Main Street Electrical Parade

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Main Street Electrical Parade
Locations, openings and status
Disneyland June 17, 1972
General Electric Closed November 25, 1996
Magic Kingdom June 11, 1977
Closed April 1, 2001
Tokyo Disneyland March 9, 1985
Unisys "Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: DreamLights"
Disneyland Park (Paris) April 12, 1992
Closed
Disney's California Adventure July 3, 2001
Sylvania Open

The Main Street Electrical Parade is a regularly-scheduled parade, created by Bob Jani, that is most famous for its long run at Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort most summers between 1972-1975, 1977-1982, and 1984-1996. It features floats and live performers covered in thousands of electronically-controlled lights and a synchronized soundtrack triggered by radio control along key areas of the parade route. The parade was also spun-off many other versions that ran or continue to run at Disney parks around the world.

Contents

[edit] Origin

The predecessor to the Main Street Electrical Parade is the Electrical Water Pageant, a show made up of seven 25-foot (7.6 m) tall screens with electrical lights placed on them. The screens are placed on a string of seven barges which travel around the Seven Seas Lagoon just in front of the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort, beginning at 9pm at Disney's Polynesian Resort, or immediately after the fireworks if they are scheduled for 9pm. The Electrical Water Pageant still shows today. The Electrical Water Pageant has been showing since October 26, 1971, just weeks after the Walt Disney World Resort opened.

Main Street Electrical Parade 1995
Enlarge
Main Street Electrical Parade 1995

The Main Street Electrical Parade had counterparts of the same name and layout at the Magic Kingdom which ran from 1977 to 1991 when it was replaced by a similar parade called SpectroMagic. From 1999 to 2001, the original Disneyland parade also appeared at the Magic Kingdom, before returning to Disneyland for the final run. In 1992, the parade from the Magic Kingdom went to Disneyland Paris and ran from 1992 to 2003, when it was replaced by Fantillusion, a nighttime parade from Tokyo Disneyland, which had earlier replaced the Tokyo version of the Main Street Electrical Parade. Tokyo Disneyland's current Electrical Parade, Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: DreamLights was a return to the style of the original updated with new music and floats.

In 1972, when the Main Street Electrical Parade debuted, the engineers who helped create the parade also created the first show-control program in existence. This allowed the 2000-foot long parade route to contain multiple radio-activated "trigger zones". Using radio-activated triggers as each float entered a new zone, the audience would hear float-specific music through the Disneyland audio system. Each zone was between 70-100 feet long, and the zoned system meant that every person along the parade route would experience the same show, no matter where they stood along that route. [1] Until 1977, almost all of the floats were 2D and had to be pulled or pushed along the parade route. The Blue Fairy float was the only 3D float, and ran until closing. A 3D "Chinese Dragon" float was added later on.

The Main Street Electrical Parade was so popular that light bulbs certified as having been part of the show were sold to collectors. The 2001 opening of Disney's California Adventure immediately across from Disneyland proved to be the perfect venue for resurrecting the original parade, now titled simply Disney's Electrical Parade since Disney's California Adventure has no "Main Street, USA." The floats were from the original Disneyland parade (sans Pinocchio segment), which ran at the Magic Kingdom afterwards for a short two-year run, and was returned to Anaheim to help bring in crowds at the new park. The parade has been running year-round since July 2001 except on off-season evenings when the park closes at 6:00pm. The costumes and floats were used in the Walt Disney World version starting in 1999 and were shipped to the Southern California facility after the show's run ended. It finished its 9-month hiatus during the 2005 off-season at the Disneyland Resort, which allowed all of the floats to get new lights, and for the drum to say "Disney's Electrical Parade, Presented by Sylvania". The parade has run nearly every night since its opening, except for late 2001 through early 2003, when tourism was down from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

[edit] Music

The Main Street Electrical Parade's underlying theme song is entitled "Baroque Hoedown." The original version was created in 1967 by early synthesizer pioneers Jean-Jacques Perrey and Gershon Kingsley. Originally, the parade's soundtrack had the same themes as the current recording, but was a different arrangement by Jim Christensen and Paul Beaver. In 1977 it was updated and arranged by electronic music artist Don Dorsey and Jack Wagner at Jack Wagner Studio, which is still used today.

The soundtrack to the parade has been released numerous times, here are a few releases that contain the multiple versions of the parade:

Don Dorsey used the following sythesizers to create the soundtrack: Moog Model III, Mini-Moog, Steiner-Parker synthesizer, Oberheim 8-voice, Prophet 5, Fender Rhodes, Synclavier II, Bode Vocoder, Roland Super Jupiter, Yamaha DX-7 and TX-7.

Jack Wagner was the voice that was synthesized for the intro and outro to the parade, until Don Dorsey took over after Wagner passed away, as noted by Dorsey in a documentary about the parade: "From One Lightbulb To Another".

[edit] Remixes

A remix of the Electrical Parade (called the Retro Future Remix) was released on Dance Dance Revolution Disney Mix, and contains audio resamplings from the Apollo 8 reading of Genesis.

In Japan, Walt Disney Records released a CD called DJ Digs Main Street Electrical Parade which featured the theme music remixed by Japanese DJs.

In 1998, a Disney Tribute Album entitled We Love Mickey ~Happy 70th Anniversary (Walt Disney Records), featuring covers of Disney songs by Japanese artists, included a remake by The Eccentric Opera. The track uses samples from Dorsey's arrangement and Snow White. Lyrics are from from an unknown source.

[edit] Trivia

  • The drive vehicles for the smaller units have four wheels and are called "whirlybugs". When they spin, the front and back wheels turn sideways while the side wheels stay straight.
  • The lighted costumes that parade performers wear cost about five to six thousand dollars to make, many lights and fabrics were imported from France.
  • If a parade float breaks down, a small tractor is used to pull the float to the end of the route.
  • During its run at Disneyland, the parade was put on hold so two other parades could be shown. America on Parade was shown from 1975 through 1976, and Flights of Fantasy Parade was shown from 1983 through 1984.
  • A new version of the Electric Parade was being worked on for debut in the year 2000, but the project was cancelled for unknown reasons.

[edit] Show facts

Disney's Electrical Parade at Disney's California Adventure.
Enlarge
Disney's Electrical Parade at Disney's California Adventure.
Disney's California Adventure park
Disneyland's 50th Anniversary

Year of a Million Dreams
Hollywood Pictures Backlot
"a bug's land"
Bountiful Valley Farm
Flik's Fun Fair
Golden State
Condor Flats
The Bay Area
Golden Vine Winery
  • Seasons of the Vine
Grizzly Peak Recreation Area

featuring the Magic of Brother Bear
Pacific Wharf
Paradise Pier
Entertainment

[edit] Disneyland Resort

[edit] Main Street Electrical Parade

[edit] Floats

[edit] Light Magic

[edit] Disney's Electrical Parade

[edit] Floats

[edit] Walt Disney World Resort

[edit] Main Street Electrical Parade

[edit] Floats

[edit] SpectroMagic

[edit] Tokyo Disney Resort

[edit] Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade

[edit] Floats

[edit] Fantillusion

[edit] Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: DreamLights

  • Park: Tokyo Disneyland
  • Original Run: June 1, 2001 - Present
  • Sponsor: Nihon Unisys, Ltd.

[edit] Floats

[edit] Disneyland Resort Paris

[edit] Main Street Electrical Parade

[edit] Floats

[edit] Fantillusion

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Article describing the creation of MSEP audio technology
  2. ^ Siemens 2005. "The Sylvania lighting division of Siemens will sponsor Disney-MGM Studio's holiday light show — "Osborne Family Spectacle of show Lights," as well as "Disney's Electrical Parade" and "Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams" at Disneyland Resort in California." http://www.sylvania.com/AboutUs/Pressxpress/Innovation/LightingNews%28US%29/USLIGHTINGNEWS0106.htm
  3. ^ Siemens 2006. "The Sylvania lighting division of Siemens will sponsor Disney-MGM Studio's holiday light show — "Osborne Family Spectacle of show Lights," as well as "Disney's Electrical Parade" and "Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams" at Disneyland Resort in California." http://www.sea.siemens.com/automat/GOAmerica/Archive/2006%20March.pdf


Attractions at Magic Kingdom style parks
Main Street, U.S.A.: The Dapper Dans | Disneyland Railroad | Disney in the Stars | Disney on Parade | Fantasy in the Sky |
Main Street Electrical Parade | Remember... Dreams Come True | Walt Disney World Railroad | Wishes | World Bazaar
Fantasyland: Cinderella Castle | Dumbo Flying Elephants | King Arthur Carrousel | Mad Tea Party | The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh | Matterhorn Bobsleds | Mickey's PhilharMagic |
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride | Peter Pan's Flight | Pinocchio's Daring Journey | Skyway | Sleeping Beauty Castle | Snow White's Scary Adventures | "it's a small world"
Tomorrowland: Adventure Thru Inner Space | America Sings | Autopia | Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters | Captain EO | Carousel of Progress | Delta Dreamflight |
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage | Honey, I Shrunk the Audience | If You Had Wings | Innoventions | PeopleMover/Tomorrowland Transit Authority | Magic Journeys |
Rocket Jets/Astro Orbitor | Rocket Rods | Space Mountain | Star Tours | Stitch's Great Escape! | The Timekeeper
Frontierland/Critter Country: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad | Country Bear Jamboree | Pinewood Indians | Splash Mountain | Rivers of America
Adventureland: Indiana Jones Adventure | Jungle Cruise | Raging Spirits | Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room
Liberty Square/New Orleans Square: The Haunted Mansion | Rivers of America | Pirates of the Caribbean
Other: Club 33 | Fantasmic! | Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin
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