8-bit Magic in the Air: Double Diegesis and Existential Authenticity in Adventures in the Magic Kingdom
Start Date
1-6-2026 12:00 PM
Description
What do Disney, video games, and Japanese composer Shimomura Yōko (村 陽子) have in common? Though most would answer “Kingdom Hearts,” there is another game that fits the bill: Adventures in the Magic Kingdom (Famicom, 1990). Rather than follow an original narrative premise as Kingdom Hearts does, Adventures invites players to virtually visit Disney’s Magic Kingdom theme park. “8-bit Magic in the Air: Double Diegesis and Existential Authenticity in Shimomura’s Adventures in the Magic Kingdom” demonstrates how Shimomura’s music facilitates players’ experience of double diegesis and existential authenticity. Rather than arranging music from Disneyland, Shimomura encodes the subjective experience of the park and rides. Shimomura only directly quotes pre-existing Disney music in the introductory track: ‘Mickey Mouse March,’ drawing on the iconic 1959 Japanese adaptation of the show and theme song. In ‘Title’ and ‘Stage Intro’, Shimomura channels the theme park musical topic through orchestration, ascending sentential melodies, and sequential harmonic tonicisation. The game’s ride levels eschew any pre-existing ride music (e.g. ‘Grim Grinning Ghosts,’ ‘Yo Ho – A Pirate’s Life For Me’) in favor of promoting the ‘existential authenticity’ of experiencing the rides themselves (Lind 2022). For example, ‘Space Mountain’ presents a bombastic, driving melody with soaring gestural flourishes. ‘Big Thunder Mountain’ blends narrative signification and ludic function with a timbre suggesting fiddle double-stops and tempo increasing to blistering speeds invoking a runaway train. Shimomura’s strategy exemplifies the concept of ‘double diegesis,’ where parkgoers become protagonists in the narrative of their visit (Camp 2017). Adventures in the Magic Kingdom enhances theme parks’ double diegesis with the interactive agency of video games.
Recommended Citation
Yee, Thomas B., "8-bit Magic in the Air: Double Diegesis and Existential Authenticity in Adventures in the Magic Kingdom" (2026). Theme Park Music and Sound. 1.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/tpms/2026/asynchronous/1
8-bit Magic in the Air: Double Diegesis and Existential Authenticity in Adventures in the Magic Kingdom
What do Disney, video games, and Japanese composer Shimomura Yōko (村 陽子) have in common? Though most would answer “Kingdom Hearts,” there is another game that fits the bill: Adventures in the Magic Kingdom (Famicom, 1990). Rather than follow an original narrative premise as Kingdom Hearts does, Adventures invites players to virtually visit Disney’s Magic Kingdom theme park. “8-bit Magic in the Air: Double Diegesis and Existential Authenticity in Shimomura’s Adventures in the Magic Kingdom” demonstrates how Shimomura’s music facilitates players’ experience of double diegesis and existential authenticity. Rather than arranging music from Disneyland, Shimomura encodes the subjective experience of the park and rides. Shimomura only directly quotes pre-existing Disney music in the introductory track: ‘Mickey Mouse March,’ drawing on the iconic 1959 Japanese adaptation of the show and theme song. In ‘Title’ and ‘Stage Intro’, Shimomura channels the theme park musical topic through orchestration, ascending sentential melodies, and sequential harmonic tonicisation. The game’s ride levels eschew any pre-existing ride music (e.g. ‘Grim Grinning Ghosts,’ ‘Yo Ho – A Pirate’s Life For Me’) in favor of promoting the ‘existential authenticity’ of experiencing the rides themselves (Lind 2022). For example, ‘Space Mountain’ presents a bombastic, driving melody with soaring gestural flourishes. ‘Big Thunder Mountain’ blends narrative signification and ludic function with a timbre suggesting fiddle double-stops and tempo increasing to blistering speeds invoking a runaway train. Shimomura’s strategy exemplifies the concept of ‘double diegesis,’ where parkgoers become protagonists in the narrative of their visit (Camp 2017). Adventures in the Magic Kingdom enhances theme parks’ double diegesis with the interactive agency of video games.