Welcome to Extinct Attractions. This week we’ll be visiting the wild frontiers of yesteryear with an attraction that felt a little out of place, but ultimately felt very at home in the Disney pantheon of attractions.
Yesterday, Walt Disney Studios Park celebrated its twentieth year of existence, with some fanfare, though not to the point that we’ve seen with other park celebrations over the years. The resort itself is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary this year, so more of the attention is focused on that larger event, especially with Avengers Campus coming soon to the sister park.
To get in the spirit of the celebration, I’ll continue looking at Disneyland Paris attractions for the next few articles right through the actual anniversary on April 12, with today’s choice being the first show in Frontierland.
When Euro Disneyland first opened, there were plenty of issues, but one area that I feel that they had really figured out was Frontierland with their fictional town of Thunder Mesa serving as the perfect backdrop for the slightly creepy Phantom Manor (Haunted Mansion) and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. On top of having a perfect unifying backdrop for the attractions, the Imagineers also created what are arguably the two best versions of those attractions across all the parks. Based on my time at the park as well as the domestic parks, I would definitely agree that the Parisian versions are the best versions that I have experienced.
All that being said, the rest of the park was still struggling quite a lot, so Michael Eisner advised the crew to basically pump as much money into the park to try and get more visitors to see the beauty of Disneyland Paris. So even with Frontierland being the one part of the park actually working, the Chaparral Stage was constructed and Hill Billy Hoedown opened there in 1994.
On the surface, it seems like the show would be pretty similar to Billy Hill and the Hillbillies, but Hill Billy Hoedown trended more towards a traditional country music show, with the main band playing classic country songs without too much humor thrown in. However, there was one wrinkle. All kinds of Disney characters appeared in the show from mainstains like Chip and Dale to the King of the WIld Frontier himself, Davy Crockett. All of these characters helped get the crowd engaged and even brought up guests to dance on the stage along with all of the dancers. Along the way, the band sang primarily in English, while Davy Crockett and some characters spoke French. Together, the show was another prime example of the Fringlish that the shows at Disneyland Paris are known for.
Via YouTube
To me, the most fascinating part of the entire show was that Br’er Bear and a few of the Country Bears made appearances in the show. Now this wouldn’t have been weird at any of the other Disney Resorts open around the world at the time, but Disneyland Paris was very different from Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and Tokyo Disneyland in a pretty notable way: the park did not have a version of Splash Mountain or the Country Bear Jamboree.
I have to admit, it was a pretty big power move to include characters from attractions that not many guests would be familiar with. However, it is kind of a shrewd move because it provided an extra draw to the show to give guests the chance to see characters they could only see internationally.
Alas, none of these choices erased the fact that this show was a pretty odd choice for a park in the middle of Europe. It was just so Americanized and part of the early problems with the park were its true Americanization, so bringing in an attraction that so glorified it was definitely an interesting choice. All that being said, I still thought that the show was a lot of fun and I definitely would like a version of it in Disneyland today.
Hill Billy Hoedown ultimately closed after barely a year in 1995. The next year Pocahontas Le Spectacle opened in its place and while its predecessor was fun, the new show rocked and was a very worthy successor, especially tying into one of the newest Disney Animation films. Even so, I’m sure we all miss the days when live entertainment ran amok through the Disney Parks.
Via Wattpad
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!