Forever Magical
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July: The NFFC Convention

Illuminations 2000: Reflections of Earth

As I have mentioned in previous articles attending the NFFC Convention in July offers lots of wonderful opportunities to Disney fans. My most unforgettable Disney moment of 2000 occurred at the NFFC’s banquet. I am a fan of "Believe…There’s Magic in the Stars" as well as Walt Disney World’s Illuminations 2000 and Tapestry of Nations. Doobie and I played the soundtrack to Illuminations nearly every day for months after hearing the score during our 1999 visit. The melody is a rousing anthem of the human spirit and hope for the future. The lyrics of the performance’s chorus cement these feelings saying “We Go On”. I found Illluminations a truly moving experience and at the Final Banquet its creators Gavin Greenaway (composer) and Don Dorsey (show producer) were scheduled to speak as was Steven Davison. While Steven spoke first but I’ll address his presentation later. Both Gavin and Don shared the challenges and triumphs of creating these amazing shows. Gavin focused on the orchestration and shared clips from the orchestra’s recording sessions. Don described the pyrotechnic aspects of Illumination.

But back to Steven Davison….Steven exploded onto the stage. He just bounced out there with energy and excitement which reflected how I felt, too. He began his presentation by explaining that he didn’t find firework shows very interesting. And so rather than discuss the facts he was going to pass along the heart of “Believe”. The following is from that discussion.

It began with the theme song which he listened to over and over again and developed a story. He wanted to use fireworks to paint this story. It is the tale of a little boy that lived in the country while he was growing up. He would often go out to a small hill and daydream. Sometimes his mother would come out there and read him stories. One day they were there until the stars came out and he and his mother looked into the stars. They connected them to form shapes in the sky. Suddenly a single star shot across star and his mother as all good parents do declared it a wishing star. And so the boy makes a wish. Years later he learns they have to move to the city. His mother suggests that he go back out to his hill to say goodbye. While he is out there he waits for his shooting star and sure enough it bolts across the sky and once again the boy wishes, “I wish I never had to leave this magical place.” The star then travels down to him but it isn’t a star but Tinker Bell who decides to grant him his wish but not that way he expected. Rather than create a magical castle he can move into and live happily ever after she gathers stardust and paints his childhood images of adventure and fantasy in the sky. As he says goodbye to his hill he realizes that he never will leave this magical place because his childhood along with memories of this place will always be with him in his heart.

From this story they pulled the opening line, “I wish I never had to leave this magical place.” Then they took childhood fantasy themes and laughter and a score to carry the audience back to those core emotions. Steven learned about fireworks throughout the project. He viewed them as actors. Some fall with a dreamy quality and were placed in the fantasy section others were loud and high energy so they were placed in the adventure sequence.

Next Steven showed pictures of the equipment used to create the show. The nine line which appears to shoot up from just behind the castle is actually launched from 30 foot tower behind the Toontown hills. He also showed photos of the large bank of tubes that launch various shells and the air launch system which launches the Mickey head fireworks. The air launch doesn’t use a gunpowder explosion to launch the fireworks but uses air. It allows the fireworks to shot to a more precise location. The fireworks are shot from 13 locations to form a "U" shaped canvas on the night sky. They use the nine line to fill from the bottom of the view and the air launched shooting stars bring the eyes in from the left or the right.

Next they created storyboards for the show. The first section reflects dreams and has no colors but just gold and silver shells. The next section had some blue shells. Steven described the fireworks show like a live performance - you always get a different experience. Sometimes the hearts will explode in perfect form and other times not. The next sequence is laughter and is reflected in the colors red, yellow, blue and green during the Topsy Turvy and Unbirthday songs. The transitional Under the Sea incorporates the colors aqua, yellow, purple and green before the wave of red shells prepares us for the age of adventure. This segment has purple, orange and red with loud sounds. Eisner was nervous about the inclusion of Hell Fire in this segment but Steven included it as the climax of the dreaming, laughter and adventure. They initially wanted fire to explode from the castle like Tokyo Disneyland had but the effect didn’t work. So rather than include a poor effect they shoot several shells from the castle area and then ignite the sky with loud red shells. In the next segment, the wishing segment, they once again have colorless shells which fall gracefully like large golden waterfalls. It is very simple and pure. In fact Steven pulled some shells from this segment to maintain that quality. Then we come to the finale which turns it onto the audience and declares it is all about you, you make the wish. And the sky is illuminated in a rainbow of colors, reminiscent of the wonderful world of color.

Steven concluded his presentation by becoming the fireworks show. He performed the entire show as he had in the pitch for Disney corporate. His high energy rendition brought everyone in the audience onto their foot with cheers and applause and will always be a very treasured memory. Here is a short clip of Steven performing and the corresponding segment from "Believe...". I apologize that you cannot hear his voice well. I was in the table farthest away from the stage. Although it was a bit disappointing to be that far away I was so excited to be hearing from my Disney heroes, Davison, Greenaway and Dorsey that I couldn’t sit still and ended up pacing throughout all of their talks. And they didn’t disappoint.

Videos

Related Links

• Feature: Illuminations and Tapestry of Nations
• NFFC Convention Coverage, Part 1
• NFFC Convention Coverage, Part 2

 

What were your favorite moments of 2000? Discuss it on the LaughingPlace.com Discussion Boards.

-- Rebekah Moseley

-- Posted January 2, 2000
-- Pictures by Rebekah and Doobie Moseley