Opening Ceremony for the "Moteurs…Action!" at Walt Disney Studios Park
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The start of the show saw the movie’s stunt co-ordinator and director arriving into the middle of the set to introduce the movie to the awaiting audience. Instead of moving straight into the Ballet sequence, as is the norm for the show, the director yelled “action!�? as several radio-controlled toy cars sped into the arena, followed by a miniature helicopter with a side-mounted video camera providing live feeds of the action. This was not what the director was expecting! However, just as the director was trying to send the toys away, a full size helicopter flew into the arena, dropping the hero of the movie into the set.

As the stuntman was being introduced to the audience, a MPV silently cruised into the set and unloaded its personnel, including Remy Julienne and Roger Moore, star of ABC’s hit drama, Alias and of course numerous Bond movies. Moore had worked with Julienne on several of his projects and he observed, “Bond was nothing without Remy�?. Both were bundled back into the MPV and brought to the stadium to watch the ensuing action scenes. Throughout this display, I had been sitting patiently in a director’s chair at the front of the stadium. Little did I expect that Julienne and Moore would fill the two empty seats next to me! It was a great pleasure to watch the first two scenes with live commentary from both of these famous individuals. It also transpired that the additional “extras�? were members of the show’s cast, crew and stuntmen who were not working this show. Courtesy of the producers, I was chosen as the only non-cast member to be involved in the show’s proceedings.

As the ballet scene concluded, we were bundled into the MPV and taken onto the “hot set�?. Extras in this show are portrayed as shoppers in the village’s marketplace as the motorcycles in Scene II hunt down the hero. As the action unfolds, the extras are supposed to act frightened and begin to run away from the Town Square. Although far from the most strenuous and taxing of activities, my short supporting role was enjoyable and it was interesting to watch the action unfold with the packed stadium in the background. It was a totally different perspective to that of the ordinary spectator and the perception of the essential split-second timing was even more acute.

As Scene III unfolded, it became evident that the producers had been able to tighten the show’s running and the amazing finale was precision-perfect and featured the fireball that Imagineers had fought so hard to be included. The whole stadium erupted in enthusiastic cheers and rapturous applause at the conclusion, as the cast and crew gathered in the centre of the set to congratulate and high-five each other.

Moteurs…Action! is the real star attraction at the Studios. The show is destined to become the “must-see�? show at the new park. The Stunt Show Spectacular is testimony to the fact that WDI is still willing to take risks and experiment with new creative partners and is still capable of creating top-notch & novel entertainment.

In the next update, I will be covering the Art of Disney Animation Inauguration with Roy Disney and Andreas Deja and the Disney Legends ceremony.

The "hero" arrives in a unique way for the inauguration
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