New Fantasmic! - Live Stream, Videos, Reviews, Reactions

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We're just 15 minutes away from the debut of the all-new Fantasmic! at Disneyland.

We've had a great Fantasmic! thread going for the last six months to discuss rumors and insider info, but as any six month old thread is it is now very long and very convoluted. I thought it would be helpful to regular and casual commenters alike to start fresh now that the show is finally back. Let's use this thread to post videos and reviews and reactions from the first few days of this new show.

Anyone know a good live stream?
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Fantasmic! pre-show announcement! Interesting that he said "enjoy the rest of your evening here in the magic kingdom" where he used to say "here in Disneyland". Floridians tend to hate that, and there's a lot of Floridians in the audience for D23.

Bourbon Smash has been made, I dimmed the lights and lit a couple candles to get moody, and am settling in for the show!
 

Curious Constance

Well-Known Member
Fantasmic! pre-show announcement! Interesting that he said "enjoy the rest of your evening here in the magic kingdom" where he used to say "here in Disneyland". Floridians tend to hate that, and there's a lot of Floridians in the audience for D23.

Bourbon Smash has been made, I dimmed the lights and lit a couple candles to get moody, and am settling in for the show!

Do you do anything half-assed?
 

Nland316

Well-Known Member
Viewed from a periscope, but visually, the new show is absolutely stunning.

The Good:
There really still is a significant amount of the classic Fantasmic, literal and essence wise, that should keep fans of the original happy.

I love the new Pink Elephant and Genie segments a lot actually. They were brilliantly plussed.

New pyro is also very impressive.

Mickey's new cameos are actually well worked in.

The Bad:

The pirates segment stands out like a sore thumb in the new show. Visually pretty neat, but thematically really doesn't belong. Peter Pan was vastly superior and more epic IMO.

Not the biggest fan of the new vocal talents. They sound too gospel for my tastes.

A few segments I considered too bright, such as Maleficent's defeat, and river upon the arrival of the Mark Twain. The ROA were drowned with bright spotlights at the moment, while the arriving Mark Twain should've served to be the full focal point before the finale music.
 

mickeyfan5534

Well-Known Member
There's no genuinely bad part. I love the new vocals. There's some Tokyo but it's the best parts of Tokyo.
Pirates, I actually semi-enjoyed. It was painful hearing what I assume is supposed to be Elizabeth Swann yelling at Jack to rescue her every other sentence, but otherwise a mostly well done segment.
Princesses, what's there to say? It was so well done. A Whole New World and the carpet is one of those Disney Magic moments where you think "How did they do that?" and the crowd reaction for the lift during I See the Light... I agree. It was amazing.
The new Mickey cameos are really well done. He's not on stage the entire time but he also doesn't disappear till the finale. There's just enough to remind you that you're in Mickey's dream.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Even from the cheesy Periscope quality videos, and I switched to this one from Mouseinfo... https://www.periscope.tv/w/1ZkJzODvWqaxv

This new Fantasmic! is a great, big, beautiful improvement on what was already the best Fantasmic! at any Disney park. But this is so fresh, so sharp, so new and yet so grounded in the basics and everything that made the original show so wonderful.

The lighting is so improved. The new costumes are wonderful. The new projections are so impressive, and add to the story instead of just being techno add-ons. Even on Periscope, the new audio sounds fabulous and crisp and impressive! The new characters are perfectly placed and utilized and clearly make this relevant to 21st century audiences. I thought the integration of Animal King into the traditional Jungle Book scene was the best example of this. But the new Princess medley also is a great example, especially with Aladdin and Jasmine on the flying carpet.

The show seems to clip along better, while maintaining a 25 minute length. They tightened it up in all the right spots.

I thought the Pirates scene was very well done. I don't know that it's any better than the already excellent Peter Pan scene it replaces, but it certainly holds its own and resonates better with the 21st century. Very fun dialogue and some great stunt artistry on display!

And then there's Mickey Mouse. I absolutely LOVE that they gave him a speaking role, and then continued to include him throughout the show. It makes the plotline so much smoother, and helps carry the show along much better. And who doesn't love seeing Mickey Mouse more? Very good artistic choice with that change!

And finally, the finale'. Much like the opening act, the finale' is rooted in Fantasmic! tradition yet was nicely freshened and lightened and sharpened. And honest to God, I got chills when the Mark Twain steamed into view, and that wasn't just due to me finishing my Bourbon Smash a few moments earlier! What a wonderful show!

I can not wait to see the better quality HD videos show up on YouTube later tonight and tomorrow, and then of course see it in person this summer. But from this first preview show, that appeared to go off without a hitch on a perfect SoCal summer night, Disneyland just made Fantasmic! even better and ensured it will be a Disneyland classic for decades to come. Not bad for a show from 1992 that was only supposed to last three years.

Well done Disneyland! You have yet another hit on your hands! :)
 
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