0 Recurring Topoi: A Qualitative Study on Visual Attractions in Dutch Theme Park Efteling from a Media-Archaeological Point of View. N.M. Krijger Student number: 10019960 Master Thesis M Mediastudies: Filmstudies Supervisor: F. Paalman Wordcount: 21.943 16-11-2015 1 2 Index Introduction 4 Theoretical Framework 5 Panorama 8 Diorama 9 Phantasmagoria 9 Steam Train and Modernity 10 Methodology 12 Chapter 1: Pagode: an Aerial Viewpoint 18 Moving Panorama 21 Data Analysis 22 Conclusion 25 Chapter 2: Diorama: Surprise in Detail 28 The Diorama in a Historical Context 29 Data Analysis 30 Conclusion 34 Chapter 3: Spookslot: Spooky Illusions 36 Data Analysis 38 Conclusion 40 Chapter 4: Stoomtrein: Driving in Circles of Curiosity 42 Data Analysis 44 Conclusion 46 Final Conclusion 48 Bibliography 52 3 4 Growing up as a child in the Netherlands, I used to visit theme parks with my family every once in a while. One of my favourite attractions, next to the roller coasters and other thrill rides, were the 3D movies that were present in almost all of these parks. These were not the same kind of 3D films that you would see at the cinema. Instead, the 3D images seemed to really break through the screen and, at times, almost hit you in the face. An example I remember is when a monkey threw a coconut at the audience and everyone stood up to catch it. This was at Efteling (a film called Pandadroom ), but I also saw 3D films like these in Disneyland Paris, Phantasialand Germany, and in Dolfinarium (a sealife park in the Netherlands). This 3D style is related more to the 1950s cinema 3D than anything else. Once the novelty of 3D wore off, this type of ‘screen breaking’ 3D no longer had a place within the cinema halls, but this type of 3D film can still be found within various theme parks. This is an example of how ‘old’ media receive a new positioning within a different context. Rather than being cast into obsolescence, they find a new function. Jussi Parikka calls this phenomenon zombie media, which means that these media are not dead, but they resurface or get remediated within new contexts (3). Thus, old media never really leave us. Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin argue that new media always remediate old media. Their theory entails that new media have previous media as their content. The danger with this kind of theorising within media archaeology, however, is that it becomes too linear. According to Thomas Elsaesser, there is little linearity in media. What happens, according to him, is some kind of dog-leg logic, in which old media keep repeating themselves, but spectators keep seeing it as new media, similar to a dog chasing its tale and being surprised by it over and over again (22). Instead of striving for a seemingly logical linear history of media, one could also think of parallel histories. This stance is shared by many media- archaeological theorists like Jussi Parikka and Wanda Strauven. Another way of thinking about the re- emerging of media forms was thought of by Erkki Huhtamo, who calls this phenomenon recurring topos or topoi . Topoi are building blocks of cultural traditions; they manifest both continuities and transformations in the transmission of ideas. Media-related topoi may serve various roles: as connectors to other cultural spheres; as commentaries and elaborations of media-cultural forms, themes, and fantasies; or as formulas deliberately used for profit or ideological indoctrination. Although some of their occurrences can be just local and personal (like poetic metaphors derived from tradition), recurrent topoi may symptomatically point to broader concerns and cultural patterns. (Huhtamo 16) This cyclical media theory states that certain media or themes within media keep coming back (Strauven 71). This thesis centres around this problem of recurring topoi and has sprung from my astonishment about visual attractions within theme parks in which old media re-emerge. My astonishment about these visual attractions, which are based on old media, is precisely what this 5 research is concerned with. The mere existence of visual attractions that make use of older media contests myths that see old technology as just obsolete and uninteresting (Parikka 1). Parikka even states that there is a wider cultural movement that sees vintage as more interesting than the new, however, I would not consider this as something general. There are many old media forms that acquire a new place within a different context, such as theme parks. The question rises if this interest in vintage is the reason that these types of attractions are made and visited, or is it quite the opposite and is there an interest in newness or is it even something else entirely? This leads me to the following research question: Why do visual theme park attractions which incorporate older media forms remain attractive for a general audience? When one walks around in such a theme park, one sees these attractions, which are made just to look at, among the roller coasters and thrill rides. What is it that makes them so attractive? These attractions are all a part of a visual entertainment tradition, since they refer to old media. Could it be that indeed, despite already have existed for so long, these attractions still feel new and the attraction comes from the dog-eat-leg logic discussed by Elsaesser? Or perhaps they do feel familiar and conjure up some type of nostalgia. The answer to this question could say something more general about recurring topoi or about theme parks and more specifically about the different aspects of visual attractions and what specifically is so attractive about the act of looking. Theoretical Framework First of all, I will provide a short overview of what has already been written about theme parks from a scholarly perspective. In Fairground Architecture, David Braithwaite writes about the architectural aspect behind fairs, which share aspects with modern theme parks. He discusses the various categories within fairs from the 15 th century to 1968 when he wrote the book, and then discusses the architecture behind them. In the introduction of this book is stated that fairs can also seem very anachronistic in this age of modernity. “Yet our social scene would be as much impoverished by the extinction of the traditional fair as by the unnecessary destruction of old buildings, for it is factors like these that provide the tangible link with the past that makes living in the present the more enjoyable” (vii). Josephine Kane approaches theme parks from a similar point of view in The Architecture of Pleasure. In chapter four, she explains how the landscaping of fairs and theme parks became more orderly after the first world war. From that time, when fairs had their golden days, there was money to be spent and invested in improvement of the park. Although it took some time for plans to become realized, large and well- known fair Pleasure Beach (Blackpool,UK), was a good example of how fairs changed their landscape planning from chaos to order. In that period, Kane states, a highly successful formula was being 6 followed. Fairs expanded, invested in permanent rides, introduced landmarks, which included some of the new thrill rides and gave more structure to the park overall. High-profile architects were hired to accomplish all this (Kane 143-152). Moreover, she discusses the connection that theme parks share with moving images. Instead of old media, a very new and innovative media, namely cinema of attractions, was presented in amusement parks around 1900. These short movies revolved around short shots and movement of around one minute (100). Visual attractions are thus something familiar within theme parks and the relationship with cinema is a long one. In “Trends in the Amusement park Industry”, Michael D. Olsen examines the different developments for large theme parks from the nineties onwards from an economical point of view. Olsen states that despite its relatedness to the tourism industry, the “amusement park may be considered as part of the more extensive entertainment industry” (298). He then includes several media entertainment systems such as VCR, in his comparison. In this thesis, what will become apparent is that visual attractions in amusement parks are indeed linked to earlier media forms, but also to cinema, which does make them part of a more extensive entertainment industry and moreover, part of a tradition of visual attractions that is old but still relevant. Russel B. Nye discusses “The Eight Ways to Look at an Amusement Park”. The first angle from which to view theme parks is as “an alternative world to that of our daily lives” (Nye 66). It allows for visitors to leave their normal lives behind and not be who they are for a day. The second way is to “see it as a fantasy, a stage set, a never-never land where one can walk out of his own world into a much more interesting one” (idem). These first two angles involve an aspect of escapism. However, the second also entails that the pleasure of theme parks lies in an element of harmless surprise (67). The park reverses exactly what the visitor expects and uses daily situations and devices and turns them into something absurd. Josephine Kane states that theme parks and cinema share this possibility to suspend everyday life and step into an alternative reality (101). The third perspective according to Nye, is to see the theme park as a spectacle, as something to be experienced in its entirety. The complete experience of the park is thus one from which the visitor cannot escape until they leave the park again.