CMU School of Drama


Thursday, April 18, 2019

Donald Duck steals the show in ‘Mickey’s Philharmagic’ 4D concert film coming to Disney California Adventure

Orange County Register: The story told in the new “Mickey’s Philharmagic” 4D concert film coming to Disney California Adventure really belongs to irascible stagehand Donald Duck who steals the show and conducts a symphony orchestra on a journey through classic Disney animated musical sequences.

The 12-minute “Mickey’s Philharmagic” film debuts later this month in the Hollywood Land section of the Anaheim theme park.

3 comments:

DJ L. said...

I have always been interested in the idea of "4D" movies. However, I never felt the name quite matched the concept. 3D movies became known as 3D movies as, while wearing the glasses, the 2D images on the screen appear to become 3D as they reach beyond the screen towards your eyes. When it comes to "4D" films, the idea of 4D has become synonymous with using special effects like water sprays, vibrating chairs, and small air guns in the seats in front of you, not with the 4th dimension of time. All this being said, I still love the idea of them. Disney's new 4D "Concert Film," 'Mickey's Philharmagic,' seems like something visitors of all ages will enjoy. I can't wait to see how the "concert" turns out and I hope to be able to see the new film at Disney's California Adventure when I go home at the beginning of the summer.

Miranda Boodheshwar said...

As someone who grew up in Florida, I have visited Walt Disney World many times. I have been lucky enough to watch and experience Mickey’s Philharmagic multiple times before, and I think it’s great that it is now opening at Disney California Adventure. It’s a fun twist on the classic, where Micky leads and conducts the orchestra. I think it’s cute, from the perspective of someone who has worked as a stagehand many times before, that they are making a whole show about a stagehand stumbling into the conductor’s position and leading a whole show. Donald Duck is a beloved, classic Disney character, and I think his archetype will do a great job at this role. I’ve been to Walt Disney World many times, but never to Disney California Adventure, nor California at all so it would be very interesting to be able to visit and compare and contrast the differences between the two parks.

Maggie Q said...

When reading this article something felt off, I knew I had seen this before. There is an extremely similar version playing at Disney World in Florida right now. This made me think of how we treat this type of content. Is Disney trying to make their park experience unique to each location or are they trying to standardise the experience? Which version helps attract the most visitors to the parks? Do most visitors just visit one park? Are they looking to change that? With that in mind I thought the article’s point of disney trying to increase park capacity by filling the theatre with hundreds of people was smart but I wonder at what point the park is bursting at its seems. There are only a limited amount of time people are willing to wait in line at a theme park. Overall this is an interesting film but it also addresses how disney looks at its attractions.