Well, I'm posting a video here.
The music was layered over everything for reasons explained later. I'm not going to post the pictures by their lonesome unless specifically asked to do so. And the quality is kinda crappy. Sorry!
Okay, so the video took care of the Beauty and the Beast part. Not my favorite show, but it's decent.
Now, Fantasmic has more stories which I will now share with you. You may remember I previously posted some information, but I want to share more because there are some really cool little things about that show. I will always go back and watch this show because I worked it and loved it.
I always worked the same thing, every time I did it. I packed the house. Essentially, I'd be down near the lagoon and try to get people to slide all the way down the row, not letting them sit to their right. Disney used to allow people to just come in and sit whereever, but it was total chaos. Now, they use a sophisticated method of seating people.
After seating people, we would remain in the stairwell on the far right side and just watch the show. Once the dragon comes out, we would go get "pickers" (those things you see people use to pick up trash), gloves and garbage bags. We would the head over to the far left and after guests had exited, clean up the seating bowl in time for the next show.
First of all, one of my biggest photo disappointments is the fact I never got enough pictures of this show. I didn't sit through it as a guest but once, during the graduation celebration with fellow bus greeters. That's the reason why I dubbed over the audio. Through most of it, you can't hear the music. We are screaming so loud because we freaking love this show. We encouraged Mickey, cheered him on, and felt his struggle.
If you are unfamiliar with the show, here's the breakdown of the Walt Disney World version of Fantasmic:
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It all starts with a mountain island...
It all starts with a column of light emerging from center stage. Mickey suddenly appears and controls the water. He is having fun and all is well. Scenes appear on giant water walls, including a flower montage. Soon, Rafiki and a ton of neon jungle creatures appear all over the mountain and dancing monkeys on rafts. Several other characters are cheerfully displayed on the water screens.
Suddenly, the whale Monstro appears onscreen and splashes the audience. A loud bang later and we see Radcliffe and several Englishmen digging. Live action digging. Native Americans are later depicted, including some piloting their canoes around the moat. And then fighting. Native Americans attack with arrows, and guns are used in retaliation. John Smith is there, swings across the mountain, then climbs up it. He gets in a predicament when Pocahontas appears. The water walls return and Grandmother Willow speaks. Several princesses are also animated on the water.
The floats return, but instead of monkeys, we see Ariel and Prince Eric, Snow White and her prince, and Belle with the Beast.
The music and mood then turn dark. The Wicked Queen from Snow White is on the mountain and consults her animated magic mirror. Mickey's rightous dreams of imagination with love and beauty will prevail.
Or so we think. The Evil Queen turns into the White Witch and beings to conjure up a spell...
Many Disney villians appear on the screens, ending with Jafar sending Mickey into the Cave of Wonders. He then turns into a giant snake that slithers across the stage. Mickey rubs a magic lamp, which only makes things worse.
Maleficent is on the stage and grows. And grows. Reaching up to the sky. Until she turns into a giant dragon. Live. On stage. That breathes fire. In fact, she sets the water itself ablaze.
Mickey, dressed at the Brave Little Tailor, finds a sword and uses it to make the waters rise and vanquish the villians.
All is quiet when TinkerBell appears and with a little bit of pixie dust, the gigantic Steamboat Willie Riverboat appears from behind the mountain with sparkling waterfalls. In a flash, we see the pilot is no other than the original Mickey Mouse himself, Steamboat Willie.
A lot of characters dance around the boat for a time as it makes it way around the lagoon.
Mickey suddenly appears on top of the mountain and then instantly disappears, reappearing at the center of the mountain stage. "Some imagination, huh?"
And poof! He's gone!
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That's the story the guests see. How is it all done?
Well, as previously mentioned, we got a grand tour. But I've decided to reveal some secrets I learned from our tour. Some of this was mentioned previously, but much of it is new information.
The mountain is actually an island, completely surrounded on all sides by water. To get onto the mountain, the drawbridge must be down. Just before the show starts, the bridge is raised so nobody gets on. This is done for safety reasons. There is so much pyro, explosive effects that it can be very dangeous if you don't know where to stand at what time.
The most boring job is the job of boatman. One technichian is assigned the job of piloting the emergency boat. It's essentially a little single engined boat used to ferry performs off or on the island once the bridge is up. This is done bery rarely, only for medical or costuming emergencies.
Speaking of performers, there are approximately 60 performers and 30 technicians on the island during a performance. The show itself is approximately $30,000 per show. That's a heafty ticket item.
The moat is not all that deep, but that's not really a secret. If you get there early enough, you can see some of the pipes and the bottom of the lagoon.
If you remember the show, you'll remember the projected images on those walls of water. It's a great effect and is done with actual film cells, not computer images or anything like that.
Underneath the stage, there are several lifts. One such lift is the cauldron used by the Evil Queen who turns into the White Witch. Where the lift resides is that painted, white concrete brick. Scribbled on the walls are the drawings and signatures from all of the actresses who portrayed the witch. Most of them also had their dates up there from when they had the role.
Speaking of the lifts, they are controlled by at least two different people, three if used to lift a person. One person holds a switch under the mountain while looking up, like with the columns of light. Another person in the control room also holds a switch while looking at the show from the island. If it's lifting a person, such as Mickey, the character actually steps on a very small button indicating they are set to go. If one of the switches is not held, the lift does not operate. Lots of safety features.
There are a few all kill switches located on the island. If pressed, the house lights come up, the show stops immediately, and prerecorded instructions are broadcast over the PA system. The entire theatre is immediately and fully evacuated using all emergency exits.
One switch is located near a place many of the technichians use as a seat during the show. Currently, the button is facing away from the seat but it once faced the area. Twice someone accidently slipped into this particular switch and the show was halted. These switches are routinely tested to ensure they work, but the two accidental pushes are the only times the show was completely stopped.
As a backup feature to prevent the show from stopping due to technical error, two versions of the show are running at the same time in the control room. That way, if there is a technical error with one, the other picks it up without missing a beat.
Back to the island and the surrounding water.
Those floats you see making their way around the water, such as those with neon monkeys or princesses, are piloted. They are not on tracks. The pilot gets in through a hatch in the floor and is sitting below the stage on the float.
The canoes used by the Native American in the Pocahontas sequence are piloted differently. The person in the front of the canoe is pressing a switch on the floor, controlling the speed of the canoe. Yes, they are motorized. If you notice, everyone is paddling except the person in the back. His paddle remains in the water because he is using it to steer the boat.
The canoes also have torches on them. Now, this seems very wierd to me, but apparently the biggest, consistent issue in the entire show are the torches on the canoes. For some reason, the slightest bit of water in them causes them not to work. It just seems like we've solved that problem somewhere, but maybe it's a situation with safety or something. I don't know. Maybe a money issue.
Let's go to the island in this Native American, Englishmen scene. During the battle, there are several gunshots from rifles used by the settlers. They use a different sytle of gun now than when they started. The difference is the firing mechanism. For safety reasons, the firing component of the guns are removed by one security person every night and stored elsewhere on the property under tight security. A different technichain person brings in the firing components (the chemicals that makes things that go boom) from elsewhere on property with a security escort. The guns themselves are stored on the island in a secure area, only accessable by a limited handful of people. Lots and lots of control to make sure things don't get into the wrong hands.
If you look at the fighting scene, you'll notice the Native Americans shoot arrows that sparkle as they fly across the air. They are fired along a guidewire by a pyrotechican dressed as a Native American. Technically, he's not a performer though he is wearing a costume appropriate for the stage.
Down on the island, the arrows explode as the reach the end of the guidewire. Soon afterward, John Smith uses a rope to swing across the mountain. In order to do this, more pyrotechicans dressed as Native Americans have to get the two guidewires down, in order, in under eight seconds. If it's not done on time, Smith can't swing and must simply run throught the mountain to the other side.
Moving to another scene, that snake that is Jafar is massive, particularly the head. It is so heavy when it goes down the little ramp that one person is assigned as a brake man. His only job is to apply the brakes as the cobra moves down the way. If they fail, the head will roll with all three performers in it, down the side of the mountain into the lagoon.
Now, the dragon. The dragon is very problematic at times as well. Part of this is due to the tracking system used to bring it out. If the dragon doesn't register on the sensors as it comes out, it stops and will not come out. Same with the wings. They have to be in a perfect position and if a laser senses they are out of position, the dragon is stuck. That includes if the dragon is coming in or going out.
Those wings and the head are actually controlled by puppateers. It's kind of a classical rod puppet. The body of the dragon doesn't exist. The illusion is created with some shadows and a little bit of drapping material.
Now, since the dragon can get stuck, Maleficant must remain in costume on the lift ready to go should the dragon fail. So, occassionally you'll see a version of the show where Mickey Mouse fights Maleficent instead of the dragon. There's a sign by the Maleficent lift reminding the actress not to leave until the music for Steamboat Willie is playing.
Speaking of Steamboat Willie, that boat is actually on a track. It's a massive boat piloted from a hidden driver.
Mickey pops up in a flash of white explosion. He's near two pipes. Hidden between those pipes is the pyrotechnican in charge of setting them off. It's a very cramped area, especially when Mickey is in there too.
You'll notice that there is a waterfall of sparkles that comes down from the boat. As a safety rule, no character can be outside on the decks during the waterfall fireworks with one exception: Ariel. The Little Mermaid has a mobility issue since she has no legs. So, she gets latered up in flame retardant grease. All over her body, shells, hair, and fin. As a SAFETY feature. Get your mind out of the gutter. Greased up mermaid...
Now, occassionally there are problems with the boat and it doesn't make it's way out and around. The backup plan is to have the characters come out around the mountain to do their ribbon dance.
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So there are some of the secrets from the show Fantasmic!
A few times, I was able to see a few errors with the dragon. A boring story is when a wing set off the sensors, so the glowing eyes could originally be seen from behind the water mist for a little while. They were able to pull the dragon back in and close up the mountain, but Maleficent came out to battle Mickey Mouse.
Another time, the dragon came all the way and performed as normal. But something when wrong with the dragon going back into the mountain and the puppet was shut down, unable to move. So you could see it through the whole Steamboat Willie routine. Because the dragon was out, it was a safety hazard for Mickey to suddenly appear on the stage (via a lift), so when he disappeared from the top of the mountain, he was then seen running around from the side. He took his place, center stage, hands out "Some imagination, huh?", then disappeared. Going down wasn't a problem, but the issue was to see if Mickey could make it up safely. Spotters were no confident enough to give the go without seeing where Mickey would be in proximity to the dragon's head. Since Mickey stepped on the button and a visual was confirmed by the other two spotters that he would not clip the dragon with his ears, he was able to magically disappear.
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Now, I know I said I wouldn't give away a lot of secrets, but the more I thought about it, I think knowing all the hard work that goes into the productions makes them so much more enjoyable. Knowing all that I know about Fantasmic is why it made it so far on my Disney Bracket.
By the way, still waiting on Brackets from a few folks which is why I haven't posted anything yet.
But let's have a preview. Can you guess who's bracket is whose based on the Elite Eight (final eight) picks? Brackets were submitted by the following:
Zach Moore
Steve Vitale
Kyle Felix
Brian DeTagyos
Okay, now for the picks. These are presented by order in which they appeared on the brackets, not necessarily how they ultimately finished:
Group 1:
Spaceship Earth
Finding Nemo: The Musical
Country Bears Jamboree
Haunted Mansion
Toy Story Mania
Pirates of the Caribbean
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Journey Into Imagination with Figment
Group 2:
Kilimanjaro Safari
Lights Motors Action Extreme Stunt Show
Rockin Roller Coaster
Mission: Space
Toy Story Mania
Pirates of the Caribbean
Jungle Cruise
Expedition Everest
Group 3:
Spaceship Earth
Space Mountain
Rockin Roller Coaster
Tower of Terror
Illuminations Fireworks
Pirates of the Caribbean
Fantasmic Show
Expedition Everest
Group 4:
Kilimanjaro Safari
Star Tours
Country Bears Jamboree
Haunted Mansion
Peter Pan's Flight
Pirates of the Caribbean
Jungle Cruise
Tomorrowland Tranportation Authority
Anyone care to take a guess?
I'm still curious to see how others responded to certain things.
Look here for the original post if you have no idea what I'm talking about.
Hope you've enjoyed this detailed, long LONG post. Let me know if you want me to start incorporating more secrets in my blog and more video. I still like pictures better as a general rule.
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