Welcome everyone to this finale blog on the Fantasmic! A Journey Through The Magic of Imagination series. Now that I have gone over the four shows and what I like about each of them, I want to take the time to weigh in on some of the controversies surrounding them, point out things that I find interesting about each of them, and try to determine which of these shows is my favorite, because it honestly is a very tough call for me. Yes, there will still be spoilers aplenty in this blog as I'll be referencing many parts of the shows as I go along. So, lets get to it.
Fantasmic! is a show that has kept my interest since the first time I got to see it at Disney's Hollywood Studios. While that is the only show I have seen live, I've probably watched the original Disneyland version more than the Hollywood Studios version with Disney Tokyo Sea's version not far behind. It's a go to show for me when I'm sitting at home and am looking for some Disney Park magic. That's what led me to this blog marathon. There are just so many things that I love about these shows (and a few things I don't) that I just had to throw it all out there. One thing I tried not to do was compare shows as I went along, and while the basis of all four are the same, I'm sure you can tell how we get to the end is not by any means the same for better or for worse.
The two shows that constantly get compared are the original two (Disneyland and Hollywood Studios). Both shows vary enough that they each have their own set of defenders across the Disney fandom. Some of the most compared segments is the Pink Elephants on Parade and I've Got No Strings On Me from Disneyland versus the seemingly endless stream of bubbles that reference a bunch of different Disney animated features of Hollywood Studios. Personally I give the nod to Disneyland there. I feel like the segment helps to progress the plot along while visiting iconic scenes from both Dumbo and Pinocchio. The bubble stream thought I feel like was an attempt to please everyone and just cram as many characters in as possible, especially after the scene was updated to include Princess and the Frog, Tangled, and Frozen.
I've got to give the nod though to Hollywood Studios in maximizing their stage. There are very few times in that show where the stage is not being utilized. The new version of Disneyland's show certainly does that as well and even ups the ante with the new projections, but I cannot fairly use that when comparing it to a show that's nearly ten years older than it.I just think of how much things like the flower blooming on stage compared to just water effects adds so much to that early slow scene. If we wanna get really deep into this though, hats still go off to Disney Tokyo Sea for putting on the show they do with a few barges and virtually no stage.
The villains are another hot topic when comparing the two shows and I still stand by what I said in the Hollywood Studios version blog. That version is my favorite hands down. Having so many villains appear gives the illusion that Mickey is in such big trouble that it makes it all the more satisfying when he pulls the sword from the stone and defeats Maleficent and the other villains. Speaking of which... Why was the sword in the stone removed from the updated Disneyland version? I always thought it was so cool to not only have a The Sword in the Stone reference, but to have Mickey dressed as a pauper as well was great. I get why Tokyo Sea had him in his sorcerer's clothing, but I'm not sure why that was omitted from Disneyland, especially considering they far and away have the best looking Maleficent dragon. The new effects of Mickey blasting the dragon with magic is really cool, but I would have loved to have seen it still involve the sword, especially considering Maleficent dies by a sword in Sleeping Beauty.
As far as the middle scenes, I still prefer the Pocahontas scene overall. As I mentioned, Pocahontas is more of a movie I grew up over Peter Pan. I also really like how they did the music throughout that section. Is it long? Yeah, it may overstay its welcome in the eyes of some people, but this is a Disney nighttime spectacular. Let it be long. If I had to cut it down a bit, I'd probably eliminate some of the buildup to the battle is all. It certainly doesn't take away from the rest of the show and I highly doubt it's the reason that there is no Pink Elephants on Parade portion like I've heard some people say. THat being said, there is a bigger middle scene debate nowadays and it's Disneyland versus Disneyland.
This is an easy one for me as I prefer the Peter Pan scene over the Pirates of the Caribbean scene, and that hurts to type. I love pirates so much, but it just does not fit. From what I can tell, the action is much harder to keep track of, the ship tries to be The Black Pearl, but it just isn't, and the transition is just so rough. We go from a beautiful underwater scene ending in a high paced chase featuring Monstro and then we get Barbossa. For a show that features all animated characters it's a really jarring transition. Personally unless it was designed for it a la Mary Poppins, I like to keep my animated and live action shows separate.
I understand that pirates is a very popular franchise, but I just find it weird that it is frequently slammed into Disney animated shows. We also have the He's a Pirate theme playing in Happily Ever After at The Magic Kingdom, but that's a different story. The plot of the scene is also weird. It's trying to look like Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl with Elizabeth Swann being there and a cursed Barbossa battling Jack Sparrow. However Jack is mostly after his compass, which while used in several movies became a focal point in the latest movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Overall I can't help but feel there was no real reason for the change. The new projection mapping looks great on the stage, but I wonder how awesome some Peter Pan projections would have been.
So that's my thoughts on some of the more debatable things in the shows. Disneyland gets the nod with their incredible dragon and I still wish Hollywood Studios would adopt something similar to how Tokyo Sea does their dragon. Disneyland also gets the nod for the jungle scene whether old or new. I especially still love how the pink elephants show up and slowly take the scene over. Then Hollywood Studios kind of takes over for me as I prefer both the Pocahontas, and villain segments. I also prefer the blooming flower sequence in Hollywood Studios, though the new version in Disneyland now also has the blooming flower so that difference is kinda of taken away.
The ultimate question. Which version of Fantasmic! is my favorite. It's a really tough question for me to answer. All four shows have incredible ups and very little downsides (I admit most are even nit picks). For now I have to say that the Hollywood Studios version is my favorite. While both Disneyland versions are spectacular and the Tokyo Sea version is super innovative and interesting, the Hollywood Studios version just feels like so much more of a battle against the villains, many of whom are some of my favorite Disney characters. It also helps the shows case that I have actually seen it live compared to the other three that I have only seen via streams and online videos.
Whether you love or hate Fantasmic!, there is no denying the impact that the show has had on every park that it has come to. It's a show that has proven it can stand the test of time and going through incredible transformations. Thank you for joining me on this massive look at Fantasmic! I know I normally do not do blog marathons like this, but for this show I made an exception. I'm sure as time goes on I'll be revisiting Fantasmic! again, but for now I'll be moving onto some other topics. After all, progress around the Disney Parks is seemingly unending just as the Disney collection of entertainment. So while February accidentally became the month of Hollywood Studios related things, expect some more varied content as we head towards the spring where flowers, gardens, festivals, and construction all flourish! As always thank you for reading and expect the next blog real soon!
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