Being somewhat of an electronics geek, when I saw Light Magic I was *very* impressed with the fiber optics from a technical standpoint, and I thought the stuff on the Main Street facade looked very good and I couldn't believe what they had done and wasn't surprised that it costed tens of millions. I was freaked out when I saw the "creatures" or whatever they were, though I semi-enjoyed the Pixie fairy theme, it wasn't enough to love the show given how odd the characters were. Outside of the floats . . . Main Street looked amazing and I'll never forget that and I guess I'm glad I saw it as I had no idea it ran for a couple of months. Despite the technological achievement, I guess its the "art" of the project that matters.
While the Main Street Electrical Parade is nice, the whole thing didn't take long to build and I would wager that a Pixar Electrical Parade, with Toy Story characters, Brave, etc . . . would be awesome if it was designed from the ground up, such as by using a combination of incandescents, LEDs, and fiber optics. Yes, Light Magic had no soul, but the fiber optic effects were more ephemeral and whimsical when compared to the much more brightly lit MSEP which doesn't fluctuate/change much in intensity.
Imagine a next-Gen Brave float with bears that fade in and out and willow wisps, or a Wall-E float with fiber optic stars! The possibilities are limitless. I really feel disappointed that all of the tech from Light Magic was trashed as I think delivery and characters/stylistic choices were the problem.
I'll always love MSEP, and it a classic that should be wheeled out from time to time, but there are new classics to love, Pixar and Princess and the Frog and Tangled and even unrecognized classics such as Pooh, doesn't make sense Disney wouldn't spend the $ to do a new parade, which I think would be cheaper to run with LEDs and fiber optics.
