News New Parade: Magic Happens

[brb1006]

Hey, I still like Up With People! Those kids were always so... perky.





Music by Todrick Hall. Makeup and Wigs by RuPaul's Drag Race. Budget by Bob Chapek.

And suddenly it makes sense why this entire parade was leaked online a year ago thanks to drunk Disneyland managers hitting on their hourly Cast Member underlings in a notorious West Hollywood gay bar.

That's one for the Disney History Books in the future.

 

[brb1006]

The costumes are giving me serious Tokyo vibes. Especially Mickey.

Tokyo's costumes always look amazing. Heck, Tokyo is one of the very few Disney Parks that has almost all of the Disney Characters dressed in seasonal attire instead of their standard designs.

 

[TTA94]

Has anyone heard how much of Wishes and Remember The Magic will be in the finale? Just quick lyrics? or larger part?

 

[brb1006]

Has anyone heard how much of Wishes and Remember The Magic will be in the finale? Just quick lyrics? or larger part?

We don't know yet.

 

[mickeyfan5534]

Wow. Those costumes that the performers are wearing are ...something. I'm not sure what, but they're something. (Seriously, what are the giant things on those womens' heads supposed to represent? Old-style ticket books? Giant skeins of ribbon? Fancy VHS spools? I've been pausing the video, trying to figure it out, and I've got nothing.) I admit I've never been into Avant-Garde fashion, so I'm not a fan. But the rest of the parade looks promising.

They have the lyrics of the parade's main theme printed on them to represent the "magic of music". It's simply a (very Avant-Garde) hat.

 

[FerretAfros]

This whole parade is way too girly.

It makes me chuckle that this comment created so much controversy. 5 of the 8 floats are based on princess movies, the dancers are vogue-ing, the soundtrack was done by one of the internet’s most flamboyant personalities, and the costumes and makeup were done by a literal drag queen. Of course it’s not very masculine!

But is that a bad thing? By and large, it seems like this project was created with a unifying artistic vision. Similar to the distinct style of Soundsational, it looks like these elements will be carried throughout the design. Most of Disney’s parades (even at the beloved TDR) tend to be a hodgepodge of various elements, but DL’s modern parades have managed to have a unifying style. Whether that particular style appeals to any individual is a matter of taste, but it’s clear they were never trying to “butch it up” with the creative choices they made from the very start.

That said, I am slightly concerned by the dancers’ outfits and choreography, neither of which seem like they’ll hold up to daily operations. Similar to the issues they had with the longevity some of PTN’s elements, this seems like a spot where I’d expect to see some tweaks in the coming months.

 

[Phroobar]

Disneyland parades used to feature tons of characters and smaller floats. They weren't focused on the same few properties and princesses every time. They were fun and entertaining. They weren't drag races with modern one note millennial pop. You got to see characters you normally didn't see in the park. What's wrong with Disney doing something like this again?


Heck this parade even has Superman and the Three Stooges!

 

[VJ]

Why does that picture use Mickey's old head from 1988/1989 instead of the current one?

Because it's stock art from Tokyo DisneySea's 10th anniversary.

 

[VJ]

HQ version of the Mickey unit concept art:

 

[Phroobar]

 

[mickeyfan5534]

Disneyland parades used to feature tons of characters and smaller floats. They weren't focused on the same few properties and princesses every time. They were fun and entertaining. They weren't drag races with modern one note millennial pop. You got to see characters you normally didn't see in the park. What's wrong with Disney doing something like this again?


Heck this parade even has Superman and the Three Stooges!

I don't exactly remember floats for The Sword in the Stone, Moana, Coco, and Frozen in Soundsational. Hell, I think the only real overlap between Magic Happens and Soundsational are Mickey and The Princess and the Frog and they're both very different presentations of the IPs.

 

[VJ]

calm down, dude, next you'll start telling us that the millennium falcon needs an accessible ramp...

 

[brb1006]

Because it's stock art from Tokyo DisneySea's 10th anniversary.

What is with modern concept art from WDW and DL and it's use of stock images/art? Remember when concept art used to have more effort put into them. At least "Magic Happens" ain't as bad as the concept art for the Inside Out and Up floats for "Pixar Play Parade" (the original concept art looked good) for Pixar Fest and the Aladdin section for Fantasmic. Tokyo Disney Resort and Sea are the only parks that still put effort into their concept art (possibly because it was made by a different design team and owned by OLC). I think this started with "Mickey's Soundsational Parade" since some of the characters were taken from stock images (especially some of Mickey's friends). It wasn't a problem when "Parade of Dreams" debuted.

Remember how beautifully done the concept art for Fantasmic was before it's 1992 premiere?

 

[Phroobar]

I don't exactly remember floats for The Sword in the Stone, Moana, Coco, and Frozen in Soundsational. Hell, I think the only real overlap between Magic Happens and Soundsational are Mickey and The Princess and the Frog and they're both very different presentations of the IPs.

Check the last twenty years of parades and tell me how many times you see floats dedicated to Frozen, BatB, the Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Tangled, and Princesses. Now go look at the parades from the 70's, 80's and 90's. See the variety of characters. Today's parades are the same crap over and over again but this time with drag.

 

[TTA94]

They're very capable of running both, but budgets they're given don't really allow it. IF paint comes back this year, expect it to be at DCA still.

I think Paint IS going to be returning. There is now a dining package link in the search bar of DLs site. Doesn’t yet open however.

 

[mickeyfan5534]

Check the last twenty years of parades and tell me how many times you see floats dedicated to Frozen, BatB, the Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Tangled, and Princesses. Now go look at the parades from the 70's, 80's and 90's. See the variety of characters. Today's parades are the same crap over and over again but this time with drag.

I'll give you Frozen.

That said, Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, and Tangled are not represented in Magic Happens and Aladdin barely makes it in with a character flood. In fact, when was the last time there were individual floats for Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella in a parade at Disneyland? The parades in the 70s, 80s, and 90s still had all the same characters they were just taken over by newer IPs and a more diverse pool to pick from.

Objectively, you're wrong in saying that this is another same-old-same-old production just by nature of the IPs chosen. Sorcerer Mickey is rarely used outside of Fantasmic and a possibility for his Toontown Meet and Greet, Moana and Coco are both very recent, Frozen is taking after the sequel instead of the original, Sword in the Stone has never had a float in a parade, and Cinderella, Princess and the Frog, and Sleeping Beauty are all properties that are quite underrated beyond their collected position as Disney Princess Movies™. Add in an aesthetic that, like it or not, has never been done before and like it or not they're making a unique take on the Disneyland parade. Whether it works or not has yet to be seen but as it stands, the potential is there for this to be a game changer.

 

[Phroobar]

I'll give you Frozen.

That said, Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, and Tangled are not represented in Magic Happens and Aladdin barely makes it in with a character flood. In fact, when was the last time there were individual floats for Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella in a parade at Disneyland? The parades in the 70s, 80s, and 90s still had all the same characters they were just taken over by newer IPs and a more diverse pool to pick from.

Objectively, you're wrong in saying that this is another same-old-same-old production just by nature of the IPs chosen. Sorcerer Mickey is rarely used outside of Fantasmic and a possibility for his Toontown Meet and Greet, Moana and Coco are both very recent, Frozen is taking after the sequel instead of the original, Sword in the Stone has never had a float in a parade, and Cinderella, Princess and the Frog, and Sleeping Beauty are all properties that are quite underrated beyond their collected position as Disney Princess Movies™. Add in an aesthetic that, like it or not, has never been done before and like it or not they're making a unique take on the Disneyland parade. Whether it works or not has yet to be seen but as it stands, the potential is there for this to be a game changer.

Paint the night had Sorcerer Mickey. Not sure why this upsets you but this is hardly a game changer. It is more of the same generic parade formula we've seen so many times in the last twenty years. You have Frozen float, Princess floats, semi new movie float, fab five float, and nostalgia float. Heck, I would rather see a parade that was dedicated to one movie like the old Lion King or Aladdin or Hercules parades than this girly centric formula we've seen many times before.

 

[mickeyfan5534]

Paint the night had Sorcerer Mickey. Not sure why this upsets you but this is hardly a game changer. It is more of the same generic parade formula we've seen so many times in the last twenty years. You have Frozen float, Princess floats, semi new movie float, fab five float, and nostalgia float. Heck, I would rather see a parade that was dedicated to one movie like the old Lion King or Aladdin or Hercules parades than this girly centric formula we've seen many times before.

You know what? Let's just agree to disagree. Life's too short to get into a fight about a parade at DIsneyland.

 

[TsWade2]

For those of you bickering about parades original vs new, I have one thing to say:
Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

 

[Ismael Flores]

Disneyland parades used to feature tons of characters and smaller floats. They weren't focused on the same few properties and princesses every time. They were fun and entertaining. They weren't drag races with modern one note millennial pop. You got to see characters you normally didn't see in the park. What's wrong with Disney doing something like this again?


Heck this parade even has Superman and the Three Stooges!

I remember those parades they were weird and fun and there was always something in them that made people smile. They also geared towards all age groups because it wasn't all just princess and the same hand full of characters.

with that said

I doubt an updated parade like that would be accepted and not be torn to pieces by the online community. Seems like every time they consider something different and outside the box they are criticized heavily. recent fireworks are a good example of what something out of the box is not received well. Mickey mix magic and the Pixar fest fireworks were heavily criticized by the fan community because of their drastic change from the typical firework show but accepted and cheered on by the tourist crowds. sadly they recognize that they have a huge fan base that can spread unwanted criticism so they constantly revert back the "in the box" ideas.

Hopefully this somewhat-out of the box-thinking with the costumes and music mixed in with the -in the box- float themes work and they continue to experiment a bit more and bring back some of those fun parades that many of us grew up with