Disney's Diamond Celebration Float for the Rose Parade

DocMcHulk

DocMcHulk

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Per InsideTheMagic:
When the Rose Parade kicks off in Pasadena , California on January 1st 2016, Disney will be bringing some extra magic to the parade.

To celebrate their 60th anniversary Disneyland is bringing an all new 3-part parade float to the Rose Parade featuring a stunning recreation of Sleeping Beauty castle. The first part of the float will feature the lovable Frozen characters and the last part the exciting universe of Star Wars.
http://www./wp-content/uploads/2015/11/RoseParadeFloat.jpg
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
AtHomeBoy_2000 said:
Personal Opinion:
Very poorly mashed together theme.
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I think it fits quite nicely with this year's Rose Parade theme: "Find Your Adventure". http://www.tournamentofroses.com/news/2016-rose-parade-theme-find-your-adventure

From Frozen to Star Wars, there's something for you to find your adventure with at Disneyland. Thus the float. Companies are encouraged to keep to the theme for their floats, and the judging and awards are based on artistic merits and theme appropriateness.

Rose Parade themes have always been rather loose, yet often targeted at major sponsors or pop culture trends. When Walt Disney agreed to be the Grand Marshall for the 1966 parade, the theme that year just happened to be "It's A Small World".

Grand Marshall Walt Disney and some friends (plus a '66 Chrysler Imperial) kicks off the It's A Small World theme Rose Parade, January 1st, 1966
walt_disney_grand_marshall_tournament_of_roses_rose_parade_1966.jpg


On New Year's Day, 1966, It's A Small World (the boat ride not the parade theme) had closed three months earlier as a big hit at the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. A major Fantasyland expansion was underway at Disneyland, and the transplanted Small World ride would open to huge fanfare down at Disneyland six months after the parade.

You don't think there might have been a comfy-cozy discussion between Walt and the Rose Parade executives over a glass or two of good Scotch before the 1966 parade theme was decided upon, do you? :cool:
 
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TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
raven24 said:
That's the thing, there is no central theme for this float. It's supposed to be themed to the 60th, yet we have a Frozen-themed float and a Star Wars-themed float. That makes sense.
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I'm going to put you on the spot here @raven24 :D...

How would you design a Disneyland float for the theme "Find Your Adventure"? What would you do with that theme, what Disneyland icons would you use, what characters would you use?

And you get extra credit if you avoid the obvious cliché of using Adventureland and the Jungle Cruise for the Find Your Adventure theme. But if you need to default to that obvious imagery for the float, it better be good.

Ready? Go!
 
Stevek

Stevek

Well-Known Member
I'm not a Frozen hater and I love Star Wars so quite honestly, I really don't have a problem with the float. As @TP2000 stated, it kinda makes sense with the parade them. Frozen will appeal to the adventure in girls while Star Wars...well, that's just kinda universal for adventure, and they are arguably their two most popular properties. I would just flip them though because, Star Wars.
 
SpaceMountain75

SpaceMountain75

Well-Known Member
Meanwhile at the Disney boardrooms:
Float Committee: "Alright guys, since it's the 60th anniversary of Disneyland let's be sure to throw in a float honoring and promoting the fact that Walt's dream has been a part of the SoCal community for over 6 decades now..."
*door bursts open*
Executive: "Great idea, but you know what it's missing? Intellectual property! Make our two biggest cash cows into floats to remind people that Disney has Star Wars now! And that Frozen is still around and bigger than ever!"
Float Committee: "But those things have barely been under the Disney name for three years total..."
Executive: *whispers* "Sssshhhhhhh. Money."
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
I'm going to put you on the spot here @raven24 :D...

How would you design a Disneyland float for the theme "Find Your Adventure"? What would you do with that theme, what Disneyland icons would you use, what characters would you use?

And you get extra credit if you avoid the obvious cliché of using Adventureland and the Jungle Cruise for the Find Your Adventure theme. But if you need to default to that obvious imagery for the float, it better be good.

Ready? Go!
Click to expand...

Creating and building Disneyland was an adventure in itself for Walt Disney, I would imagine. I wouldn't use any characters, except maybe Mickey Mouse. If we're supposed to be celebrating 6 decades of DISNEYLAND, I wouldn't decide to create floats based on FILMS. What do Star Wars and Frozen have to do with Disneyland?

I'd have an orange grove float, maybe get something with the original sketch of Disneyland, and get floats made based on iconic Disneyland attractions, such as Matterhorn or Mansion. As I said, creating and building Disneyland was an adventure in itself. How hard would it have been to build something based solely on Disneyland and its history? But no, they just had to go and design a Star Wars and Frozen float, even though we're supposed to be celebrating Disneyland. The hell?

The film-centric arc of today's Disneyland is what's bringing it down. This is why we can't have a proper Tomorrowland with realistic futurism concepts and why we're losing some of Rivers of America to Star Wars. It's sickening.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
raven24 said:
Creating and building Disneyland was an adventure in itself for Walt Disney, I would imagine. I wouldn't use any characters, except maybe Mickey Mouse. If we're supposed to be celebrating 6 decades of DISNEYLAND, I wouldn't decide to create floats based on FILMS. What do Star Wars and Frozen have to do with Disneyland?

I'd have an orange grove float, maybe get something with the original sketch of Disneyland, and get floats made based on iconic Disneyland attractions, such as Matterhorn or Mansion. As I said, creating and building Disneyland was an adventure in itself. How hard would it have been to build something based solely on Disneyland and its history? But no, they just had to go and design a Star Wars and Frozen float, even though we're supposed to be celebrating Disneyland. The hell?

The film-centric arc of today's Disneyland is what's bringing it down. This is why we can't have a proper Tomorrowland with realistic futurism concepts and why we're losing some of Rivers of America to Star Wars. It's sickening.
Click to expand...

I think you might have something with the adventure Walt had with creating Disneyland. They could tie it into "Your" adventure somehow. Something like "Walt Disney's adventure is now your adventure" and start with orange groves morphing into a classic 20th century Disneyland in the middle of the float, with a current montage of 21st century Disneyland Resort adventures on the back of the float.

But I can't imagine any reference to modern Disneyland without Frozen and Star Wars being mentioned. They are the hottest commodities in popular culture short of a new iPhone release, and this holiday season there will be several Star Wars and Frozen attractions in both parks, with more on the way for 2016 and beyond.

Any company entering a float wants publicity. Disneyland has been famous for that in the last 10+ years, hence the Tower of Terror float for the ride's opening in 2004, the 50th float in '05, the Cars Land float in 2012, etc.
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
I think you might have something with the adventure Walt had with creating Disneyland. They could tie it into "Your" adventure somehow. Something like "Walt Disney's adventure is now your adventure" and start with orange groves morphing into a classic 20th century Disneyland in the middle of the float, with a current montage of 21st century Disneyland Resort adventures on the back of the float.

But I can't imagine any reference to modern Disneyland without Frozen and Star Wars being mentioned. They are the hottest commodities in popular culture short of a new iPhone release, and this holiday season there will be several Star Wars and Frozen attractions in both parks, with more on the way for 2016 and beyond.

Any company entering a float wants publicity. Disneyland has been famous for that in the last 10+ years, hence the Tower of Terror float for the ride's opening in 2004, the 50th float in '05, the Cars Land float in 2012, etc.
Click to expand...

The Cars Land and Tower of Terror floats made sense. Frozen and Star Wars do not, in my opinion, as we are not celebrating Disney in general, but the 60th anniversary of Disneyland. The theme is specific, yet the execution is not. I find it truly pathetic.
 
George Lucas on a Bench

George Lucas on a Bench

Well-Known Member
All those floats look kind of awful, to be honest. But, I mean, I don't really care.

To say nothing of the content chosen, it just looks weird that there's an ice castle, a mini diamond Sleeping Beauty Castle that looks similar to the ice castle and then out of nowhere, a Star Wars jungle thing with the Millennium Falcon and Stormtroopers waving to people.

I mean, they could have made Star Wars a snow planet like Hoth or even the one in the new movie?
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
raven24 said:
The Cars Land and Tower of Terror floats made sense. Frozen and Star Wars do not, in my opinion, as we are not celebrating Disney in general, but the 60th anniversary of Disneyland. The theme is specific, yet the execution is not. I find it truly pathetic.
Click to expand...

But the theme of the parade is not Disneyland's 60th. This year's parade theme is Find Your Adventure, and all float entries are expected to somehow tie into that (especially if they want to win an award).

That said, every corporate float is there to plug their product to the TV audience and the tens of thousands along Colorado Blvd. Disney always finds a way to plug something, usually whatever is happening that year at Disneyland.

And in 1966 Walt was savvy enough to get the entire Rose Parade to plug his new ride at Disneyland, with the theme It's A Small World.

Can you imagine if the 2019 parade theme is Use The Force or some such Star Wars related slogan? Walt would be proud if they could pull that one off! :D
 

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