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Minor Fantasmic Dragon Update
- Thread starter ChristianG
- Start date
Goingdown13
Active Member
Technically advanced can sometimes be a bad thing. Disneyland has much more issues with their dragon than Florida has with theirs. I agree with the more menacing, until it stretches its neck out. If you're anywhere besides the middle 3 sections it becomes very obvious that it's a modified cherry picker
PorterRedkey
Well-Known Member
I saw it live on Jan 5th. It made the dragon look more like it had butterfly wings. I am not a fan.
The whole show is inferior to the DL version, but I think that is a given. I am looking forward to the WDW version getting an upgrade.
It really hard to compete with a full Riverboat and the Columbia, so I am not sure what they can do to make it comparable in scale.
The whole show is inferior to the DL version, but I think that is a given. I am looking forward to the WDW version getting an upgrade.
It really hard to compete with a full Riverboat and the Columbia, so I am not sure what they can do to make it comparable in scale.
Disney Analyst
Well-Known Member
I will say, the Disneyland Dragon has been very consistent after that first year of issues. Everything is mostly always in working order.
Full bodied dragon, amazing flame thrower, great motion... Maybe the color needs some work..
but for the most part it is clearly the superior dragon.. and anyone who seemingly prefers the older version is stuck in a pit of nostaglia and needs to move forward... Disney can do SO much better, and has...
No, it does not need to be an exact copy of Disneyland's... but clearly the technology and showmanship is there.. GET IT TOGETHER DHS.
Full bodied dragon, amazing flame thrower, great motion... Maybe the color needs some work..
but for the most part it is clearly the superior dragon.. and anyone who seemingly prefers the older version is stuck in a pit of nostaglia and needs to move forward... Disney can do SO much better, and has...
No, it does not need to be an exact copy of Disneyland's... but clearly the technology and showmanship is there.. GET IT TOGETHER DHS.
Sped2424
Well-Known Member
I think the issue with disneyland's dragon for me is focus on the technical marvel of it rather than it working in favor of theatrics. Our dragon while not as technically whole works rather well due to the stage magic behind it. It's shrouded in mist, it's wingspan covers a massive part of the mountain, and the head looms far over mickey and much of the stage.
Its an imposing beast that is huge and shrouded in darkness, it just works at blending in real with imagination letting our imagination work out the parts of the creature we can't see. Where as disneyland's dragon
Is a lot smaller in comparison. It's not a figure of mystery and it's fully realized figure works against it in a lot of ways. I just think they missed what made the dragon work when making murphy in the first place.
Its an imposing beast that is huge and shrouded in darkness, it just works at blending in real with imagination letting our imagination work out the parts of the creature we can't see. Where as disneyland's dragon
Is a lot smaller in comparison. It's not a figure of mystery and it's fully realized figure works against it in a lot of ways. I just think they missed what made the dragon work when making murphy in the first place.
A foolish mortal
Well-Known Member
Kinda feel like they'll update the WDW Fantasmic after Rivers of Light has begun 
At least - lets hope so
At least - lets hope so
Not at all. Snap looks like a pink plastic figure stuck in the middle of a huge stage. What makes WDWs superior in show - IMHO - is what you can't see. You assume it must be massive due to the wingspan. Perfect drama.
Disney Analyst
Well-Known Member
What I always saw in person was a head on a steak with shiny, sparkly, plastic draping... I am all for theatricality, I am a theatre major after-all, but it just does not work. It can and most certainly should be completely rethought for the 21st century.
This is menacing, exciting, and mind blowing to me.. Head on a stick is not.
FigmentForver96
Well-Known Member
I would like to see a little more body to the WDW version, but the picture above still makes the dragon look like a giant plastic toy.What I always saw in person was a head on a steak with shiny, sparkly, plastic draping... I am all for theatricality, I am a theatre major after-all, but it just does not work. It can and most certainly should be completely rethought for the 21st century.
This is menacing, exciting, and mind blowing to me.. Head on a stick is not.
Sped2424
Well-Known Member
Yet look at the range of motion the stick version has? When done under the right conditions (Mist working etc) you can't see the bits of the dragon that aren't filled in for our version. But Disneyland's version is a dragon that is rather petrified in one place while it may be physically whole as an entity it's full realization (which is smaller because making an animatronic of our dragon's size would be rather more expensive) works against it. The fear and danger isn't there for me, and it's lack of motion beyond it's head and the plasticity that others have mentioned makes murphy seem far more fake in a lot of aspects. Should our dragon have some upgrades? Sure why not, but is the answer disneyland's murphy? No.What I always saw in person was a head on a steak with shiny, sparkly, plastic draping... I am all for theatricality, I am a theatre major after-all, but it just does not work. It can and most certainly should be completely rethought for the 21st century.
This is menacing, exciting, and mind blowing to me.. Head on a stick is not.
JoMarch
Active Member
I'm a WDW vet... I've been going since I was a kid..... I've also been to DL a bunch of times.... For me, I prefer the dragon (and the Fantasmic show on a whole) at DL. It doesn't look "cartoony" in person.
You tube is a bad judge - I HATED the youtube clips of "Mickey and the Magical Map" show in DL.....but really liked it a lot in person!
You tube is a bad judge - I HATED the youtube clips of "Mickey and the Magical Map" show in DL.....but really liked it a lot in person!
Disney Analyst
Well-Known Member
Completely agree... It is something so spectacular to see in person... You truly wonder how the heck a full-bodied huge imposing dragon came to be on that stage.
rodserling27
Well-Known Member
WDW's dragon failed miserably on Monday night. When it worked on Sunday night, it looked pretty darn good, I really appreciated the updated head and wings. I do like how its rather shrouded compared to DL's, but the show overall at DL is infinitely better, yes. I can live with WDW's dragon usually. But Monday was bad. REALLY bad. The Light and FX guys did a good job trying to keep it concealed with extra flames, mist, and water. Traditional Mickey (closing Mickey as I call him) came running out instead of his usual lift, looked ok I suppose. I had never seen WDW's dragon fail like that, has it happened frequently?
What exactly happened to the dragon? It is known to occasionally freeze on stage to the point where they have to wait until the show is over to put it back into the mountain and work the finale around it.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
The entire show and concept is a hand-me-down from Disneyland. Six and a half years after it appeared in Anaheim.
Fantasmic! premiere at Disneyland: May 13, 1992
Fantasmic! premiere at WDW: October 15, 1998
Please don't take this as glib as it sounds in this typed environment, but the Maleficent dragon is a cartoon. Maleficent is a character from Walt Disney's 1959 feature length cartoon Sleeping Beauty, where the evil queen turns herself into a dragon to fight the prince.
Disneyland's new dragon in 2009 recreated this 1959 scene beautifully...
I've wondered that too. The last big multi-month rehabs of Disneyland's Fantasmic! occurred in 2008 and 2009, back to back years. The show was radically upgraded and freshened with new technology, but that was already six years ago.
For those not following Anaheim news, Disneyland's Rivers of America closed last week for 18 months due to construction of Star Wars Land. Solid inside sources say that when Fantasmic! reopens in the summer of 2017 it will have major new plot elements and technology on display. They are also building an all new and larger marina for the show "backstage" behind the new Indian Village.
How will WDW's show look in comparison to whatever they have planned for Disneyland?
Ah, yes. The old "blessing of size" that Walt crowed about in 1966 for WDW. Disneyland has room for a new dragon, but WDW does not? Looking at Google Earth, there's plenty of unused backstage room for the crew at DHS to build a better dragon and keep her fed and happy in between shows.
FigmentForver96
Well-Known Member
The entire show and concept is a hand-me-down from Disneyland. Six and a half years after it appeared in Anaheim.
Fantasmic! premiere at Disneyland: May 13, 1992
Fantasmic! premiere at WDW: October 15, 1998
Please don't take this as glib as it sounds in this typed environment, but the Maleficent dragon is a cartoon. Maleficent is a character from Walt Disney's 1959 feature length cartoon Sleeping Beauty, where the evil queen turns herself into a dragon to fight the prince.
Disneyland's new dragon in 2009 recreated this 1959 scene beautifully...
Oh yea it creates the movie version to a T, but when I see the "movie" version on stage I just don't think wow what a menacing dragon. I will not argue the one in DL is more updated, that is true hands down. The one in Orlando is more foreboding and mysterious. That's just me though.
Depends on if the WDW proposals get some of that DHS money before the cuts come in.
A foolish mortal
Well-Known Member
The entire show and concept is a hand-me-down from Disneyland. Six and a half years after it appeared in Anaheim....
... Looking at Google Earth, there's plenty of unused backstage room for the crew at DHS to build a better dragon and keep her fed and happy in between shows.
I could NOT agree more! Besides... If you think of the regular guest (not the wdwmagic fanatics), what version do you think they'll appreciate the most? The version that looks like the ACTUAL dragon from Sleeping Beauty... Or a dragon head on a spike with lit up cloth that doesn't really look like the movie Maleficent?
Fantasmic is my favorite show.. and seeing the dragon for the first time at DL (after several, several shows in WDW) just blew me away. When I saw it I felt like the show was even bigger than it actually is. Bigger than what I was used to in WDW. You dont really expect to see a full body dragon... But when you see it, your jaw drop slightly and you can't help wonder: "How did they do that"? "How did they get the dragon on stage"? You keep looking to find the "secret", but its (kinda - not really) hard. At WDW as soon as you see that it is a puppet on a crane (and trust me, you will see it).. you just get sad cause that magic is kinda ruined.
But this is what I feel.. and I do respect that everyone has their own opinion. One thing i think we all can agree on, is WDW needs an update on the whole show