6/15: Glow Beats Color

[AliKzam]

If a stray fountain is going to spray me like a firehose anytime during the show, I of course would want to buy new clothes at a shop on Paradise Pier, but I would expect them to throw in the dry underwear for free. Just saying.
I personally love the villains sequence of WoC. The music becomes a little bit metal and trippy and the overall effect is just thrilling. If WDI wants to retool the show and the villains sequence, I'm fine with that. In fact, I would love for them to do a director's cut of the show next summer, but for everyone. I would think it completely fair if D23 got to see it first, with regular shows for everyone for the rest of the summer.
The subject of availability, I think, is the real reason Glowfest scored higher than WoC. Not everyone got to see WoC, but anyone could go to Glowfest. It makes the most sense. During the Food and Wine Festival, I didn't want to drop down $50+ to watch someone cook, but I loved the tapas counter in Stage 15 (?) because, even though I still had to pay for it, I felt like it was something I got to participate in without any stipulations. Sure, you have to pay for your glowing drinks, but you don't need a fastpass from the beginning of the day to walk in and listen to the music.

[DubiousEndeavors]

I have only issue that families are really not going to feel comfortable.

This is true, but there isnt much back in the backlot for families with young kids to do, other than Monster's Inc. This, I think, is part of the reason for the choice of location.

I wish that it was over at Condor Flats, which doesn't have much of a theme normally.

I agree with this also, but Condor Flats is a corridor to another land, where the Backlot is a dead end. If they are expecting the crowds they think they are, I would be really upset if I was staying at the Grand Californian and I had to take the long way around to get out the side gate.

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

This Debater's Review: Meh

Fantasmic, with boats and ships, live actors and a cohesive storyline about Mickey using his imagination to defeat evil does a much better job of tying the characters together.

This was like a series of cameos, and they're not even all animation movies, Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow is thrown in there, too.

Nice fountains, but did Disney contract out the story or who wrote this show?

I'll give it a B-.

^ Must have seen a different show than all of us.

No, I didn't think it was as good as Fantasmic!

It is certainly dazzling eye candy. But this particular version has an empty spot where it's heart should have been.

Steve Davison at his best not only thrills you but also can bring a tear to your eye. Despite the crowd control problems it creates with its Castle centric presentation, I still see people get misty-eyed whenever they run the 50th anniversary fireworks at Disneyland. The carefully chosen soundtrack excerpts from the attractions, and lush orchestral arrangements of classic Disney melodies not only make for a slick show, but a heart tugging experience too. World of Color has lots of pretty scenes, and a few "how did they do that" moments. But since it doesn't build thematically (because everything is so jumbled) it's not something that stays with you for any time afterwards. It's especially disappointing after having followed all of Davison's presentations leading up to it. It's painfully obvious that he didn't get to deliver what he had been carefully working so hard on these past few years.

The good thing is that this versatile show system allows for ongoing changes to the program. We can probably expect holiday shows for example, and continued tweaking of the current presentation. Who knows, maybe even D23 could offer a private director's cut of the show for its members since all the elements already exist. One glaring missed opportunity; not using the Mickey on the Ferris wheel, it wouldn't have been that hard to animate his eyes and mouth via projections.

I agree wholeheartedly, Al.

[Indiana Joe]

I went in to WOC not expecting a story, but a giant spectacle and that is exactly what I got. I loved it and I think I liked it better than Fantasmic. I also loved glowfest and thought the music was fun to dance to. To each their own I guess.

[evmo]

I wish Glow Fest had been going on when I was at the park, sounds like a great place to meet vacationing women looking to make the most of their trip!

As for world of color.....meh. I haven't seen it in person and what I have seen on youtube and such makes me not really care to, especially if waiting is involved. My trips to DLR are way too spaced apart to wait hours for a fountain show. I know I know, seeing it recorded is nothing like seeing it in person blah blah blah, but I'm not impressed by Fantasmic or the firework shows either. I'm content to just be the guy who takes advantage of short wait times while any of these shows are happening.

[Rocker]

I wonder if the lack of story was due to an attempt to make it more 'relevant'? It seems like a natural story line for a show called World of Color would be artist's colors segueing into animation.

Haven't seen it in person yet, but I saw the web premiere. In the intro with Iger, Mickey was toying with the water, I thought it would be great in the actual show to have a live Mickey dressed as an animator with a paint brush conjuring up strokes of color in the fountains. I remember the show Animazement that played it DL, it was great. And the Fun Wheel Mickey could be like the animator looking on, kind of like Bugs Bunny as animator in 'Duck Amuck'. (You can see it on youtube)

Some sequences could be shortened, like Woody and Buzz talking. Johnny Depp's real face doesn't fit with all the animation. Chernabog - it's been done already. And it seems weird that the 'So Close' song opens with Mufasa's dead body. My solution? Take out the whole villains sequence, not every show has to have villains. Maybe they thought that having villains automatically qualifies for a story? I don't know. And I guess they need villains to use the fire effects. And to be more relevant.

I think the villains sequence was in there because every Disney movie has a second act where the villains get thier moment to shine. I think what Disney was trying to do was make like a little three act animated movie (albeit with Pirates).

As for the scale regarding Glowfest and WoC, that is not surprising. Since most of the people who go to these are pretty much ages 18-34, in thier minds they would consider it better than going to a generic bar. I mean, if you were in my age range and you liked to drink, what would you like better? A show or a drink fest? You would rate the drink fest higher. I think it's just human nature.

I was there Sunday night, and regarding the WoC show...I really wasn't all that impressed. Technologically, its well done, but its simply just a collection of Disney songs with no real narrative.

[Aladdin]

I agree with Dusty that Glow Fest is not the same quality as World of Color, but I understand why teens and twenty-somethings love it. I have only issue that families are really not going to feel comfortable.

DL does have Tomorrowland Terrace and the Carnation Dance area near the castle for dancing, but DCA has nothing similar on a permanant basis. Closest thing they had was the now paradise park location for that one summer of concerts. But placing this right in the middle of Hollywood blvd is not the right location. If DCA wants to pursue this type of entertainment, then they need to build an area for dancing.

I can only explain that those with kids are not going to Glow Fest, so they have no opinion on it, but those who go love it.

I have always felt that teens should have a place at Disneyland. I think that Teens should have a place at DCA too, but Glow Fest is so much bigger and ruins the 1930's theme of Hollywood with their florescent colored decorations. I wish that it was over at Condor Flats, which doesn't have much of a theme normally. I think that bright colors during the day would actually make that area better.

AND THAT is likely the reason why it (glow fest) got high ratings. People and families that heard and saw and didn't like it, avoided it. People who were drawn in by the lights and music were drawn in by the light and music decided to go in, and in effect had already approved of Glow Infestation.

SO when the survey takers stopped the crowd, you can bet they asked:

Did you attend WoC?
How would you rate it?

And of course LOTS iof people who went to see WoC likely did have high expectations. But still didn't know if they would like it or not.

THEN the survey takers would also ask:

Did you attend Glow Fest?
How would you rate it?

BUT THIS TIME the results would be skewed, because people who avoided the area because of the lights, sound and overall crowded atmosphere would have said "NO, we didn't go to glow fest", even though the already made a judgement to stay away from it.

AND also people who said "Yes, they did attend glow fest", already had made a decision to attend because they were attracted to the lights and sounds. THEY already signed off on their vote of approval for Glow Fest before they went in.

[DubiousEndeavors]

^^^ i would need to see the raw data of the survey to know that that is accurate. otherwise, it is just speculation.

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

I wish Glow Fest had been going on when I was at the park, sounds like a great place to meet vacationing women looking to make the most of their trip!

As for world of color.....meh. I haven't seen it in person and what I have seen on youtube and such makes me not really care to, especially if waiting is involved. My trips to DLR are way too spaced apart to wait hours for a fountain show. I know I know, seeing it recorded is nothing like seeing it in person blah blah blah, but I'm not impressed by Fantasmic or the firework shows either. I'm content to just be the guy who takes advantage of short wait times while any of these shows are happening.

My two friends and I agreed after seeing it on Sunday, if you are an out of town guest who only had time for one show, it should be Fantasmic. If you have two nights, see Fantasmic and World of Color. But it's kind of sad that a 20?year old show is still better. Besides this new offering not having the pirate ship and Mark Twain and other river craft, it's devoid of live performers. So the animation must be stunning and unbelievable, right? No, a lot of it was wasted "setting up" the characters for their intros. They had so many characters to introduce, they didn't have much time for much else to say. Another improvement would be if they used their short screen time to show their "best performance" reels, ie capture the quintessential moments of Lion King, Nemo, etc.

[Westsider]

The only sentence that bothered me contained your line about "the usual collection of B and C List celebrities." It this case it seemed like a lazy & cruel cliche to bestow on fellow Disney fans who, in some cases (like Teri Hatcher & John Stamos), are both talented & cool about meeting their fans.

What has John Stamos done since Full House went off the air in 1995? He would seem to be the epitome of a C List celebrity, and barely just a notch up the celebrity totem pole from some mop-head kid on an obnoxious Disney Channel show.

Teri Hatcher? She's got more clout than Stamos as an actress on a once popular and now dying 6 year old TV show. According to Wiki, she burst on to the scene playing a mermaid on The Love Boat in '83, and her other claim to fame was as Lois Lane on the Superman TV series in the early 1990's. She's a solid B Lister.

And since Teri Hatcher was the highest ranking and most relevant celebrity at the event (Geena Davis is still alive!), I think classifying it as Al did was being rather kind.

[DubiousEndeavors]

What has John Stamos done since Full House went off the air in 1995?

Successful runs as J. Pierpont Finch in the revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and the Emcee in Cabaret. He recently played the lead in the revival of Bye, Bye, Birdie. It was a bit of a flop, but he is still making a name for himself in New York.

I may be wrong, but didn't he take over for Banderas in Nine also?

[Westsider]

Successful runs as J. Pierpont Finch in the revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and the Emcee in Cabaret. He recently played the lead in the revival of Bye, Bye, Birdie. It was a bit of a flop, but he is still making a name for himself in New York.

Uh, are those Broadway plays? If so, I rest my case.

[DubiousEndeavors]

Uh, are those Broadway plays? If so, I rest my case.

Just so you are aware,

Every actor nominated for "Best Lead Actor in a Play" at the Tony's this year was an A-List celebrity. Jude Law, Alfred Molina, Christopher Walken, and Denzel Washington.

And Scarlett Johanson (sp?) won (debatable) for best featured actress in a play.

Theatre houses celebrities, also.

[WDW1974]

I've almost given up commenting on Al's columns, but figure in the Spirit of summer and WoC, I'll chime in.

(but on a serious note, one must wonder why the columns don't seem to attract the attention and comments they once did ... if this were five years ago, there'd be probably 16 pages of posts now ... not 1 1/2) ... anyway ...

First, Al, if you're going to cheapshot folks at least let them be Disney execs or the fanbois who loathe them. Teri Hatcher happens to be a wonderful woman (I've had the pleasure of knowing) and a talented actress on what is still very much a major hit network drama. She and her daughter love Disney and enjoy showing up, so taking a shot really isn't cool.

Especially, since unlike Bob Iger and Tom Staggs, she took getting wet in good humor. You might have saved a cheap shot for The Weatherman, who looked like a diva who wanted to kill in the video I saw. Or perhaps for pretty boy Tom Staggs, who also didn't take getting wet in stride (great video of George K up his wet arse right after the show ... likely apologizing profusely).

Oh, and John Stamos has had a career. He's been on a little show called ER of late and will be on Glee (I'm sure one of your faves) next year. And even folks like Geena Davis are still B-listers.

Why I am wasting time with this, I'm not really sure.

As to the show, I was scheduled to attend the premiere, but had to stay in Florida due to business that came up 72 hours before, so I can only go off what friends there have told me and my own eyes watching a very low quality live feed tell me.

On those grounds, I tend to agree with you about WoC. It does seem like great tech, but missing important transitions and being rather disjointed. Fantasmic on steroids without the performers, foamheads and setpieces? I still don't see how the masses won't eat it up much like they eat up movies with 'splosions and reality TV ... and this is a much higher quality product anyway.

I do wonder how much The Weatherman's tinkering played a factor. Al has enjoyed taking a shot at execs with no creativity making those decisions in the past ... and I don't see Iger as a creative at all. He's all into technology, platforms and franchises. Steve made it clear the show had a storyline from years ago. Now, it apparently has none ... we know Bob interfered. Coincidence?

Also heard (and haven't been able to confirm) that Davison wasn't happy with the final product and pouted at the premiere, so much so he was seen wearing a 'Little Squirt' button (supposedly others in his posse did as well) and refusing to do post-show press. I don't like to put rumors out there without feeling they are likely true, especially about someone I admire like Steve. But I'd also like to know if anyone saw this or interracted with him post-show ... or even since. Feel free to PM if you don't wish to go live!

I still question the show being created in such a way that it closes one major area of the park (and the one that has the best night time atmosphere) for the entire night and that makes another area into a giant rave party. Steve may create spectacles, but he never seems to care much how OPs has to deal with the messes they leave behind.

As to the whole Glow Fest popularity, well it reminds of a kid on Christmas morning being more interested in the box than what came in it. It just might be all the booze as well.

Since this was outsourced, I'd love to know whether this was a bone George tossed to one of his (or Andy's pals) since they have many friends in the 'arts'.

Anyway, you always provide an interesting read, but I look forward to seeing the show for myself soon (when all those pesky APers are home or at the mall) and judging for myself.

[AliKzam]

John Stamos was also on ER near the end of it's run and he's about to play the dentist that Emma's dating on Glee (per Ausiello on EW.com). So, still relevant.