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 20th
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 19th
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.
