Interim show 'The Jungle Book: Alive with Magic' confirmed to debut ahead of Rivers of Light

FerretAfros

FerretAfros

Well-Known Member
For what it's worth, the last time Disney put on a hastily-created nighttime show featuring Bollywood dancers, it worked out incredibly well for them:


GlowFest was created at the last minute as a way to occupy guests' time in the evening in DCA while they waited for World of Color, and ended up being the sleeper hit of the summer, getting higher reviews than WOC itself. It was so popular that its run was extended twice (including a modified format when the main road it was held on closed for construction of the Red Car tracks), and became the basis for the now-ubiquitous dance parties that have been running non-stop at DCA since then, and to varying success in WDW

The opening show (partial video above) was performed twice each evening, leading into the full street party at dusk. It was a 45-minute dance show with no real plot, characters, or familiar Disney music, performed in a space with no shade for the audience and no seats. Yet people stayed and watched the whole thing, due to the infectious energy from the performers and simple curiosity about what they were seeing. It was new, different, edgy (yet approachable), and it worked.

It wasn't a traditional Disney production by any means, but darn if it wasn't just plain old fun. I don't know if lightning can strike twice, but it's worked before
 
skimbob

skimbob

Well-Known Member
I just hope they get this all sorted out by September 11 when I arrive. I know selfish right but hey it's all about me. So what are the new extended hours of the park? Is it 11:00 pm.? Also when does the Tree of Life lighting happen? I probably have missed the answers along the way with all of the other discussions going on about the temporary show and ROL.
 
hpyhnt 1000

hpyhnt 1000

Well-Known Member
Tahu said:
New Disney Parks Blog post with a behind the scenes video and the show logo
https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...gic-opening-may-28-at-disneys-animal-kingdom/

TJB_AWM_LOGO_rv_160519r5.jpg

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Associate Producer Raakhi said:
The Jungle Book: Alive with Magic is a dream come true for me. I, for the first time ever, have been truly able to contribute what is my heart and soul, my heritage, my everything into what I do here. (1:08-1:25 in the video)
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Ouch! I can't help but feel there's a resentful under current to that remark. As though her previous ideas were shot down or that she felt she held herself back to fit in or something.

I know, I'm sure I'm reading too much into this but that little bit stuck out to me.

As for the show, we'll see. The floats look nice and we now know there will be traditional instruments and dancing, along with movie clips, lights and, presumably, some fountains. Still, keeping expectations low is probably your friend with this one.
 
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S

Sweet Thing

Well-Known Member
skimbob said:
I just hope they get this all sorted out by September 11 when I arrive. I know selfish right but hey it's all about me. So what are the new extended hours of the park? Is it 11:00 pm.? Also when does the Tree of Life lighting happen? I probably have missed the answers along the way with all of the other discussions going on about the temporary show and ROL.
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Park close will be 11. There is no schedule for the Tree of Light projection. It will happen randomly throughout the night and there are multiple different shows (based on the videos I've seen and what I've heard from the cast preview).
 
TTA94

TTA94

Well-Known Member
skimbob said:
I just hope they get this all sorted out by September 11 when I arrive. I know selfish right but hey it's all about me. So what are the new extended hours of the park? Is it 11:00 pm.? Also when does the Tree of Life lighting happen? I probably have missed the answers along the way with all of the other discussions going on about the temporary show and ROL.
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I'm sure it won't be long before a schedule is figured out for the Tree of Life Awakenings. I'd imagine it won't change times each night.
 
Dizmentia

Dizmentia

Member
Slowjack said:
Although I am sure the current plan is to fix the problems with RoL and replace this show, it still looks to me like they are hedging their bets, in case the fix to RoL proves too difficult or too expensive, or if this Jungle Book show, with its greater corporate synergy, turns out to be popular. I mean, it's little weird to have an imagineer basically saying that this is the kind of show she's been waiting for her whole life when the show is intended to be thrown in the dumpster the moment the "real" show is debugged.
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Totally agree with you here. The Jungle Book show could be a huge hit, because people already have a connection with the story, songs, and characters (Sixties version or 2016 version).
 
Wdw62114

Wdw62114

Well-Known Member
Just booked a dining package for TH and the 9p show in July. Like a previous poster stated, I will check out the reviews of the show and if its very negative, I will cancel my package since I am paying out of pocket for this. With the park being open at night, I would rather pay the extra money to get reserved seating than losing out on a FP and waiting in (what i'm sure will be) a very long standby line for a long time hoping to get in. Got nighttime FP for Safari, Everest, And Rapids......so excited!!!
 
RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
FerretAfros said:
For what it's worth, the last time Disney put on a hastily-created nighttime show featuring Bollywood dancers, it worked out incredibly well for them:


GlowFest was created at the last minute as a way to occupy guests' time in the evening in DCA while they waited for World of Color, and ended up being the sleeper hit of the summer, getting higher reviews than WOC itself. It was so popular that its run was extended twice (including a modified format when the main road it was held on closed for construction of the Red Car tracks), and became the basis for the now-ubiquitous dance parties that have been running non-stop at DCA since then, and to varying success in WDW

The opening show (partial video above) was performed twice each evening, leading into the full street party at dusk. It was a 45-minute dance show with no real plot, characters, or familiar Disney music, performed in a space with no shade for the audience and no seats. Yet people stayed and watched the whole thing, due to the infectious energy from the performers and simple curiosity about what they were seeing. It was new, different, edgy (yet approachable), and it worked.

It wasn't a traditional Disney production by any means, but darn if it wasn't just plain old fun. I don't know if lightning can strike twice, but it's worked before
Click to expand...

What happens here is that they allow creative people to create and all they get is a deadline. It's why some of the rushed projects turn out so well.
 
Slowjack

Slowjack

Well-Known Member
Dizmentia said:
Totally agree with you here. The Jungle Book show could be a huge hit, because people already have a connection with the story, songs, and characters (Sixties version or 2016 version).
Click to expand...
Right, exactly. I think about the Festival of the Lion King show, which, although not quite the same kind of rush job that this Jungle Book show is, was a re-purposing of parade floats and put together as simply as possible. And that turned out to be a great show, partly because it was well designed, and partly because it included well-loved characters and music. And it is still very popular, so much so that even when they created a new purpose-built theater for it, they didn't bother to upgrade the show in any way.

So I wouldn't be surprised if the Jungle Book show turns into a hit. And if it is a hit, then things will get interesting if and when RoL is ready to go, or if RoL's test-and-adjust work drags on into the fall.

Of course, there's always a chance the show will just be plain bad, in which case none of this applies... :)
 

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