5. It breaks the fourth wall
In performing arts, the “fourth wall” refers to the imagined wall separating the audience from the action. When a performer breaks the fourth wall, they shatter the illusion. Breaking the fourth wall is typically intentional, like a television character pausing the action to address viewers at home, or an actor in a play reciting a monologue to the audience. In a highly dramatized and immersive setting, it can be a stark jolt “back to reality.”
Even in Walt's time, maintaining the show was of the utmost importance; it's why concepts of "on-stage" and "off-stage" exist; why a raised, tree-lined berm encircles the park; why Disney went to great lengths to disguise enormous showbuildings. And while tiny little Disneyland is filled with juxtaposed architectural styles and naive architecture, each subsequent ‘castle’ park has gotten better and better at isolating themed lands from one another, completely eliminating any contradictions. Just look at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge where “Batuuans” have no idea what you mean by “where is the bathroom” to see that commitment taken to its extreme.
Just the opposite, intentionally breaking the fourth wall is… well… cheap. It’s an easy way to get an easy laugh from guests, drawn right out of the self-referential humor of '90s direct-to-video sequels. Think of the Declassified Disaster: Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management. Throughout the attraction, Aladdin's Iago skewers and satirizes the Tiki Birds and their "old" show. He claims to have "purchased" the show outright, and sings spoofs of songs from 1992's Aladdin as he pokes fun at how old-fashioned and boring the Walt Disney original show was.
It continues right to Iago’s famous closing line that he was going to take a nap in the Hall of Presidents. Yuck yuck. And yeah, it is funny, because that’s totally in the “irreverent humor” style of Iago and the attraction, and because… well… the Hall of Presidents is boring. But when you think of all the work Imagineers did to create the original Tiki Room, Adventureland, Liberty Square, the Hall of Presidents… it’s a “jolt” alright, to see that world-building and mythology skewered for a laugh.
We’re not humorless! Yeah, it’s funny when the gantry lift doors open on Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT! with views across the resort and Rocket shouts, “Disneyland?! But that’s thematically inconsistent!” And hey, if Disney wants to take the billion-and-a-half dollars it spent ridding California Adventure of modern music, irreverent humor, thematic inconsistencies, and fourth-wall-breaking, that’s their prerogative! But we all ought to admit that it’s not just funny… It's also a little lazy. Given that, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Guardians also reference their presence in Epcot as being uncanny when Cosmic Rewind opens. We’ll see!
EXCEPTIONS: For some IPs, breaking the fourth wall is half the fun. Say what you will about The Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios, but it’s entirely appropriate that the ride is themed to… a ride, outwardly spoofs Disney and SeaWorld classics, and launches guests toward a billboard that reads “Send Money to Universal Studios.”
6. It looks a little too much like everyday life
From the very beginning, the thing that made Disney Parks unique was their ability to transport guests somewhere new, Whether it was a far-flung place (Adventureland or Fantasyland) or a long-lost time (Main Street, Frontierland, or Tomorrowland), Walt and his early designers understood that the power of filmmaking could be used to place guests into unbelievable worlds. And crucially, those lands don’t recreate the “real” world; they don’t match to any place or specific time on a map. Instead, they’re idealized and romanticized, passed through a pop cultural lens; they embody the Main Street, adventure, frontier, fantasy, and future that never were, but live in our collective consciousness.
When Disney deviates from that formula, they always hit a snag. Take the Declassified Disaster: Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama. While digging deeper reveals that the mini-land is rife with story and detail, the fact is that it’s a little too close to home for most guests, who have seen a carnival or a wild mouse coaster at their own local amusement park. The extensive embedded narrative Imagineers crafted for the land is too hidden, and most guests take the area at face value: a cheap carnival built on a bit of the park’s leftover parking lot. The initial thought? "I didn't have to pay to go to Disney World to ride this."
On a more global scale, Imagineering fans agree that this was the problem with the entirety of the Declassified Disaster: Disney’s California Adventure when it opened in 2001. Proudly declaring itself different from Disneyland’s old fashioned idealized lands, California Adventure’s districts were meant to be “hip and edgy,” with an “MTV attitude.” Rather than taking guests to historic, romanticized places in California history, the time was “now!” The park played pop music, was stylized as a comic-book style spoof of Californian stereotypes, and made sure to continuously insist that there was nothing “magical” going on at all.
Sure, Disney could’ve built a 1920s Los Angeles Main Street, but built the concrete abstract Sunshine Plaza instead; they could’ve designed a historic 1940s Hollywoodland, but opted for the paparazzi-culture fueled, facade-lined Hollywood Pictures Backlot instead; they built Paradise Pier with stucco walls, faded posters, and bare carnival rides. In short, they built a spoof of modern California - the same California it existed within!
EXCEPTIONS: There are really only two Disney Parks that “get away” with closer adherence to reality: Epcot’s World Showcase and Animal Kingdom’s Africa and Asia. All get exceptions largely because, in an evolution of Disneyland’s M.O., they aren’t actually authentic. Despite a common criticism lobbied at Disney Parks fans, no one would honestly think that visiting Epcot’s Japan would make a trip to the real Japan unnecessary. Instead, World Showcase’s pavilions are their own kind of idealization. They’re what they’re designed to be: cultural emissaries that serve as idealized, sanitized samples of their cultures and cuisine.
Similarly, in Animal Kingdom’s lands, you’re “inside of a story, just like at the Magic Kingdom, but you are not inside a fantasy.”
Comments
What a fascinating article, I really enjoyed it! Totally agree with the observation that "we're going to a training facility of some kind" does not set the stage for an absorbing ride. RIP "Imagination," the worst-conceived ride redo ever. Still can't believe they said, "Let's do the new Imagination ride as a tour of the five senses!" "Yeah, but there's no way we can do taste and touch safely, from a ride vehicle." "True-- okay, we'll just say those labs are closed, three out of five is good enough." Like, WHAT?? And I like how you pointed out examples that manage to rise above the trend, like the brilliant "Men in Black" that starts out as a training exercise and then goes off the rails. This was a great article and I appreciate all the thought you put into it!
I absolutely agree with point #6, making things too much like everyday life. I really did not like it when I rode the Wildlife Express train at Animal Kingdom, the tram tour at Hollywood Studios or the outdoor section of Test Track at EPCOT, where I could see backstage areas . . . including parked cars! There were also places in Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom where chain link fencing could be found. I initially did not like Animal Kingdom for this same reason, but it has since grown on me.