| Donald is chased around the stage by the mischievous Pink Elephants
from the classic dream sequence of Dumbo, who show him their clumsy dancing
and parading before their leader, the giant Pink Elephant, joins in the fun
and wobbles too and fro at the back of the vault! Donald is left dazed and confused from
this mysterious encounter, quacking and squawking to himself in disbelief.
But, before he has time to rest, another animated classic is waiting to
explode out of its reel… Colourful arrows appear out of the
blackness, pointing Donald in every direction possible, then full palm trees
appear out of nowhere and disappear again! It’s the rhythm of the jungle, a
colourful, care-free tale of the “Bare Necessities of life” – The Jungle
Book! Baloo jumps out of the film reel and teaches Donald his trademark
jungle boogy as the palm trees sway and jungle life surrounds them. Then, as
if by magic, King Louie, the king of the swingers, appears out of the
darkness on a bed of palm leaves to complete this classic animated scene and
join the lively beat with a swinging outburst of jungle dance. And then,
with a final shake of the palm trees – they’re gone! There’s Far Too Much to Take in
Here… Suddenly Donald finds himself in the
depths of the ocean, as he is quickly surrounded by two rather familiar
undersea creatures – Sebastian and Flounder from The Little Mermaid!
Sebastian performs his bubbly hit song “Under the Sea” as Flounder swims
around contentedly and jellyfish pop up to surround the audience! For one last enjoyable adventure before
he heads back home, Donald steps into “The Lion King” and transports himself
to the Pride Lands, where Simba dreams of being King and parades around
through the grass with Nala before a towering throne of African animals
forms on stage with the future king at the top! Then, we go right back to
the beginning as the sun rises on the horizon and Rafiki himself introduces
the lion cub to the world in an emotional Circle of Life ceremony atop Pride
Rock. C’est Magnifique! And with that, Donald finds himself on
his way back in the Walt Disney Studios, where he’s greeted by a rather
displeased Mickey Mouse! Luckily for Donald, his new friends from the
Animation vault have followed him back to the Studios, and, whilst he
sketches out an inspired new masterpiece on his drawing board, they save the
day by reminding Mickey of the magic and spirit of Disney in an extravagant,
magical, musical finale! La la lalalala – Animagique! C’est
Magnifique! Viewing Tips Getting a Seat The huge 1,100 capacity of the
Disney Studio 3 theatre and the high number of performances each day means
that you do not need to arrive too early for this show. It is, however,
advised that you arrive at least 10 minutes before the show is due to begin,
or even earlier on very busy days in the Studios. The excellent design of the theatre
means that every seat offers a superb view of the stage, with the seating
split into a small “stalls” section at the front and a highly tiered stadium
seating section for the rest. Spaces for guests in wheelchairs can be found
at the back of the stalls section, clearly marked. Restrictions & Warnings As the quirky kids’ introduction to
the show warns, the theatre gets very dark during the show – not “scary”
dark, just really dark! Due to the sensitivity of the
characters and performers working in close proximity on stage in the dark,
flash photography is strictly forbidden during the show. The
performers spend extra time in the dark before the show to adjust their eyes
so they can see where to move on-stage, so a bright flash light could do
serious damage. Languages The show features minimal speech in
French and English from Donald and Mickey, with well-known Disney songs
forming the main part of the show, allowing it to be understood by all.
  The Music Since it is an entirely original
entertainment production, the music of Animagique was also created
exclusively for the show by Peter Lurye and Disneyland Resort Paris’ musical
director, Vasile Sirli. This vast creative freedom allowed the created of a
unique soundtrack for the show, taking a strong influence from European
sources and mixing this with classic songs from the Disney films featured.
The whimsical orchestrated sounds and simple, catchy “la-la-la-la” vocals of
the Studios sections give the show a strong identity unlike anything else
produced by Disney theme parks in the past. Clear, crisp instruments, ranging from
guitars to whistles to blaring trumpets, make up this unique soundtrack of
classic Disney songs that immediately gives you the whimsical, care-free,
fun feeling of Animagique. The final “Animagique” theme song by Peter Lurye,
in particular, is surely one of the most fun and free-spirited musical
numbers ever created, and a perfect finale to this playful, understated
show. The show originally featured almost
entirely instrumental music throughout, but when it was re-choreographed in
late 2002, much of the music in the main body of the show was changed to be
much more similar to how it is heard in the films featured, with full vocals
added to encourage the audience to sing along. Whilst the new version is
certainly a greater hit with audiences, the wonderful orchestrations of the
“Jungle Book” and “Monstro” sections in particular has unfortunately been
lost.
Imagineering Animagique
Animagique was created exclusively for
Walt Disney Studios Park, with the music, puppets, scenery and choreography
all entirely original and like nothing seen at any other Disney Resort. The
show was not made available for previews with the rest of the park’s
attractions in February 2002 and remained a mystery for many months, but all
became clear when the attraction opened on time, with the park, on 16th
March 2002. Animagique features a creative blend of live characters,
puppetry and “blacklight” trickery. The magical puppetry of the show is made
possible by the use of UV “blacklights” which highlight special paints and
dyes much more than others, allowing puppets painted with these appear to
float in mid air, whilst the puppeteer’s black clothing remains invisible.
The Black Light Theatre is a tradition from Prague, with the most intriguing
aspect being that the usual perception of space is modified, and the puppets
can walk, bounce, float and even fly over the public. In recent years,
developments with the blacklight technique have meant a wider colour range
can now be used, with better and more intricate lighting. The puppets for
the show were painted under special lighting conditions to ensure the
phosphorous paints created the correct effect, and are controlled through a
puppet manipulation technique of Japanese origin called “Bunraku”. Various
puppeteers animate the large puppets using sticks made of carbon fibre,
which is very strong, supple and light. They allow for even large puppets to
be manipulated with great skill with only one hand. The show is controlled by a computer
that digitally synchronises all light, audio and machinery effects so
precisely that up to 12 identical shows could be presented in one operating
day. To allow for the rapid background scenery changes during the show, a
state-of-the-art computer-controlled Impressario stage automation system is
part of this. The scenery, including the four sliding doors and The Lion
King’s Pride Rock, are attached to the stage track, which is pre-programmed
to “travelate” the items on-stage at the precise moment of their requirement
in the show. With multiple puppeteers controlling the
same objects and some incredibly complicated dance sequences and movements,
the choreography of the show had to be practiced and perfected for months
before the show opened, so that the performers could move in synchronisation
with each other whilst in complete darkness. The performers even learnt the
ancient art of Tai Chi to give them a greater perception of space and
dimensions to assist with their complex movements. The puppetry techniques used in
Animagique look set to cross the Atlantic this year, as Disney’s Animal
Kingdom park at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida premieres its brand new
“Finding Nemo – The Musical” show, which will be presented using a mixture
of blacklight puppetry and more conventional puppetry, similar to that seen
in Disney’s The Lion King on Broadway.
Changes & Alterations
On 7th December 2002 a new version of
the show premiered, with changes to the choreography to allow for a smaller
cast and a remixed soundtrack now featuring more lyrics than before (the
original soundtrack was almost entirely instrumental). The most major
change, however, was the replacement of the Pinocchio scene with a musical
number from The Little Mermaid. In the original version of the show, Donald
Duck would dance around with Pinocchio on his raft before a giant projection
of Monstro the Whale appeared in the background. In the new (and current)
version, Donald gets taken completely “Under The Sea”, as he dances around
with Sebastian and Flounder to the catchy song from The Little Mermaid. You
may still find traces of the Pinocchino section of Animagique in print
advertising for the resort, since the scene was used for the original press
concept image for the attraction. | 
Lilo
