The Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark

Wayne is a Disney Imagineer who designs rides and attractions for the Disney resorts, including the audio-animatronic robots that greet guests at the various rides in the Magic Kingdom. In the story, Wayne, an elderly staffer who worked directly for Walt Disney, tells the five DHI hosts about Disney’s concern that the park’s animated characters might come alive and cause trouble. Wayne describes clues Walt left behind, including the puzzle of the Stonecutter’s Quill and the change in perspective that the hosts will need to decipher Walt’s hints and save the Kingdom.

Wayne maintains an aura of mystery, partly because he doesn’t have all the answers to the puzzles the kids must solve. Though his purpose in the story is to mentor the five DHI hosts as they learn how to defeat the evil spirits taking over the Magic Kingdom, his reluctance to say too much frustrates the kids, who often find themselves without guidance. He’s also a terrible driver who, shuttling the kids to a rendezvous, crashes into cars and curbs. A flawed but well-meaning character, Wayne becomes a gruff sort of father figure for the kids.

One of Disney’s greatest animated antagonists, Maleficent—who first appeared in the Disney 1959 feature Sleeping Beauty as the feature’s “Mistress of All Evil”—is a dark fairy or witch who manages the Overtakers’ conspiracy. Made real by the beliefs of millions of park visitors, Maleficent wants to cause mayhem at the resort and spread it out into the world at large.

Her name is a portmanteau, or blend, of the words “magnificent” and “malicious.” A recurring figure in the book series, Maleficent serves as the chief antagonist of Disney After Dark. Her relentless and ruthless pursuit of the magical pens and plans and her willingness to torture or kill the DHI kids mark her as an epitome of evil whom the team must defeat.

Middle school student Amanda Lockhart, a recent transfer, befriends Finn at school; “she had exotic-looking eyes, a deep, natural tan, and a few freckles on her cheeks” (23). Amanda offers to help Finn in his fight against the Overtakers: She helps him escape Disney security guards, locate the other DHI hosts, and retrieve the vital pens and plans. Amanda also seems to want to be Finn’s girlfriend, but he hesitates, as she’d be his first, and he’s pretty busy trying to save the world from the Overtakers. She also expresses jealousy about Finn’s interest in Jez. For his part, Finn wonders how she can do so many things so well, and, for a time, he believes she’s one of the bad guys.

Amanda’s primary need is to free Jez—who’s either Amanda’s sister or someone equally close—from a spell that forces Jez to do Maleficent’s bidding. (Amanda is actually part human and fairy, though this isn’t made clear until later in the book series. Amanda also becomes the main character in three of the sequel books.) Her purpose in the first book is as a would-be girlfriend who helps and challenges Finn. That she’s on the good team isn’t revealed for certain until the end of the book.

Terrence Maybeck, one of the five DHI hosts, is “an African American kid” who “was taller than Finn by a full head and had the big-guy attitude to go along with it” (18). Raised by his sweet and caring Aunt Jelly, Maybeck has a genius for computers. He tries to protect the computer servers controlling the kids’ holographic images from Overtaker attacks. Suspicious by nature, he assumes correctly at the outset that the kids’ handlers, Wayne and Brad, know more than they’re saying and that the kids are involved in some sort of conspiracy. Maybeck falls for the lovely Jez, who lures him into an Overtaker trap. He’s freed, and the experience makes him wiser and a better team member. Maybeck is a supporting character but, aside from Finn, the most important DHI in the story.

One of the five DHI host models, Charlene has “sandy-blond hair and blue eyes, with pale skin,” and Finn considers her “knockout gorgeous” (18). Charlene expresses the most fear and misgiving about being an after-dark hologram at the Magic Kingdom. She tends to resist ideas that involve direct encounters with Overtakers and would much rather go home to her bed. She realizes, though, that, like the other DHIs, she must visit the Kingdom at night and that her best chances lie with teamwork. Charlene’s role as a supporting character is to voice the complaints and reluctance of all the DHI kids.

Jezebel, or Jez, is a magical being trapped by a Maleficent spell that forces her to do much of the witch’s dirty work. She flirts with Finn and Maybeck, trying to lure them into situations where the Overtakers can trap them. She also tails Finn whenever he’s at the resort and helps Maleficent try to torture him.

In a final daytime confrontation, Finn changes into his holographic form and steps through her, breaking Maleficent’s spell and freeing Jez, who reverts to a different girl, Jess, a close friend and/or sister of Amanda. Jez symbolizes the allure and uncertainties felt by teenage boys about beautiful girls. That Jez is forced to use her beauty to ensnare the DHI kids speaks, if subtly, to the dangers young girls face when adults compel them to do bad things. Jez/Jess becomes a regular member of the Kingdom Keepers book series.

Willa, a member of the DHI group, is “geeky, but extremely smart. She was sweet” but moody; with her “hooded brown eyes and dark, braided hair, she might have been Asian or Native American” (18). Though a relatively minor character, Willa is a good and helpful team member.

Science-smart, British-accented Philby is good at reasoning out complex ideas and finding useful solutions when the kids get into a fix. Finn trusts his reliability, and the two work well together. Like Willa, Philby is a likable, if relatively minor, character.

Finn’s parents care about him and worry when he seems to begin sneaking out of the house at night. Finn, of course, can’t explain that he’s engaging in a strange form of holographic sleep-walking while he fights evil spirits, a project that would horrify them much more than having their boy jumping out his window in search of cigarettes. Mrs. Whitman is delighted that two attractive girls, Amanda and Jez, show a sudden interest in her son; were she to know their part in the dangerous game unfolding at the Magic Kingdom, she would shoo them away. 

Mr. Whitman is more taciturn, speaking only to warn Finn about a series of burglaries that the police might pin on the boy should he be caught wandering at night. The Whitman home serves as a home base and safe spot for Finn. His parents anchor him emotionally, and their questions and doubts express Finn’s moral quandaries as he confronts his tasks as a Kingdom Keeper.

Maybeck lives with his Aunt Bess, whom everyone calls Jelly. She owns a pottery store, Crazy Glaze, where parents and children decorate raw clay items that are fired to become beautiful household items. Jelly loves her nephew and protects him, especially when, mysteriously, he can’t wake up. She believes Finn and Amanda when they tell her that Maybeck’s illness is related to his work at the Disney resort. Though a minor character, Jelly’s purpose is to anchor Maybeck’s home life as a wise and caring parental figure. She also demonstrates that Finn’s parents aren’t the only ones struggling with their kids’ odd behavior as Disney hosts.