Light Magic

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Light Magic
Disneyland
Opening date May 23, 1997
Closing date September 8, 1997

Light Magic was a parade/street show at Disneyland that ran for less than three months in 1997. It was originally billed as a replacement for the venerable 24-year-old Main Street Electrical Parade.

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[edit] Synopsis

Light Magic was a "streetacular," with floats moving into two performance zones, one located at the Small World Mall, the other on Main Street. Upon reaching the performance zones, the floats would stop and the pixie characters, who were the focus of the show, would awaken to perform step-dancing routines for the audience, later being joined by Disney characters and audience members. During the performance segment, a portion of each of the floats would open to reveal a screen upon which images were projected from equipment hidden in the surrounding buildings. As part of the grand finale, the fairies would use their 'magic' to throw pixie dust, lighting up the buildings with a shower of twinkling lights provided by fiber optics embedded in the structures.

Light Magic's music was very Celtic-influenced, and some of the songs in the show included but were not limited to:

[edit] Criticism of Light Magic

[edit] Annual Passholder premiere

Light Magic had a difficult role to fill as The Main Street Electrical Parade had been a favorite at Disneyland for over 20 years. Expectations and apprehensions were both high as Light Magic made its debut at a private event for Disneyland Annual Passholders. The premiere night did not go well as technical problems came up with aligning the floats with the projectors, sound equipment failures and missed cues.

Annual Passholders are known for being both the most ardent supporters of Disneyland, while at the same time being its harshest critics. The response to the poor performance of Light Magic's debut was very negative. In response, Disneyland stated that the Annual Passholder night was not truly a debut but was a dress-rehearsal. This did not sit well with the Annual Passholders who had paid a premium price to attend the event under the impression, based on all of the information that had been distributed, that they would be the first to see the finished product, not a test audience with which to work out the bugs. Word of mouth reports quickly spread that Light Magic was not worth seeing, even earning the nickname Light Tragic.

[edit] General public response

Light Magic played for the remainder of the summer season in 1997 with the majority of the response from the public ranging from lackluster to complete dislike. Many fans of the Main Street Electrical Parade regarded Light Magic as an unworthy replacement.

Disney announced that Light Magic would be on hiatus until the year 2000, but 2000 came (and went) without any indication of Light Magic returning.

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Three towers constructed on Small World Mall for sound and lighting technician use in Light Magic are still standing. Two currently serve no explicit purpose, but their exterior façades are still maintained. One has been returned to service as a projection tower for Remember... Dreams Come True.
  • Was originally called Tinker Bell's Light Magic because it was created around Tinker Bell and was supposed to have had mechanical flying Tinker Bell for the finale. However the mechanical Tinker Bell effect was dropped due to Disney's lawyers.[citation needed]

Disneyland made many changes to basic infrastructure in preparing for Light Magic. Because the show platforms were so large and heavy,("Disney describes the 55,000-pound, 80-foot-long behemoths as 'rolling stages,'") - Source OC Register May 23, 1997 - the painted asphalt along the parade route was replaced with concrete. Also the plaza area in front of It's a Small World was widened and terraced for parade viewing. Because of the crowded conditions for guests during the final months that The Main Street Electrical Parade was run at Disneyland, there was also a walkway that was added parallel to the Small World Plaza area to allow guests to move in and out of ToonTown while the parade was performing.

[edit] Soundtrack

Baroque Hoedown was incorporated into the finale of Light Magic.

A partial soundtrack for the show can be found on:

[edit] Production

  • Produced by Bruce Healey
  • Engineered and Mixed by Paul Freeman
  • Announcer: Randy Crenshaw
  • Dream Our Dreams Opening Play On (Vocals by Ellis Hall)
  • Dream Our Dreams (Vocals by Richard Page)

[edit] Show facts

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