6. Pirates vs. Pocahontas
Image: Disney (Disneyland)
There is one particular section of Fantasmic that has turned out completely different in all three versions of the show—so much so, that we need to bring Fantasmic Prime (Fantasmic 1.0?) back into the discussion.
In the original version of Fantasmic, following Mickey’s terrifying encounter with Monstro, the Rivers of America burst alight with the sound of cannon-fire. The sailing ship Columbia appears in the midst of a full battle between Peter Pan and Captain Hook. Peter and the Captain fight it out as the ship sails the river while Wendy tries to avoid the pirates. As a nice touch, Captain Hook’s crocodile stalks the ship ready to chomp the Captain’s other hand should he plummet to his doom. It’s a great scene straight out of Disney magic.
In the spirit of bringing Fantasmic up to date, Disneyland made a notable change to this scene for Fantasmic 2.0. Instead of Peter Pan, the scene starts off with Captain Barbossa from Pirates of the Caribbean. Cannons fire, and the sailing ship Columbia appears as before, only this time wreathed in a ghostly light. Captain Jack Sparrow and Barbossa battle their way across the ship’s high riggings while ghost pirates torment Elizabeth by tossing her repeatedly into the air… and I do mean repeatedly. Poor Elizabeth gets launched for what feels like an eternity on that ghostly trampoline.
The scene is definitely pure Disney (thanks to its namesake ride), and there’s every reason why it should work. The problem is that it ultimately doesn’t, mostly due to a cringeworthy vocal track and some weird choreography. Captain Jack suffers from the same issue he does on the ride—overly dramatic quoting of his full name, for example. Even worse, Elizabeth is a shrill—and I mean shrill—imitation of herself. Elizabeth in the films definitely does her shares of screaming, but her completely un-Keira-Knightley-like voice track stretches this tendency into the obnoxious. She wails and screams like an easily startled anime character, even when she’s supposedly speaking. She also does the majority of her scene in a ghastly pink petticoat that we can only assume was adapted from Wendy’s old costume. Let’s just say it’s not Elizabeth’s finest day. Matters are made worse by the pirates’ occasional odd choreography moments, where they wave mops about like they’re trying to summon Mickey’s possessed brooms back.
Still, it could be argued that the Pirates of the Caribbean scene isn’t any worse than Walt Disney World’s alternative—namely since the pirates are gone entirely.
There’s not enough room for a full-sized pirate ship in Walt Disney World's Fantasmic arena, so instead, Disney did the most logical thing possible—they replaced the scene with a sweeping retelling of the full story of the film Pocahontas.
No, it doesn’t make sense, and no, it doesn’t work.
It’s not that Pocahontas doesn’t deserve a place in Fantasmic. There are moments in the film’s segment that are great, especially when the Powhatan tribe arrives on their canoes, as well as during the particularly touching scene where Pocahontas and Jon Smith stand on opposite cliffs reaching out for each other. The issue is that too much of the scene is spent focusing on the settlers led by the detestable Lord Radcliffe. Despite some great stunts, the scene drags too long and spends too much time focused on the settlers and the Powhatans fight rather than on Pocahontas herself. The pirates are sorely missed—a pity, since the arena stage would make for a great setting for an epic pirate battle.
Which version is best? That’s purely a matter of opinion, but most fans trend towards still counting the original Peter Pan scene as their favorite, even if the ghost pirate version still has some cool-factor elements in its favor.
7. Those villains really hate Mickey...
Image: Disney (Walt Disney World)
Who would have thought that villains hated Mickey Mouse so much?
All versions of Fantasmic culminate in the same ultimate showdown—Disney villains decide they’re not having it with Mickey’s happy-go-lucky imagination and decide to take control of his imagination. In both Disneyland versions, this cast of villains is limited to the Evil Queen, Ursula (who used to have a neat animatronic float in the show’s early years), Chernabog from Fantasia, and finally Maleficent. The scene works great and is properly terrifying, particularly during Chernabog’s bit (like seriously, you might have to cover the kids’ eyes), and this smaller cast works just fine in representing the breadth of Disney villain-dom.
In the Walt Disney World version, Mickey doesn’t just tick off a few witches and a mega-demon-- he incurs the wrath of almost every major Disney villain to date. One after another, they appear, fuming with hatred for the magic mouse. The Evil Queen and Ursula are quickly joined by Cruella DeVille, Scar, Frollo, and Jafar, the latter of which transforms into his mega-creepy cobra form to destroy Mickey (in some versions, he moves, which is definitely the stuff of nightmares).
Oh, but wait, there’s more. Hades himself rises from the underworld to join the party, assumedly being the one who summons Chernabog to steal Mickey’s soul. Finally, Maleficent rounds things off to finish the job as she does in the Disneyland versions.
The whole parade is pure mustache-twisting evil, and in some ways it works. It is actually sort of hilarious to see how much the villains loathe Mickey and his do-good ways. However, the extra villains really aren’t necessary—too much of a good thing (or a bad thing?). So many villains appear that you half expect Hans from Frozen to sneeringly pop out to tell Mickey no one loves him and Sid from Toy Story to laugh maniacally while ripping a Mickey plush apart. The additions aren’t terrible—they just creep towards the realm of overkill.
8. A battle of dragons
Image: Disney (Disneyland)
And now we get to it—the biggest and most famous difference between the two versions of Fantasmic. At the climax of the show, Mickey is forced to face Maleficent in her full fury. With shrieks of laughter, Maleficent rises above the crowd to transform into her dragon-self (sometimes called “Murphy” by Disneyland fans because of her frequent penchant for succumbing to Murphy’s Law).
In both Disneyland versions, the appearance of the dragon is one of the most insane moments in any Disney show. The dragon animatronic is enormous, towering above Mickey, and it looks extremely realistic to the dragon’s appearance in Sleeping Beauty, right down to her little bat wings and moving ears. The dragon’s eyes glow, and her mouth shoots realistic fireballs that sets the lake ablaze. The dragon’s motions are so realistic, that when Mickey finally challenges it, the dragon even gives the mouse a quizzical look. Despite a long series of technical issues, Maleficent’ s dragon remains one of Disney’s best animatronics to date.
The Walt Disney World version suffers from the same problem we’ve seen before—bigger is not always better. The dragon in the Walt Disney World version is huge. Unfortunately, instead of copying the design used at Disneyland, in the Walt Disney World version, all of that size goes into the dragon’s head. In essence, the dragon at Walt Disney World is a giant dragon head on a stick with two goofy wings spread out to either side that look like scaffolds with streamers hanging off them.
The whole effect is a staggering disappointment if you’re used to good ol’ Murphy from Disneyland. The dragon just ends up looking kind of silly, despite the attempts to make it look bigger. The dragon’s motions also aren’t as realistic, which also messes with the effect. There’s no doubt—Disneyland wins on the dragon front.
9. Mickey’s victory
Image: Disney (Disneyland)
The epic tale concludes when Mickey reclaims control of his dream and uses the power of his imagination to fight the villains back. In the Walt Disney World version, Mickey summons the power of the waters to drive Maleficent back. He then plucks the sword from the stone and blasts the dragon with magical sparks. Maleficent screams and the villains are overcome by electricity—only because this version included so many more villains, the death scene goes on and on as all of the villains get a good shocking. Indeed, by the time we hear the Evil Queen’s shrieks of agony, it’s hard not to feel like Mickey went full Emperor Palpatine on the pesky ne’er-do-wells before they finally mercifully explode in a hail of sparks. Don’t mess with a dreaming mouse!
The Disneyland version is similar but goes a little smoother, though it still feels just a little bit on the dark side. In the new version, Mickey actually never gets the sword from the stone (an element we actually miss from the other versions), but rather uses his sorcerer’s apprentice magic to blast Maleficent. In similar form to Walt Disney World, the villains are electrocuted, with Maleficent’ s dragon actually starting to disintegrate Thanos-style before she explodes. While this is still a little morbid, the whole process goes a quicker thanks to the smaller cast, which ultimately works better.
10. The happy ending
Image: Simon17964, Flickr (license)
While both versions of Fantasmic end in similar form—with Steamboat Willie Mickey bringing out a full cast of Disney favorites on a steamboat. Disneyland utilizes the Mark Twain, which makes for a somewhat more impressive scene. The Walt Disney World steamboat isn’t quite as large, but the ending is still great.
There is one area where the Walt Disney World version—finally—is able to eek out a lead ahead of Disneyland, and it’s in the show’s final conclusion. While all versions of Fantasmic end with an eye-dazzling display of fireworks and color effects, Fantasmic’s shielded position in the arena at Disney’s Hollywood Studios allows for a wonderfully massive fireworks display at the end of the show. It isn’t as large as the resort’s other fireworks shows, but the scale of the fireworks is noticeably larger than Disneyland, which ends the show with undeniably smiling faces.
All of the versions of Disney’s Fantasmic share a common victory—they are all absolute triumphs of nighttime entertainment. For its little foibles, the show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is still excellent. It falls a little short when compared with both its predecessor and especially against Fantasmic 2.0, but that isn’t to say it’s not an incredible show in its own right. We won’t deny that we hold out hope some of the great updates done at Disneyland will make their way to Florida, but no matter which version we’re talking about, whenever we hear those opening words sing, “Imagination,” our hearts still speed up a little as we take in one of Disney’s greatest achievements of all time.
What is your favorite part of Fantasmic, in any version?
Comments
Amazing article! In general, I've always preferred the original Disneyland version, although I love some of the upgrades done in the 2.0 version, like the Jungle Book/Lion King merger for the jungle sequence and the new Aladdin scenes (I do miss Peter Pan, though; much more fitting than PoC, plus it's my favorite Disney animated film). The only thing that I think WDW does improve upon is the addition of more classic villains (although I can do without the whole Cave of Wonders sequence). My ideal version of the show would be the original Disneyland version (with Peter Pan), plus the new jungle and Aladdin sequences from 2.0 and the villains montage from WDW.