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“Some imagination, huh?”

 fortherock, Flickr (license)

Image: fortherock, Flickr (license)

The Mickey Mouse of Walt Disney’s early cartoons was a mischievous prankster, always out to pull one over on someone without worrying about being particularly nice. Even in his most high profile film role, the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, he can’t help but disobey Yensid’s instructions and flood the cold wizard’s chambers.

But over the years, Mickey’s image and personality have softened quite a lot. As he’s become the corporate mascot of The Walt Disney Company, the unique personality that Mickey had fell somewhat by the wayside.

And so, if you took that pleasant, non-threatening corporate mascot and made him the main character of a stage show, it might seem like such a show would be destined for failure. Most of all, if the show finished with said mascot complimenting his own creative capacity, you might think it’d be hard not to laugh.

Yet, the finale of Fantasmic features such a moment, with Mickey Mouse alone on stage celebrating his victory over the assembled villains. After conducting an orchestra of fireworks, Mickey appears at the front of the stage and says confidently, “Some imagination, huh?” Without the preceding half hour of context, that might seem like a boastful bit of corporate self-congratulations. But coming at the end of the masterful creation that is Fantasmic, the audience can’t help but agree with the big cheese. Fantasmic always ends with the roar of the crowd — not because Mickey says his final line, but because he’s correct when he says it.

 
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Comments

Although the finale (starring two white males) of The American Adventure does get a bit cringy, the show has always felt right. It doesn't hesitate to put the spotlight on America's shortcomings as well as its strengths. The theme song is one of the best in all of Disney-- hearing those eight first instrumental notes of the intro always turns my heart into mush, and seeing the curtain raise, showing the silhouettes of the personifications of virtue in the theater is a touching moment. However, since the election of The Donald, I have been unable to bring myself to go in and see the show. I will wait until a functioning adult occupies the nation's highest office before I can once again enjoy it.

A good follow-up article might be Disney moments that started cheesy and never got any better. I'll start-- the now-extinct Ellen animatronic in Ellen's Energy Adventure. Oof.

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