Friday, November 02, 2012
Behind the Scenes: Creating a Giant Disney Parks Ice Castle in Times Square
Disney Parks Blog: If you’ve been following along, you know it was a big day for us at Disney Parks. We announced “Limited Time Magic” early this morning and unveiled a spectacular three-story ice castle.
To make the castle and other ice structures appear in the middle of Times Square overnight, it took tons of planning and talent. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how we did it.
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10 comments:
This is really impressive. Ice sculptures have always intrigued me. Even seeing ice sculptures at weddings, they have always been so cool. Children in particular that witnessed these sculptures in Times Square must have been at awe with Disney coming to them in the form of ice. It, in a way, was almost a welcome to winter, but in a warm, wonderful way. Everyone loves Disney, and there is no more of a magical place in New York City than Times Square. Seeing these sculptures appear over night must have been really magical to see. The only negative side is that all of the hard work and joy that came out of these sculptures eventually came to an end when they inevitably melted!
It sounds like the process that Disney used to install the ice sculpture is very similar to the type of install process we go through in theater. I would be interested to know the details of their process in moving the project from the creation site to the "production" site. I would also be interested to know the amount of resources the creation and installation of this piece took. It would be interesting to compare their process to our own.
I think this is the perfect thing to bring the amazing atmosphere of Disney to NYC for the winter. This style of art is unbelieveable and I have always respected ice sculpture and ice artists. I think I would have been so happy to see his pop up over night. Disney and Time Square are two of my favorite places to visit when I get the chance and I think it was a creative way to link two beautiful places together. I wouldn't want to see these melt, but what the man said was beautiful. They are like life, they don't last forever.
I completely agree with what Ms. Bertollo was saying. While watching the video it was quite fascinating to see that their process was similar to that of a theatrical load in process. And I especially enjoyed the fact that he mentioned the collaboration of the to different ice sculpture comapanies. Working in the theater world we are constantly working with outside groups and areas outside our own knowledge, and seeing that it was a struggle for them was an interesting aspect of the video. One of the cool things I liked about this ice sculpture was the fact that it mimiced the very thing they were announcing. This ice sculpture was to annouce the special week events throughout the year to celebrate diifferent things, like Valentines Day or lesser celebrated Disney Characters. These events are a limited time, as was this castle.
Disney never creases to amaze me. They continue to go above and beyond what is expected. I always think it is amazing how people are able to work in ice because it melts. I love the see through quality that it has after it is completed. It is very interesting to hear about all the planning that goes into this sculpture. I was particularly surprised by the weight of this sculpture. Generally I don’t think of ice being heavy but there is so much of it.
This really made me think of ice sculpture as an art form for the first time. As Tim and Jess pointed out, the process of making this ice sculpture was surprisingly similar to the process for building and installing a set. The detail and precision with which this castle was carved is amazing, and it surely took an insane amount of time and care. The transportation of the ice sculpture reminded me of the transportation of all of the amazing cakes on Cake Boss. You can have a beautiful product, but that means nothing if you can't get it to the presentation/performance space. I would love to be involved in the management end of tracking, transporting, and assembling the pieces of the ice castle. This video provides a great example of a unique field in which we may have the opportunity to apply the skills that we are learning in the School of Drama.
I love seeing ice sculptures and have always wanted to learn how to make one myself, its such a fascinating art form, how you can create laterally any shape and make it entirely seamless. Its so unique in that it is a form of sculpture where it is just as common to add on more material as it is to subtract it.
That seems like such a fun thing for disney to do and thats a great place to put it, it becomes the best of two amazing worlds. Its also interesting to me how much planing went into the project and that they were able to transfer all the pieces seemingly without much difficulty. I would love to be a part of a project like that some time.
I am amazed that this just showed up overnight. I guess that it is a good way to announce that you are doing something new and exciting for your guest . I am sure that these events are meant for when there are slow times so they can up the attendance and make a ton more money. It is amazing how two different ice companies came together to make this with one of them appearing to be a C and C cutting group and the other being the old school using chain saws and hand tools to form the ice into what they want. I wonder if the people in NY even knew that this event was happening.
I have so much respect for people who deal with ice as an art medium. not only is it super difficult because of the whole time constraint of it melting (or facing fringed temperatures that restrict movement in order to allow you to carve) but your art can almost never be permeant. How ever i think that using ice as way to show sculptures is super magical so disney is doing it right.
I really liked watching this video. I've seen these impressive ice sculptures before on the Discovery Channel and Food Network Challenge, but I felt kind of cheated when I watched this video. Don't get me wrong, the sculptures were amazing, but in the video it showed that only the figures were carved with hand tools. The castle looked so neat and intricate, but that's because it was carved by a machine. I guess it cut the time in half, but I would have still loved to see the entire installation hand carved. I am surprised that the sculptures made it to New York City intact. There are so many potholes and a guaranteed temperature change on the way. I'm glad it was created, though. I love to see Winter Wonderlands in New York City!
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