The Fabulous Disney Babe
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I'd heard, even before I heard about the Haunted Mansion Holiday layover, that Lilo and Stitch might find a new home in the Enchanted Tiki Room. The person who told me also asked me to keep it secret, which I did, as I didn't want to endanger anyone's job. Now that the cat is out of the bag by source says to run with it.
Lilo and Stitch, as most of you know, is the upcoming Disney animated feature, set in Hawaii, my old stomping grounds. Stitch is a scientific alien experiment gone criminal who escapes just before his execution and hides out with Lilo, a cute little Hawaiian girl animated by Master Animator Andreas Deja, who worked on Jafar, among many other Disney characters. Lilo, who loves Elvis Presley's music, mistakes Stitch for a dog and keeps him as a pet.
It will be a permanent layover of the Tiki Room, with the characters singing Elvis tunes from the film. While I'm sorry that we won't be seeing the truly magnificent Uh Oa, Polynesian Goddess of Disaster, I'm hoping that the Lilo and Stitch figures will be just as well-done as the Jack Skellington that Steven Davison, who is in charge of the project, oversaw for Haunted Mansion Holiday. With a slew of hits in his resume, Davison is fast-becoming the creative star of the company, on the West coast at least.
"I'm surprised Florida hasn't tapped him to do anything," says Jim Disney, who operates Westcoaster.net, a website that covers both Disney and non-Disney theme parks, ""after all his success at The Disneyland Resort, you'd think the Walt Disney World management would be banging down his office door!"
Also being discussed: a parade for DCA based on George Lucas' Star Wars Episode 1 and 2 characters. This would replace Eureka, but not Disney's Electrical Parade. Another, unconfirmed rumor, is that Lucas wants a Star Wars Episode 1-2 float in the Electrical Parade, but at this point it's only conjecture.
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"One Man's Dream" first appeared as a stage show, now it's an unrelated (except by subject matter, of course) film drawing rave reviews at DCA and Walt Disney World. No good title ever dies at Disney, to paraphrase one of my favorite authors. "C'est Magique" was the big stage show at Euro Disney (now Disneyland Paris). Now, it's a huge stage show on the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder ships, running on the fifth night of the seven-night cruises.
The show contains no dialogue, but will use magic - stage magic, illusions, not Bibbidy Bobbidi Boo - to move the story along, along with songs in Italian, French, German and English, using both Opera and Rock and Roll music. A magician named Prospero visits from the 18th Century to showcase his magical art, joined by dancers and statues that "come to life".
I'm seriously considering taking Alice on a Disney Cruise for her birthday in March; we got the video in the mail from disney.com and she's been badgering me to take her ever since. Well, if we do go, I'll be sure to write about it for you.
-- Fab
Discuss It
-- Michelle Smith
Michelle Smith can be reached using the Talkback form below or by emailing her at [email protected].
The Fabulous Disney Babe's column is posted every Friday and when ever else she has something to say. For more on Michelle's background, see her first column. She also offers The Fabulous Tour: Disneyland Secrets and Stories. Click here for more information.
The opinions expressed by our Michelle Smith, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future plans of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted December 21, 2001