Disneyland Paris News team visited the resort’s workshops to meet the Cast Members who bring the magic to life. In this interview, we invite you to discover Céline Van Oost’s unusual profession. This sign painter shared her professional journey and experience at Disneyland Paris with us. She also told us about her passion for this incredible craft.
First of all, what does your job consist of?
My job consists of looking after, refurbishing, and painting letters on the various windows and signs that adorn Disneyland Paris.
The sign painter profession is rare. Paying great attention to detail is essential to delivering quality artwork. Since I mainly paint by hand, I spend a lot of time on each piece. I also use a great variety of techniques and materials. Most of my creations are intended to be displayed at Disneyland Park.
Can you tell us about your professional journey?
I have been a sign painter at Disneyland Paris for 26 years. As soon as I earned my Professional Qualification Certificate in graphic design and decoration at the age of 19, I sent my application to Disneyland Paris and got to join the company under a permanent contract. I have come to learn a lot about the world of Disney, and I am now followed by people who appreciate the quality of our work and our outstanding eye for detail.
On which team are you professionally growing? What is your role within the team?
The Sign Shop team consists of five Cast Members in charge of looking after all of the Parks’ signs. In addition to serving as a sign painter, I also coordinate and plan the workshop’s projects alongside our team leader.
We also team up with Walt Disney Imagineering’s Technical & Quality Coordinator to monitor the quality of our signs, and ensure they comply with specifications. The variety of talents on our team enable us to complete all of the tasks we are assigned in an independent fashion.
Could you tell us about a project on which you have particularly enjoyed working? What was the challenge for that project?
Last year in September, we had to refurbish the Nautilus organ using gold leaves. For that project, we used special techniques and materials so that the organ could perfectly fit with the attraction’s theme and bring guests back to the time when the Nautilus story took place. Our challenge was to give a wooden aspect to the resin that was used to build the organ so that the instrument could be weatherproof, all the while preserving its natural appearance. When refurbishing this piece, we had to be careful about the time required for the resin to dry. If we had applied gold leaves to the resin too early, we would not have been able to achieve the desired shiny effect!