Animagique was a live show at

Walt Disney Studios Park Walt Disney Studios Park ( French: ''Parc Walt Disney Studios'') is the second of two theme parks built at Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France, which opened on 16 March 2002. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through ...

in France, housed in Studios 3, at the entrance of

Toon Studio Toon Studio is a land at Walt Disney Studios Park in Disneyland Paris, France. The land, formerly known as Animation Courtyard, received a revamp in 2007 to features a more colourful and "immersive," theming. In August of 2021, much of the lan ...

. The show closed on January 31, 2016, to become the Animagique Theater building for ''Mickey and the Magician'' which began on July 2, 2016.

Plot

The show opens with

Mickey Mickey is a given name and nickname, almost always masculine and often a short form (hypocorism) of Michael (given name), Michael, and occasionally a surname. Notable people and characters with the name include: People Given name or nickname Men ...

and

Donald Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...

teaching a drawing course in a room. At its far end is a door leading to the Cinematheque, which is strictly forbidden, as Mickey instructs Donald. However, after Mickey's departure, Donald decides he can open the door a little, without Mickey even knowing. As he does so, a flash of light takes Donald into the film vault. He then encounters scenes from various films including ''

Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, a ...

'', ''

The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, ...

'', ''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

'' (formerly), ''

The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a h ...

'' and ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance, it ...

''. At the end, Donald tells Mickey about his amazing journey through the films, but Mickey doesn't believe him until

Baloo Baloo (from hi, भालू ur, بھالو ''bhālū'' "bear") is a main fictional character featured in Rudyard Kipling's ''The Jungle Book'' from 1894 and ''The Second Jungle Book'' from 1895. Baloo, a sloth bear, is the strict teacher of ...

King Louie King Louie is a fictional character introduced in Walt Disney's 1967 animated musical film ''The Jungle Book''. He is an Orangutan who leads other jungle primates and wants to become more human-like by gaining knowledge of fire from Mowgli. Lou ...

, and

Rafiki is a 2018 Kenyan drama film directed by Wanuri Kahiu. ''Rafiki'' is the story of romance that grows between two young women, Kena and Ziki, amidst family and political pressures around LGBT rights in Kenya. The film had its international premi ...

walk into the room.

Development

Before the opening of the park in 2002, Animagique puppeteers undertook intense training classes to co-ordinate and synchronise their movements in complete darkness, and followed classes of Taï Chi to perfect their perception of space. Mickey and

Sebastian Sebastian may refer to: People * Sebastian (name), including a list of persons with the name Arts, entertainment, and media Films and television * ''Sebastian'' (1968 film), British spy film * ''Sebastian'' (1995 film), Swedish drama film ...

were the only two characters that spoke French, with the other characters: Donald, Pink Elephants, Baloo, King Louie, Young Simba and Zazu speaking English. The character's english voice actors,

Jim Cummings James Jonah Cummings (born November 3, 1952) is an American voice actor. Since beginning his career in the 1980s, he has appeared in almost 400 roles. Cummings has frequently worked with The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., including as th ...

Jason Weaver Jason Michael Weaver (born July 18, 1979) is an American actor and singer best known for his roles as Marcus Henderson on The WB sitcom ''Smart Guy,'' Jerome Turrell on the short-lived sitcom '' Thea'' from 1993 to 1994, and the pre-teenaged ...

and

Jeff Bennett Jeffrey Glenn Bennett (born October 2, 1962) is an American voice actor who voiced Johnny Bravo in the Johnny Bravo, eponymous television series, Dexter's Dad in ''Dexter's Laboratory'', Brooklyn in ''Gargoyles (TV series), Gargoyles'' and List o ...

, recorded new dialogue for the show. The puppets of Young Simba, Young Nala and Zazu, were reused from

Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The W ...

's former show

The Legend of the Lion King There have been seven theme park live adaptations of ''The Lion King'' at Disney parks since the animated film ''The Lion King'' was released by Walt Disney Animation Studios in 1994. These have included a parade, two theater-in-the-round shows, ...

. Several months after opening, the show briefly closed to allow for a reworking that included replacing an original Pinocchio scene, featuring

Monstro The Terrible Dogfish ( it, Il Terribile Pescecane) is a dogfish-like sea monster, which appears in Carlo Collodi's 1883 book ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (''Le avventure di Pinocchio'') as one of the main antagonists and the final one. It is ...

the whale, but it was scrapped shortly as it was deemed too scary for children, and it was replaced by a scene incorporating The Little Mermaid.

References

{{Walt Disney Studios Park Walt Disney Parks and Resorts entertainment Walt Disney Studios Park Toon Studio (Walt Disney Studios Park) 2002 establishments in France