Fantasmic!
You really have to be there to feel it. Guests will wait, sitting on a cold sidewalk, for two, three or four hours just to get a good view. If there are two shows, they will wait to see both of them. Nothing sad happens during the show, but when the lights go up, some adult guests are crying, overwhelmed by what they've just seen. After the show, the kids want to know " where'd the dragon go?" , and " how did they set fire to the water?" .
Why do we cry? How do they set the river aflame? Why do we repeatedly wait for hours to see Fantasmic! ?
The answer? Oh, simple. It's concentrated pixie-dust. Pure unadulterated Disney magic. More Disney magic in one place than there has ever been before. And probably will ever be again.
Oh yeah, and did I say that I loved it? !!!!!
On stage can be seen huge flower petals, changing color and transforming from a pink Camellia to a yellow and white daisy to a purple pansy to a red rose. The petals then become huge green leaves and combine with on-screen animation to become the flora and fauna of the jungle.
As fog begins to float over the river, the rhythm and exotic sounds of the jungle can be heard. Through the fog can be seen an enormous Kaa, the snake from Jungle Book, slithering across the island with piercing beams of light for eyes, searching the audience as he makes his way through the jungle foliage. The Jungle beat grows as floating stages carry King Louie and neon-colored monkeys across the river, which has been transformed into an imaginative jungle where everything moves to the wild beat.
The music changes abruptly to a pulsing, contemporary rendition of " Pink Elephants on Parade" from Dumbo, as animated pink elephants appear both on-screen and on the island. Suddenly, the elephants seem to be puppets dancing on strings, then vanish, leaving the strings behind. Now the magical strings manipulate three huge puppets, with Pinocchio in the center. On-screen we see Jiminy Cricket underwater, calling to his pal Pinocchio, in gurgling desperation. A colorful montage of underwater creatures appears. Jiminy then encounters the huge eye and teeth of Monstro the Whale.
A combined sequence of film and live special effects show the angry, tail-thrashing whale creating a storm-like effect on the water, with real water splashing around as Monstro stirs up the sea. The sounds of crashing waves and thunder rumble through the audience, as we witness a ship, on-screen, being tossed in the storm.
A loud canon shot takes our attention to the Pirate Ship, coming around the bend, filled with action. Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Peter Pan and pirates jump, climb and swing on ropes in a battle fully scored like a scene from an epic swashbuckling adventure film. Following the ship is a huge crocodile -- " tick-tocking" as he goes, scaring Captain Hook up to the crows nest, as the ship disappears into the on-coming fog.
The " Imagination" theme comes in again as pink and blue clouds cover the river. Snow White and her Prince, Ariel and Eric, and Beauty and the Beast all float by, as if in a dream ballet in the clouds, each so happy to have their dream come true. But the beautiful music starts to sound a bit haunting.
The Evil Queen from Snow White appears on stage, calling for her magic mirror -- which appears in animated form, on-screen, and says, " In the Magic Kingdom, there are many beautiful princesses far more fair than you, my Queen." The sinister Queen seethes with jealousy and hatred as the mirror continues, " In Mickey's imagination, beauty and love will always survive." In anger, she moves to her bubbling cauldron, where she creates a brew of evil magic to transform herself in the Wicked Witch. The magic mirror transforms into the ugly face of the wicked witch, who says, " Imagine THIS!"
On-screen, we see her face dissolve into that of the sea witch, Ursula, from The Little Mermaid, as out from the river and fog comes the tentacles of a 20' tall Ursula, laughing violently as she passes. Back on-screen, the face of Ursula fades to reveal only her evil eyes -- which transform into the eyes of the horrific Chernabourg, from Fantasia.
Images of skeletons on horseback, riding across the sky, appear on-screen as Chernabourg watches, flames dance in his hand. Then a real burst of flames explodes on the island and Maleficent, from Sleeping Beauty, appears. Mickey Mouse sees Maleficent and shakes in his shoes as she points to him and says, " Now you will deal with MY imagination!" Another burst of flames signals a dramatic transformation as Maleficent grows 30' tall and changes into a ferocious dragon, on-screen.
But, as lightning flashes, you can see through the animated sequence on-screen to a huge 40' three-dimensional dragon, taking over the island. She lowers her head and breathes fire over the river, igniting it into a sea of flames. The evil side of imagination has now created an island of terror. Only Mickey can save himself from his own imagination, and he appears as the Brave Little Tailor, ready to do battle.
With electrifying laser special effects, he defeats the dragon and all the evil forces. On-screen, we see the dragon, zapped by Mickey's positive powers, swirl into the air and vanish in a burst of pixie dust.
A sparkling, twinkling presence can be seen and a magical sound begins to grow, as Tinker Bell appears. Flying about the sky on-screen, she waves her magic wand and showers the Mark Twain with pixie dust as it comes around the bend. The Riverboat is loaded with all the lovable Disney characters, waving banners and cheering their hero, while fireworks cascade over the rails of the Mark Twain. As the Riverboat reaches the dock, a flash explodes on top of the boat, revealing Mickey Mouse as Steamboat Willie at the helm. Mickey pilots the boat past the audience in a festive celebrational finale, and then disappears into the fog.
Suddenly, Mickey appears in a splash of light up on the Cider Mill, now as Sorcerer Mickey. The music swells and grows, as he conducts laser beams that crisscross over the entire river area, creating a sunburst effect radiating out from Mickey, proving that the magical powers of his positive imagination are stronger than ever. As the musical theme " Imagination" builds to a final chorus, a glorious display of fireworks is added to the river spectacular. Mickey lifts his arms upward as more fireworks shoot from his fingers. Then, in a flash, Mickey magically disappears from the Cider Mill and reappears again, center stage, in his normal character. All the effects and music abruptly freeze, and Mickey says to the audience, " Some imagination, huh? Ha! Ha!" And with that, all the effects vanish, leaving the brilliant cone of lights empty.
On a final musical note, the lights go out, and the river is quiet and dark once again. > > > > > > > > >
Original Material Copyright © 1998 - 2007 Chris Gibson. Last updated 06-April-2007.