JokersWild
Well-Known Member
Yo it's 5:30 in the morning, but I randomly woke up, so I just wanted to chime in quickly as this type of attraction is very much within my wheelhouse.
I think that we're limiting ourselves by focusing on only one book per genre. WIth the sheer amount of literature that is out there, I'd picture something more akin to the Gangster or Western scenes in GMR with a few big setpieces based on specific books/ properties interspersed. A layout that I picture offhand would be like:
Opening - Mythology/ Epic Poetry
.Spoken myth montage of sorts transitioning into something like Beowulf or The Odyssey (I think that I would prefer Beowulf, personally.)
Here we could absolutely use mythology from some less used peoples: Asian, Native American, etc. Might be cool to start out on creation myths.
Fantasy
.Fairytales. A scene almost like some of the attractions at Efteling where it's fairytale vignettes
.Lord of the Rings - fairly self explanatory. I can also picture A Song of Ice and Fire working here. Ooh, or actually, maybe Discworld. I've never read it, but what I know about it sounds like it would be really cool.
Science Fiction
.Starts with a representation of classic science faction: I'd prefer The Time Machine or War of the Worlds for this type of attraction, but I'll concede to 20k if we make Nemo Indian like he is in the novel. It would be a really great way to separate from Disney.
.Ends with more modern sci-fi. Philip K. Dick, or maybe something like Asimov. Something more grounded and gritty.
Children's Literature
.Maybe use a picture book. Or some sort of series? I don't know how to start the scene, but I know how to end it: Roald Dahl. Frankly, I'm disappointed that no one thought of him two rounds ago. I'd love for the scene to work like his stories and get darker and darker, transitioning into:
Horror
.Start with Victorian horror. Frankenstein. I like the idea of using the Antarctica scene, but I worry that it would just confuse people. The sets and immersion we could do for that scene would be really great thought (doesn't it take place in a wrecked ship in the North Pole?). Poe would work here too. Jesus Christ, a Lovecraft scene would be incredible. Transition into something more modern, though I don't know a ton of modern written horror. If we want some Asian representation, maybe Junji Ito, but that might be a bit too existential/ disturbing.
Mystery
.Christie. I'm not terribly versed in her work, but whoever mentioned her earlier is right: she's probably the most famous mystery novelist and it would be a crime to not use her.
The Adventure Novel
.Allen Quatermain, Treasure Island, Tarzan. We could cheat ever so slightly and do something like The Shadow (I've been going down a The Shadow rabbit hole again recently and I'd love to see the character show up somewhere. It started as a radio drama, but transitioned into pulp novels, so it's possible.). There is a ton that we could do here, and it's separate enough from Science Fiction I'd think.
Historical Epic
.Just Les Mis. Pretty self explanatory. Maybe something like Hunchback. Maybe War and Peace. I'd like to keep something like this to one novel.
Manga?
.I liked the idea presented, but there are a lot of wrong ways to go about it and I don't know nearly enough about manga to feel comfortable suggesting things for it.
The only thing that I have no ideas for is how to end it. Maybe some sort of montage or some sort of representation of the authors who appear in the attraction? I dunno.
Anyway, that is an incredibly rough outline, but hopefully it gives an idea of what books I'd like to see represented. Obviously, there's a lot that could change, and I'd especially like a few more modern books and some more representation from other parts of that world, but these are my initial ideas at least. Back to bed I go.
I think that we're limiting ourselves by focusing on only one book per genre. WIth the sheer amount of literature that is out there, I'd picture something more akin to the Gangster or Western scenes in GMR with a few big setpieces based on specific books/ properties interspersed. A layout that I picture offhand would be like:
Opening - Mythology/ Epic Poetry
.Spoken myth montage of sorts transitioning into something like Beowulf or The Odyssey (I think that I would prefer Beowulf, personally.)
Here we could absolutely use mythology from some less used peoples: Asian, Native American, etc. Might be cool to start out on creation myths.
Fantasy
.Fairytales. A scene almost like some of the attractions at Efteling where it's fairytale vignettes
.Lord of the Rings - fairly self explanatory. I can also picture A Song of Ice and Fire working here. Ooh, or actually, maybe Discworld. I've never read it, but what I know about it sounds like it would be really cool.
Science Fiction
.Starts with a representation of classic science faction: I'd prefer The Time Machine or War of the Worlds for this type of attraction, but I'll concede to 20k if we make Nemo Indian like he is in the novel. It would be a really great way to separate from Disney.
.Ends with more modern sci-fi. Philip K. Dick, or maybe something like Asimov. Something more grounded and gritty.
Children's Literature
.Maybe use a picture book. Or some sort of series? I don't know how to start the scene, but I know how to end it: Roald Dahl. Frankly, I'm disappointed that no one thought of him two rounds ago. I'd love for the scene to work like his stories and get darker and darker, transitioning into:
Horror
.Start with Victorian horror. Frankenstein. I like the idea of using the Antarctica scene, but I worry that it would just confuse people. The sets and immersion we could do for that scene would be really great thought (doesn't it take place in a wrecked ship in the North Pole?). Poe would work here too. Jesus Christ, a Lovecraft scene would be incredible. Transition into something more modern, though I don't know a ton of modern written horror. If we want some Asian representation, maybe Junji Ito, but that might be a bit too existential/ disturbing.
Mystery
.Christie. I'm not terribly versed in her work, but whoever mentioned her earlier is right: she's probably the most famous mystery novelist and it would be a crime to not use her.
The Adventure Novel
.Allen Quatermain, Treasure Island, Tarzan. We could cheat ever so slightly and do something like The Shadow (I've been going down a The Shadow rabbit hole again recently and I'd love to see the character show up somewhere. It started as a radio drama, but transitioned into pulp novels, so it's possible.). There is a ton that we could do here, and it's separate enough from Science Fiction I'd think.
Historical Epic
.Just Les Mis. Pretty self explanatory. Maybe something like Hunchback. Maybe War and Peace. I'd like to keep something like this to one novel.
Manga?
.I liked the idea presented, but there are a lot of wrong ways to go about it and I don't know nearly enough about manga to feel comfortable suggesting things for it.
The only thing that I have no ideas for is how to end it. Maybe some sort of montage or some sort of representation of the authors who appear in the attraction? I dunno.
Anyway, that is an incredibly rough outline, but hopefully it gives an idea of what books I'd like to see represented. Obviously, there's a lot that could change, and I'd especially like a few more modern books and some more representation from other parts of that world, but these are my initial ideas at least. Back to bed I go.
