Extinct Attractions - Disney Classics: The Music & The Magic

Welcome to Extinct Attractions. This week, I took a look back at an attraction all about Disney Animated Classics with another one right around the corner.

In just a couple of weeks, Zootopia 2 will hit theaters as the fourth sequel to a Disney Animated Classic in the past seven years after just one in the first 80 years of Disney Feature Animation. But can you blame them when they all grossed well at the box office with Zootopia 2 looking like it’ll fit right into that trend as the first animated movie in months? The franchise of Zootopia has worked its way into the Disney Parks with an entire land at Shanghai Disneyland as well as the brand new show at Disney’s Animal Kingdom that debuted this past week. Surprisingly, there were no plans announced to add anything related to it to the expansion at Walt Disney Studios Park, even with some areas dedicated directly to animation.

Via ED92 

But today, I took a look at Walt Disney Studios Park’s sister park - Disneyland Park, which was celebrating its 5th anniversary in 1997 and looking for a show to add to its Videopolis Theater. Luckily, they knew just where to look, Tokyo Disneyland, adapting its show, Feel the Magic, in the place of their abbreviated version of Beauty and the Beast. 

Disney Classics: The Music & The Magic debuted in 1997 and included characters and songs from a ton of Disney Animated Classics, ironic since the park’s Disney Classics Parade had closed the prior year (but did make a lot of costumes available). 

You knew the show meant business when the curtain rose and Mickey was there with a full crew of backup dancers. There was no time to waste, with a walkaround Lumiere popping in next to introduce guests with a rousing rendition of “Be Our Guest.” But Disney Classics couldn’t dilly dally, so after just a few verses, the Genie got his chance to perform “Friend Like Me” much to the delight of the crowd. And then to prove the 1990s didn’t have a stranglehold on great songs (but that Howard Ashman and Alan Menken did), Sebastian appeared to sing “Under the Sea” in a walkaround outfit unlike any that I had ever seen.

Via YouTube 

Things couldn’t stay all fine and dandy, though, with Cruella De Vil crashing the party with her car rolling onto stage before Baloo hit the stage in an amazing getup of some giant sunglasses to lighten things up with a stirring rendition of “The Bare Necessities.” He wasn’t alone in the sunglasses game with Timon joining the club to give his take on “Hakuna Matata.”

Things got wild next when Peter Pan showed up to do an entire rap of “You Can Fly.” It gave vibes of the Splash Mountain Rap from back in the day because it was so unexpected and yet really fun? As he was “rapping” up, one of the hippo ballerinas from Fantasia made a little cameo before we were treated to some “Step in Time” action, complete with Mary Poppins literally flying across the stage on her umbrella at the end. 

To close out this whirlwind of cameos, all of which weren’t much more than 30 seconds long, guests were treated to a reprise of “Be Our Guest” with all of the dancers in white suits with white top hats and most of the characters wearing or carrying those same top hats themselves in a fun little touch.

With that song, the show transitioned from being largely in English to primarily in French and changed its structure a bit from the jumping around from song to song for brief snippets to larger form segments that had some set pieces and saw closer to the full song performed.

Via YouTube 

The Little Mermaid was the first movie to join the party with Ariel performing “Part of Your World,” while some wire work allowed her to “swim” around the stage in a move I had never really seen before. Beauty and the Beast also got some more representation when Belle and the Beast appeared in the ballroom to perform a little waltz to the titular song. Up next, Pocahontas made her first appearance doing a dance around the stage to “Colors of the Wind” before Mickey came back to reintroduce the Genie, who used some magic to bring out Aladdin and Jasmine on the flying carpet for “A Whole New World.”

To close things out, guests were treated to an extended sequence of songs from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which played a huge part in the fifth anniversary of the park due to its Parisian connections. The bit started with a bang when Quasimodo emerged from the clock to treat us all to the audio pleasure that is “Out There.” After swinging down on a rope, Quasimodo’s appearance brought the gargoyles to life as well as served as an inspiration for Esmerelda to get in a little dance before Judge Frollo got his chance to shine with the banger that is “Hellfire.” To close things out, we got to see the always fun “Topsy Turvy,” which was made even better with some character appearances and topped off by Mickey in a super fun jester outfit himself.

Surprisingly, the show only lasted for one year before being replaced by Disney Magic Forever in 1998. I thought that Disney Classics was a ton of fun and really entertaining and deserved a bit more time in the park. But sometimes, the best shows disappear quickly and is it really all that shocking with some of the decisions made about early Disneyland Paris?

Via Thunder Dungeon 

As always, don’t forget to check out my interactive maps of the Disney Parks throughout the years where you can watch or learn more about all the attractions from every Disney park around the world.

Thanks for reading and have a magical day!