Extinct Attractions - The Forest of Enchantment: A Disney Musical Adventure
Welcome to Extinct Attractions. This week, I took a look back at a Parisian attraction that celebrated nature with some Disney Characters along the way.
This past weekend, Tron: Ares hit theaters as the latest Disney live-action film. To tie in with the film’s opening, the Tron Lightcycle Power Run in the Magic Kingdom received an overlay with special effects that connect to the film.
Over the years, the Tron franchise has received a lot of love in the theme parks with attractions and overlays at Disneyland, Disney’s California Adventure, Magic Kingdom and Shanghai Disneyland. .
Via Disneyland Paris
Tron is one of the quintessential sci-fi film franchises, but today I decided to shake things up and look the other way at a Disneyland Paris attraction that was focused on the natural beauty of the world as opposed to the technology that drives it.
Opening on February 10, 2016, The Forest of Enchantment: A Disney Musical Adventure took over the famed Chaparral Theater in Frontierland at Disneyland Paris. To tie with the start of the spring, the park added the show which would share time in the theater with For the First Time in Forever, the Frozen sing-along show. With all due respect to Frozen, an entire show about nature is a much better fit for Frontierland.
The video of the show is a fun change of pace because Disney themselves release the video, so the quality is much higher than normal (though there are also some really interesting slow motion choices of people singing).
The stage design was an immediate win, with trees around the back of the stage that were pushed around by the background cast members. Those cast members also helped with the ambiance because they had some really amazing outfits to look like bugs and animals and really gave off the vibes of the musical version of The Lion King. They came together to sing an original song all about the power of believing.
Via YouTube
Pocahontas was the first of the barrage of characters to appear with an actress singing “Colors of the Wind" to a John Smith who looked very perplexed and bewildered for some reason. The actress was a pretty solid singer, enough to keep the background dancers enraptured, that’s for sure.
The Jungle Book was the next movie to find some representation with Baloo kicking things off with a rendition of “Bare Necessities" followed by King Louie and “I Wanna Be Like You." What made the performances so fascinating was that there were some designated singers, who did all the heavy lifting instead of the characters, and I can’t lie it led to some funny and dramatic edits.
Tarzan came on stage with a big roar and rope swing in, which would come in handy when he then climbed up the rope. While one of the singers sang “Son of Man," Tarzan did some Cirque de Soleil style tricks on the vine and it seemed like he was going to get pretty dizzy. With one’s head on a swivel like that, it was kind of a shock to see this giant gorilla head come on stage to represent his family.
Not to be outdone, Rapunzel was next on stage and got to sing herself with a rendition of the reprise of “When Will My Life Begin." After setting the tone, one could see Flynn Rider in the shadows before he emerged to sing a very French-accented duet with Rapunzel while on a cute little log. Unlike many of the other French shows, the Forest of Enchantment stuck to English exclusively throughout.
To close out the show, Merida got the rare chance to make an appearance but without getting to sing herself. This choice made a lot of sense when Merida began shooting arrows, and nailing the bullseye. It was a nice change of pace to see a different character appear and she fit in well when the show closed with a reprise of the original song and all of the characters on stage.
Putting everything together, I thought the show was a lot of fun and moved pretty well. It was a great people eater, though I am a bit confused as to how the nature aspect came through other than cool costumes and set design. It was popular enough to displace Frozen a second time with its second season ending on September 3, 2017 and serving as its final closure with Rhythms of the Pridelands calling the theater home next. It’s always fun to get to see a little different take on a classic Disney formula.
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!