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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 |
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You might think you have an impressive light display on your house this holiday season. But unless you have 5 million lights, an incredible audio system, and synchronization between the two, your display isn’t even close to The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. That’s good. The supreme court of your state would probably pull the plug on your display. |
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You’re at Yester Studios Theme Park. It’s getting dark. How do you find the spectacle? Just follow the crowd. It might seem as if every guest in the park is heading there at the same time. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 New York Street |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Angel carousel, in the tradition of Jenning Osborne’s displays |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2012 Santa Claus and reindeer and crowd |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 San Francisco Street |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2012 Tree with a not-so-hidden Mickey |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2015 Bathed in blue |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Mickey’s railroad with angels |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2015 Nativity scene |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Star of David |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Menorah |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Osborne Electric window |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Wooden soldier |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Lights on anything that’s not moving |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Mickey basketball |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2015 Jack Skellington wreath |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Mickey and Minnie at a picnic table |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 The alley behind Tony’s, from Lady and the Tramp |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Stitch in a tire swing |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Baby Sinclair (“I’m the baby, gotta love me!”) from Dinosaurs |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Olaf, of course |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Dalmatians from 101 Dalmatians |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2015 Photo opportunity |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Hazelnut Hot Cocoa and other hot beverages in souvenir mugs |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Decorate yourself at Youse Guys Moychindice |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 It’s snowing Disney snow. Merry Christmas! |
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This spectacle had its origin as a Christmas lighting display at the house of Jennings and Mitzi Osborne and their children. As you look at the crowd that has now enveloped you, you’ll see why this might not be such a good idea in a real residential neighborhood. |
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The Disney-MGM Studios Spectacle of Lights, featuring Osborne Family holiday lights, made its first appearance at Walt Disney World during the 1995 holiday season—after being kicked out of Arkansas. Here’s how an Orlando newspaper article (“Dimmed By Courts, Bulbs Will Glow At Disney,” by Christine Shenot, Orlando Sentinel, November 3, 1995) announced that the lights were coming—and why: For one Arkansas neighborhood, 3 million Christmas lights were too garish and attracted too many gawkers. For Walt Disney World, they seemed “the perfect way to celebrate the spirit of the season.” Disney officials announced Thursday they are bringing the extravagant Christmas creation of Little Rock businessman Jennings Osborne to Disney-MGM Studios for the holidays. Osborne made headlines last year when the Arkansas Supreme Court sided with angry neighbors and ordered his family to tone down their Christmas decorations. The neighbors called the display a public nuisance, saying the 70-foot-high tree of lights, the 65-foot-high “wall of angels” and other blinding symbols of the season were attracting too many crowds. Jennings and Mitzi Osborne had begun their annual light display on their house in 1986. The number of lights—and the number of people who came to admire them—grew larger every year. On November 24, 1995, just 20 days after the Orlando Sentinel article, guests at Disney-MGM Studios could walk down the 760-foot-long Residential Street of the Backstage Studio Tour to admire the whole neighborhood decorated with lights—not just the house facades, but also cars, bicycles, mailboxes, and just about anything else that could not walk away on its own. It had only been December 1994, less than a year earlier, when the Arkansas Supreme Court made its ruling. The Osbornes had cut back their display to “only” 175,000 lights that Christmas season, but the neighbors still objected. After losing in lower state courts, the Osbornes argued to the Arkansas Supreme Court that their light display was protected as religious expression under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a new Federal law from 1993. But the court ruled that this law did not provide the right to turn one’s property into a “nuisance.” The Osbornes appealed the ruling. The court turned down their appeal in July 1995. The Osborne’s Little Rock house could no longer be the setting for a display of more than 3 million lights. Disney-MGM Studios guests loved the lights. They were a huge hit with park guests—and they kept those guests in the park until well after dark, spending money. Although the light display ended on January 6, it was clear that this would become an annual tradition. The display would get bigger and better each year, just as it had in Little Rock. In 1997, the name was simplified to Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights. There was just one problem. Residential Street was demolished in 2003 to make way for the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show. The 2003 holiday season had no Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights. Guests were unhappy. It seemed the spectacle would never return. But it did. Beginning with the 2005 holiday season, the lights adorned the park’s Streets of America section. The show was bigger than ever. Osborne had around 3 million lights in Little Rock. Initially, Disney had around 2 million. But, by now, Disney had around 5 million. Jennings Osborne’s strings of lights had long since been replaced, but the display kept his spirit and style. In 2005, as part of the strategic alliance between Disney and Siemens, Siemens’ Sylvania lighting division became the sponsor of the spectacle. When Siemens divested Sylvania, Siemens remained as the sponsor until the 12-year contract ended. In 2006, the lights began to “dance” to synchronized holiday music every 15 minutes. It was not just a display. It was a show. The name became Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. The show was enhanced for the holiday season every year. It wasn’t just a big spectacle. As the photos in the article show, it was also a collection of clever details. Jennings Osborne died July 27, 2011. All good things must come to an end. The final performance of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Disney’s Hollywood Studios was January 6, 2016. A few months later, Disney demolished the Streets of America to make way for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016 Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! at Disney’s Hollywood Studios |
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The park needed to give guests a new reason to stay until park closing—to spend money on dinners and merchandise. Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! premiered at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on November 14, 2016. Set in front of the park’s Chinese Theatre, the show had everything—fireworks, lasers, projection mapping, fire, fog, searchlights, artificial snow, and a plot involving the characters from Prep & Landing, with Oogie Boogie from Nightmare Before Christmas thrown in for good measure. Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! ran for four holiday seasons, closing January 5, 2020. The show did not return during the Covid-19 years of 2020, 2021, or 2022, but it could be dusted off in the future. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2018 Hollywood Tower Hotel as a gingerbread house during Sunset Seasons Greetings |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2018 Swedish Chef billboard show at Sunset Seasons Greetings |
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On November 5, 2017, the year after Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! began its run, a second nighttime spectacular premiered. Sunset Seasons Greetings features short shows on billboards along the park’s Sunset Blvd., projections on the Hollywood Tower Hotel, lasers, and painfully loud music. The experience was scaled back in 2020 to feature only the projections on the Hollywood Tower Hotel, returning in its reduced form for the 2021 and 2022 seasons, and presumably for many years to come. Despite all the fancy technical magic of the newer shows, they could not match the joy of the millions of little lightbulbs at The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights, even when the lights weren’t dancing. Sadly, unless the Star Wars canon somehow comes to include a seasonal festival on Batuu involving millions of little lightbulbs and music that sounds suspiciously like Christmas music on Earth, the lights will never return to the place they once glowed. |
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© 2022 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Updated December 16, 2022 |
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