With that nighttime show theme to films that could well include the Marvel films.
What nighttime show themed to films? I don't recall any mention of that. Besides, my plans call for the park's current nighttime show intact...
In fact, let's take a look at that show right now!
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This is it--the granddaddy of all Disney nighttime spectaculars. The show takes guests through a magical, wonderful journey through the imagination of Mickey Mouse, through the fantasy and adventure that is sure to follow. However, the Disney Villains are out to take over Mickey's imagination and use their powers to conquer all.
The show is going to go through an extensive refurbishment, improving both technical and show segments to the nighttime production. All around, lighting, fountains and pyrotechnic features are going to be updated and improved. The projection system utilized for these huge water screens is going to be updated to HD projectors, to deliver a crystal clear projection performance (to my understanding, I've heard this has already been done). Also, the sound quality of the attraction is going to be touched upon, just touching up on all of the technical qualities of the show.
In addition to the technical qualities of the show, the show will receive some all-new scenes. What follows is a description of the new version of Fantasmic!, with the new scenes being
bolded.
The show is performed at the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater; whose entrance is right in-between the Tower of Terror and the Theater of the Stars.
A long path stretches out behind the Tower of Terror to the amphitheater itself. Lining the back of the amphitheater are a refreshment stand, a souvenir stand, as well as restrooms.
The performance area has been completely re-done. The stage is set around a gigantic, twisting, more realistic-looking mountain. The spotlights on the gate in front of the stage have been removed and moved to the back of the theater, out of the way of guests' vision. Two different cave entrances flank the mountain on both sides. Trees surround the area from all over. A sprawling island plateau rests at the base of the mountain. here are also a series of several levitating trap doors within the stage that allows quicker set and character changes.
A new pre-show involves the Citizens of Hollywood engaging in improvisational hi-jinks (more than likely, this can be another round of "99", or during the holidays, another performance of the "glee club" skit.) But then, a hush falls over the crowd and the area goes dark. In the darkness, we hear...
"Welcome to Fantasmic! Tonight, our friend and host Mickey Mouse uses his vivid imagination to create magical imagery for all to enjoy. Nothing is more wonderful than the imagination. For, in a moment, you can experience a beautiful fantasy. Or, an exciting adventure! But beware -- nothing is more powerful than the imagination. For it can also expand your greatest fears into an overwhelming nightmare. Are the powers of Mickey's incredible imagination strong enough, and bright enough, to withstand the evil forces that invade Mickey's dreams? You are about to find out. For we now invite you to join Mickey, and experience Fantasmic--a journey beyond your wildest imagination..."
A very faint musical note is heard, swelling into a chord as the chorus sings in darkness. Once the chord strikes, a beam of light shoots into the sky. Twenty-foot lighting/projection towers ascend through the stage on the upstage left and right sides. They glisten as they rise. Mickey suddenly appears from a trap door in the stage. He dances and conducts various water fountain effects to the tune of the show's theme.
Soon, the giant water-mist screens come up, which, in conjunction with a few flares, fade into the famous "Sorcerer's Apprentice" scene from
Fantasia.
From there, the falling stars of the Sorcerer's Apprentice scene morph into flowers, and a female voice sings the Fantasmic! theme. Two large groups of people, each wearing a flower petal appear, and form a flower, which changes colors during the scene.
The water screens disappear into the air and
a variety of trees rise from the trapdoors. Vines hang from the light towers. Several animal puppeteers move about onstage.
An instrumental rendition of "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" starts up. Floating in the water are giant water barges decorated with vines and flowers, containing Rafiki,
Timon, Simba and other black-light monkeys. They dance past as the music plays.
The water screens come back on to reveal Simba and Nala from
The Lion King running through the jungle in a short projection which transitions into
an electric guitar rendition of "Pink Elephants on Parade" from Dumbo, as animated pink elephants appear onscreen and in the form of performers on the island.
The elephants then seem to be puppets dancing, which transitions into an onstage sequence based on the "Woody's Roundup" sequence from Toy Story 2. Four large puppets (Woody, Bullseye, Jessie and Stinky Pete) are manipulated with fiber-optic "strings" stretching above the puppets. Afterwards, the Genie appears and performs "Friend Like Me", in a segment lifted from Tokyo DisneySea's version of Fantasmic!
Next, the water screens reveal a series of bubbles, containing scenes and characters from classic Disney movies (
The Lion King,
The Jungle Book, Dumbo, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Alice in Wonderland, Hercules, Pinocchio, Aladdin, Mulan, Cinderella, Lady and the Tramp, Fantasia, The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, Frozen, Beauty and the Beast and
The Little Mermaid.)
During the sequence, bubbles fly out into the audience, fully immersing guests in this "bubble world".
In a sequence lifted from Disneyland, the fish from "The Nutcracker Suite" from Fantasia appears and dances to "When You Wish Upon a Star". Jiminy Cricket appears, stuck in a bubble. Suddenly, Monstro appears, splashing several waves onto the audience! The sea morphs into the flood scene from "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". Mickey Mouse, almost drowning in a channel of water, heads down a whirlpood and sucked into darkness. As Mickey looks around in the dark, a ship caught in a storm appears. Suddenly a huge explosion, not unlike that of a ship's cannon, goes off.
This segues into a new sequence based on Pirates of the Caribbean. The island and mountain transform into Isla De Meurta, and in a style similar to the Peter Pan sequence at Disneyland's Fantasmic, the Black Pearl and Flying Dutchman battle it out, a la Dead Man's Chest. Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann and Davy Jones all participate in this epic stunt sequence. I dare say this could rival the aforementioned Peter Pan sequence.
At the end of the sequence, the water screens show the Black Pearl sailing away as the "camera" zooms up into the clouds, where we see classic dancing scenes with Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip, Cinderella and Prince Charming, and Princess Jasmine and Aladdin on the water screens to a reprise of the theme.
Three small floats now arrive, with Belle and the Beast, Ariel and Prince Eric, and Snow White and Prince Florian each contained in their own float. As each float reaches the center, the spotlight shines on it, with the accompanying signature melody from each movie — "Beauty and the Beast," "Part of Your World," and "Some Day My Prince Will Come", respectively floating stage takes the foreground on the water. In the foreground, LED lights on each floating stage turn from white to multicolored.
The music takes on an ominous tone as Mickey's dream takes a turn for the worse. The Wicked Queen from
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is on stage, calling for her magic mirror — which appears onscreen in animated form. The mirror informs the Queen that the three princesses are fairer than she, and that "in Mickey's imagination, beauty and love will always survive." Angered by this, she runs to a cauldron, concocts a spell amidst pyrotechnics and other special effects, and turns herself into the hag to turn Mickey's dream into a "Nightmare Fantasmic".
Upon being told by the Magic Mirror that she now has the power to control Mickey's mind, she invokes an excited Ursula, from
The Little Mermaid,
who ecstatically joins the plot against Mickey. A large 30-foot puppet of Ursula appears and sings a reprise of "Poor Unfortunate Souls, as Flotsam and Jetsam glide across the river.
Afterwards, Ursula calls on Jafar, from
Aladdin, who uses his magic to send Mickey (in his classic attire) to the Cave of Wonders. After escaping a wave of lava, Mickey encounters Jafar, who transforms into a giant black cobra appearing on both the stage and the mist screens.
Seeing a magic lamp, Mickey rubs it, assuming it will help him, hoping that the nightmare would end. But unfortunately, it only makes matters worse,
as Scar from The Lion King appears. A gigantic puppet of Scar appears and menaces Mickey and the audience as he sings "Be Prepared" and the shadows of hyenas-turned-Nazis march along the mountain. Scar then calls upon Chernabog from
Fantasia,
as the infamous devil appears as a giant, hulking animatronic resting high atop the mountain. He summons the spirits of demons as the iconic "Night on Bald Mountain" score plays.
He summons a blast of fire which appears on stage as Maleficent's classic entrance-by-fire. She prepares Mickey, now in his Brave Little Tailor outfit, to deal with the powers of HER imagination.
She rises into the air and the water screens show her transforming into a dragon as the villains laugh maniacally. On stage, the 45-foot dragon sets the waters ablaze breathing fire onto the river.
Natural-gas piping allows the flames to burn on top of the water as they spread to take over the stage. Sometimes when the dragon is down for refurbishment, Maleficent stays as herself, still with the evil powers and ignites fire on the moat not by her mouth, but by her glowing stick. She still gets destroyed the same way. Mickey, faces the dragon, claiming "You may thing you're so powerful... well, uh... This is my dream!" He uses the powers of his imagination to conduct the water as he did at the beginning of the show and create a wall of water around the island, smothering the flames. He pulls the sword from the stone which shoots sparks through the wall of water, defeating it, As the dragon screams, and as the water screens show the demise of the Queen/Hag, Ursula, Jafar, Scar and Chernabog, Maleficent also dies as the water splashes with a large firework bang.
Everything is silent, until Tinker Bell appears. Magical stars sparkle on the mountain as
a brand-new, large version of the iconic Steamboat Willie riverboat (the old one looks kinda cheap anyways) glides past as pyrotechnics rain down the side of it. Then, with a sudden crescendo in the music and a blast of light, Mickey Mouse appears as his "Steamboat Willie" self, steering the riverboat past fountains and fireworks. On the riverboat, classic Disney characters wave ribbons in jubilation.
My vision for the new steamboat will have the basic largeness and structure of Disneyland's Mark Twain Riverboat, but will look like the steamboat from the
Steamboat Willie cartoon.
There are three levels of the riverboat, and here are the characters that will be on each level:
Bottom Level: Belle, Beast, Ariel, Eric, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Max, Pluto, Chip, Dale, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Pinocchio, Gepetto, Jiminy Cricket, Rafiki, Timon, Baloo, Mowgli, Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, Brer Bear
Middle Level: Lilo, Stitch, Snow White, The Prince, Seven Dwarfs, Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, Captain Jack Sparrow, Peter Pan, Wendy, Aurora, Phillip
Top Level: Mary Poppins, Bert, Mr. Penguin, Pocahontas, John Smith, Meeko, Hercules, Meg, Woody, Jessie, Buzz, Green Army Men, Chimney Sweeps
The sequence is accompanied by searchlights, fountains, fire, and pyrotechnic effects. With another flash of pyrotechnics, Mickey appears atop the highest point of the mountain as the Sorcerer's Apprentice as fireworks, fire, lasers, and water light up the stage. As the finale concludes, Mickey disappears from the top of the mountain with another spark of pyrotechnics, there is a small explosion in the main center stage and Mickey simultaneously reappears in his formal attire from the beginning of the show. Mickey says, "Some imagination, huh? Ha ha!" Pyrotechnics shoot out of the main stage and barges on the moat, as he vanishes one last time to the final notes of the music while a cone of lights and searchlights bright up the stage for a few seconds. On the last note of the musical score, bright low-level mines go off. The show is concluded.
Here is a list of showscenes for the new show.
- Introduction
- Mickey's Imagination/The Sorcerer's Apprentice
- Flowers/Lion King Sequence
- Pink Elephants on Parade
- Woody's Roundup
- Friend Like Me
- Bubble Montage (feat. elements of "The Lion King", "The Jungle Book", "Dumbo", "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", "Alice in Wonderland", "Hercules", "Aladdin", "Mulan", "Cinderella", "Lady and the Tramp", "Fantasia", "The Princess and the Frog", "Tangled", "Frozen", "Bambi", "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Little Mermaid")
- Monstro's Attack
- Pirates of the Caribbean Battle
- Princess Segment (feat. elements of "Sleeping Beauty", "Cinderella", "Aladdin", "Beauty and the Beast", "The Little Mermaid" and "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs")
- The Evil Queen Summons the Magic Mirror
- The Queen's Transformation
- Ursula's Wrath
- Mickey in the Cave of Wonders/Jafar
- Scar's Attack/"Be Prepared"
- Chernabog/"Night On Bald Mountain"
- Maleficent's Transformation/Mickey Battles the Dragon
- Finale: Good Conquers Evil/Sorcerer Mickey's Magic
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And there we have it...the all-new Disney's Hollywoodland.
From what was once a park with a missing identity and a crazy mish-mash of random things, I've created distinct, immersive themed lands on par with Magic Kingdom's and Animal Kingdom's, corrected glaring errors (like Rock 'n' Roller Coaster making no sense along a Hollywood street with an unclear time frame), set everything in an idealized and romanticized time period (no more modern brick walls or showbuildings) and added what the park needed most: rides.
In fact, in terms of numbers, in addition to the current additions of Toy Story Land and Star Wars Land, I've added
four E-tickets (Monsters, Inc. Door Coaster, The Incredible Adventure, Ratatouille and Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin),
two D-tickets (The Great Muppet Movie Ride and Tour de Riley) plus sorely-needed
family attractions (The Pixar Story, the new Disney Animation building, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, etc.). This Hollywood park isn't short on showmanship either, with
four theaters (all with new or improved live shows). Most importantly, everything
fits. Existing rides and even restaurants have folded into the story for cohesive settings and time periods within each land.
Well, as they say in Hollywood...that's a wrap!
