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[raspberry, humming]

2
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[Whetsell] For me, it never fails.

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Every day I get that little bit
of nervous butterfly right before I enter.

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I'm about to go do something
really amazing for a bunch of people.

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I wanna make sure that people
are really connecting with Dory.

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I mean, she's so beloved.

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[harmonizing]

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I'm Katie Whetsell.

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I'm a principal performer here
at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

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I play Dory in Finding Nemo - The Musical.

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We're here backstage
at Disney's Animal Kingdom,

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[chuckles]
back behind Theater in the Wild.

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It's really good for me
to just be out here

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doing a lot of forward-placed vocal
warm-ups just to kind of get myself ready.

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'Cause I like to warm up not too far out
from the show

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but also not right up against it

17
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so it gives my voice time
to, sort of, acclimate.

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Getting all clipped in,
ready for rehearsal.

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So I always knew that working for Disney
was going to be part of my journey.

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And I, sort of,
settle in just to make sure

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that I'm in the right position.

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But for our purposes,
this is where we start for our rehearsal.

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I actually auditioned for Nemo
specifically,

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I wanna say, four or five times.

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It was overwhelming

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that I've been entrusted with this role
and this show.

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When I came in, I was not a puppeteer,

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so I-- I really had to learn that skill
from the ground up.

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These are the-- the gears that we use.
This controls her eyes.

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Look, so she can flutter her eyes at you.

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I am puppeteering. I am singing.
I am acting.

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I am ensuring that everything
is set up properly for my flips.

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I don't even really fit
through these wires.

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So you're also-- you're just
constantly trying to make sure

35
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that the puppet fits through
when you're...

36
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when you're doing your thing.

37
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Stay awake now.

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Everything will be okay.

39
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I'm a performer
because I love to tell stories,

40
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and I love for those stories
to, hopefully, affect people

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in really amazing ways.

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Let's do this.

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From the moment I enter,
it's, you know, zero to 60 in 0.2 seconds.

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The reason why we do theater is because

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it's about doing it
in front of a live audience.

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Being able to actually have
a human-to-human connection.

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To be able to see
that they really believed

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and invested in the fact
that I was Dory up there.

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And to be able to really see
their enjoyment,

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that, to me, is worth everything.

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That's why we do what we do.

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[cheering, applause continues]

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This is probably one of my favorite places
on Walt Disney World property

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because of what it means for me
and for my family

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and my journey, sort of, with Disney.

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Um... [smacks lips]

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Years and years ago, when I was 14,

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we came here for our one, sort of,
big family vacation with my mom.

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The reason why it was so important for us
was because my mom was sick

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with ovarian cancer at the time.

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And growing up, my mom
had always dreamed of going to Disney,

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but, because of her family circumstances,
that wasn't possible.

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So we'd had a really amazing day
at Magic Kingdom.

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We decided to stay
for the SpectroMagic Light Parade.

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We sort of set up her wheelchair
along the side of the parade route,

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and so she was bald and wearing a scarf.

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So the parade is starting,

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and we're watching these beautiful colors
just sort of glide by us,

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and-- it seems like it was out of nowhere,

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but this really beautiful butterfly
comes gliding up to my mom.

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She put her hand on my mom's shoulder

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and just smiled at her,
this really beautiful smile.

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In that moment,
the way that she smiled at her,

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it was almost like this dream
that my mom had had as a child.

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You could almost see her revert in a way.

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It really felt like, in that moment,

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they had given her a piece of childhood
that she never got to have.

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And, so, in that moment,
I really kind of realized

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that working for Disney
had to be part of my journey.

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I think seeing that look
on my mother's face

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drove home how important it is

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to have a place
that is entirely, simply about joy.

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To now be able to give those memories
to other families is...

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It's everything to me.