Armchair Imagineering: The Great Toontown Bank Heist

In a previous post, I roundly decried the plan to demolish Mickey's Toontown and replace it with “Star Wars Land.” As one of the reasons for this plan is Toontown's low traffic, I pointed out that when Bear Country was suffering from flat attendance, the solution wasn't to rip it out but to add a big attraction (and re-name it, but that's more a consequence of the Bear Country name being too specific in the first place). Here, then, is a description of the sort of ride I believe would do for Toontown what Splash Mountain did for the area now called Critter Country.

Armchair Imagineering: Theme and the Tomorrowland Problem

Today, I'll be talking about that most vital yet hard-to-define of Disney park concepts: Theme. As Walt Disney explained while developing his revolutionary idea—and as we fans are quick to remind people—Disneyland and its successors are not mere amusement parks but theme parks...but what does this actually mean?

The basic definition of a “theme” is a unifying idea, principle, or motif. Walt Disney's disgust with the filth and disorganization of the amusement parks and fun fairs that were standard in the first half of the 20^th Century led him to imagine his own park as a place that would be kept scrupulously clean and logical in design. He settled on a handful of themes he wanted to express and gave each one its own area of the park. Everything in each “land”—the architecture, landscaping, Cast Member costumes, food and merchandise, and of course the rides and attractions themselves—was designed to match the associated theme. Even when he ran short of time and money to complete the park, Walt managed to preserve his designated themes so that the areas were recognizable and consistent.

It is common knowledge which themed areas were present when Disneyland opened, but it still bears repeating. Main Street, USA functioned as the introduction to what was at the time a brand-new concept, and provided familiarity and a friendly atmosphere with its theme of the American small town circa the 1900s. Adventureland was a wild tropical jungle composited from all the jungle areas of the world—Africa, Asia, South America, the South Pacific. Frontierland was a tribute to America's Westward Expansion period of the 19^th Century. Fantasyland was a place of fairy tales and children's stories...especially as featured in the animated films of Walt Disney Studios. Tomorrowland was a vision of the future and the excitement of developing technology. All these themes were easily distinguishable from each other, and all loomed large in the American imagination of the time.

So far, so good. But how have the area themes fared as the park has continued to grow and evolve? Main Street, USA has remained more or less the same—with few specific attractions, its theming hangs almost entirely on atmospheric elements such as building design and Cast Member costumes, and these have changed very little. Adventureland has also held onto its theming pretty well. Its palette has been broadened but mostly remained in tropical jungles—the one exception is Aladdin's Oasis. Frontierland has weathered the decline of the Western gracefully enough without losing its focus. (It helps that the parts that diverge the most have been spun off into lands of their own—New Orleans Square and Bear/Critter Country.) Fantasyland's theme has expanded without necessarily being diluted (a trick perhaps to be examined in a separate article). And Tomorrowland...

Ah, Tomorrowland, we hardly knew ye.

The Kinds of Things You Can Expect

This is just a quick rundown of some of the categories of posts I will make as this blog continues. You'll see these in post titles as well as tags.

• After-Action Report: In which I review something currently at Disneyland. Not necessarily something brand-new, but something you could go see for yourself.

• Armchair Imagineering: In which I pretend I have any decision-making power over what gets built at Disneyland. Less obliquely, Armchair Imagineering is my term for something that most hardcore fans of the theme parks do from time to time, which is coming up with my own ideas for rides, shows, parades, shops, restaurants, and anything else that might be installed there.

• Imagineering Theory: In which I offer guidelines for people wanting to try their own hand at Armchair Imagineering. This category is probably me at my most pretentious.

• Kidnap the Magic: In which I describe a creative means of replicating that distinctive Disneyland vibe right in the comfort of your own home, garage, and/or yard.

• Sentimental Paleontology: In which I gush over something I miss from Disneyland's past.

That's all I can think of for now, but I'll probably come up with others. I have a lot of thoughts about Disneyland, after all.

Mickey's Toontown vs. “Star Wars Land”

Here we go. This one's not gonna be much fun, but it needs to be said.

So it's official: The Mickey's Toontown area at Disneyland will be demolished to make room for a “Star Wars Land,” in order to capitalize on the upcoming new trilogy of Star Wars films.

To say this decision disappoints me falls far short of reality. To say it enrages me might be overstating the case, but only a little. I think it's a wretched idea, for several reasons which I shall now enumerate, running roughly in order of most personal to least personal.

Fresh, Clear, Well-Seasoned Perspective

Before I start diving into the nitty-gritty stuff, I thought I'd take a moment to explain my position vis-à-vis Disneyland—the formative experiences that led me to view the park the way I do.

Launching the Disneyland Dilettante

It's a new year, and I have a new blog!

I have a lot of thoughts about Disneyland. More than I should, maybe, for someone who's never so much as worked there. I have thoughts about the attractions that exist, about attractions that used to exist, about attractions that should exist, and about how to bring that unique magic home from the park.

Some of my more outlandish thoughts wound up in my other blog, Knights of the Magic Kingdom. Go there if you want to see what Disneyland really looks like in my imagination. It's heavily fictionalized and gets pretty bombastic in places. Fair warning.

This blog is for the more down-to-earth stuff. I plan to post my Armchair Imagineering ideas here, as well as the occasional attraction review. When so inspired, I make Disneyland-themed crafts which I'll share. There's also what I like to call Imagineering Theory--thoughts on the principles behind Disneyland's design choices, what works and what doesn't, and why it does or doesn't work. And whatever odds and ends come to mind.

With that said, there's a lot of stuff common to Disney blogs that you won't find here. I don't do trip reports--those exhaustive descriptions of crowd levels, maintenance boo-boos, and heartwarming encounters with face characters, all with ample photo documentation, that some Disneyland fans love to assemble. I don't have any insider information, and strangely enough for a fan on the level that I consider myself, I don't follow any Disney newsfeeds. (The important stuff trickles down.) So there will be no breaking announcements or hot rumors here. Nor is this an elaborate, scholarly analysis blog chock-full of brilliant facts and detective work. There are a great many excellent blogs dedicated to that task, and I highly commend and recommend them. My thoughts are more personal, less research-heavy.

And I should mention that the focus of the blog is Disneyland. The original Anaheim park that opened in 1955, and to a lesser extent its sister park Disney California Adventure and other features of the Disneyland Resort. I've been to Walt Disney World all of once, back in 1989. I was 12. Memories of the trip are spotty. I will not address Disney movies, TV shows, or characters except insofar as they relate to Disneyland. (And in fact, I have Strong Feelings about the tendency of Disney's movies to overshadow the unique aspects of the parks.)

So...welcome, and I hope I didn't just scare you away! I promise there's fun stuff ahead.