''Disney's Fantillusion!'', sometimes known by its full name: ''Disney's Fantillusion Parade,'' and sometimes called ''Fandy'', was a regularly scheduled night-time parade, created by

Ron Logan Ronald Logan (February 9, 1938 – August 30, 2022) was an American businessman who served as executive vice president of Walt Disney Entertainment (now Walt Disney Creative Entertainment). After retiring from the company in 2001, he was formal ...

, that performed nightly at Disneyland Park (Paris) during its summer and winter seasons. It featured floats and live performers covered in thousands of electronically controlled lights and a synchronized soundtrack controlled by a Dual-tone multi-frequency signaling (DTMF) tone broadcast along the parade route. The parade was originally created for

Tokyo Disneyland (local nickname ''TDL'') is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to ...

where it ran for six years from 1995 to 2001. An updated version of the '' Main Street Electrical Parade'' replaced ''Disney's Fantillusion'' at Tokyo Disneyland known as the '' Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: DreamLights'' as ''Fantillusion'' was sent to Paris to become the ''Disney's Fantillusion Parade''.

Background and History

The ''Disney's Fantillusion!'' parade premiered at Tokyo Disneyland on July 21, 1995 featured

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 te ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wo ...

and Disney characters. Originally created for Tokyo Disneyland, ''Fantillusion!'' was developed by the team behind ''

Fantasmic! ''Fantasmic!'' is a nighttime show at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios. The show formerly operated at Tokyo DisneySea. It features fireworks, characters, live actors, water effects, pyrotechnics, lasers, music, audio-animatronics, searc ...

'', the show performed at

Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...

and

Disney's Hollywood Studios Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Based on a concept by M ...

, with the aim of condensing the story of ''Fantasmic!'' and putting it into a parade format. The parade's score was orchestrated by Bruce Healey, the same composer behind ''Fantasmic!s theme and the Music Director at

. The storyline of the parade is loosely based on the elements of ''Fantasmic!''. The 31 floats were split in three acts. The parade starts with Tinkerbell, Mickey Mouse and the three fairies from Disney's Sleeping Beauty "wishing upon a star to bring the gift of Disney light" before being disrupted by

Disney villains This is a list of Disney villain characters often based on animated fictional characters who have been featured as part of the Disney character line-up. Some of these villain characters have appeared in sequels, video games, comic books, stage pr ...

who "take the light and make it night", then ending with the Disney Heroes and Heroines who "turn the dark back into light". ''Fantasmic!'' features Mickey Mouse in combat with Disney villains. The three main villains of the show;

Maleficent Maleficent ( or ) is a fictional character who appears as the main antagonist in Walt Disney Productions' 16th animated feature film, ''Sleeping Beauty'' (1959). She is represented as an evil fairy and the self-proclaimed " Mistress of All Evil ...

, Ursula and Jafar - Maleficent is the lead villain in both shows, whereas Ursula is the supporting villain at Disneyland as is Jafar at Disney's Hollywood Studios, are the three villains featured in ''Disney's Fantillusion!''. Chernabog from Fantasia and

SpectroMagic SpectroMagic was a nighttime parade presented in Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort. It was introduced in 1991 as part of the park's 20th-anniversary celebrations, replacing the Main Street Electrical Parade The ''Main Street Ele ...

, and the Queen from Snow White and Fantasmic, are also in the show. ''Disney's Fantillusion!'' was designed and built for the parade route of Tokyo Disneyland. Each act would enter one portion of the park's parade route and then halt for a "show stop". The parade would the progress to the next section and halt again for the next show stop. This ensured that every guest watching the parade could see all three acts of the story. After six years at Tokyo Disneyland, the parade closed at the end of its ''"Sayonara Disney's Fantillusion!"'' season on May 15, 2001. After the parade was closed, the floats which had been bought by

Disneyland Park Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...

at Paris were left outside in the harsh conditions of

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

by the Oriental Land Company, where they were left exposed to the elements before being packed and transported to Europe the same year. The floats which had not been bought are thought to have been destroyed. Of the 31 floats in the Tokyo version of the parade, 15 were transported to

due to financial limitations. Of those 15, only thirteen floats were used in Paris' original production of the parade. The two floats that were bought, but never used were the Nasty Grotto and Murkey Dungeon. These floats were initially utilized to train new drivers but have since found other uses in providing spare parts. Although 15 were purchased, it’s said that more floats were actually purchased by Paris and since they had been sitting backstage since 2001 until 2003, more floats were damaged due to the weather elements of Paris. Paris also bought most of the original costumes used in Tokyo's production of the parade, but owing to electrical difficulties and European performers being larger than their Asian counterparts, some were unable to be utilised. New skirt-like costumes were fashioned for the Evil Villains sections as a replacement for the "Ghouls" costumes, and new Court Dancer costumes were created for the Happy Ending. It took the floats more than 40 days to reach to Disneyland Paris from the

Tokyo Disney Resort The (local nickname ''TDR'') is a theme park and vacation resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, just east of Tokyo. The resort is fully owned and operated by The Oriental Land Company under a licence from The Walt Disney Company, who const ...

. They traveled by cargo ship from Japan to Australia, then set off again through the Suez canal and

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

before finally traveling around

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and up the west coast of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

to reach

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

. They were then taken by truck to Disneyland Paris where they were completely refurbished. The refurbishment of the parade floats took much longer than expected as the floats were badly damaged during transit. This meant that Disneyland Paris had to

repair The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure, and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential installa ...

many of the floats, replace the thousands of tiny lightbulbs, convert their electrical system to the one used in Paris and enlarge the driving areas to fit the larger

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an drivers. Original soundtrack composer Bruce Healey also carried out slight amendments to the original soundtrack, to better suit the European audiences, and the different setting. Meanwhile a new opening announcement was also recorded in English and French. ''Disney's Fantillusion'' ''Parade!'' was due to debut in Paris in 2002, when the '' Main Street Electrical Parade'' would have been running for ten years, but instead, because of the problems with the floats and the fact that Disneyland Paris still pushed emphasis on their newly opened

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 i ...

, Fantillusion had to wait another year for its Parisian debut. After many weeks of the parade rehearsing in Disneyland Park after park closing hours, there was a special ''Fantillusion'' preview night on June 28, 2003 for Annual Passport holders. The parade then

premiered A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...

to the

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at the start of its first Summer season in on July 5, 2003, running until August 31. ''Fantillusion'' returned for its first

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

season in the resort from November 8 to January 4, and has been playing to crowds of fans and guests every Summer, Halloween and Christmas season since. In Summer 2005, the "Bat Forest" float was removed from the parade in response to budget cuts and guest feedback. As the only villain float with no character or physical transformation effects, the float was no longer seen as an important part of the parade. However, the "Bat Forest" float returned every Halloween night, carrying

Jack Skellington Jack Skellington is a character and the main protagonist of the 1993 film ''The Nightmare Before Christmas''. He is a Living Skeleton who is the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, a fantasy world based solely on the Halloween holiday. Jack is voiced ...

and

Sally Sally may refer to: People *Sally (name), a list of notable people with the name Military * Sally (military), an attack by the defenders of a town or fortress under siege against a besieging force; see sally port *Sally, the Allied reporting na ...

from

The Nightmare Before Christmas ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (also known as ''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas'') is a 1993 American stop-motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increme ...

. Disney's Christmas season in 2005 brought a further change to the parade, with the parade now running from

Fantasyland Fantasyland is one of the "themed lands" at all of the Magic Kingdom-style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the world. It is themed after Disney's animated fairy tale films. Each Fantasyland has a castle, as well as several gentle ri ...

Town Square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

, rather than the reverse. While this brought with it a huge amount of technical troubles in the days after the switch, it allowed for better efficiency with the backstage parade preparation and meant guests would now follow the parade to the park's exit instead of back into the park. This change also meant that show-stops were visible anywhere on the parade route. At Disneyland Park,

Sleeping Beauty Castle Sleeping Beauty Castle is a fairy tale castle at the center of Disneyland and formerly at Hong Kong Disneyland. It is based on the late 19th century Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany. It appeared in the Walt Disney Pictures logos from 198 ...

was co-ordinated with the parade so it plays a part of the show and changes colour with the music, etc. In 2012 at the end of Disneyland Park's summer season Fantillusion was put on a temporary hiatus. By then, the Disney Dreams! night-time show on Sleeping Beauty's Castle was showing nightly. It was announced that Fantillusion would not return for the Christmas season. No official confirmation has been given as to whether the parade has been axed or if it will return. The parade performed for the last time on October 31, 2012 (Halloween night) with only the main floats and no floor performers.

Introductions

The introduction to the parade at

was notable for saying the phrase:
''"From out of the night, comes the Magic of light... As Tokyo Disneyland proudly presents: Disney's Fantillusion!"''.
At

Disneyland Paris Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Chessy, Seine-et-Marne, Chessy, France, east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, resort hotels, Disney Nature Resorts, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex, and a golf course. Disney ...

, the introduction in both

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and French is simply:
''"Mesdames et Messieurs et vous les enfants. Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls. Disneyland Park est d'heureux de vous presenter - proudly presents: the Disney's Fantillusion Parade!"''.

Tokyo Disneyland Version

Act 1 - The Enchanted Fairy Garden ''"We wish upon a star tonight, to bring the gift of Disney light!"'' # "Disney's Fantillusion!" #

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

's Fantillusion # Unisys float # Enchanted Flower Wheel (retired in 1999) #

Flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

's Gazebo # Enchanted Flower Swing # Enchanted Dragonfly #

Fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

's Carousel # Dragonfly Tower # Enchanted Web Garden (retired in 1999) # Merryweather's Gazebo # Enchanted Butterfly Flower Act 2: The Evil Villains ''"We take this light and make it night!"'' # Jafar # Nasty Grotto # Ursula # Bat Forest #

# Murky Dungeon #

Evil Queen The Evil Queen, also called the Wicked Queen, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of "Snow White", a German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm; similar stories exist worldwide. Other versions of the Queen appear in subsequent ...

# Vulture Rock #

Chernabog The following are fictional characters from Disney's 1940 film '' Fantasia'', its 1999 sequel '' Fantasia 2000'' and the 2014 video game '' Fantasia: Music Evolved''. Characters in this list are sorted by the film and segment in which they appe ...

Act 3 - The Happy Ending ''"We Wish and Dream with all our might, and turn the dark back into light!"'' # Princess Ariel and

Prince Eric This article lists information of animated original characters from Disney's ''The Little Mermaid'' franchise, covering the 1989 film, its prequel , its direct-to-video sequel and prequel films, and the stage musical adaptation. ''The Little ...

# Fountain of Light #1 #

Snow White "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection '' Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

# Snow White's Castle # Belle and the Beast # Fountain of Light #2 # Aladdin and

Princess Jasmine Princess Jasmine is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Pictures' 31st animated feature film ''Aladdin'' (1992). Voiced by American actress Linda Larkin with a singing voice provided by Filipina singer Lea Salonga Jasmine is the s ...

# Fountain of Light #3 (retired in 1999) #

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

and Princess Aurora # Princess Minnie's Castle/Finale ''"From the dark of night, comes the magic light. With its colours bright, and its brilliant light.
Breaks an evil spell, with these sparkling lights... from the Earth to the Sky! A fantastic Fantillusion! (Fantillusion!...)"''

Costumes

Like the floats, the costumes for the 160 performers sparkled and glowed and illuminated. The unique costumes were created using 88 individual designs, 290 different fabrics, and 10 different light mediums including mini-lights and fiber optics. The costumes work together with the music, choreography, and lights to produce a fantastical, magical effect.

Disneyland Paris Version

Act 1 - Mickey's Magical Garden # Mickey's Fantillusion # Tinkerbell's Gazebo # The Fairies' Carousel # Enchanted Butterfly Flower Act 2 - The Disney Villains # Ursula # Jafar # Maleficent # Bat Forest Act 3 - The Happy Ending # Snow White & Prince # Ariel & Prince Eric # Belle & the Beast # Jasmine & Aladdin # Princess Minnie's Castle

Show Facts

*Disney's Fantillusion Parade included 13 floats, 400,000 light bulbs and 60 km of cabling. *Everynight, up to 50 performers take part for the parade. So do, approximately, 20 Guest Flows and more than 25 guest controls. *One show can use over 600 litres of dry ice for the "show modes" and 9 tonnes of batteries are used every evening... recharged for the next day. *Computers onboard each float control the lighting display, effects and music. The only thing that is sent to the units is a signal to keep the music in time with the underliner (background track) played in the park. *Each float has its own orchestration and variation on the main theme, with music from the appropriate film telling the story along with character voices.

Soundtrack

Disney's Fantillusion! was the soundtrack for

's production of ''Disney's Fantillusion!'', released in 1995. It is currently out of print. Disneyland Paris have since released an incomplete and edited version of the Soundtrack.

Track listing (TDL Only)

#"The Enchanted Fairy Garden" #*Fantillusion Fanfare and Announcement #*Fantillusion Theme #*Fantillusion, Flowers and Fairies Variation #*Fantillusion, Dragonflies and Fairies Variation #*Fantillusion, Butterflies and Fairies Variation #"Fairy Garden Fantasy" #*Mickey Mouse March #*A Smiling Song #*The Wonderful Things About Tiggers #*You Can Fly, You Can Fly, You Can Fly! #*Heigh-Ho #*When You Wish Upon a Star #"The Evil Villains" #*Jafar (Prince Ali Reprise) #*Ursula (Poor Unfortunate Souls) #*Bat Forest #*Maleficent (Maleficent's Theme) #*Murky Dungeon #*Evil Queen and Mirror (I've Been Tricked!) #*Chernabog (Night on Bald Mountain) #"The Light Turns Into Night and the Ghouls Dance" #"The Happy Ending (Heroes and Heroines)" #*Ariel and Eric (Part of Your World) #*Fountain #1 #*Snow White and Prince (With a Smile and a Song/Heigh-Ho/Someday My Prince Will Come/One Song) #*Fantillusion Theme, Castle Variation #*Beauty and the Beast (Tale as Old as Time) #*Fountain #2 #*Aladdin and Jasmine (A Whole New World) #*Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip/Cinderella and Prince Charming (Once Upon a Dream/A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes) #*Castle Finale (Minnie's Yoo-Hoo) #"The Happy Ending Medley" #*Fantillusion Fanfare #*Someday My Prince Will Come #*So This is Love #*Once Upon a Dream #*Part of Your World #*Beauty and the Beast #*A Whole New World #*Fantillusion Finale #"The Enchanted Fairy Garden Underliner - Left/Fantillusion Theme, Dragonflies and Fairies Variation - Right" #"The Evil Villains Underliner - Left/Jafar - Right" #"The Happy Ending (Heroes and Heroines) Underliner - Left/Beauty and the Beast - Right"

Character Voices

* Mickey Mouse-

Wayne Allwine Wayne Anthony Allwine (February 7, 1947 – May 18, 2009) was an American voice actor, sound effects editor and foley artist for The Walt Disney Company. He is best remembered as the 3rd official voice of Mickey Mouse. He is the longest-tenured ...

Minnie Mouse Minnie Mouse is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. As the longtime sweetheart of Mickey Mouse, she is an anthropomorphic mouse with white gloves, a bow, polka-dotted dress, white bloomers, and low-heeled shoes occasiona ...

- Russi Taylor * Flora, Fauna and Merryweather-

Susanne Blakeslee Susanne Ellender Blakeslee is an American voice, stage and musical theatre actress. She is also known as Susan Blakeslee, Suzanne Blakeslee, and Suzanne Blakesley; Among her notable roles are the voices of Wanda, Anti-Wanda, and Mrs. Turner o ...

, Russi Taylor, and

Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire MacNeille (née Payne; born June 20, 1951) is an American voice actress, whose credits include voicing Dot Warner on the animated television series '' Animaniacs'', Babs Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Chip and Gadget Hackwrenc ...

respectively * Jafar- Jonathan Freeman * Ursula-

Pat Carroll Patricia Ann Carroll (May 5, 1927 – July 30, 2022) was an American actress and comedian. She was known for voicing Ursula in ''The Little Mermaid'' and for appearances in CBS's ''The Danny Thomas Show'', ABC's '' Laverne & Shirley'', and NB ...

Linda Gary Linda Gary (born Linda Gary Dewoskin, November 4, 1944 – October 5, 1995) was an American actress. Career Live-action appearances Gary worked as a voice-over artist in animation and also appeared in two live-action films, 1977's ''Joyride T ...

* Evil Queen/Hag (TDL Only)- Louise Chamis * Magic Mirror (TDL Only)-

Tony Jay Tony Jay (2 February 1933 – 13 August 2006) was a British actor. A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was known for his voice work in radio, animation, film, and video games. Jay was particularly noted for his distinctive bari ...

*Chernabog- (TDL Only)

Corey Burton Corey Gregg Weinberg (born August 3, 1955), known professionally as Corey Burton, is an American voice actor. He is the current voice of Captain Hook, Ludwig Von Drake, Dale and others for The Walt Disney Company, Shockwave on '' The Transformer ...

Development

In the "From One Lightbulb To Another" documentary, Disney Imagineer John Haupt discusses how their development of Fantillusion assisted them with the creation of the

parade: "A lot of the preliminary technical work for the Fantillusion parade was proof of concept in this parade. So its kind of the interim step between The Main Street Electrical Parade and Fantillusion."https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBpegQ7j0uE From one lightbulb to another

References

External links

Official websiteDisney's Fantillusion photo album (Fan website)
{{Disney nighttime shows Walt Disney Parks and Resorts parades Disneyland Park (Paris) Former Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions 1995 establishments in Japan 2001 disestablishments in Japan 2003 establishments in France 2012 disestablishments in France