end, it appears that he has a lot to credit to Disney World, specifically, Magic Kingdom.

Raised in a strict Mormon family in Cornwall, Ontario, Ryan Gosling had a challenging childhood. Disliking the constraints of being a child and having to adhere to rules, he struggled in school due to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

This is where acting became a pivotal part of his life.

At the age of 13, he gained prominence as a child star on the Disney Channel’s The Mickey Mouse Club (1993–1995) and further ventured into family entertainment with appearances in shows like Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1995) and Goosebumps (1996).

His initial film role was as a Jewish neo-Nazi in The Believer (2001), marking the beginning of his journey in independent films, including Murder by Numbers (2002), The Slaughter Rule (2002), and The United States of Leland (2003). He was also beloved in the 2011 film Crazy, Stupid, Love.

The turning point in Gosling’s career came with the 2004 romance film The Notebook, which catapulted him to wider recognition and stardom. La La Land (2016) earned him a Golden Globe for his outstanding performance, and he received a second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor opposite Emma Stone.

As you can see, The Mickey Mouse club was Gosling’s rise to fame. The show was conceived by Walt Disney and produced under Walt Disney Productions, the program was initially broadcast on ABC for four seasons, spanning from 1955 to 1959.

Gosling was on the show with stars like Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, and Britney Spears. The show was filmed at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Related: Ryan Gosling Was Once Fired From Disney

While “I’m Just Ken” may be nominated for a Grammy, Gosling’s performative side was not always his strong suit.

Recently, Gosling spoke out on how The Mickey Mouse Club catapulted his career to star in films like Remember the Titans.

Far Out reported that Gosling has given Disney major credit for shaping him at such a young age, and that still today, Disney World is of great importance.

“It became clear to the producers that I wasn’t nearly as talented as some of the other kids,” he told the publication, “I couldn’t sing or dance like they could – they stopped using me in the show so much” as a result, the actor found himself roaming the Disney park at night.

“It made a huge impact on me, the park,” the actor stated, speaking rather prophetically about the vibrant world of Disney World in Orlando, Florida. “I rode the Haunted Mansion Ride and saw destiny staring me straight in the face. When you come around the corner on the dune buggy and all the ghosts are dancing in the ballroom I knew I saw my future. Whenever I wasn’t involved in the show, I would just go and ride that ride. It’s such an interesting place”.

In the past, we have even shared that Gosling has strong feelings about Haunted Mansion Holiday, so his love of the ride, that started as a kid, still stands.

“Im more about, Haunted Mansion… Im very upset about the Christmas time situation. They bring Christmas into Halloween? That’s a terrible idea. Let’s leave Christmas at Christmas. Cause at Halloween you want to go on the Haunted Mansion ride and do spooky things, and then at the end you’re in the doom buggy and you have a ghost candy cane next to you, that’s not scary.”

Haunted Mansion Holiday is a (typically) well-received seasonal overlay transforming The Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland. From Halloween through Christmas, the ride takes on a Tim Burton twist, incorporating characters from Nightmare Before Christmas. Jack Skellington, Oogie-Boogie, and other beloved characters come to life within the mansion during this festive period.

Funny enough, Gosling was even fired from Disney, as we previously shared:

“Remember when Ryan Gosling was a Mouseketeer with Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake all those many moons ago? Apparently twelve-year-old Gosling had a bit of an attitude, because it got him fired by Disney early on.

When he was promoting his movie Lars and the Real Girl back in 2008, he said that he was apparently considered such a bad influence on his co-stars that their mothers actually complained to the studio. That got him hauled to the proverbial principal’s office, where he was told that he wasn’t Disney material for constantly educating the other tween Mouseketeers about mature topics (Gosling says he didn’t know what the studio expected from a twelve year old boy).”

It seems that even though Gosling was not used in The All-New Mickey Mouse Club too often, he was able to develop an affinity for the theme parks, and in a sense, open his eyes to storytelling through attractions.

Did you watch Ryan Gosling in The Mickey Mouse Club?

If you are looking to visit Walt Disney World Resort for a magical vacation, the Walt Disney World Website can be a great tool to begin planning your trip! You can begin exploring their theme parks: Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT. You can also take a look at their water parks where you can splash around in the chill of Disney’s Blizzard Beach (alongside new Frozen characters, Anna, Elsa, Sven, and Kristoff), or hit the waves at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon. When you get hungry or want to go shopping, Disney Springs is the place to be, especially with World of Disney there ready to help you pick up some souvenirs! You can also begin looking for your Disney World Resort! If you are looking to stay at a Deluxe monorail Resort like Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa or a Value Resort where you can hop on the Skyliner like Disney’s Pop Century Resort, it is always fun to begin looking for a room that would best suit you and your party. Plus, it has all the information you need to know on Disney Genie+ so that you will be ready to go on your My Disney Experience app once you download it! Click here to check it out today.