As soon as they stepped onto Main Street, U.S.A, a scene straight out of a fantasy unfolded before their eyes. The entire street was teeming with classic Disney characters out and about.
The characters in the parade floats had obvious traces of their costus, but the characters walking around on the street now seed incredibly real. Their fur texture was realistic, their expressions and features were lively, and their voices were identical to those in the cartoons.
Although Disney's perforrs are fiercely dedicated, most of the characters do not speak because their voices are significantly different from the characters in the cartoons and it would not be practical to assign a dedicated voice actor to each of them.
However, so of the more talented perforrs are allowed to speak, like Mickey and Minnie whom Shiller t during the day. Their voices were very similar to those in the cartoons and their tone was also similar. They must have had extrely professional voice acting training.
Even so, their voices still differed from those of the classic Mickey Mouse, and even voices that seem easier to imitate like Donald Duck, were still different from the original.
But now, the classic characters were either hawking or shopping, so were strolling, so were standing still and chatting. Their voices and movents were exactly the sa as in the original cartoons, without any difference at all.
This sight was not scary per se because after all, Disney's character designs tend to have all-age appeal. Even so of the more exaggerated characters are still likeable.
Let's put it this way, if a seven or eight-year-old kid were to stumble upon this scene, they would definitely think they had arrived in heaven, because children have very simple minds and to them, seeing these iconic characters from the cartoons in real life would be incredible.
But adults cannot help but ponder the deeper aning behind this, and this seemingly heartwarming scene might be considered intensely terrifying upon further thought. Where did all these realistic animated characters co from and what are they doing here?
As the saying goes, "When mankind starts thinking, God starts laughing." Humans always tend to worry about untily things. This disruption of the warm atmosphere from the family-friendly characters gathered altogether made everything start to steer in the direction of eerie.
Because the majority of the characters had gathered around Main Street, U.S.A, Stark realized that they could not take the route they used in the day to get to the other areas. Given the bustling scene on Main Street now, Stark felt that walking among the characters would definitely not end well for him and Shiller. Getting beaten up would be considered getting off lightly.
Luckily, there was a small path at the entrance of Main Street, U.S.A that could take them directly to Adventureland. Cartoon characters had yet to gather there. Seizing the opportunity when all the characters were not looking their way, the two of them escaped into the path quickly.
During the day, the dense foliage of Adventureland provided visitors temporary shelter from the scorching sun, offering them respite from the heat. But when night fell, the trees inevitably seed a little eerie. The Robinson's treehouse looked like the terrifying little house where an evil witch would live in a fairy tale.
"I never thought Disneyland could be so scary," Stark remarked, looking around at his surroundings. "It's completely different from the day."
Shiller also examined the surroundings. He noticed that the exaggerated and extrely cute signs and statues that seed perfectly normal during the day now seed quite horrifying under the dim lights at night, especially with their overly exaggerated features.
Shiller, for his part, wasn't as scared as Stark, who constantly jumped at every slight movent. They had yet to leave Adventureland, but Stark was already sort of shell-shocked.
Shiller was sowhat puzzled. While Stark was not exactly the most fearless, being a superhero should not make him a coward either. Why was he acting so timid now?
"I don't know." Stark said nervously: "I don't know why, but I have an eerie feeling, as if I'm being influenced by sothing."
Shiller suddenly had an idea and asked, "Influenced, but by what?"
He sounded as if he were asking himself instead of Stark. He'd felt that sothing was off since the dayti, a shadowy feeling that was not so obvious and hard to pinpoint exactly where the unease was coming from.
Shiller reviewed everything that he had observed and learned in the park during the day in his mind, and after a mont of silence, he uttered a single word: "...Atmosphere."
"What?" Stark asked him.
"The atmosphere in the park has been intensified." Shiller looked around and said: "The park visitors were all really happy, but that wasn't solely because the amusent rides were fun or that the food was delicious."
"Think about it, the sun was blazing hot today and you only had a bit to eat at noon. Later on, you stuffed yourself with ice cream and steak, and then you got tossed around on the track and race cars. Your stomach would naturally feel uncomfortable, but you did not complain at all."
"Stop making sound like a fragile child." Stark grumbled, then thought for a mont and said: "Actually, since I finished eating, I felt sowhat queasy, but we still went on Buzz Lightyear's spinning ga several tis. Normally, I would've thrown up by now."
"But I didn't feel that unwell, I just felt giddy. Even after racing a few laps, I still didn't feel tired. That's definitely not normal."
Shiller glanced at Stark. To protect his ego, Shiller chose not to ntion that even though Stark had experienced the Afghanistan ordeal, he still had not gotten rid of so of his spoiled habits.
Like how Stark always wore sunglasses. That wasn't for fashion; he genuinely despised being exposed to the sun and sweating.
Stark was very picky about food. Normally, if the food did not suit his taste, he would not take another bite. Even when he was extrely hungry, he could still be extrely fussy.
But the Stark of today was unusually lenient. He ate the salty and greasy fast food without complaining to the chef or walking away after a half-hour critique. He even tried to find so redeeming qualities about the distasteful food.
The overly sweet ice cream and only passable steak sohow allowed him to wolf it down under the pretext of replenishing his bodily energy. Venom wouldn't have been so ssed with in the past if he'd been so indulgent as he was today.
"Atmosphere is a subtle thing," Shiller began. "It's omnipresent, always close at hand, it can affect a person's psychological state in various ways."
"For instance, if a person is constantly in a suppressive, gloomy atmosphere that makes them uncomfortable, they will have obvious symptoms of anxiety and depression. We often advise patients with anxiety and depression to change their environnt—in other words, to switch to a more comfortable and cheerful atmosphere. This, in fact, is a much better form of therapy than most dication."
"From the mont we entered the park, all we saw were smiles on everyone's faces. We didn't hear a single complaint about sothing being too expensive or worthless. Sociologically speaking, this is impossible."
Shiller held out a finger, saying, "Even the cheapest, most valuable items are only targeted at a certain consur class. It's impossible for a single item to et the needs of all the consurs."
"But in this park, people hardly ever consider the cost-effectiveness of the products. Nor do they consider whether they can afford such consumption. This is quite unscientific."
"The only explanation is that the atmosphere here affects all tourists." Shiller thought. "But we can't yet determine whether they achieve this effect through science or magic."
"So what are we to do next?"
"As per the original plan, we'll head to the Ghost Mansion first."
The Ghost Mansion wasn't far from Adventureland. Lacking cartoon characters, they easily reached the gigantic mansion. However, a fleeting shadow string across the front gave Stark a fright.
Stark clearly saw it this ti—it wasn't so strangely proportioned cartoon character, but a person. At this point, Shiller had already recognized the face. He lowered his voice and called, "Stephen! Stephen!"
Strange turned back abruptly to see Stark and Shiller hiding behind the pillar of the giant gate. He looked surprised. Shiller hurried over and asked, "What are you doing here too?!"
"I thought I'd investigate a little."
"You noticed sothing was off too?"
Strange cut to the chase. "Rember the ghost radio wave theory you guys proposed? Or at least you know sothing about brain waves."
"Kamar-Taj's research institute conducted an experint before, which aid at investigating the influence of abnormal energy on human brain waves. The so-called abnormal energy includes magic energy as well as Earth's magnetic field."
"The result was obvious. Regardless of the type of energy, there's a chance it can interfere with a person's brain waves, causing them to feel sleepy or distracted at the very least, or experience hallucinations at the worst."
"Thereafter, we discovered that so age-old illusion techniques seed to utilize this principle. They adjusted the frequency of magical energy fields to influence the brain waves of intelligent beings, making them think their hallucinations were real, in order to confuse the opponent."
At this, Shiller imdiately shared his previous assumption about the atmosphere. Strange snapped his fingers, saying, "Seems just about right. The array acts on the principle of producing certain abnormal energies that interfere with tourists' brain waves, enhancing their perception of the atmosphere."
"Paired with so psychology techniques that amplify the atmosphere—like music, lighting, and certain narratives—people can effortlessly beco happy and briefly forget their troubles."
"So, is this beneficial?" Stark asked.
"You could say it's a win-win." Shiller looks at Stark. "Like you paying to perform hypnosis on you. You could think of this place as a large group therapy room."
"Hypnosis indeed helps to relieve stress, but it isn't free. Apart from the entrance fee, under these circumstances, people are inclined towards overspending."
Shiller's eyes sparkled as he said sowhat wistfully, "Looks like Walt Disney has done so extensive research in psychology. Combining magic and psychology is a genius idea. Why didn't I think of it first?"
"Don't even think about it!" Stark cut him off.
"As a psychology magician, Walt Disney has demonstrated his superior revenue generating skills with Disneyland," continued Shiller. "In my opinion, this is definitely worth learning..."
"Don't learn it!" Strange interrupted him as well.
But their attitude clearly couldn't change Shiller's infatuation. He was almost fanatical.
Strange and Stark exchanged glances, both realizing at the sa ti—if the park was able to enhance the atmosphere, was Shiller's greed also being enhanced?
Then they both incredulously thought, was there even any room left for Shiller's greed to be enhanced?
User Comments
0 comments from readers