History Film / EscapeFromTomorrow

* CoolHat: Jim buys a Fez. It doesn't last.

Contrast with [[Film/TheFurtherAdventuresOfWaltsFrozenHead The Further Adventures of Walt's Frozen Head]].

* DeliberatelyMonochrome: Done for artistic and pragmatic reasons. The nature of the shoot meant there was little ability to control the lighting, something that black-and-white makes much easier to hide, and just like ''Series/TheTwilightZone'', this also adds to the surreal horror elements.

%%* DiesWideOpen: [[spoiler:Jim's death from the "cat flu"]].

%%* SanitySlippage: Jim. Oh boy, Jim.

* AbsoluteCleavage: The Other Woman's evil-queen-inspired dress.

* DiesWideOpen: [[spoiler:Jim's death from the "cat flu"]].
* {{Ephebophile}}: Jim becomes interested in two adolescent French girls. While one of them was an adult at the time, in an interview, director Randy Moore states that they're about 15 or 16.

* NoNameGiven: The "Other Woman" (as she's cited in the credits) is never referred to by a real name. She was referred to as "emu woman" by WebVideo/SomeJerkWithACamera. WebVideo/JennyNicholson refers to her as the "sexy mom."

* ThePlague: The "cat flu" is referenced to be something like this, although [[spoiler:Jim is ultimately the only one to succumb to the disease]], at least the only one to show symptoms.

* AbsoluteCleavage: The Emu Woman's evil-queen-inspired dress.

* CompositeCharacter: The park itself is a hybrid of Disneyland and Disney World, utilizing exhibits and imagery from both. It's clearly ''supposed'' to be Disney World, as it is referred to as such and they go to Epcot near the end of the film. [[WebVideo/SomeJerkWithACamera Some Jerk]] theorizes that the discrepancies came up from needing reshoots but being unable to fly back to Florida, being forced instead to shoot in Anaheim.

* {{Ephebophile}}: Jim becomes interested in two adolescent French girls.
** It's unclear how old they're supposed to be; Annet Mahendru played one of the two as well as Nina on ''Series/TheAmericans'' in the same year this was released. In an interview, however, director Randy Moore states that they're about 15 or 16.

** The Emu Woman seems to know a lot of less-than-favorable facts about the park, including the fact that the cast members that play the princesses are actually prostitutes for Asian business men. [[spoiler:Turns out she used to play a princess prior to the events of this film.]]

* HopeSpot: The Emu Woman is "defeated", but [[spoiler:Jim still succumbs to the cat flu after making it back to his hotel room.]]

* {{Hypocrite}}:
** WebVideo/SomeJerkWithACamera accuses the creators of the film of being ones, after they filed copyright complaints on the first part of his review for using footage from the movie including the music from the "It's a Small World" scene. A scene from a film that was shot entirely without permission on private property using several intellectual properties of a private corporation. He noted that in the five years he had created his own guerrilla-style show filmed in the Disney Parks, he had not ''once'' received a copyright claim from Disney - only the people criticizing Disney's monopolistic, cult-like tendencies.
** He was also not pleased with director Randy Moore's goals of exposing the transparency of the illusion of the Disney parks, but includes several blatant falsehoods in doing so, such as the [[spoiler:Big Thunder Mountain Railroad decapitation (all thrill rides of that nature are designed so that a guest couldn't hurt themselves on the ride without taking deliberate risks to do so)]] and the emu leg claim.
* LargeHam: Emu Woman, thanks to her [[Creator/WilliamShatner Shatner-like]] diction.

* MessianicArchetype: Walt Disney himself. The film has a shot of a statue of him that pans up to show "JESUS" written in the sky. [[SarcasmMode Subtle]].

* NoNameGiven: The "Emu woman" is never referred to by a real name. She was only referred to as such by WebVideo/SomeJerkWithACamera. WebVideo/JennyNicholson refers to her as the "sexy mom."

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Refusing to ride Spaceship Earth with the French girls begins Jim's redemption arc, culminating in him saving his daughter from Emu Girl. [[spoiler:He succumbs to cat flu in the bathroom that night anyway]].

* EroticEating: The two French girls eat bananas while Jim watches. [[SarcasmMode Because bananas are the perfect snack food at a theme park]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}

* DiesWideOpen: His death from the "cat flu".

* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler:Jim becomes sick with the "cat flu," vomiting up hairballs and revealing catlike eyes. His patricidal son hears his cries for help, but locks him in the bathroom until he succumbs. Park security covertly removes his body, loads it in a vehicle, and drives off. As they do, a second car pulls up to the hotel, containing Jim, the imaginary woman from earlier in the film, and his daughter, all of them preparing for their vacation.]]

* BlandNameProduct: Neosporin is used in the film, but is referred to as "Geosporic". This appears to be a change in post-production, as [[FreezeFrameBonus if you look really carefully]], you can barely make out lips saying "Neosporin" with [[LoopingLines audio dubbed over]].

* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The nature of the shoot meant there was little ability to control the lighting, and the variations were much less noticeable in black-and-white. However, just like ''Series/TheTwilightZone'', it had a side effect of adding to the horror element.

* ThePlague: The "cat flu" is referenced to be something like this, although [[spoiler:Jim is ultimately the only one to succumb to the disease]], at least the only one to show [[{{Squick}} symptoms]].

* CoversAlwaysLie: You may think this is a full-color animated horror film about Mickey and his friends becoming zombies just by looking at the poster, but it's a colorless live action film.

* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The nature of the shoot meant there was little ability to control the lighting, and the variations were much less noticeable in black-and-white.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong[[invoked]]: [[JustifiedTrope Due to the immense risk of having to deal with Disney-copyrighted soundtracks]], many of the songs present on the rides are replaced with original soundalikes. [[EarWorm Yes, including]] Ride/ItsASmallWorld.

** It's unclear how old they're supposed to be; Annet Mahendru played one of the two as well as Nina on ''Series/TheAmericans'' in the same year this was released. In an interview, however, director Randy Moore states that they're supposed to be about 15 or 16.

** It's unclear how old they're supposed to be; Annet Mahendru played one of the two as well as Nina on ''Series/TheAmericans'' in the same year this was released. At any rate, they are supposed to be significantly younger than Jim.

* When Jim and his family first arrive at the park, a bunch of guests are seen coughing heavily. Later on, the park nurse mentions a "cat flu" which is apparently spreading around the park. [[spoiler:Near the end of the film, Jim begins hacking up hairballs...]]
* The Emu Woman seems to know a lot of less-than-favorable facts about the park, including the fact that the cast members that play the princesses are actually prostitutes for Asian business men. [[spoiler:Turns out she used to play a princess prior to the events of this film.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The park nurse mentions a "cat flu" which is apparently spreading around the park. [[spoiler:Near the end of the film, Jim begins hacking up hairballs...]]

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The ending, where [[spoiler:as Jim's body is hauled away, he emerges from another car with the imaginary woman from earlier in the film and his daughter]]. Even Trevor [=McCune=], the actor who played the bellhop in that scene, admitted in the WebVideo/SomeJerkWithACamera review that ''he'' didn't know. He claims it's "supposed" to be [[spoiler:heaven]], but that the director wouldn't tell him outright, only that he ''might'' be playing [[spoiler:Saint Peter]].

** It's unclear how old they're supposed to be; Annet Mahendru played one of the two as well as Nina on [[Series/TheAmericans The Americans]] in the same year this was released. At any rate, they are supposed to be significantly younger than Jim.

Contrast with [[Film/TheFurtherAdventuresOfWaltsFrozenHead]]

%%* CreepyChild: Elliot.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: the ending, where [[spoiler:as Jim's body is hauled away, he emerges from another car with the imaginary woman from earlier in the film and his daughter]]. Even Trevor [=McCune=], the actor who played the bellhop in that scene, admitted in the WebVideo/SomeJerkWithACamera review that ''he'' didn't know. He claims it's "supposed" to be [[spoiler:heaven]], but that the director wouldn't tell him outright, only that he ''might'' be playing [[spoiler:Saint Peter]].

* NoNameGiven: The "Emu woman" is never referred to by a real name. She was only referred to as such by WebVideo/SomeJerkWithACamera. Jenny Nicholson refers to her as the "sexy mom."

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: refusing to ride Spaceship Earth with the French girls begins Jim's redemption arc, culminating in him saving his daughter from Emu Girl. [[spoiler:He succumbs to cat flu in the bathroom that night anyway]].

* LargeHam: Emu Woman, thanks to her [[WilliamShatner Shatner-like]] diction.