One element of Disneyland that I loved learning about years ago was that the original four
lands of the park were essentially reflective of four popular film genres at the time.
You had your sci-fi films of the 40s and 50s, animated fantasy films, the classic westerns
of American cinema, and jungle adventures of the 1930s.
These lands appealed to guests because they were settings and concepts that they were
already familiar with thanks to the movies they watched.
That got me thinking: What would Disneyland look like if it was rebuilt today with the same idea?
Just a quick house rule first.
I followed the assumption that like the original lands of Disneyland, the “new lands” would
contain original rides with a similar theme, not branded IP tie-ins.
In other words, none of this pays attention to what Disney does or doesn’t own.
It’s more about the genre, not the specific movies that inspire them.
So with that out of the way, let’s start with Tomorrowland.
Tomorrowland is one of the two lands that I think would still exist today.
I don’t know if it’d be named Tomorrowland, but there’s no question that science fiction
is as popular as ever.
The difference though, is that the tone of sci-fi has changed tremendously since Walt’s era.
Disneyland’s Tomorrowland was an optimistic look at the future.
It wagered that the advances in technology would solve our problems and lead to a new
era of discovery and adventure.
Today that’s changed.
Sci-fi films, especially ones based on Earth, tend to be much darker.
Some might say that’s pessimistic, and others might say it’s realistic.
Today, more than ever, we love dystopias.
Perhaps it’s because it scratches a survival itch we have.
Or maybe it’s satisfying to see underdog heroes attack and topple an oppressive authority.
With so many films focusing on technology leading to our personal or collective downfall,
maybe we look for reminders that technology isn’t the answer to our problems, but a
tool to help us find that answer.
Whatever the reason, I suspect a fresh Tomorrowland of 2018 would be a lot darker than the current one.
Initially I wondered if there would be appeal in that.
Would we want to escape to a theme park land so dreary and dark?
Then I considered that these films are so prevalent because we like to watch them.
We love to play video games in these worlds, and if Alien Encounter is any indication,
we would also enjoy inhabiting them at a park.
Perhaps in keeping with Disney’s family friendly tone, we would see a land closer
to the teen dystopian worlds of Hunger Games or Maze Runner than Blade Runner or Mad Max.
Fantasyland is the other land I think we would still see today, but similar to Tomorrowland,
I think today’s Fantasyland would be very different.
While the original Fantasyland was Walt’s playground for Disney’s very own animated
films, I think today’s Fantasyland would draw more inspiration from franchises like
Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.
While the era of fantasy from Walt’s time were retelling of fairy tales, modern audiences
seek out more depth in not only the characters, but also the plots and settings of these films.
We look for stories that don’t just feel like fables with no subtext, but tales with
depth from actual worlds that might exist out there and inhabited by characters who
feel real despite their origin.
I think attractions in that Fantasyland would have more of an adventurous and grand tone
to them.
Think less small enclosed dark rides and more exciting rides with big reveals of fantasy
vistas and besting monsters and evil.
Now as much as I love both classical and modern Westerns, I think it’s difficult to argue
that it’s a genre with the same power that it had in the 1950s and 60s.
So I think this land would go.
I can, however, think of a sub-genre as popular today as the western were 60 years
ago: Superhero Films.
Come on, this one was obvious.
I’m sure plenty of people are going to point out how they’re tired of superhero movies,
and I’d believe you.
Between Marvel and DC duking it out, and all of the other studios trying to get in on the
action we could see over five big budget hero movies a year.
That said, the box office is a great indicator that tells us that for the most people,
they still love ‘em.
This is one land where I think it’s easy to see them using specific IPs.
After all, Disney bought Marvel and carries a lot of the responsibility when it comes
to the genre being as prevalent as it is today.
So yeah, the easy answer here is a Marvel themed land filled with action packed E-ticket
attractions.
I would personally hope we would see the Avengers of rides.
A series of attractions, each with their own storyline, but storylines that all added to
one overall plot playing out across the land.
I made a video about this idea a while back if you want to know more.
The final land, Adventureland, was admittedly the toughest for me to think of.
I almost wonder if it’s because the landscape of film today, for as much as we mock it for
all being the same, has grown so nuanced that we can’t lump everything into clean-cut
genres anymore.
Or maybe I’m just dumb and missing something.
In any case, Adventureland and rides like The Jungle Cruise are callbacks to Adventure
films of the 30s and 40s and capture the spirit of going off to faraway lands filled with
exotic wonders and dangers.
When I tried to think of a modern genre that carried that same spirit it hit me: spy movies.
James Bond. Jason Bourne. Ethan Hunt.
Spies are all about heading off to dangerous and exotic countries to foil some evil plot
or save some helpless victim or even the world.
And while those examples lean towards the more gritty and realistic side of the genre,
we’ve also seen a slight resurgence in the more light-hearted style of spy film.
I think if this were to happen in Disney, it would likely learn more towards Man from
UNCLE than Bourne Identity, but I think it’d be fun nevertheless.
Maybe the attractions here could focus on interactive elements, allowing guests to solve
mysteries and act as a spy themselves using all of the interactive tools Disney is bringing
to the table these days.
As for Main Street USA?
Well, I leave that up to you.
Let me know in the comments what you think a modern day take on Main Street might look like.
You can also let me know what other genres you think might have been a better fit in
place of these for lands around the park.
Like I said before, this is just a fun creative exercise.
I don’t think Disney would do any of these today, except maybe Marvel land, and I don’t
necessarily think any would carry the same charm Disneyland’s current areas carry.
However I think it serves as a reminder that so much of what we see in the parks is so
heavily influenced by the world around us.
If Disneyland was built just a few decades later it might have looked entirely different.
Personally, I’m glad we have the one we got.