Fantasmic 6/4

T

Tails45

New Member
My experiences with false shows

When you said that something may go wrong, it's highly possible. One night at Epcot, I was seeing Illuminations with my family and it was really windy and people were afraid of getting hit by a shell or something. Fortunately at the end of the show, I believe that nobody was hurt. But I almost got hit by a burnt piece of shell while I was walking towards future world (it missed me by an inch and it wasn't hot at all). Also a few years earlier I think, I was about to watch Fantasmic for the first time and as soon as it was about to start, the sound went nuts and it stalled the show for a few minutes and then the show started. Working on lighting for 4 years in high school and not seeing any shows because of some flaws, it's safe to say that things could go wrong in the theater.
 
MagliteL13

MagliteL13

Active Member
thimblekisses said:
I love Fantasmic, and partly it's because of the Stage Manager in me. I, too, have done a lot of work in theatre, onstage and off, in many different technical roles, but mostly as a Stage Manager. I love to see Fantasmic not only because it's entertaining and a great show, but then I get to thinking about how it either has one spectacular SM or several spectacular SMs who are each in charge of one aspect, like a pyro SM and a character SM, etc.
Don't get me wrong, I've only worked on modest productions with very little special effects, and I don't know much about how Disney runs a show like Fantasmic, but it is still amazing to me. After having seen it so many times I get to the point where I say things to myself in my head like "Spot on Mickey. . . go!" and all the little cues of every little precise thing - all of which have to be PERFECTLY in sync with one another. . . it blows me away. I love it.
We've all had our nights where one or two things go wrong, and it starts a chain reaction, but what can you do? The thrill of live theatre!
The sick theatre person in me is actually a little interested in little mistakes, just to see how performers and technicians recover mid-show. I can always learn from that. I'd be very interested to see the "alternate ending" that was mentioned in the event that the dragon gets stuck and Mickey and Maleficent duke it out!
Click to expand...

It's very cool to see how many people here have or do work in theatre! We should start our own club.....uh, yeah, that's kinda sad. Anyways...

BTW, check your PM thimblekisses. :)
 
boo52

boo52

Active Member
MagliteL13 said:
You'd think a show of that size would at least have a back up deck that's synced to the number one deck though. This puzzles me now. Hubbard Street Dance Chicago tours through the place I work at a couple times a year and they bring two decks that are loaded with a copy of the same CD and play in sync with each other. If the first deck starts skipping or goes caput, ya simply fade the audio up on the second deck. Ok, definently time for a phone call...
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I belive Fantasmics show audio runs from 3 synced hard drives. So there is a back up. The stop and start thing could be a number of things. There are no less than 10 things going on backstage during the music swell. The show will have problems. The show is BIG. Working on Fantasmic as a tech for a year really makes you see up close how grand of a scale it is. I believe that there is not many other shows worldwide that have so many complexed things happening at once on and off stage. With the exception of the Cirque shows maybe. Be even in comparision of stage sizes, Fastasmic! is a monster.
 
MagliteL13

MagliteL13

Active Member
boo52 said:
I belive Fantasmics show audio runs from 3 synced hard drives. So there is a back up. The stop and start thing could be a number of things. There are no less than 10 things going on backstage during the music swell. The show will have problems. The show is BIG. Working on Fantasmic as a tech for a year really makes you see up close how grand of a scale it is. I believe that there is not many other shows worldwide that have so many complexed things happening at once on and off stage. With the exception of the Cirque shows maybe. Be even in comparision of stage sizes, Fastasmic! is a monster.
Click to expand...

Glad to know that the beloved show is backed up (figured as much). One of my friends who used to work over there was telling me about the mountain poster that stage managers had to memorize so they knew exactly where to look at what time during the John Smith sequence (since it's all over the place). The poster, I guess, was a picture of the mountain with a bunch of arrows from what I understood.
 
Chape19714

Chape19714

Well-Known Member
There is always the possibility for a problem at a show as techinically complex as Fantasmic! I also work backstage (and onstage) in theatre, so I can see where things go wrong. It's a great show, no matter what happens. I can also say that MGM's show is always looked down upon due to DL's show. Well, I just returned from a trip from California, saw DL's fantasmic, and can honestly say MGM's is probally more technically advanced, but people like Peter Pan better than Pocahontas (btw..Happy 10th Birthday to Pocahontas! This year she is 10, look for the special DVD, now on sale.) Anyhow, I think that MGM has many more trap doors, lifts etc. on the mountain as it is such a different venue than tom sayer island. It was neat to see the little differences in the 2 shows.
 
M

manny8979@yahoo

New Member
I Have Seen Fantasmic Over 40 Times

There Are Always Problems Even If You Dont Know It These Are Some Of The Problems I Have Experienced
-Mickey Not Coming Out In The Begining
-Mickey Not Shooting Out Fireworks From His Fingers
-Mist Screens Not Working
-Float From Monkeys Missing
-John Smith Bomb Not Going Off
-The Snake Falling Down
-The Snake's Eyes Not Lighting Up
-The Snake Being Cut Short
-Mickeys Lamp Not There
-Flower Not There
-Missing Float In Princesses
-Evil Queen Not Transforming To Old Hag In Time
-Malifacent Getting Stuck On Platform And Not Coming Up
-Malifacent Fire Sparking and hitting Mickey
-Dragon Door Gets Stuck
-Dragon Does Not Come Out
-Dragons Eyes Dont Lite Up
-Mickeys Sword Not Throwing Fireworks
-Steamboat Willie Not There
-Boats Fireworks Falling In The Water
-Socerer Mickey Not Coming Out
-Fireworks Not Coming Out From The Side Of The Mountain
-Final Mickey Getting Stuck
-Firework Malfunction
These Are Just Some Of The Problems Which Can Occur In Fantasmic
 
Connor002

Connor002

Active Member
When Mickey comes out at the end, that is an actor, right? From some angles it's possible to see a gray thing in back attached to him (or at least it used to be), I somtimes wondered if it was a really sofiscated AA or something...
 
MagliteL13

MagliteL13

Active Member
Connor002 said:
when mickey comes out at the end, that is an sctor, right? from some angles its possible to see a gray thing in back attached to him (or at least it used to be) i somtimes wondered it it was a reall sofiscated AA or somthing.
Click to expand...
An actor? If it is, it's Mickey playing the part of himself! :animwink: Seriously though, it's not an animatronic. The gray thing that you saw attached to the back of him is probably similar to the kind that are attached to characters on the parade floats (to keep them from falling off).
 
Tom

Tom

Beta Return
thimblekisses said:
I love Fantasmic, and partly it's because of the Stage Manager in me. I, too, have done a lot of work in theatre, onstage and off, in many different technical roles, but mostly as a Stage Manager. I love to see Fantasmic not only because it's entertaining and a great show, but then I get to thinking about how it either has one spectacular SM or several spectacular SMs who are each in charge of one aspect, like a pyro SM and a character SM, etc.
Don't get me wrong, I've only worked on modest productions with very little special effects, and I don't know much about how Disney runs a show like Fantasmic, but it is still amazing to me. After having seen it so many times I get to the point where I say things to myself in my head like "Spot on Mickey. . . go!" and all the little cues of every little precise thing - all of which have to be PERFECTLY in sync with one another. . . it blows me away. I love it.
We've all had our nights where one or two things go wrong, and it starts a chain reaction, but what can you do? The thrill of live theatre!
The sick theatre person in me is actually a little interested in little mistakes, just to see how performers and technicians recover mid-show. I can always learn from that. I'd be very interested to see the "alternate ending" that was mentioned in the event that the dragon gets stuck and Mickey and Maleficent duke it out!
Click to expand...

I would LOVE to call a show like that, from the booth! I'm sure the whole dang thing is computer controlled, as far as lights and sound, but I know there are actual people running the follow-spots and the cast is obviously human. I would pay anything to sit in the booth for a running of the show! I had the opportunity, on a Backstage Magic tour, to watch them run the afternoon parade in the MK, from the control room - talk about awesome.
 
marni1971

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Yep, the `gray thing` is a support rod for safety to hold Mickey in place. Here is a daytime test of the rig from the rear
 

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D

Disney Oracle

New Member
I love Fantasmic and have since the first time I saw it. I still get a bit misty-eyed when the Princess boats come out.

I saw the 2nd show on 5/24 and noticed a couple of alterations: the snake was not moving, the explosion that usually opens the Pocahontas sequence did not happen and the characters on boat at the end did not have their flags. Stuff that anyone seeing the show for the first time would notice or affect anyone's enjoyment of the show, just stuff I noticed due to having seen the show so many times.
 

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