Themes

100 Pop Culture Themes

Here are 100 ideas for camp themes taken from movies, TV, games and books.

Based on Books

  1. Harry Potter
  2. Camp Half Blood (Percy Jackson)
  3. Camp Jupiter (Percy Jackson)
  4. Magic Treehouse
  5. Hunger Games
  6. Ranger’s Apprentice
  7. The Brotherband Chronicles
  8. 39 Clues
  9. Middle Earth (Lord of the Rings)
  10. Young Knights of the Roundtable
  11. Diary of a Wimpy Kid
  12. Alice in Wonderland
  13. Pooh’s Corner
  14. Around the World in 80 Days
  15. Bridge to Terabithia
  16. Cinder
  17. A Christmas Carol
  18. Robinhood
  19. Treasure Island
  20. Narnia
  21. The Musketeers
  22. Artemis Fowl
  23. Young Bond
  24. Trapped in a Video Game
  25. Where the Wild Things Are
  26. The Elemental Origins
  27. The Boxcar Children
  28. Choose Your Own Adventure
  29. Mouse’s Secret Club
  30. RJ – Boy Detective
  31. Rebekah – Girl Detective
  32. Quest Chasers
  33. Allan Quartermain
  34. The Martian

Based on Comic Books and Graphic Novels

  1. Marvel Specific (superheroes)
  2. DC Specific (superheroes)
  3. Rapunzel’s Revenge
  4. I Am Albert Einstein
  5. Amelia Rules

Based on Feature Films

  1. Incredibles (Pixar)
  2. Star Wars
  3. Pirates of the Caribbean
  4. The Mummy
  5. Mission Impossible
  6. Minions (Despicable Me)
  7. Toy Story (Pixar)
  8. Cars (Pixar)
  9. Jumanji
  10. Moana
  11. Finding Nemo (Pixar)
  12. Brave (Pixar)
  13. Goonies
  14. Frozen
  15. National Treasure
  16. Sky High
  17. Aliens vs Cowboys

Based on TV Shows and Movies

  1. Smurfs
  2. Descendants
  3. Avatar (The Last Airbender and Korra)
  4. The Librarian
  5. The Last Airbender
  6. American Ninja Warrior
  7. Amazing Race
  8. The Crystal Maze
  9. Project Runway
  10. Cha$e
  11. Shark Tank
  12. America’s Got Talent
  13. Mythbusters
  14. Dr. Who
  15. Wild Kratts
  16. Planet Earth
  17. Backyard Science
  18. Out of the Wild
  19. The Colony
  20. Glee
  21. Scooby Doo Mysteries
  22. Adventure Time

Based on Video Games

  1. Super Mario Bros.
  2. The Oregon Trail
  3. Minecraft
  4. Sid Meier’s Pirates!

Based on Tabletop Games

  1. Dungeons and Dragons
  2. Settlers of Catan
  3. Pokemon
  4. Ticket to Ride
  5. Pandemic
  6. Clue

General

  1. Fairy Tales (general)
  2. Lego
  3. Disney Princesses
  4. Nickelodeon
  5. Olympics
  6. Game Show Mania
  7. YouTube Frenzy
  8. Anime Madness
  9. ComiCamp
  10. Zombie Survival
  11. Tabletop Games Come to Life
  12. Superheroes

Disclaimer

Obviously, these are properties of movie production companies, publishers, authors, gaming companies, etc. In a perfect world you should get permission before using them. How? Don’t ask me. I have tried and failed numerous times to get permission for themes I have used. It’s not that I am told “No”, it’s that I cannot seem to ever find the right person to ask. If I get a response at all (and I usually don’t) it’s to tell me that they (the person I originally contacted) don’t know who I should contact for permission. However, that never stopped me from going forward with one of these themes. That said, I was always ready to receive a cease and desist letter. Fortunately, I never got one in all the years I ran a theme camp like this, and I have used themes like Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Percy Jackson, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Marvel Superheroes, Disney, Fear Factor, Amazing Race, Alice in Wonderland and more. I fact, of all the camps that run theme weeks based on one of these themes, I have only heard of one program that has gotten a cease and desist letter. It was a martial arts studio that decided to call their camp “Jedi Camp”. They were simply instructed by LucasFilm not to use the word “Jedi”.

Through my research and talking with those in the know (camp professionals, lawyers and staff of a certain book publisher), I have learned that there are a few of things you should and shouldn’t do when using one of these themes (especially if it involves a movie production company)…

  1. DO NOT use a trademarked word , like “Jedi”. Then again, I know of three camps that currently advertise as “Harry Potter” camps, and they have yet to run into any issues in all the years they have been in business.
  2. This one is very important! DO NOT use ANY images from movies, TV shows, video games or books in your marketing materials (including your website). Unless you heavily change the look of the image, this is a big no-no. I never used any images that I did not create myself in my marketing materials.
  3. DO use a disclaimer in your marketing materials (including your website) that says something like “These are unofficial, children’s summer camp programs. They are in no way endorsed, sanctioned, or in any other way supported, directly or indirectly by any film production company, book publisher, author or their representatives. Rights to characters and their images on this site are neither claimed nor implied. The use of photographs and/or the likeness of any person contained herein does not imply endorsement of any kind. Any depictions were obtained through publicly available sources and therefore fall under fair use.” I’m not suggesting this is a license to use whatever trademarked or copyrighted material you want (it’s not), but it makes it clear that you are not endorsed by the company who holds those trademarks and copyrights, and that’s important to let the public know.

 

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