The Script

Through a magical mix of live characters, ultra violet lighting, giant puppets and various special effects, Animagique is a unique, innovative, live show that takes you on a colourful, whimsical journey through Disney animated classics, with the flustered Donald Duck as your unwitting guide!

Production Guide

As you step into the mysterious darkness of the cutting edge Animagique theatre, strange sounds, swirling lights and distant echoes prepare you for the enchanting journey ahead...

The animation duel

It all begins on a normal day at the Walt Disney Studios, as Mickey and Donald continue to do their bit for the animation department by drawing away to their heart's content! But a friendly drawing contest soon turns ugly, with Mickey and Donald drawing faster and faster, more furious every second, to beat each others' work! Seizing the opportunity whilst Mickey takes his lunch break, a jealous Donald steals the key to the Animation Vault, to finally get a look at what's inside and find some dazzling inspiration for his artwork!

The doors slide open... dust swirls around... lights flicker... and there, in front of him, lies the entire back catalogue of Disney movie reels! Before he realises, they've come to life - jumping and bouncing all around him! Next he's taken inside the classics, on a whistle-stop tour through some of Disney's greatest achievements, from The Jungle Book to The Little Mermaid and beyond...

Pink Elephants on parade!

Look out! Look out! Pink elephants on parade! 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 boogie 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!

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.

History

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.

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, similar to the opening scene in Voyage of the Little Mermaid at Disney-MGM Studios. 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.

Studio 3's façade was painted blue in 2006 to match the style of the Toon Studio placemaking project.

© WDS Fans 2006