The second attraction at Universal Studios that I enjoyed was the brand new, $40 million Simpsons Ride, which replaced the Back to the Future Ride before it. The technology is derivative of Disney's aforementioned Star Tours, but instead of individual simulators, all vehicles face a single, massive IMAX-style screen (the Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas uses the same approach).
The Simpsons Ride, like the show, is distinctly postmodern. Here, the emperor (or "The Wizard," rather) has no clothes, and everybody knows it. As such, the attraction openly mocks the theme park concept—Krustyland, "The Krusty-est Place on Earth"—it's proprietor (Krusty the Clown), the audience, and the ride itself.
For someone like me who has spent a good part of the last year trying to take these places as seriously as possible, this was some very welcome comic relief.
This is hardly just a gloss-over parody, however. Great attention was paid to the smallest details and inside jokes, some of which only make sense to long-time Disney park fans.For example, the entryway to the attraction is flanked by a large, poster-sized park map of the Krustyland park—drawn at the same level of execution as the infamous Disneyland poster maps.
The references are delightfully blatant to even the most casual theme park visitor. This smacks of Disney's Big Thunder Mountain railroad attraction.
And the classic Jungle Cruise (this time with a killer octopus).
There are small in-jokes for those that watch the show, too.
The front area of the park resembles Disney's Main Street U.S.A. There is so much detail to take in on this map that you can spend most of your time in the queue just admiring it.
Besides Disney, there are countless other reference to either amusement park mainstays, or local Southern California favorites. Here on the left is a log flume that is styled very much after the original at Knott's Berry Farm.
And an killer whale show theater nearly identical to those seen at Sea World in San Diego. The town of Springfield is visible in the background.
The signature puns that have made The Simpsons so popular abound.
Every attraction name is loaded with references.
Many of Krustyland's imaginary attractions are conscious rip-offs of Disney classics, such as Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion. These are given their own framed posters, just like at Disneyland.
Are these jabs a none-to-subtle reference to Universal and Disney pillaging each other's techniques and concepts over the years?
Just like Jurassic Park: The Ride, the ride is themed to actually be a ride—Krusty's Carnival Midway.
Fittingly, the exterior show building sports Coney Island-eque boardwalk styling.
The attraction also employs the "wrong turn" narrative trick of the Jurassic Park ride. Here, though it is no accident, but the malicious melding of a long-standing antagonist of the series "Sideshow Bob." As a result, we are thrown on a crazed chase through Krustyland, breaking into most of the parody attractions that we saw on the poster map in the entry cue.
All in all, the experience was fantastic—I had to ride it twice.
But what makes the theming of The Simpsons Ride unique is this self-consciousness that can only be called postmodern. What is the simulation here? On one level, we're entering the world of The Simpsons; this is Springfield, and I am now yellow. On another level, we're entering the world of Krustyland, which is itself based on other such fantasy places such as Disneyland. So the theme is Springfield, and the theme is also a theme park, within Springfield.
Physical structures that once only existed in the Simpsons cartoon universe are replicated outside the attraction area with astounding precision, such as the Kwik-E-Mart (itself a parody of the ubiquitous 7-11 chain).
The smallest details, down to the pay phones, were not overlooked.
The exterior walls of Moe's Tavern look just as they do in the animated realm. Is this a simulation, a representation, a reference, or just pure brand?
This brings up something interesting from the blog comments about War Game at Fisherman's wharf in macau. A sharp reader pointed out that this attraction was based on a video game—so in addition to representing a geographic locale, the theme is also the gaming environment itself; a virtual world. How do you characterize such a space, with multiple (and sometimes contradictory) reference points?
The Simpsons Ride is somewhat similar, referencing Disney, theme parks, and its namesake television series—not to mention all the smaller cultural nods that make up that universe, which themselves come from all over the place.
As gestalt, however, it totally works; a postmodern pleasure palace.