It’s hard to imagine that Disney Parks could ever top its existing line up of live entertainment (Frozen the Musical, Fantasmic, World of Colour, Fireworks, Light Parade, etc.) yet somehow, it has.
Disney Parks has teamed up with the acrobatic geniuses over at Cirque du Soleil to create a live performance that’ll combine animation with flexibility and movement.
It’ll be “unlike any other” show, said Disney Parks’ Chairman Bob Chapek to an audience of 7,000 people at the D23 Expo, including 40 Australian Travel Agents who received one-day passes to the biennial event as part of the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Mega-Fam.
Read on for the full deets of the exciting new show:
HOW DID DISNEY TEAM UP WITH CIRQUE?
Well, apparently it came about after a ‘wish’.
But really, Disney Imagineering and Disney Animation Studios contacted Cirque du Soleil’s Writer and Director, Michel de Lepreise, who was eager to collaborate with the brands.
Speaking at D23, Lepreise explained that immediately after the call, the Cirq team began researching the entertainment company and its extensive animation history in order how to fuse it with acrobats.
“We visited parks, the Walt Disney Family Museum, the Disney Archives and the Disney Animation Studio,” he explained. “We got to sit for hours with animators and we got to watch them work and create,” he continued.
“It was amazing to see the moment when life happens in a drawing and it made us realise that animation is physical like acrobats.”
Michel de Lepreise, Cirque du Soleil Writer & Director
WHAT WILL MAKE THIS SHOW ‘UNLIKE ANY OTHER’
First, it’ll be among the first in Disney Parks to feature acrobats.
Second, it’ll feature acrobatic performance INTERACTING WITH animations. That’s right, all of your faves will be up there performing alongside trapezists, tightrope walkers, jugglers, hoppers, divers and more.
WHAT STORY WILL THE SHOW TELL?
Lepreise wasn’t able to divulge too much information about th story.
ALTHOUGH, he did reveal that it’s about a young girl and her father who was once a Disney animator. He raised her with the Disney characters.
He also said that at the start of the show, there’s a sequence that sends her on a magical journey of self-discovery and animation.
“That’s all I can say,” he added.
WHAT ELSE CAN I EXPECT?
Complete epicness (by the sounds of it).
The collaboration will go beyond the visual and into the musical. Cirque du Soleil’s music will be integrated with Disney themes and melodies so they “trigger memories in our hearts”.
There’ll also be iconic animation moments throughout the show as well as new sequences.
WHEN & WHERE CAN I WATCH IT?
The new show will premier at the Theatre of Disney Springs at Walt Disney World on 20 March 2020 and will make its World Premier on 17 April 2020.