[2] It is the process of designing and constructing an object or space so that the particular subject or idea on which the style of something is based [3] is made clear through the “synthesis of recognizable symbols with spatial forms.”[1] Theming is applied to an environment in order to create a memorable and meaningful experience for individuals or groups that visit the space, and can be expressed through the use of architecture, decor, signage, music and sound design, costuming, integrated technology, special effects, and other techniques.
Themed simulations, including the Italian Capri Grotto and a Hawaiian volcano, were made possible for the first time by combining electricity, theatrical displays, and mechanical devices.
[9] Soon after, in response to growing automobile usage, theming was applied to roadside architecture in the United States, and buildings themselves became advertisements aimed at passing motorists.
[10] Beginning in the 1920s, a number of novelty architecture buildings were constructed in and around Hollywood, including the famous Brown Derby restaurants and Bulldog Cafe.
Dozens of so-called “programmatic” or “mimetic” style structures were built in the Los Angeles area in the interwar years of 1918–1941, many of them restaurants, including buildings shaped like animals, food, and vehicles.
The advent of mass production led to the creation of large department stores in Europe in the late Nineteenth Century, and in an early example of theming, many used elaborate displays and windows to attract shoppers.
[18] Today, as a response to the growth of online shopping, both individual stores and entire retail complexes like malls are turning to theming to attract customers to physical locations.
[21] Professor Karal Ann Marling curated the exhibit and wrote the principal essay for the accompanying 224 page book, which also included essays by Disney Imagineer Marty Sklar, historian Neil Harris, art historian Erika Doss, geographer Yi-Fu Tuan, and critic Greil Marcus, as well as an interview with architect Frank Gehry.
In his overwhelmingly negative review, Disneyland and Las Vegas, published in The Nation upon the opening of the park, writer Julian Halevy lamented: “As in the Disney movies, the whole world, the universe, and all man’s striving for dominion over self and nature, have been reduced to a sickening blend of cheap formulas packaged to sell…It’s dangerous and offensive.”[26] Noted author Ray Bradbury responded with a letter to the editor, published three years later, titled Not Child Enough: “The world is full of people who, for intellectual reasons, steadfastly refuse to let go and enjoy themselves…I have a sneaking suspicion, after all is said and done, that Mr. Halevy truly loved Disneyland but is not man enough, or child enough, to admit it.
I feel sorry for him.”[27] Another notable criticism of theming, again targeting Disneyland and its guests, can be found in French sociologist Jean Baudrillard’s 1981 treatise Simulacra and Simulation: “Disneyland is presented as imaginary in order to make us believe that the rest is real, whereas all of Los Angeles and the America that surrounds it are no longer real, but belong to the hyperreal order and to the order of simulation…The imaginary of Disneyland is neither true nor false, it is a deterrence machine.”Along with Baudrillard, the Italian writer Umberto Eco helped develop the idea of “hyperreality,” or the world of "the Absolute Fake," in which imitations don't merely reproduce reality, but try to improve on it.
[1] Some have even argued that the growth of experiential marketing is contributing to a degraded quality of life by eliminating “contemplative time.”[29] In 1920, following the dissolution of several earlier organizations, the National Association of Amusement Parks (NAAP) was formed.