Tripping the Light Fantasmic (ARTICLE FROM DISNEY MAGAZINE)

More than three hours before show time, the metamorphosis begins. Innocuous-looking crates open to reveal powerful laser lights,30-foot spotlight towers emerge from the ground, and the rustic scene on Tom Sawyer Island is transformed from a snapshot of Americana into a high-tech stage for fireworks,cascading waterfalls, and six foot-tall flames.     And that's just the setup. The execution of Fantasmic, Disneyland California's and Walt Disney World's 22-minute musical featuring special effects, live performances, and animation, requires 26 computers, thousands of gallons of water, and 101 cast members.

Fantasmic weaves the tale of a clash between Disney storybook heroes and villains. Combining live performances with animated images (rear-proyected on 50-foot-high sheets of water), the spectacle crackles. Fireworks seem to explode from animated comets, and the waters of Rivers of America seem to splash beneath Monstro the whale's tail.     "It's an exercise in coordination," says Michael Williams, production manager in Disneyland's entertainment division, who says computers had to be custom designed to precisely time the effects. A member of Fantasmic's original creative team, Williams says half the challenge was designing the equipment; the other half was figuring out where to put it. "You don't want a 30-foot lighting tower sticking up in the middle of New Orleans Square," he explains.

As Disneyland Imagineers submerged and stashed the required lights, smoke machines, proyectors, pumps, and water cannons (they're all underground, underwater, or inside props such as cutaway rocks, weathered wooden walkways, and an overturned rowboat), producers plotted the movements of cast and crew on a military strategy board.     Despite the precise planning, man and machine are not always in perfect sync. "We've got seven pages of contingency plans built into the script," says Williams. If the giant Ursula (the sea witch from The Little Mermaid) fails to inflate, the show instantly changes gears to run without her. If the Beast misses his whirl with Beauty, Belle automatically launches into a solo dance.

"One night our cauldron didn't make it onstage," recalls Stage Manager Wendy Ruth, nothing that such malfunctions, in this case due to a faulty hydraulic lift, are apparent only at the moment they occur. Without the cauldron's smoke-billowing effect, it was impossible to hide the performer's transformation from wicked queen to cackling witch. Well rehearsed in contingencies, the witch didn't miss a beat, altering her choreography to finish out the show as the queen.     But not even Disney can control everything. Weather, for instance. Rain or high winds can lead to cancellation. Even moderate winds can douse the audience with mist from the water screens.     "Oh, that," says William with a smile. "That's a special effect we do-- so that everybody feels like they're part of the show."

All the music from the Fantasmic pages on this website was gotten from the Fantasmic soundtrack (Disney MGM Studios)

Here's your reward!!!  You've earned it:

 

Description of movie	Picture
Intro  Clip Format: MPEG  Resolution: 160x120  File Size: 1.8 MB
Kaa  Clip Format: MPEG  Resolution: 160x120  File Size: .9 MB
Dragon  Clip Format: MPEG  Resolution: 160x120  File Size: 1.1 MB
Snow White & Prince Clip Format: MOV Resolution: 320x240 File Size: 201 KB
Dragon (MGM) Clip Format: MOV Resolution: 320x240 File Size: 248 KB
Fantasmic Finale (MGM) Clip Format: ??? Resolution: ??? File Size: ???

FANTASMIC!