First look: Disney shows star villains, Little Mermaid, tech

[Disney4me]

Two new Walt Disney World stage shows are now presenting storytelling enhanced with technology. “Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After” and “The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure” have arrived on the daily schedule at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park, and they both feature fresh special effects surrounding familiar characters.

The villains show starts with a splashy set that’s framed by, well, frames. It’s all playing off Magic Mirror as a central character, and a lot happens on screens within those jauntily placed frames, including appearances by 85 villains and sidekicks plus shattering effects.

On stage, it’s Cruella De Vil, Captain Hook and Maleficent pleading their cases to be the most misunderstood. Magic Mirror, long tasked with “fairest of them all” duties, is asked to pick.

“They don’t know one another. They’ve never met. They don’t know each other’s stories. And as far as they’re concerned, they are the most amazing dark creature in their world,” Mark Renfrow, show director, said after a media preview Tuesday evening.

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The three principal baddies get solos to plead their case to Mr. Mirror (“Oh, for the day when only one villain summoned me,” he bemoans.) The stage/screen/frames morph to reflect their individual themes (Cruella as fashionista; Hook’s look is, naturally, nautical). There are unexpected movements, too, plus frantic activity between the more than 20 frames that surround the stage.

The show is staged in a renovated Sunset Showcase, former home of Lightning McQueen Racing Academy. Inside, the stage was inspired by the Biltmore Theater in Los Angeles, said art director Matt Fiuza. He also researched Spanish galleons, Gothic ruins, English mansion and the American vaudeville vibe, he said.

It’s built to impress. Audience members’ “chins need to hit the ground when they first walk in,” Fiuza said.

Frames and screens present 85 villains to audience members at new show at Hollywood Studios. (Dewayne Bevil/Orlando Sentinel)

“At the end of the day, it’s driven by a performer. It’s driven by a musical number,” Fiuza said. “And we needed to keep a sense of whimsy and fun and levity.”

The unfair sweepstakes are ultimately determined by a round of applause, despite the presence of Magic Mirror.

“Remember, he can only reflect. So that’s why he needs us to answer their question,” Renfrow said.

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The villains show was announced in September. For park visitors, It could whet appetites for the villains land that was announced for Magic Kingdom a month before that.

“They already love villains,” Fiuza said. “And they are just gonna love them even more.”

Mermaid’s tale

“The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure” is a familiar tale. Disney has produced two big-screen editions, and Hollywood Studios was home to “Voyage of the Little Mermaid” until 2020. The new show moves into the same theater, but it has new tricks and a “Mermaid” fans favorite tune.

The new proscenium is lined with buttons, keys, bottles, bells and thingamabobs, and that’s a sign a la “Part of Your World,” said James Silson, show director.

“The lens through which the show was written and created from and the aesthetic which went down the path out was truly about seeing through her eyes,” he said.

Ariel sings 'Part of Your World' in the new 'Little Mermaid' show now being stage at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park. (Dewayne Bevil/Orlando Sentinel)

Between the audience and the performers is a transparent scrim that has multiple projections aimed from multiple angles. At times, folks see animated sea creatures, live actors, puppets and special effects at the same time.

“I think the inspiration for that was really just that whole concept of multilayer. You know, multiplane was an animation created by [Walt] Disney,” Silson said. Walt Disney Studios developed the multiplane camera and technology that gave film depth in the 1930s. It famously was used in the production of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

“I’ve always wanted to see Ariel as part of ‘Under the Sea’ and be in that song and dance number. That is the big production number of the show, and you want the starlet in the middle of it,” Silson said.

The production includes “Kiss the Girl,” which was not in the previous “Mermaid” show.

And now, through hidden maneuvers, Ariel swims.

“In the previous show, she would sit in her shell a lot,” Silson said.

“I think the goal is to present it in a way that feels to the audience … is  something that they could not get from just sitting at home and watching the film,” Silson said.

Both shows are now presented multiple times daily at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

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