So, is playing the score soundtrack from The Dark Knight in the Bat Cave we built "decor"? What about the bat guano scented candle I picked up at Yankee Candle?
As in theater and cinema, background music within a themed experience is often non-diegetic.
Paradise Pier does have a theme, it's a romanticized depiction of California piers and boardwalks in their heyday. Linking properties together because they were created by the same studio is an extremely weak way of making a land cohesive. A Pixar themed land may work in the context of a studio park, but not here.
Six Flags is hardly taken seriously as themed entertainment. Themed entertainment being a storytelling medium is really not something that is disputed.
Six Flags = Seventh Level of Hell.
Disney parks started as a work of art. There was reason behind everything and how it fit with its surroundings rather then just being thrown down. That's a new thing.
This is 100% true... until you take off your everything-was-better-when-Walt-Disney-was-alive glasses and realize that we now are starting to see a level of immersive theming that had never been conceived of when the Disney parks first started. Everyone loves to tear apart the smallest use of creative license these days, but nobody seemed to care that Polynesian birds, Caribbean pirates, and jungle animals all live peacefully together in a land that is supposed to have a cohesive theme. Not that I don’t like Adventureland (or Fantasyland or Tomorrowland, for that matter), but let’s not pretend that the standards for themed entertainment have been getting lower!
Appeal to the masses?
Walt Disney created this industry by giving the "masses" what they didn't know they wanted, so that should never be an excuse for anything. Sure, not everyone will recognize exactly what Paradise Pier is supposed to be, but will at the very least appreciate the charm and thought put into it.
I won’t get into the whole FW debate because that is likely to derail this thread into chaos. As for Paradise/Pixar Pier, there is certainly a problem, but poor theming is not it. In fact, I would argue that right now Paradise Pier’s problem stems from it being too well themed. TSMM is a great example of the type of attraction that belongs there - a ride that incorporates boardwalk/carnival theming into it. However, most of the attractions are things you would actually see at a carnival on a boardwalk. While this may help create an authentic California boardwalk feel, it does not create a unique, memorable experience. Instead of using theming to facilitate fun, Disney has essentially used theming as an excuse to replace the fun (really, Disney just wanted to get a ton of rides in to their new park as cheaply as possible). They could change this area into Pixar Pier, Princess Pier, Puppy Pier, or Potato Pier, but unless they actually replace the cheap attractions (and not just repaint them or slap some characters’ faces on them), it’s never going to be an especially impressive area.
I hear ya there - and earlier, I compared changing it to Pixar Pier the equivalent of taking the decor from the All-Star Resorts and slapping them on a theme park.
Except I was talking about Magic Kingdom Orlando, EPCOT Center etc.,so the after Walt era. Immersion doesn't equal theme. Just because I'm going to shrink to the size of a toy and be in Andys backyard doesn't mean the "theme" is quality. Quality came from places like EPCOT Center where the "theme" of Future World was the achievement of man and the vision of tomorrow.
What could be done? Tell a good, consistent story. The Good Dinosaur would not magically become a better movie by dropping in Buzz and Woody.
