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Photo by Allen Huffman, 1997 |
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It’s 1997 in Yesterland. Are you ready to see the follow-up to the beloved Main Street Electrical Parade? Then find a spot along the traditional parade route for Light Magic. |
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But don’t expect a parade. If you’ve picked your spot properly, one of four huge rolling stages will stop in front of you. |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 1997 New look for Small World Way |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 1997 New light towers along the route |
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During the day, you might have noticed that the walkway to “it’s a small world” looks different. What had been just a wide walkway is now lined with viewing areas, loudspeakers, light towers, and walkways behind them. On Main Street, U.S.A., speakers are hidden in windows and lights are hidden behind at the tops of the façades. The lights rise up from behind new cornices for the nighttime performances. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 1997 A fanciful rolling stage |
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Now it’s time to watch the 14-minute show featuring step-dancing Pixies, Disney characters, video projection, and high-tech lighting effects. The Disney characters are in striped pajamas because Light Magic is all a dream. The score features a new original tune, “Dream our Dreams,” with plenty of old Disney favorites blended in—even a bit of music from the Main Street Electrical Parade. Those step-dancing Pixies are sure working hard to put on a good show. The folks in Entertainment really hope you’ll enjoy Light Magic. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 1997 Scary pixies |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 1997 Bashful the Dwarf, in striped pajamas |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 1997 Chip |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 1997 Fifer Pig in unusual pajamas |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 1997 Two pixies and Genie from Aladdin |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 1997 Daisy Duck atop giant flowers |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 1997 Light Magic Pixie and Goofy greeting you |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 1997 Magical Pixie |
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Perhaps you should consider that Light Magic uses 4,500 miles of fiber optic strands, 1,520 strobe lights, and 23 computers. Or realize that each stage is 80 feet long and weighs 55,000 pounds. Or count the 24 performers on the rolling stage, multiply by four to calculate that 32 Disney characters and 64 Pixies are performing simultaneously. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 1997 Confetti raining from the rooftops of Main Street |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 1997 Colorful Mylar squares |
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And now comes the Mylar confetti, shot from 185 air cannons. Watch out. The Mylar squares can be slippery. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 1997 Light Magic Vacuum parade |
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Aren’t you glad you’re not responsible for cleaning up the mess? The crew works hard to vacuum up the confetti, but the Mylar squares don’t want to cooperate. They get caught in the landscaping and all sorts of other places. Did you enjoy Light Magic? Did you find it to be a worthy successor to the Main Street Electrical Parade? Did you notice how many people around you left before the Light Magic presentation was done? |
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When guests visited Disneyland in 1996 for the final summer of the Main Street Electrical Parade, illuminated signs at park exits and at the Disneyland Hotel announced why they would want to return the following year: “A Spectacular Journey, Light Magic, Opening 1997.” |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 1996 What Disneyland guests saw during the “final” season of Main Street Electrical Parade |
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Light Magic, Disneyland’s big-budget “streetacular,” ran from May 1997 through Labor Day 1997. Disneyland Annual Passholders who paid $25 for the Light Magic “premiere” event saw the first public presentation on May 13, 1997. Once there, the Passholders were told they would be seeing a dress rehearsal. It turned out that the Light Magic was not quite ready. It was a bad start. Ten days later, Light Magic opened to the general public. |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 1997 Parade route infrastructure improvements under construction for Light Magic |
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To put it nicely, the guest reaction to Light Magic was mixed.
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 1997 Face mask with pixie nose, cheeks, and ears |
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Disneyland adjusted Light Magic over the course of summer 1997. The pixies lost the masks that scared children. But it could not be saved. After Labor Day 1997. Disneyland officials announced that Light Magic would be “on hiatus” until the year 2000. The year 2000 came and went without the reappearance of Light Magic. Nothing resembling the 1997 edition ever came back. It’s doubtful that even the name “Light Magic” will be reused by The Walt Disney Company—for anything. For Summer 1998, Disneyland used the lights that had been installed for Light Magic to allow the same parade to do double duty as the daytime and nighttime parade. It was the Mulan Parade, based on Disney’s new animated feature that year. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 Parade of Dreams passing towers added for Light Magic |
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Light Magic left a lasting legacy—the collection of parade infrastructure improvements that Disneyland continues to use. |
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© 2022 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Updated January 28, 2022 |
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