Imagineering Theory: Niche Vs. Pastiche

In my ongoing quest to figure out just what makes the themes of theme parks tick, I've started to think that maybe the specificity of a given theme plays a big role in how well it's received. Is it better for a themed area to mimic a defined time and place, with accurate details, or does it work better when it plays things loosey-goosey?

Ultimately the answer is probably highly subjective. Some people need a high degree of verisimilitude to feel immersed in the fictional world of a theme park, while others are fine with a rough interpretation that engages their imagination to fill the gaps. Heck with it...some settings work better with a high degree of verisimilitude, while others work better rough. Let's call the two approaches niche and pastiche—the perfect specific fit vs. the patchwork. Plus they rhyme with each other!

Both approaches are very much in evidence in the Disneyland Resort. The ultimate niche area is surely Cars Land, which mimics its source material basically to perfection. Shall I post the two images again? I'm gonna post the two images again.

Meanwhile, the best example of pastiche is probably Frontierland,* which combines elements as disparate as a Mississippi River paddleboat, a saloon decorated with Texas longhorn racks, a Mexican town square, and a Gold Rush mining operation, yet makes it work because it all fits within the continuum of the “Old West” as understood by guests. Historical accuracy is not the point; Disneyland is not Colonial Williamsburg. The object is to get across a general idea, and Frontierland succeeds very well—none of its attractions feel like they don't belong to the overall area theme, which is more than you can say for some themed lands.

Beyond Blue Sky: The Disneyland House

“Bring Home the Magic.” One of Disney's many marketing slogans. It's usually used in conjunction with their home video productions, but people also take the expression a little more literally and decorate their houses with their favorite Disney characters and motifs. And sometimes with their favorite Disney theme park motifs, which Disney finally cottoned onto a few years ago, so now you can get official Disneyland attraction housewares. If you had about a grand to spare and a more advanced case of Disneyland-mania than even I have, you could go to Le Bat en Rouge and outfit your entire dining room with Haunted Mansion plates, placemats, drinking glass coasters, and even candlesticks.*

But what if more were possible?

What if you had basically unlimited funds and no sense of restraint whatsoever?

What if you could make your entire house into a mini-Disneyland of sorts? If you could, in fact, Make the Magic Your Home?

My sister and I had more-or-less this conversation the other day, fantasizing all kinds of what-if, and we came up with a rough plan for a Disneyland House, if only such a thing could be achieved. And then...I couldn't stop thinking about it. More and more details suggested themselves to my mind. And since it would be out of character for me to keep my thoughts to myself, I'm happy to share them with you here.

Read on, dear...readers, yes...and dream with me.

Imagineering Theory: The Third Gate Solution

As construction on Star Wars Land continues, shutting down much of Frontierland (and leaving us long-time fans with a nagging sense of dread over whether it will be satisfying when it re-opens), I've been thinking about the commonly proposed “third gate” solution to all this Star Wars and Marvel and Pixar nonsense. Most of us agree that these IPs don't sit well alongside most of the existing themes in Disneyland and California Adventure, but their profitability is too great for Management to resist. A third park, designed from the get-go to include them, seems like the perfect compromise—fans of these franchises get to play with them and the company gets the money, while the rest of us don't have to cringe at the awkward mismatches with the rest of the parks.

Here's the main problem with that idea, though:

What would be the theme of this third theme park?

Imagineering Theory: The Pixar Problem, Part 1

Remember a while back when I griped about how much Pixar stuff gets crammed into the Disneyland Resort at the expense of Disney's own animated features? I'd like to think I'm more than a complainer. So I decided to take a closer look at the issue, and hopefully devise some hypothetical solutions to what I can only refer to as the Pixar Problem.

I'll start by doing a rundown similar to the recent one examining the Disney Animated Canon, wherein I look at Pixar's cinematic output to date and try to find the “right” place for each franchise within the parks...and then look at how each one has actually been used.

Armchair Imagineering: Autopian Visions of the Future

The Autopia is currently undergoing an extensive refurbishment, prompted by the end of Chevron's sponsorship and the beginning of Honda's. The known changes are primarily superficial—fresh coats of paint to bring the cars and queue structures away from the ridiculous color schemes engendered by the 1998 remodel of Tomorrowland and get them more in line with Honda's own contemporary aesthetic. We're seeing a lot of blue and white:

Nice, isn't it? More than nice, it's classic Tomorrowland coloring: a return to form in at least that superficial sense. And naturally, with a change in sponsors and paint jobs comes the inevitable question: Is anything else about this Opening Day ride changing?

After-Action Report: Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin

Since bringing it up in the bunny-themed post of a couple weeks ago, I've been thinking I should devote a post to Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. This is one of the most overlooked rides in Disneyland—not just by the general public, who tend to miss it due to its back corner location and lack of timelessly beloved central characters,* but by Disney theme park bloggers, who ought to know better. This is surprising, because it's one of the best dark rides in the park, weaving together flexible source material, an innovative ride concept, nifty effects, and an absolute commitment on the part of Imagineering to make the experience as seamless as possible within the limitations of the format and the mid-Nineties technology they had to work with.

But wait! There's more! And this is something that only occurred to me fairly recently—Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin is the first narrative Disney attraction I can think of that deliberately takes place in the themed land where it is physically located. I'll come back to this later.

Imagineering Theory: Zootopia and Theme Flexibility

I cannot say enough good things about Disney's latest animated feature, Zootopia, now showing in a theater near you! But this is not a film blog. This is a theme park blog; hence my observations will mostly be limited to discussing the potential and actual impact of this completely excellent movie on the Disneyland Resort.

So far, Zootopia has been brought to the parks in the laziest and most predictable way possible: by situating fuzzies of the two main characters in Hollywood Land for photos and autographs. The motivation? To sell park-hopper tickets. The justification? Well, it's a movie, isn't it?

Please.

Apart from a blink-and-you-miss-it* joke about the pronunciation of “Tujunga,” there is nothing whatsoever tying Zootopia to California. But neither does it fit comfortably into any of the themed lands of Disneyland Park...or does it? This post is going to be a thought experiment on the flexibility of area themes and the need for creative solutions to potential mismatches. “Theme dilution” is a common pet peeve among Disney theme park fans, but the area themes have never been 100% pure, and as Disney's cinematic palette expands, it's only going to be more challenging for the Imagineers to successfully integrate movie-based attractions** with the limited selection of themed areas available.

To be clear, this entire post is completely speculative. I do not expect a permanent attraction based on Zootopia to be built in any park. (Actually, the film's setting would make for a fantastic basis for a theme park all on its own, but that's another topic.) The point of the exercise is that we have a wonderful movie, tearing up box-office records, taking place in a fantastic world that would be a blast to visit...and there's no obvious place to put it in Disney's parks.

So what about the non-obvious places?

What's Wrong With Disney California Adventure

Is it safe yet? Are the holidays over?

I kid, of course. I truly, genuinely, sincerely, unironically love the winter holidays...but they can be exhausting, can't they? So many obligations! And it seems like there's never enough time and money to make them quite as special as you want to, and then before you know it the whole shebang is over and rather than coming down gently, society's collective spirit drops off a freaking cliff. And there are still a couple of months of winter left, but you can't delight in it properly because in our culture celebrating winter is joined at the hip with Christmas imagery* and people will look at you funny.

Sorry, I'm rambling. What I'm really here to talk about today is Disney California Adventure. We can pretend it's my New Year's Resolution to give more attention to Disneyland's sister park...that way it won't be so shocking when I go right back to ignoring it after this.

Kidnap the Magic: Small World Promenade Holiday Wreath

One of the most distinctive holiday decorating schemes at Disneyland can be found on the Small World Promenade. While Chester* rocks his Santa hat and colored lights, fourteen white wreaths themed to different countries and regions as depicted on the ride line the walkway, building anticipation via their familiar central insignia and “supporting casts” of witty ornaments.

I don't know who in Imagineering is responsible for this...but I like it! So much so that several years ago, I made a set of tree ornaments based on the wreaths, using snowflakes as the base (since I couldn't find white mini-wreaths at an economical price) and variously shaped sequins for the ornaments. But this is Kidnap the Magic, and I'm going to offer you a more ambitious project: An actual wreath decorated the same way as the ones in the park, scaled down just enough to fit comfortably in the average home.

Kidnap the Magic: Decorating for Christmas...Disneyland Style!

Thanksgiving* is only a few days away, if you can believe that. Once the dishes are cleared away, the Christmas season Officially Begins on a nationwide scale. Due to the increased prominence of online shopping (and a few high-profile tragedies engendered by the pressure-cooker atmosphere of certain “mega-sales”), Black Friday is starting to slide off its throne as the shopping day of the season...but a lot of people still like to take advantage of the day off to do their decorating.

And perhaps some of those people would like to decorate in the style of the Happiest Merriest Place on Earth. They could just drop a wad of dough on ornaments sold at the parks, but that wouldn't actually do the trick. Odd as it may seem, the fictional denizens of Disneyland do not decorate using real Disneyland merchandise. Our hypothetical people will need some pointers. Fortunately for those people, they live in a world that includes this blog.

This post is going to include general guidelines rather than step-by-step instructions. Disneyland's Christmas decorations are, as a rule, magnificent, and it's really inspiring to us crafty types to see how the various area themes intersect with holiday imagery and traditions. It would almost be missing the point to try recreating most of these uniquely designed items exactly, especially since they evolve over the years. So peruse, enjoy the photos, and get some awesome ideas for a Disneyland-flavored Christmas of your own!

Kidnap the Magic: A Haunted Mansion Halloween

I've really been looking forward to this one. Of the several Disneyland themed party ideas I've shared so far, this is the only one I've actually tried for myself, rather than merely speculating upon. So quell those doubts, readers—this stuff's been field-tested in advance by Yours Truly and my then-housemates!

Source Materials: Heraldry in Fantasyland (Part 2)

Welcome back! Last week, I corrected a trifecta of misconceptions about the heraldic design located just above the arch of Sleeping Beauty Castle, and went on to explore some of the other instances of medieval heraldry used for thematic and decorative purposes in Fantasyland. This week...the latter continues!

Source Materials: Heraldry in Fantasyland (Part 1)

It's inevitable: Take an interest in Disneyland trivia, and sooner or later (probably sooner), you're bound to come across this little tidbit:

Walt Disney's family crest is on the front of Sleeping Beauty Castle.

This factoid is impressive for its sheer density of misinformation—no fewer than three errors or partial errors in only twelve words! The falsehoods are corrected as follows:

1. The design in question is not a crest (though it includes one).

2. Designs of this type do not represent families per se, at least traditionally.
3. This particular design is probably not directly associated with Walt Disney's specific family at all.

Thus we enter the often murky but always fascinating world of European heraldry!

Kidnap the Magic: Talk Like a Pirate of the Caribbean Day

September is here at last, bringing with it (hopefully) cooler weather, quieter households...and on the 19^th of the month, the most beloved holiday that never got its own section in a Hallmark store: International Talk Like a Pirate Day! It's not hard to see why this “holiday” took off the way it did—it asks so little of you. You don't have to buy anyone a gift or a card, or spend hours decorating your house, or sit through a long church service. All you have to do is alter your speech patterns in accordance with a well-known pop-cultural archetype.

But why stop there? Talking Like a (Hollywood) Pirate is fun and all, but maybe a little too easy. The name hasn't changed, but for many people, Talk Like a Pirate Day is also Dress Like a Pirate Day, Fly the Jolly Roger Like a Pirate Day, and Watch Pirate Movies* Day.

Even...perhaps...Throw a Pirate-Themed Party Day! And when it comes to pirate theming, nobody has more vivid mental images than devotees of Disney parks. This is probably because the original version of Pirates of the Caribbean, the ride, installed at Disneyland in 1967, is the best theme park attraction ever built. As an iconic fantasy depiction of piracy in the Age of Sail, it's second only to Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. As a first-person experience, it's simply incomparable. It's got its own specific imagery, its own instantly recognizable soundtrack, its own unique smell. If you want your Talk Like a Pirate Day party to take its cues from the ride—and if you consider yourself a Disneyland fan, then you do, no two ways about it—then you have plenty of material to work with that will make your guests go “Hey...this is that ride!”

What you don't have a lot of is convenient shortcuts. Make no mistake—“Pirate” is one of the big themes in your average party store, and you can even find Pirates of the Caribbean branded items...but naturally it's all to do with the film franchise. Use it anyway if you like; these days Jack Sparrow is on the ride, after all. But if you really want to evoke the ride itself, Party City and its brethren will be of very little help. And nor will much of anything else in the retail arena. It's just that unique.

So what can you do?

You can do what brought us the marvels of Pirates of the Caribbean to begin with. You can Imagineer.

This isn't going to be like my other Disneyland party ideas, where I take you through all the major facets of party planning including ideas for food, games, and music. The food should be sumptuous, the games should revolve around treasure maps, and if you follow this blog but can't think of any music that reminds you of Pirates of the Caribbean, then there's simply no help for you. Rather, this post is going to highlight some specific things you can do to create a Pirates of the Caribbean-style atmosphere...be it for a party or any other reason!

After-Action Report: Indiana Jones Adventure

FIRST, AN ASIDE:
I try not to dwell on news items here at the Disneyland Dilettante, but seeing as it's Adventureland month and all, I couldn't ignore the announcement that Disney is finally going ahead with a movie based on the Jungle Cruise, an idea the studio has been toying with for the past decade. So far the only details released are a) it will be a period piece and b) it will star Dwayne Johnson. The second bit amuses me because of his role in the upcoming animated film Moana—are they just making him their Adventureland mascot or what? I'll have to hold off on forming specific opinions until I know more about the project, but for now I am cautiously optimistic. Even before I knew they were thinking about doing it, I thought the Jungle Cruise would be a decent enough candidate for a ride-turned-movie. It has the same big strength as Pirates of the Caribbean: a strongly defined mood and setting without much in the way of an established plot to shackle the writers...which I believe is where the 2003 Haunted Mansion movie went wrong. (Well, that and letting Eddie Murphy stomp all over it.)
END OF ASIDE. ON WITH THE MAIN POST.

This is where I reveal that I am an enormous hypocrite.

I have multiple posts on this blog where I denounce Star Tours—and the whole phenomenon of Star Wars in Disneyland—for various reasons. Chief among them is that it began as, basically, an intruder—an outside property that wasn't quite a thematic fit with the area where it was placed, but which subsequently took over said area to an extent, imposing its aesthetic on the non-IP-based attractions that had been there all along. Another is that it's too focused on recapping famous scenes from its source material to add much to its canon.

Um.

In the interest of basic human decency, I have to admit that the Indiana Jones Adventure is guilty of these same sins...yet for some reason, I have no objections. I love this ride. Its existence feels as natural to me as the existence of Star Tours feels forced. I can accept this as another wacky installment in the serialized adventures of everyone's favorite fedora-wearing archaeologist, even if it bears suspicious resemblances to many of his other adventures.

Part of it, of course, is that I just plain like the Indiana Jones franchise better than I like Star Wars.* Just knowing that it's there in the Happiest Place Where Dreams Come True on Earth doesn't automatically make me roll my eyes. And maybe that's hypocritical in itself—I tend to look down my nose at people who get all excited about the prospect of Marvel superheroes and MOAR STAR WARS in Disneyland because they love the movies. I don't think that stuff is a natural fit for the park, so I disdain the fan loyalty that causes people to like the idea. But is Indiana Jones really any more appropriate for Adventureland than Lucas's other, bigger baby or Stan Lee's portfolio is for Tomorrowland?

Actually...I would argue that it is.

60 Disneyland Diamonds: 1996-2005

No fancy greeting this time. Just some links to the previous posts:

60 Diamonds Intro

60 Diamonds: 1956-1965

60 Diamonds: 1966-1975

60 Diamonds: 1978-1985

60 Diamonds: 1986-1995

And now, on with the next set!

Sentimental Paleontology: Pop! Went the Weasel

Tomorrowland is a mess. This much is a largely agreed-upon fact in the Disneyland fan community. Saint Walt's Utopian Dream of the Future has Lost Its Way and become a ghastly mishmash of attractions with vague technology, science-fiction/fantasy, and even cartoon themes—mostly from IPs Disney has purchased, as opposed to creating in-house. It's probably true that the area is more inconsistent than ever before, but if we're completely honest with ourselves...we have to admit that “theme confusion” in Tomorrowland is nothing new. It arguably goes right back to Opening Day, when budget shortfalls forced Walt to fill Tomorrowland with corporate sponsors who had much more to say about what they were doing in the present than about what they would do in the future. But those exhibits at least had a scientific or technological bent that worked with the area.

So let's try a different approach. What was the last major Tomorrowland attraction to be straightforwardly futuristic rather than taking a sideways leap into science-fantasy or sillier? I think you could make a case for Space Mountain, which debuted in 1977.* It is first and foremost a roller coaster (in the dark!), but it appears to take place in a setting where people hop into tiny rockets and go zooming around the asteroids for fun. That's fanciful, but it's at the harder end of the science-fiction scale. Personal spacecraft launching from a space station are a believable future technology.

But even by the time Space Mountain made the scene, Tomorrowland already hosted a ride that had nothing to do with the future or outer space or science or technology.** That ride was America Sings, a brief history in four acts (plus an introduction and an epilogue) of American music as demonstrated by audio-animatronic cartoon animal characters. Described so brusquely, it almost sounds like a parody of Disney attractions, like the sort of thing that would be featured in an episode of The Simpsons lampooning the whole institution, while those in the know would be aware that all of those individual elements could be found in abundance throughout Disneyland, but never all in the same attraction.

But they were all in the same attraction. America Sings was sort of a distillation of Disney park tropes of its era. It was installed in 1974, timed for synergy with the upcoming American Bicentennial. But why in Tomorrowland? Even as a young child, I realized how weird this was. Why not, say, Main Street, which already had patriotism as a major theme?