Aesthetic Analysis of Themed Design

[EPCOT Explorer]

I've talked about this on here before, and not everyone agrees, but I don't think the attraction itself matches Liberty Square at all...or is even intended to.

As has already been pointed out, the dress doesn't match the period, the speech patterns are more modern (although you could argue this was meant to make the characters more accessible to modern audiences, a la Hall of Presidents or American Adventure), and the ride has a jazzy soundtrack that doesn't evoke colonial America.

The ride is essentially a copy of Disneyland's, which inhabits a mansion in New Orleans. While Imagineers went to great pains to make the ride's facade match its colonial setting, no real changes were made to the attraction itself...which is fine with me. I don't think the ride would be improved any by adding dead pilgrims or revolutionary soldiers.

I'm so surprised that I never made that connection.:lol: Hindsight Bias is a fantastic thing.

Then again, it could just be the music type that fit....Kinda like 1900's cats playing 1950's Jazz in 1900's Paris. Hello, Aristocrats!:lol:


You are right, however, BJ...It doesn't fit in that respect. It seems only the architecture and the link of a "Good American Ghost Story" keeps is anchored in Liberty Square. I keep wanting to lump it into Fantasyland, now. Tokyo Disneyland wins again!:lol:

 

[ChrisFL]

I'm so surprised that I never made that connection.:lol: Hindsight Bias is a fantastic thing.

Then again, it could just be the music type that fit....Kinda like 1900's cats playing 1950's Jazz in 1900's Paris. Hello, Aristocrats!:lol:


You are right, however, BJ...It doesn't fit in that respect. It seems only the architecture and the link of a "Good American Ghost Story" keeps is anchored in Liberty Square. I keep wanting to lump it into Fantasyland, now. Tokyo Disneyland wins again!:lol:

Right because the Haunted Mansion sitting right next to Dumbo in Tokyo makes perfect sense :shrug:

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Right because the Haunted Mansion sitting right next to Dumbo in Tokyo makes perfect sense :shrug:

Is that really how it is? Hmmm...:lol: Interesting.


They would need a better transition, IMHO...Something that WDW has. Notice how you can't see HM in LS until you turn that last corner...

 

[yankspy]

Possibly, but the Rivers of America do not follow the chronological progession that the land does. Because the type of riverboat that supposedly resides in Liberty Square could not have existed during colonial (pre-1800) times.

One must assume that the river is more of an amalgamation than chronological history lesson. The amalgamation would be more clear if there were keel boats and canoes and ships like the Columbia to navigate the Great River.

There used to be both.

 

[ChrisFL]

Is that really how it is? Hmmm...:lol: Interesting.


They would need a better transition, IMHO...Something that WDW has. Notice how you can't see HM in LS until you turn that last corner...

 

[wishesjake]

OK, what about our Tommorrowland? It sort of defies categorization. Because the realistic TL that Walt originally wanted no longer exists. If it exists in any form, it is Future World. So TL is a complete fantasy-like view of the future.

When looking at it from that perspective, it works. It is the future that exists in our collective imaginations where all the nations (and planets) in the world live in peace together. However, once you get past rockettower plaza, it's almost as if the theming runs out and you have a completely bland and boring transition to FL that includes the sixflagsesque Speedway.

Also, this may be why MILF and Stitch don't quite fit. MILF, because no one has visions of Monsters in their fantasy of the future? Why are there Monsters there? It makes no aesthetic or thematic sense. Also, Stitch portrays a pessimistic view of the future. If I could get in a time machine and go 3000 years in the future, I assure you I would not be visiting a prison. Nor would I be entertained if that prison broke down and the captives escaped. Ha ha it's so . . . frightening?

Therefore, it can be said that elements of our TL works, but there are severe problems within the H.G. Well's fantasy.

 

[FigmentJedi]

Also, this may be why MILF and Stitch don't quite fit. MILF, because no one has visions of Monsters in their fantasy of the future? Why are there Monsters there? It makes no aesthetic or thematic sense.

MILF's there for involving taking you into another dimension, being Monstropolis, plus the fact that live animation is a very nifty technology for show usage.

 

[imagineer boy]

Honestly, this goes back to the point I made earlier on TOO much analysis.:lol:

True, there really shouldn't be that much analysis put into defining or creating a land. Because if you do too much, a land supposed to be anchored in fantasy suddenly gravitates to being connected to the real world.

 

[lazyboy97o]

This is similar to what we were saying about Splash Mountain a little earlier. Both rides are good examples of Disney working hard to make attractions fit their lands from the outside, even while the stories and themes inside don't match the geographical or chronological settings of their surroundings.

I really do not think Splash Mountain fits into its surroundings at the Magic Kingdom. To the north is the desert formations of Big Thunder Mountain and to the south is the desert architecture of Pecos Bill's. All this desert, and there sits Georgia right between the two.

Would you mind explaining how?:wave:


I've never thought about it.

There is also the real props, which consists of now antique furniture, dinnerwares, etc. Now I am wondering if these fit into the antebellum setting that was originally the time of New Orleans Square.

However, once you get past rockettower plaza, it's almost as if the theming runs out and you have a completely bland and boring transition to FL that includes the sixflagsesque Speedway.

The money ran out. A foreshadowing of the possible fate of Disney's California Adventure, as money is currently being poured into big ticket items.

At Disneyland, the money was low, so little was spent on any one area so that the land would look as cohesive as possible. At the Magic Kingdom the money was spent to ensure some radical change to the land.

Also, Stitch portrays a pessimistic view of the future.

Stitch's Great Escape fails because it deliberately sought to alter an attraction into something fundamentally different than that which it was while still somehow trying to be the same. This is why, despite the complaints it may have received, I do not it was as unpopular as some would allude. Stitch's Great Escape retains far too much of the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter for me to accept that position.

 

[ChrisFL]

The money ran out. A foreshadowing of the possible fate of Disney's California Adventure, as money is currently being poured into big ticket items.

Speaking of money running out, I always wondered why the outer parts of the Peoplem...err TTA track didn't get the same treatment as the inner parts in the 1994 change...must have also been $$$

 

[lazyboy97o]

Speaking of money running out, I always wondered why the outer parts of the Peoplem...err TTA track didn't get the same treatment as the inner parts in the 1994 change...must have also been $$$

That is my understanding. There was simply not enough money provided to actually complete the project. I wish I could remember the lead Imagineer's name, but his decision was to just cut wholesale features from the project instead of doing what Baxter would do a couple years later at Disneyland, which was more of a water everything down approach. What really sucked for he-whom-I-cannot-remember, is that the people above were impressed with his wise use of limited funds and gave him the Walt Disney Studios Park project.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Wow.
That really is odd.


Maybe those trees help?

OK, what about our Tommorrowland? It sort of defies categorization. Because the realistic TL that Walt originally wanted no longer exists. If it exists in any form, it is Future World. So TL is a complete fantasy-like view of the future.

When looking at it from that perspective, it works. It is the future that exists in our collective imaginations where all the nations (and planets) in the world live in peace together. However, once you get past rockettower plaza, it's almost as if the theming runs out and you have a completely bland and boring transition to FL that includes the sixflagsesque Speedway.

Also, this may be why MILF and Stitch don't quite fit. MILF, because no one has visions of Monsters in their fantasy of the future? Why are there Monsters there? It makes no aesthetic or thematic sense. Also, Stitch portrays a pessimistic view of the future. If I could get in a time machine and go 3000 years in the future, I assure you I would not be visiting a prison. Nor would I be entertained if that prison broke down and the captives escaped. Ha ha it's so . . . frightening?

Therefore, it can be said that elements of our TL works, but there are severe problems within the H.G. Well's fantasy.

I agree on MILF, but not on Stitch. It's too light hearted to be pessimistic...


I think it just adds to the "community" part of the Land. TL is supposed to be the land that it is a fantasy city of the future, this is just a part of it.

I really do not think Splash Mountain fits into its surroundings at the Magic Kingdom. To the north is the desert formations of Big Thunder Mountain and to the south is the desert architecture of Pecos Bill's. All this desert, and there sits Georgia right between the two.


There is also the real props, which consists of now antique furniture, dinnerwares, etc. Now I am wondering if these fit into the antebellum setting that was originally the time of New Orleans Square.


The money ran out. A foreshadowing of the possible fate of Disney's California Adventure, as money is currently being poured into big ticket items.

At Disneyland, the money was low, so little was spent on any one area so that the land would look as cohesive as possible. At the Magic Kingdom the money was spent to ensure some radical change to the land.


Stitch's Great Escape fails because it deliberately sought to alter an attraction into something fundamentally different than that which it was while still somehow trying to be the same. This is why, despite the complaints it may have received, I do not it was as unpopular as some would allude. Stitch's Great Escape retains far too much of the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter for me to accept that position.

Makes sense, here.

 

[EpcotServo]

Wow.
That really is odd.


Maybe those trees help?

It's not odd because Japanese consider ghost stories as Fantasy, less "I Heard a Bump in the dark" and more legendary and meaningful. So it naturally went to Fantasyland.

Haunted Mansion is after all, the only Disney attraction to be place in a different land in each park it goes too, a distinction I hope it keeps.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

It's not odd because Japanese consider ghost stories as Fantasy, less "I Heard a Bump in the dark" and more legendary and meaningful. So it naturally went to Fantasyland.

Haunted Mansion is after all, the only Disney attraction to be place in a different land in each park it goes too, a distinction I hope it keeps.

Right, but it just looks so odd, with the spinner RIGHT in front of it. Kinda clashes.

I agree...Think of a HM in Adventureland....or Tomorrowland?

Odd thoughts. Maybe Ghost Galaxy is just that!

 

[EpcotServo]

Right, but it just looks so odd, with the spinner RIGHT in front of it. Kinda clashes.

I agree...Think of a HM in Adventureland....or Tomorrowland?

Odd thoughts. Maybe Ghost Galaxy is just that!

Is the spinner right in front of it? Or is the Mansion far on the hill behind it?

Design in Theme Parks are a matter of perspective.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Is the spinner right in front of it? Or is the Mansion far on the hill behind it?

Design in Theme Parks are a matter of perspective.

Maybe it's just the picture.:lol:


After all, you can see our SM from FL.

 

[ChrisFL]

Is the spinner right in front of it? Or is the Mansion far on the hill behind it?

Design in Theme Parks are a matter of perspective.

Having been there, I can attest that it is pretty close, and was quite startling when I saw how close it was.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Having been there, I can attest that it is pretty close, and was quite startling when I saw how close it was.

So, does the mood change at all in between Dumbo and HM? As we know, there's a huge shift in MK.

 

[ChrisFL]

Not really, there's also the queen of hearts restaurant that's just to the right of the HM if I remember correctly.

While I was in line for HM I saw the parade starting and it goes right past it, that also doesn't quite set the same mood.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Not really, there's also the queen of hearts restaurant that's just to the right of the HM if I remember correctly.

While I was in line for HM I saw the parade starting and it goes right past it, that also doesn't quite set the same mood.

Wow...I guess Tokyo has to have something wrong. :lol: