PROJECT HISTORY... PLEASE READ: One of my many niche interests lies in the design and curation of theme park area music-- the way in which music and sounds are carefully arranged and played to further the story of a particular themed environment. Such theme parks designed by Walt Disney Imagineering and Universal Creative are perfect examples of parks that use specific music to build atmosphere in each area and attraction. Like many, I’ve always wanted to see Nintendo’s worlds and characters brought to life in a highly immersive theme park setting. Over the years, I’ve dreamed of what kinds of opportunities guests could experience in such a park-- all of the rides, restaurants, shops, and other attractions that could be adapted from the video game worlds into a tangible, physical environment. Ten years ago, I had posted a video on TH-cam of what I thought an entrance plaza playlist might sound like for a hypothetical Nintendo theme park: th-cam.com/video/Sjth5UD7ykQ/w-d-xo.html While I was proud of that original playlist, I always wanted to revisit and curate a longer and more cohesive area music loop. I imagined something like this would be played as you arrive at the park’s main entrance plaza-- something to play in the background of a large outdoor space as you purchase your tickets and walk up to the turnstiles. Think of the Esplanade/Ticket Booth area music played between Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure (th-cam.com/video/-gFE1n5AyCU/w-d-xo.html)-- a long music loop filled with iconic orchestral medleys of the park’s main attractions. There should be a sense of grandeur and epic wonder to the music, hinting to the adventures ahead-- the prelude to an exciting day at a Nintendo theme park. The loop is long enough that you won’t hear all of it when you arrive or leave for the day (plus you don’t want to hear the same song on repeat while you wait in line for tickets)-- but that’s okay, whatever you do hear from the loop should embody the spirit of the park and the stories you are about to experience. As an official Super Nintendo World is about to open next year in Universal Studios Japan, I have been inspired to finally revisit and totally rebuild my original playlist from scratch. While Universal’s Super Nintendo World will only be a singular area built within their existing Universal Studios theme park (and thus no such entrance/ticket plaza area will be necessary), I always intended this loop for an entire Nintendo theme park, home exclusively to many themed areas from Nintendo’s popular franchises, including Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Metroid, Star Fox, Animal Crossing, and other fan-favorites, and I wanted to capture as many familiar songs in this playlist as possible to be heard in the imaginary entrance plaza. I am beyond excited to see what Universal Creative has created with their Super Nintendo World, but it’s still fun to imagine a place that could be. Even if this version of an entrance plaza is purely hypothetical, it has still been a fun exercise for me to study and implement themed entertainment design with music that I hold so dearly in my heart, as do so many around the world. I have so much confidence in Universal Creative and I cannot wait to visit their new creation as soon as I can! The preview images and videos look incredible! If all this above writing about an imaginary theme park in my head means little to you, I hope you can at least enjoy some great orchestral Nintendo music arranged and performed by some amazing artists, sources credited with timestamps and links in the video's description. Enjoy, and please check out their other work!
PROJECT HISTORY... PLEASE READ: One of my many niche interests lies in the design and curation of theme park area music-- the way in which music and sounds are carefully arranged and played to further the story of a particular themed environment. Such theme parks designed by Walt Disney Imagineering and Universal Creative are perfect examples of parks that use specific music to build atmosphere in each area and attraction.
Like many, I’ve always wanted to see Nintendo’s worlds and characters brought to life in a highly immersive theme park setting. Over the years, I’ve dreamed of what kinds of opportunities guests could experience in such a park-- all of the rides, restaurants, shops, and other attractions that could be adapted from the video game worlds into a tangible, physical environment. Ten years ago, I had posted a video on TH-cam of what I thought an entrance plaza playlist might sound like for a hypothetical Nintendo theme park: th-cam.com/video/Sjth5UD7ykQ/w-d-xo.html
While I was proud of that original playlist, I always wanted to revisit and curate a longer and more cohesive area music loop. I imagined something like this would be played as you arrive at the park’s main entrance plaza-- something to play in the background of a large outdoor space as you purchase your tickets and walk up to the turnstiles. Think of the Esplanade/Ticket Booth area music played between Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure (th-cam.com/video/-gFE1n5AyCU/w-d-xo.html)-- a long music loop filled with iconic orchestral medleys of the park’s main attractions. There should be a sense of grandeur and epic wonder to the music, hinting to the adventures ahead-- the prelude to an exciting day at a Nintendo theme park. The loop is long enough that you won’t hear all of it when you arrive or leave for the day (plus you don’t want to hear the same song on repeat while you wait in line for tickets)-- but that’s okay, whatever you do hear from the loop should embody the spirit of the park and the stories you are about to experience.
As an official Super Nintendo World is about to open next year in Universal Studios Japan, I have been inspired to finally revisit and totally rebuild my original playlist from scratch. While Universal’s Super Nintendo World will only be a singular area built within their existing Universal Studios theme park (and thus no such entrance/ticket plaza area will be necessary), I always intended this loop for an entire Nintendo theme park, home exclusively to many themed areas from Nintendo’s popular franchises, including Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Metroid, Star Fox, Animal Crossing, and other fan-favorites, and I wanted to capture as many familiar songs in this playlist as possible to be heard in the imaginary entrance plaza.
I am beyond excited to see what Universal Creative has created with their Super Nintendo World, but it’s still fun to imagine a place that could be. Even if this version of an entrance plaza is purely hypothetical, it has still been a fun exercise for me to study and implement themed entertainment design with music that I hold so dearly in my heart, as do so many around the world. I have so much confidence in Universal Creative and I cannot wait to visit their new creation as soon as I can! The preview images and videos look incredible!
If all this above writing about an imaginary theme park in my head means little to you, I hope you can at least enjoy some great orchestral Nintendo music arranged and performed by some amazing artists, sources credited with timestamps and links in the video's description. Enjoy, and please check out their other work!