voyage of the little Mermaid/live actors?

[tassie42]

My family was wondering if there are actors in the little mermaid show or are they puppets or just images on the screen?
I had just assumed they were actors but then I realized the show runs continously doesn't it?

 

[tcfdick]

There are live actors working the puppets on the stage.

 

[chamonix]

There are live actors--just a few, (just 2 as I recall?) but I am sure "real" humans operate some of the "puppets" too. It's not exactly "continuous" and they probably switch out performers throughout the day. It's not exactly a high energy performance for the actors--it may be hard to be "on", but there isn't tons of active dancing or singing, lifting, etc. Remember, Ariel is a mermaid, she can't walk around or anything! The actors only appear for a short time. Most of the dancing is done by the "puppets." I think the singing is lip synched too. It's a fun show though, don't miss it!

 

[CamColt]

This may spoil the magic so dont read any further if you dont want to know.

If you sit up close to the stage you can actually see the people on stage controlling the puppets. I was always under the assumption there were people below the stage or in back or something, but they are actually right up there, just dressed in black. It was pretty cool to see. But yes, Ariel & Eric are real.

 

[Fantasmic303]

My friend auditioned to be Ariel a couple years ago. She got called back a couple times, too, but ended up being too short for it. Even though VotLM is one of my favorite shows, it's gotten tougher to accept every Ariel who isn't Amy now!!

 

[Samirella]

Originally posted by chamonix
I think the singing is lip synched too. It's a fun show though, don't miss it!

I can assure you, Ariel sings live.

 

[jade1]

Yes, I have heard its live also and in all the times I have gone, I have never seen anything to appear otherwise.

 

[dgaston]

Has anyone who's been recently noticed how the laser effects are working? At Christmas, it seemed they were less robust than I remembered. Or maybe that's part of this "getting older" thing.

 

[chamonix]

thanks for letting me know about the lipsynch thing. I wasn't sure, it's hard to tell when you are there, but I thought that the voices of various Ariel's would be the hardest to reproduce all the time--since that's oneof the reasons why face characters don't speak, right? Anyway, it did seem odd that it would be synched since it also obviously wasn't the movie version of the songs.
(It was very good though!)

 

[WDSearcher]

Face characters speak. All of them. Villians and princesses alike. How much they speak depends on the circumstances, but they can and do speak.

As for VOTLM ... Ariel sings live. The puppets are black-light puppets, and the puppeteers are dressed all in black, with black hoods and gloves so that they can't be seen under the blacklight. The concept was first used by a Canadian group called "The Famous People Players."

 

[gallaj0]

Back when we first saw the show, there was no anouncement not to videotape so I went ahead and taped it, from right up front;my camera had the "nightvision" where it sends out an infrared light and a flter to see in the dark. I couldn't see the people running the puppets, but when it got dark, I unknowingly turned on the nightvision, and there were about a dozen people, all dressed in black like ninjas, running around the stage .

It was pretty funny, and unfortunately ruined what would have been a spectacular video.

 

[DisneyMin]

They don't lip synch,,at least not the 2 times i've seen it. We were there just last week,and Ariel was a measure or 2 behind for most of the song. then she'd catch up,,then she'd be a measure behind. Maybe she was new? Eric is also real,,they have people in black suits that are very hard to see operating the puppets,,its cool,and i wonder how they do it without tripping over eachother!! its a neat attraction.

 

[chamonix]

wdsearcher wrote

Face characters speak. All of them.

Oh, duh! of course they do! Sorry, I was out to lunch on that one, LOL! It's the characters who don't speak! Sheesh, how could I get that mixed up?

edited to add, probably because dd won't go within a mile of a face character, I don't get to "hang out" with them very often. She's terrified of all face characters and she won't talk to them at all--she hides behind me whenever she sees one nearby! Poor thing! (but I do know they talk)