Sometimes I hate my job.
What do I mean by that? Well … I know that there are a lot of very nice people at Walt Disney Imagineering and Walt Disney Feature Animation who worked very hard on “Mickey’s Philharmagic.” Truly talented folks who labored for months to turn classic Disney characters (toons that — up until now — had only been done in the traditional 2D format) into believable 3D CG creations.
But — in the end — was all of their hard work worth it?
Well … Er … Um …
*Sigh*
No.
At least that’s the indication I’ve gotten. Based on the initial feedback that I’ve received from several WDW cast members and annual passholders who attended last week’s previews of this new Fantasyland attraction, “Mickey’s Philharmagic” is a near miss.
Not a flop, mind you. Nor a debacle or a disaster. Based on what I’ve heard over the past few days, the Magic Kingdom’s new 3D extravaganza sounds like it has some very nice moments. And there’s some CG in this film (particularly the work that was done with the computer-generated Donald Duck and Lumiere from “Beauty and the Beast”) that supposedly will put Pixar to shame.
And the post-show store that you’re funneled into after seeing “Mickey’s Philharmagic” is said to be very nice as well.
But … that’s not a very enthusiastic recommendation, is it? Well — you see — that’s my problem. That’s the sort of language that kept popping up in all the “Philharmagic” reviews that I received this weekend. Not “Great.” Not “Spectacular.” But “nice” and “okay.”
Which is what leads me to believe that the Magic Kingdom’s newest attraction may not be all that magical.
Don’t believe me? Okay. Then let’s get this news straight from the horse’s mouth. Here’s what Seabiscuit had to say in his note:
I had a chance to see Mickey’s (even though Donald is the real star here) Philharmagic the other day. After seeing “Finding Nemo,” I was truly disappointed in the computer animation. Also no pre-show, and standard “4-D” effects (spraying water again). The theater does have a wonderful “expanding” effect, and the flying scenes are very cool. Get out and see it when you can. Even if it’s only a “C” attraction.
Mickey and Donald really look like they went through the budget axe.
Which isn’t all that different from what my Friend Flicka had to say:
Saw Mickey’s Philimagic at a cast preview and it is…nice. It really is Donald’s show and the human characters (Aladdin) look like George Pal Puppetoons. Cast member reaction is divided: Those who love it and those who think it is too soft. (It was designed not to have “scary” moments like snakes popping out or a bug’s stinger in your back so that little kids could enjoy it.)
I saw it twice and would see it again. However, you can tell where they were saving nickels and dimes in the auditorium and pre-show. Sorry to see Mickey still a supporting character in an attraction named after him but Donald is a more flexible character in terms of “roughing him up” as animators discovered nearly fifty years ago.
[The show] seemed very respectful to the source material…Lion King, Little Mermaid, etc….and you really have to see it more than once to catch all the little bits.
Some of the 3-D effects are good but it seemed they missed the boat on others.
Which (surprise, surprise) quite similar to what Mr. Ed had to say about this new Fantasyland show:
Warning !! Mr. Ed is quite the talkative Palomino. So there are some mild spoilers ahead. If you’d prefer that “Mickey’s Philharmagic” be a complete surprise to you (whenever it is that you actually finally get around to seeing this new Disney World show), then I suggest that you stop reading now. Or — at the very least — skip ahead of this indented section.
Good first scene. (They must know that CG Mickey looks like sh*t because he appears for less than 15 seconds in the whole show, and almost always from the back and 50 feet away. When he is seen from the front, they give him a really funny little action to do).
CG Donald is fan-freaking-tastic. Not just aesthetically, but they’re braver with CG Donald. He’s everything that made Don the coolest character of them all before, but more. Like Tex Avery more. It’s very, very faithful to the Jack Hanna/Bill Justice Don, but infused with some badass Chuck Jones.
“Be Our Guest” is lame, but Lumiere is so freaking well built and animated, no one cares.
The Brooms from “Fantasia” scene is my favorite. It’s everything I’ve been waiting for in an attraction. True cartoon comedia.
“Part of Your World” is good too. Though kids (in half of the four shows I saw) thought Flounder was “Nemo!” They figured out how to fix Ariel, and it was to turn her into Fiona [The princess from “Shrek”]. Swear to God, they rendered Fiona’s face to fix Ariel. It works. Her hair — however — looks like a placenta full of wet weasels.
But Ariel has a great, great, great moment with Don. So all is forgiven.
“I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” is okay. The CG is good if uninspired. But the 2d stuff they stuffed in looks great, just underutilized. The CG Zazu is marvelous.
Peter Pan is a close second favorite. Beautiful and funny as hell!!!!!!!
“A Whole New World” is crazy lame. Other than immensely poorly boarded and paced, the CG Aladdin and Jasmine look like those gnomes [that Lord] Farquaad kicked out of Duloc [in “Shrek”].
The finale is ok. The Donald butt in the back of the theater has great movement but placed so poorly, like 4 people saw it. Didn’t we learn anything with “Muppetvision”? Oh, yeah. All those people were fired.
[The post-show “Mickey’s Philharmagic”] shop was beautiful – natch. Of course, they get the good design.
[WDW annual] passholders [who attended Saturday’s preview] liked the show. But remember how those guys talked themselves into loving “Mission: Space”? [Well, it’s the] same thing here, but with the elderly Kissimmee crowd. [“Mickey’s Philharmagic”] will play pretty good [with the regular] guests, but only for three or four years.
Overall, I liked [the show] and would wait as much as 10 minutes to see it again.
You see what I’m saying here, folks? This is pretty tepid praise. I mean, individual characters and sequences got pretty high marks. But the show as a whole seemed to be somewhat … underwhelming. None of the people who e-mailed me this past weekend about “Mickey’s Philharmagic” really sang the show’s praises. By that I mean: They all liked the Magic Kingdom’s newest attraction. They just didn’t love it.
So — sadly — it appears that this new Magic Kingdom attraction won’t the smash hit that Disney had hoped it would be. The Mouse’s 3D movie that was supposed to have kicked “Shrek 4D”‘s butt. (Just so you know: Universal’s newest attraction is still supposedly racking up incredibly high marks on guest satisfaction surveys at that park. Many USF visitors reportedly consider “Shrek 4D” to be a much better show than that theme park’s previous top vote getter, “Men in Black: Alien Attack.”)
And given that Disney Company executives had reportedly been counting on “Mickey’s Philharmagic” becoming the corporation’s next big franchise (I.E. a new attraction that could be dropped — virtually unchanged — into any of the Disney theme parks worldwide), I got to wondering if the somewhat underwhelming reaction to the Central Florida version of the show would put the kibosh on “MP” going global.
So — with that question in mind — I called my super secret source at WDI, Deep Mouse. After I started peppering the poor guy with questions about “Mickey’s Philharmagic,” there was this long sigh at the other end of the line … followed by a prolonged explanation.
“You have to understand, Jim,” said Deep Mouse. “That ‘Mickey’s Philharmagic’ wasn’t supposed to debut at Disney World. This 3D movie was initially supposed to have had its world premiere at Hong Kong Disneyland. In a brand-new theater that would have been built specifically to support this attraction. With a lobby and a pre-show area that would have done a marvelous job of setting the stage for the film that was to follow.”
“But sometime over the past two years, the guys in Team Disney Burbank suddenly changed their minds. Instead of bowing in the Orient, ‘Mickey’s Philharmagic’ would now have its world premiere in Orlando. Several years ahead of schedule. In a retrofitted facility. With little or no theming in the lobby. And with no pre-show.”
“And keep in mind that the Fantasyland facility that ‘Mickey’s Philharmagic’ was shoe-horned into hasn’t ever really worked. Back in 1971, ‘The Mickey Mouse Revue’ didn’t play well in this theater. Nor did ‘Magic Journeys’ in 1988 or ‘The Legend of the Lion King’ in 1994. So I don’t see how the suits expect ‘Philharmagic’ to suddenly turn this situation around in 2003.”
“That Fantasyland Theater is a really poorly designed facility, Jim. The pre-show area there is infamous for not being able to accommodate all the bodies you need in order to fill all of the seats in that house. So you’re behind the eight ball even before you get started here. This is why each of the shows that previously played here never ever met their theoretical hourly capacity. Which is why WDW management was always turning to WDI — every five to ten years or so — and asking us to come up with a brand new show for the Fantasyland Theater at Walt Disney World.”
“It’s a real shame that Disney opted to premiere ‘Philharmagic’ at Disney World, Jim. It really is a cute little show that a lot of people here and at Feature Animation worked very hard on. It really deserved better than this.”
“By rolling the show out in Orlando first — rather than holding ‘Philharmagic’ for Hong Kong Disneyland, where it could have opened in 2006 in a brand new theater that was specifically designed for the show — Disney may have unintentionally cut the legs out from under this potentially quite lucrative theme park franchise. Which is a shame. Not to mention a really stupid business decision.”
“After all, a jewel only looks its best in the proper setting,” Deep Mouse concluded. “And the Fantasyland Theater is NOT the proper setting for ‘Mickey’s Philharmagic.'”
As I was listening to Deep Mouse speak, I found it extremely interesting that this unnamed Imagineer would bring up “Shrek 4D.” For — in a way — this new Universal Studios attraction was the prime example of how placing a new theme park attraction in the right (or wrong) facility can really impact how the public comes to view that particular show.
Take — for instance — the version of “Shrek 4D” that’ was set up at Universal Studios Florida earlier this year. It’s housed inside of that theme park’s old “Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies” facility with lots of highly detailed props and signs to entertain USF visitors as they wait in line. All this witty material — plus the clever pre-show that follows — really put guests in the proper mood to enjoy “Shrek 4D.” Which is why people who visit Universal Studios Florida — as they exit this attraction — always give the park’s new 3D movie extremely high marks.
Now contrast that with what happened on the other side of the country. Where Universal Studios Hollywood officials opted to drop their version of “Shrek 4D” into a facility that really wasn’t suited for showing a 3D film: the slightly retooled “Rugrats Magic Adventure” theater. Since this HSH upper lot venue had only an outdoor queue area until earlier this year, it was really hard to find a way to showcase all the signs and props that Universal Creative had created to set a proper tone of the show. Not to mention all the problems involved with finding a place to present “Shrek 4D”‘s pre-show film.
The end result? Universal theme park visitors on the West Coast like “Shrek 4D” quite a bit. But not nearly as much as the folks who see the same show in Central Florida do. Mind you, it’s the same exact 3D movie. Not a frame has been changed. But Universal Orlando’s guest satisfaction survey results clearly show that USF guests think that “Shrek 4D” is a much more entertaining show that theme park visitors in Hollywood do.
So maybe what Deep Mouse is saying is true. Maybe we’re all going to have to wait ’til “Mickey’s Philharmagic” opens at Hong Kong Disneyland in late 2005 / early 2006 before we can see if this new 3D movie actually lives up to its hype.
Of course, I could be jumping the gun here. Maybe some of you JHM readers also got to see this new Disney World show during its preview period last week. And maybe your opinion of this new 3D film is markedly from what Seabiscuit, My Friend Flicka and Mr. Ed had to say. If so, we’d love to hear from you. So drop us a line here at the site and let us know if you thought “Philharmagic” was really magical or not.
In the meantime … well, I’ll hope and pray that “Wishes,” Steve Davison’s brand-new fireworks extravaganza (soft opening scheduled for October 6th, official world premiere on October 8th) actually delivers the goods. Otherwise, we may all have to wait ’til the Fall of 2004 (when the”Stitch”-ified version of “Alien Encounter” is supposed to debut) before there’s a good enough reason to schedule a return trip to WDW’s Magic Kingdom.
Your thoughts?