Mission:Disney 6/18-7/2/04 - Part #34 – Mickey’s Philharmagic

[ehagerty]

Context:

1. Expectations – based on trip reports, I think my expectations for this attraction were too high

2. Viewings – I have only seen this movie once, to date. Historically, sometimes movies grow on me, either because I appreciate subtle elements that I missed the first time and / or it grows on me "sentimentally."

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I remember my reaction to Small World in 1976 - lame – or whatever the current vernacular equivalent was at the time. I couldn’t believe I had waited to ride something so silly. Since that time, we ride IASW about once each vacation. It has become a “sentimental favorite” because I now have memories of watching my young children, from 6 months until about the age of 6 years, gazing with rapt attention at the colorful figures, and simple music – explaining the concept of different countries / cultures. I also view it in context of its development for the 1964 World’s Fair.

What’s my point? I think Philharmagic will fall into this category for me, over time. It is very appropriate for small children (not scary, colorful, familiar Disney characters) and a nice addition to Fantasyland. It will probably grow on me, but it didn’t measure up to my expectations, created by my reading trip reports.

My assessment:

1. Story Line – I understood (from trip reports) the plot to be an amalgam of “Fantasia” (Mickey’s Magic Hat only with Donald Duck and live, out of control musical instruments), Silly Symphonies (Goofy falls down an elevator shaft and Mickey leads an orchestra with dented instruments) with Disney characters from the 90’s animated movies. My challenge – disappointment, if you will – with this aspect of the movie is that the originals were all better on their own and this seemed like a cut-n-paste rehash.

It is as though the brainstorming sessions went something like this:
“Well, creative vision costs money, so let’s throw every idea Disney ever had up in the air. First three we catch, we’ll find a way to make a 3D movie out of it.” It would appear from where I sit, that this movie suffered from too much management (Lets cobble something together with what we already know) and not enough leadership (Let’s go where we’ve never gone before, entertaining the adults as well as the children. Think “Lion King.” Think “Toy Story.”)

Here’s the sad part – the original Silly Symphonies were MUCH better for story line than “Donald’s Silly Fantasia”. I only know of these two I am about to describe because they happened to be at the end of either “Willie the Whale” or “Peter and the Wolf” VHS tapes I have – I’m sure they were included to be “filler” add ons for a short feature. SS#1 followed the relationship of warring islands of instruments – mainly strings and horns – as the Prince Saxaphone and Princess Violin attempt to overcome the disapproval, and subsequent war, between their parents. SS#2 had to do with Mickey leading an orchestra – only Goofy dents all the instruments, so Mickey ends up leading an orchestra, playing a formal piece, using non-instruments – kind of jazzy “STOMP” (Jammitors). When I first saw these in the early 1990’s, I was amazed how simple and clever they were – especially for the 1930’s.

When I first saw Mickey’s Philharmagic in 2004, I was not amazed, because, for me, it felt like leftovers, albeit, with lovely graphics and charming characters.

2. 4D effects – Now that we have been experiencing the clever inclusion of 4D effects in HISTA and ITTBAB for years, a whiff of apple pie and some bubbles seem rather tame / limited. Again, this may well be in deference to not scaring the intended primary audience of Fantasyland, young kids. That’s probably a good idea. Presuming you couldn’t think of any great effects that would be fun without being scary. Still, most of us are comparing it to all the other 3D movies we’ve seen, and this one seems limited in this arena.

3. Perspective – I still think the cleverest 3D/4D movie is HISTA. Not only does it use all 3D and 4D effect to maximum effect, but you change perspective, with shrinking and enlarging. It’s that “transporting out of reality” challenge, met very well. I recall another trip reporter documenting that, while in this movie, when the audience is “shrunk,” hearing a young child (about 5) wailing “Oh, NO!” You don’t have to worry (or have fun with, depending on your perspective) about knowing exactly where you are in MP.

I didn’t realize how much of a touchstone “The Christmas Story” movie was, but for the 3rd time this report…….
As I was leaving the theater, I felt like Ralphie when he finally completed translating the secret, Little Orphan Annie, message with his new decoder ring…

Summary: MP is a cheerful, colorful 3D movie, loaded with lovable, Disney favorite characters and their associated music. It is a great addition to Fantasyland, providing a 3D movie that won’t scare the pants off young children. I predict it will be a sentimental favorite in no time, even with me, once I get past my own ideas of what they COULD have done with the opportunity.

Now that your expectations are aligned, hopefully you will LOVE it.

 

[Minniespal]

Thanx for sharing.